I'm finished...

....Christmas shopping that is. 11 days until Christmas and I am officially done shopping! I think this is a record for me, usually there are one or two things I forget to buy until the last minute or I change my mind 10 times before I pick up the first gift I had planned on buying.
Now comes the task of wrapping and keeping quiet for the next 11 days because I sure do believe I outdid myself this year! We'll see how it all turns out and if I remember, I'll post pictures after our holiday extravaganzas.
Because the month of December is normally pure bedlam for me, I've decided against decorations this year. Guess it seems Scrooge-like but I am not home enough to even enjoy them, let alone get them put back away before spring rolls around. This year is no different from the past...the next two and a half weeks at work will be out of control with all of the year-end projects we have to work on and the normal daily grind. I'm hoping just to make it out of 2009 breathing and with some sanity intact. The gym will definitely be my sanctuary after all of those crazy days. :)

As for the last few weeks -- well, there has been quite a bit going on. I spent Thanksgiving out at my Dad's and we had a great time even if it was a small event. My Dad did a fantastic job with the dinner and we had fun just hanging out. I had to work Black Friday, but that didn't stop me from getting up and going shopping before work. I stood in line to check out 2 hours to pick up "the perfect gift" but it was well worth it. That Sunday, I got the pleasure of taking my Bro and AJ to the Rams-Seahawks game. This game is a tradition for Tom, Joe and I but with other things going on this year, we didn't plan on going. My boss was awesome enough to offer me his tickets to the game and I couldn't pass them up. My bro was more than willing to accompany me to the game and even though the Rams couldn't pull off a win, we had a terrific time. He's such a good guy and I'm extremely lucky that we have the sibling relationship that we do and that he doesn't see me as the big dork I am. ha!
There have been a few happy hours as well as a few nights at Bellacino's for M and I and also a few nights where I've tried just to keep myself at home to take it easy and clear my head.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season -- may it be filled with warmth and time with those that mean the most to you. I'll update again soon!

On My Mind...

I believe I'm slowly starting to get out of the "funk" I've been in for a few weeks and while I'm a million times harder on myself in various situations and nuttier than I should be most times, I do realize that I'm an extremely lucky girl. On Monday morning as I was driving to the office, I heard this song on the radio and I knew everything would work out and I would be just fine.

When I See You Smile by Bad English

Sometimes I wonder
How I'd ever make it through,
Through this world without having you
I just wouldn't have a clue

'Cause sometimes it seems
Like this world's closing in on me,
And there's no way of breaking free
And then I see you reach for me

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you, baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

When I see you smile
I can face the world, oh oh,
you know I can do anything
When I see you smile
I see a ray of light, oh oh,
I see it shining right through the rain
When I see you smile
Oh yeah, baby when I see you smile at me

Baby there's nothing in this world
that could ever do
What a touch of your hand can do
It's like nothing that I ever knew

And when the rain is falling
I don't feel it,
'cause you're here with me now
And one look at you baby
Is all I'll ever need,
you're all I'll ever need

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

So right...


It really made me take a step back and enjoy my life and time with the people that make it worth living. And yes, as we're getting ready to head into Thanksgiving next week, I can say that I'm extremely thankful!

Time to dust off this blog....

Over two months and no updates from me...yeah, I am truly slacking here.

Life has been passing at an almost unbearable speed and I'm trying to hang on and get through it all. With that being said, I have also found that in some of the most difficult and stressful times I have been faced with, there are a select few that always look out for my best interest and will push me through even when I want to give up. I'm extremely grateful and appreciative and I hope they know that without them, I am nothing.

So, onto the recap of the last two months. September continued on and we played in our annual golf tournament. This year I was paired with my Bro and my Dad. We didn't have a 4th for our team, but because it was for charity and fun, that didn't bother us. As we were getting ready to head out on the course, SS asked if we minded having another golfer tag along. We accepted and made our way out to the first hole. Turns out, the golfer SS placed on our team was a seriously good golfer and picked up for my lack of skill and helped our team tremendously. He helped us out so much that when we finished the tournament, we placed 1st in the B flight! SS was shocked, I was shocked and the rest of the work group who saw our score were just plain flabbergasted. I was proud of our success and the success of the tournament for SS.

A few weeks later during the first weekend of October, the lake girls decided to get together and spend the 1 year anniversary of Sherri's death down in the Ozarks reminiscing about her life and trying to comfort each other through the series of emotions we were all feeling. It was probably the best decision any of us could have made for that weekend. We laughed, we cried, we danced and sang and we tried to think of all of the fun times we had with Sherri before we lost her. After the weekend was over, I think we all were closer to each other too.

The next two weekends were spent celebrating birthdays. My Dad's birthday was the 10th of October and my Bro and I decided to take Dad out to dinner and make him brownies. The following weekend M had everyone to Syberg's for her husband K's 50th. That was a fun and silly night out.
Halloween night a group of us went to TL's for his 2nd annual Halloween party. This year we decided to make it a costume party. It ended up being a fairly low key night but we laughed and had a good time overall.

