Another Week Gone By? Say It Isn't So!

I must be getting old because I can't believe that yet another week has gone by! And another week without posting. However, the week was mostly productive, except for one major area, and the evidence is displayed below. Our living room looks exactly as it did a week ago Sunday when we lugged in all of the Christmas stuff from the garage. I've just been busy with other things, and not really motivated to get it finished since I got spooked last week by the ornaments that we *should* be hanging this year, but we aren't. Anyhow, I didn't get called to sub today and it's time I quit my pity party, so I will get down to the business of finishing up today. By the way, that's a 9 foot tree that needs to be decorated, but at least it is pre-lit so I don't have to worry about lights.

You might also be able to get a glimpse of the bed in the guest room that still needs to be made up. And tucked behind the end of the couch are 4 crates that need to be stashed away in the garage. And what you can't see is how badly everything needs to be dusted (one of the joys of living in Arizona), the bathrooms that need to be cleaned, and the vacuuming that needs to be done.

And what did I do rather than chores and decorating this last weekend? Why, I did what any girl who is missing her girlfriends would do! I left Friday morning on the edge of a giant storm to drive 350 miles to Southern California. The first 200 miles of the drive were great. The sky was very gray and threatening, but that was it. However, the last 150 miles were through heavy rain and California traffic. Ick! I did make it to Orange County by 1:00 so that I could meet 7 of my teacher friends for lunch. Oh I miss that bunch so much and it was so wonderful to see everyone again. After lunch I drove to another friend's house and surprised her with a short visit before heading to my brother's house in south county, which took 2 hours in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and rain. My brother was gone to Hawaii for a guy's weekend, so I stayed a couple of nights with Kari and the kids. On Saturday afternoon I went to my friend Melanie's house for her annual Christmas Open House and it was absolutely wonderful and so much fun to get caught up. Even though I stayed all day long she still didn't want me to leave to we agreed to meet at the bagel shop in the morning before I left town. Anyway, here's a picture from the party. And this was before the wine and champagne started flowing.

The rest of my week looks pretty uncertain, as I don't know when I might be called to sub. I won't be working on Thursday, which was our due date. Instead, I have a dental appointment and an appointment with the principal of the school over here to discuss my concerns, wants and needs in a teaching position for next year. Oh, and I'm trying to get an appointment with an adoption agency. We like what we know about them so far, and we have a good referral, but I want to see if we get the warm fuzzies from meeting with them.

Oh, and my next *project* is to make an extra effort each day to find things that I am grateful for because I really hate the mood I get in when I just focus on the really cruddy things that have been happening over the past year and a half.

And one last thing, I will post another picture once I get the living room cleaned up and decorated. No promises when that might happen though . . .