Sometimes life just feels like this.

Dog Versus Branch

Goodbye 2008

Wonder if anyone will miss this year? Lord, it's been a long, tough one. Here's some memories that I'll remember:

The ELECTION - I was glued to the t.v. and newspapers. Exciting stuff for a change!
New art shows that I haven't been able to get into before.
My son transforming from a boy to a man. He seemed to change overnight.
My daughter becoming even more interesting and more fun to be around.
The Caylee Anthony Case.
The Nancy Cooper Case.
Summer days on the beach.
The Wilmington Marathon.
My son getting into BIG trouble (a couple of times).
My daughter getting into BIG trouble - once (which is enough).
My son getting accepted into NY Maritime - a proud day.
Dominican Republic trip.

You know, when pressed to remember things from the past year, it's kind of tough. That's why journaling is so important. Otherwise, you forget all the good stuff.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! I'll toast to your happiness, wealth, health and general well-being.

Resolutions

So, do you make resolutions? I can only remember making one - that was to learn how to windsurf. I didn't do it, and can't remember making one since. I still would like to learn, but not enough to make it a resolution.

The closest I can come is this, which considering I haven't made any recently, is pretty good:

I resolve to start journaling again
I resolve to train harder to be faster for the spring
I resolve to get my a** in gear and get a lot of new paintings done for the summer shows
I resolve to do the right thing and be as compassionate as I can be.

That's it! Got any?

Sigh.....

Merry Christmas everyone! Are you all as "family(ed)out as I am? Well, it's not family, it's just the "gotta see this one, gotta see that one, back in the car again." Not really a problem when you think about it, but it can certainly be tiring. Once Christmas is over, it takes everything I have to not take everything down - the tree, the lights, all of it. It'd be nice to have a switch to hit that would take us immediately to spring. January through April is such a bear to get through. Those Rehoboth store vendors who work 9 months of the year and take 3 months off to go someplace tropical have exactly the right idea.

Haley and I will be going to A.C. in January for a dance convention. Not tropical, but a nice break away from it all. Gotta stay busy to avoid cabin fever.

Okay, well it's off to "that one" - another family visit. Here we go!

Christmas/White Elephant party 2008

Partayyyy

Getting ready for the Christmas party tonight. We're doing a white elephant exchange again, which is always a lot of fun. I bought a beayyoooootiful gold plated singing Elvis ornament. It sings Blue Christmas and is wonderfully tacky. Some lucky person will be unwrapping that tonight and screaming with joy.

I'll get pics on here after the party at some point, provided I remember to take some. :)
Here's a few shots of the updated mini progress, which has screeched to a halt till after Saturday.





And here's some pics of my daughter singing at her Christmas concert the other night - with her new dark hair!





Have a great weekend!

Hair color and holidays

Last year at this time, when my daughter's hair was becoming "dark" with her summer highlights fading away, she asked if she could add some highlights to combat the brown that was coming in. An initial "no" from me was dragged on to weeks of asking and with me finally agreeing. We tried a home highlighting kit, which ended up making Haley's hair mostly orange. Horrible. It cost about $80 to have it fixed at a local salon, but even that didn't totally take care of it. By the time the summer came, the sun had bleached it out so it was starting to look normal again. Now this December, her roots were coming in very dark. So she had medium blonde hair with dark brown roots. Yeesh. She asked if she could have it evened out so the roots matched the rest. (I was totally okay with this, but hadn't suggested it because Haley has always shuddered in fear at the thought of ever having dark hair like mine.) So, off to the salon to hopefully get her back to zero. Well...her hair color is now as dark as mine, and maybe darker. Oh. My. God. I was so afraid she was going to flip. Surprisingly she didn't, and actually said she liked it. The colorist went a little dark, but hopefully it will lighten up a little after a few shampoos. I'll get a pic of it later and post.

Procrastination. Denial. Those are my words for the holiday season. I have moments when I really love it all, but those moments tend to get squashed in all the "to do" moments. Ack. I am definitely not a shopper, so most of what I buy is done online, in my jammies in my warm house. No crowds, no parking issues. What is kind of nice about this holiday is that I think it's going to be more authentic, considering most people are cutting way back on buying. I really think the whole buying thing is the least important and least fun of the whole holiday. I much prefer the music, the decorations, the family and the feel of it all. It will be nice to see people putting more thought into their purchases and keeping them small and meaningful. One of Haley's and my favorite thing to do this time of year is watch "25 days of Christmas" on the Family channel. All those good Christmas movies. She loves to sit by the fire with the Christmas tree as the only light and watch them. That's the kind of holiday feeling I'm talking about. And my son, since he's newly in love, he's a joy to be around. He's lit up like a tree himself.

I'll do a little wrapping tonight so I can see what I still "have" to do, considering I can't procrastinate much longer.

60 degrees and all is well

Wow, wouldn't it be nice if 60 degrees was as cold as it got in the winter? I think so...this is my kind of December, even if it's only for one day. I actually woke up last night and was too warm! We got to take a nice trail run today. Even the birds were singing. I think they were confused.

Just stopped at Wawa on the way home for a magazine to read before bed. But what I saw is going to keep me up for a while. A couple were fighting in a car a few spots down from me. I looked up when I heard them yelling, then saw the guy punch the girl directly in the face. I was stunned, never have seen anything like that in real life. I went inside, debating what to do. The strange thing is, on my way out, a Lewes cop pulled up next to them. Pure coincidence. It wasn't his jurisdiction, but I filled him in on what happened, just as the girl walked next to us, in to the store, sobbing her eyes out. He said he'd call the State Police. I hope he did, and I hope they got the guy. There's no need for that, ever. Really made me feel sick.

My son has a new girlfriend and is totally smitten. It's so funny, he walks around the house whistling and bouncing on his feet. He's hugging a lot too. It's nice to see.

Here's some photos of the mini's - some complete, some in progress.

Decorating

This is a pic of Haley decorating the tree. She did the whole thing herself, and did a pretty good job. It used to be that she would only decorate at her own eye-level, so nothing high on the tree and nothing low. She's very proud of her final product this year.


Here are some pics from the Children's Beach House Show. I sold two. Haley and I had fun dressing up and enjoying the opening night.

Sherry and Karen being goofy.


This year's featured artist - Anita Peghini-Raber (hope I spelled that right. Very talented and a very nice person too.




Pat Staby made this hilarious Sarah Palin pillow. She said she has made four and sold all of them!