Last weekend we had a very important birthday party to attend. Nicole turned 13 on the 13th but my aunt and uncle decided to throw the party a week early since all of the kids were together. I can't believe that my darling, precious Nicole is already 13! I remember how excited I was when I found out that we were going to have a new baby in our family and now she is a teenager!!! So much more cool, independent and smarter than I was at that age and even more so than I am now. :) Really though, we had a great time together -- something that we don't get to do much of anymore with everyone's busy schedules.

While I was out at my Dad's we also talked about the upcoming holidays. Hard to believe that we're heading into the holiday season already! Thanksgiving is in 11 days and we're just going to have a small gathering at my Dad's with just the 5 of us. I have to work the next day, but it should be a fairly good day since my boss has already decided to make it a "fun" day before we get into all of the craziness with the holidays at work.
I'm sure the next few weeks or months for that matter will be close to the same as the last two months have gone and I am just planning on staying focused and try my best to get through it all. Some days its rough and I'm treading water and other days I can catch my breath a bit...it's been quite the roller coaster but I'll try to be more efficient at posting updates.

Hope you have a great week!!

This speaks for itself...

You´re better then the best
I´m lucky just to linger in your light
Cooler then the flip side of my pillow that´s right
Completely unaware
Nothing can compare to where you send me
Lets me know that it´s ok yeah it´s ok
And the moments where my good times start to fade

You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed sing like bird
Dizzy in my head spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Ohh you make me smile

Even when you´re gone
Somehow you come along
Just like a flower poking through the sidewalk crack and just like that
You steal away the rain and just like that

You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed sing like bird
Dizzy in my head spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Ohh you make me smile

Don´t know how I lived without you
Cuz everytime that I get around you
I see the best of me inside your eyes
You make me smile
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild

You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed sing like bird
Dizzy in my head spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Ohh you make me smile

These are lyrics to Uncle Kracker's new song Smile. I absolutely love this song and right now I can completely relate to it. It reminds me of that certain *someone* who thinks so highly of me and puts me on cloud nine even when I have zero confidence in myself. That same *someone* seems to love me and all my faults for no other reason than the fact that I bring the same happiness to him as he does to me. For me, this is a crazy feeling to have....I've entered unknown territory and I'm pinching myself daily hoping that it's not all a dream.

Life....

....is busy, but life is good and I'm plugging along and trying to have some fun.

When I have a chance I'll provide a better update. I'm headed to the Cardinals game for a girls' afternoon at the ballpark with some of the other lake girls. It should be a great time!

For now though, I'll leave you with this little revelation I had about 10 minutes ago --
I might be a "sexy" Accountant but I'm not as young and as cool as I thought....after hearing Battlefield by Jordin Sparks on the radio one million times I finally got the words to the song. It's ARMOR, not honor.
This chick has been singing it wrong for as long as they have been playing it on the radio. Guess that's what I get for not following the newest Pop/Top 40 songs. I have found out though that Phil Collins is pure genius...nearly every one of his songs somehow relates to me. :)

Geez...I am getting old.

Have a great afternoon!!!

Isn't it ironic...

So I met with a company regarding Disability and Life Insurance and other Investments earlier tonight and did you know that as an Accountant I pose less risk in my profession than most others and it's reflected in lower and more affordable premiums.

*Someone else* thinks that I pose more risk since I'm a "sexy" Accountant and I sometimes do a few more spontaneous activities than most....

I guess I would tend to agree. (About the spontaneity and not the sexiness!) HA! :)

Highlights of the week

Since I'm still not in the groove of typing out an entire post, here we go with some highlights from this past week:

-- Saturday -- an awesome day of taking care of all of those little things I usually put off on the weekend. I felt a sense of accomplishment after checking so much off of my "to-do" list.
Saturday night was even better...who knew staying home and watching Stripes would be so much fun? (I knew it!)

-- Sunday -- an all around relaxing day. Movies (Julie & Julia), sunbathing by the pool and hanging out Sunday night.

-- Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights -- 3 GOOD workouts at the gym after leaving work.

-- Tuesday night -- Boatfest 09 with my bestest friends from work. Nothing beats a warm, sunny night on the river with beer and snacks and beach volleyball.

-- Thursday night -- dinner at my Mom's for her birthday. Thanksgiving dinner in August is amazing and my Grandma did a wonderful job of making it so delicious. It was great company as well.

-- Friday night -- after the gym, I went to JC Penney and moseyed around the store looking for one thing to buy with my $10 off coupon and then was complimented by the girl that checked me out for being so pretty. It was extremely kind of her considering I had just finished an hour and a half workout not too long before that and thought I looked a mess. Guess I clean up nicely. :)

-- Tonight -- feeling inspired since my trip to the movies last Sunday, I've decided to tackle dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday. Steak, roasted potatoes, salad, vegetables, garlic bread, confetti angel food cake and ice cream. Something I should be able handle!

Work actually went extremely well this past week and I was able to catch up on some of the projects I've been putting off for the last month. Next week my boss is back from vacation and my part time help is off to college....so we'll see what kind of things will pop up and surprise me then.

Hope you have a terrific weekend!! Catch ya later!!