My Year In Review

As the year ticks down to its final 6+ hours, I recollect a lot of unhappiness, unrest and bittersweet moments that took place over the past year:

• the earthquake/tsunami/partial nuclear meltdown in Japan
• the Joplin, Missouri tornado
• the Arab Spring
• Charlie Sheen's insane rants
• Arnold Schwarzenegger's illegitimate child with the housekeeper
• the Casey Anthony trial
• the Anthony Wiener sex scandal
• the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton
• the death of Osama bin Laden
• the 10 year anniversary of 9/11
• Hurricane Irene
• the shooting of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords
• Occupy Wall Street and its succeeding movements around the world
• the end of "war" in Iraq

May 2012 be filled with more uplifting, heartwarming stories to be remembered. Happy, safe, healthy New Year to you all!

6WS

Call Me Cate at Show My Face hosts Six Word Saturday. Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words.

Can't wait to get routine back.

After Christmas Shopping

I love to shop for Christmas items after Christmas. It could very well be my favorite time to shop.

I've already been out twice this week and purchased quite a few items. Today I bought my Christmas cards and wrapping paper for next year. All for $7!!

I bought new containers for storing my ornaments according to color. I bought new ornaments. I bought a pair of nutcracker stocking holders for $5. I bought multi-color beads for the tree for $2.

I'm not what you would call a frugal shopper, but I love a good deal. After Christmas shopping has, by far, the best deals ever.

If you haven't been out yet, give it a try. Even if you just buy a box of cards for next year, you'll feel like you're one step ahead of the game. And you'll shop at bargain prices. Enjoy!!

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

How long do you keep your holiday decorations up?

My answer: I try to wait until The Feast of Three Kings, which is January 6 I believe.

My (Upcoming) Color Themed Tree

My tree is still up and fully decorated, but I've already got my storage crates ready for loading.

I've decided that after this Christmas, I'm going to do a theme Christmas tree every year. And by theme, I mean color theme.

I've always seen trees that are decorated with only one or two colors, and I love them. I find them simple and elegant and beautiful. That's what I want.

At present, my tree looks like this:

It's full of every color ornament, plus it's loaded with kids ornaments. It just looks full. I like it. But I don't love it. It's too busy.

Next year, the boys will get their own tree to put in their room with all their ornaments. No more batmobiles, Iron Man, Elmo or Cars on the big tree in the living room. Those will be relegated to the "Boys" ornament container and placed on the boys tree next year.

I will then segregate all ornaments by color and store them in their own containers. Then I can decide each December what lovely color(s) to decorate the tree with that year.

While I was purchasing the containers, I started purchasing new color ornaments in anticipation of my upcoming themes. I have a whole container full of purple/burgundy/pink ornaments already.

Living with a husband and 2 boys, I can't tell you how this excites me.

The Small Little Nothing

Back in June, after doing some gardening, I noticed a rash on my right hand. It was red and itchy in between the fingers - almost like athlete's foot on my hand.

I tried all sorts of lotions and potions: aloe, vaseline, tea tree oil, lotrimin. Nothing worked. And it felt like it was getting worse and looked like it was spreading.

Was it poison ivy? A flesh eating bacteria? I was pretty concerned. I kept promising myself I'd see the dermatologist. Six months later, I finally did.

I visit the dermatologist yearly for a full body skin cancer screening. Since I should have had this done a couple of months ago, I scheduled my visit to cover the full body scan as well as the nasty rash on my hand.

The doctor took one look at my hand and diagnosed it as dry skin. Really? Dry skin? For six months? After various lotion applications for months? "Yes," he said while proceeding with my full body scan. "Dry skin. However, how long have you had this little growth on your shin?"

He removed the small little nothing, as I like to refer to it, and it turns out the small little nothing is basal cell carcinoma.

Life threatening it's not. Surprising it is. I went in with a rash on my hand and left with cancer on my shin. I'm a firm believer that if it's not one thing, it's something else.

Virtual Simplicity

I don't know about you, but my email inbox is overflowing every morning . . . and I'm sick of it.

I get emails from so many different organizations, I can't take it anymore. Groupon, Seize the Deal, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, Land's End, PPP, every company I have ever purchased something from online in my life. There are solicitations from places I've never even heard of as well. It's too much.

In an effort to decrease the virtual mail I receive, I'm unsubscribing from a lot of them. Nothing stresses me more first thing in the morning than checking my email and seeing 60+ new messages that I need to filter through.

As the week progresses, I am unsubscribing from as many as possible so as to start the new year with fewer inbox overloads. I'm feeling the need to simplify in 2012. Why not start virtually?

The Morning After Effect

What is it about the morning after a holiday that leaves me in pajamas all day?

It could be the fact that I hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas day. There was cooking, cleaning, setting up, putting away, more cleaning. It was a non-stop 48 hour festival of food and plates.

It could also be family conversations, or lack thereof. There's always stress involved when family comes to visit. What do I talk about? What topic do I avoid at all costs? For someone without a filter (me), that could be incredibly exhausting.

Then there are the kids. We only have two, but that's plenty. They're fighting over gifts. They're running around the house. They want to open every single one and then leave it on the floor after playing with it for 30 seconds.

And never mind opening the gifts. Those damn things are packaged so well, you need a team of bomb defusers just to get it out of the box.

So another holiday is over. I'm not sad to see it go. Just too lazy to shower and get out of my pajamas. And I'm loving it!

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

Red wine or white?

My answer: I prefer white.

Friday Finds

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Friday Finds. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!






"Carrie Goes Off the Map" by Phillipa Ashley
"All Yours" by Clauda Pineiro

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. This week's BTT asks . . . Any books you’re hoping to get for the holidays this year? Are you giving any good ones?

I was hoping to get "100 Unforgettable Dresses" by Hal Rubenstein. The last time I was in Barnes & Noble they were sold out and weren't expecting any in before Christmas. It looks like such a beautiful coffee table book, I hope Santa found one for me and puts it under my tree!

Musing Mondays

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Musing Mondays. This week's musing asks . . . What’s one book you always recommend to just about anyone?


I always recommend "Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages that Shaped Our History" by Kati Marton. It's a wonderful look at how First Ladies influenced the presidency and shaped policy.

6WS

Call Me Cate at Show My Face hosts Six Word Saturday. Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words.

It's so nice to sleep in.

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

Do you prefer online shopping or actually going to the store?

My answer: I LOVE online shopping!

Friday Finds

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Friday Finds. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!






"MWF seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend" by Rachel Bertsche
"A Princess and Her Garden: A Fable of Awakening and Arrival" by Patricia Adson, Ph.D.
"A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion" by Ron Hansen
"Domestic Violets" by Matthew Norman

Gummies and Goldfish

It isn't often that I get to sleep in. Actually, it's next to never. This past Saturday was one of those rare occasions.

R (the 5 year old) was up at his usual 7am. He's like an alarm clock, or a human rooster. He's up and talking out loud to wake the rest of us at 7am EVERY DAY. Only I wasn't having any of it. I turned over and hubs got up instead.

D (the 2 year old) stayed snuggled next to me, all warm and cozy on a frigid morning, until about 8am. Then we both got up. Well, he got up and went to see what the others were up to while I turned on the television to see what was going on in the world other than the usual Nick Jr. cartoons.

By the time I mosied downstairs, about 45 minutes later, the boys were in the midst of their morning coloring, arguing, playing, fighting. I asked if they wanted breakfast. R proceeded to inform me that they already had breakfast - gummies and goldfish. Excuse me??

I turned to hubs, dear, pushover hubs, and just looked at him with a "why did our children have gummies and goldfish for breakfast" face. You know the look.

He said, "I didn't know what to give them for breakfast. You were asleep. R asked for gummies. D asked for goldfish. So I gave it to them."

I didn't know if I should knock him out or bang my own head against the wall. He didn't know what to give them for breakfast. The man eats breakfast almost every day. He does the food shopping and knows where the waffles, pancakes, eggs, cereal, bread are kept.

I'm no fool. And neither is hubs. And, apparently, neither are my kids. They know when and who to ask for gummies and goldfish . . . and actually get them.

6WS

Call Me Cate at Show My Face hosts Six Word Saturday. Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words.

Need to finish the Christmas cards.

Book Beginnings on Friday

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted on Friday by A Few More Pages. Want to play along? Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence.

"Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart."
~"The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton

I love these opening lines. The location is New York and there will some sort of romantic involvement. That's all I need to know.

Friday Finds

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Friday Finds. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!







"Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages" by Michael Popek
"Found, Free and Flea: Creating Collections from Vintage Treasures" by Tereasa Surratt
"Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design" by Christian Lemieux
"The Baker's Daughter" by Sarah McCoy

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

Do you know someone serving in the military this holiday season?

My answer: Yes. My neighbor's son is in the Army.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. This week's BTT asks . . . All things being equal, which would you prefer – a mystery or a love story?

I'm a sucker for a good love story. I don't mean the Harlequin romance-type love story, but a love story nonetheless.

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

Do you send holiday cards? If so, do you use picture cards, the ones pre-printed for you with you/your family picture?

My answer: This is the first year I'm actually considering pre-printed picture cards. Up until now, I've included a pic of the boys in our cards but have handwritten every one.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. This week's BTT asks . . . Do you find that your mood affects the things you read? If you’re in a bad mood, do you tend to indulge in reading that will support it or do you try to read things that will cheer you up? Do you pick different types of books on dreary, rainy days than you do on bright sunny ones? For that matter, does your mood color what you’re reading, so that a funny book isn’t so funny or a serious one not so deep?

I choose a book based on the last book I read. If I read something heavy and dark, I'll want to choose something light and easy to read next to break up the pace. Once I'm in the middle of a book, no matter what mood I'm in, I continue to read it. That being said, my mood does color what I'm reading. My mood can actually make it more difficult to read a book because of what I'm bringing to it. I find going in with a clear headspace is the best way to approach a book and enjoy it for what it is and how it was written.

Getting Well in 2012 with Cafe Well

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cafe Well for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There's no better time than the present to get healthy. With the holidays here, temptation for just one more cookie is everywhere. Why not resolve to get fit and stay fit in 2012? There's a great social networking site designed to help you do just that. 

 Cafe Cafe Well connects you with other people who want to get fit and healthy, just like you. You'll find challenges, tips for healthy living, support, and the information you need to reach your health goals in the new year.

Hosted by Cafe Well and sponsored by HealthAmerica, Race to the Moon is a wellness program presently underway for members to get more fit and active via social networking. Participants receive a free wireless pedometer that tracks their steps and provides rewards for milestones reached and total steps taken. These incentives combined with social networking prove powerful in getting members to get moving.

I've challenged myself many times to finally get rid of the baby fat. I've walked with friends, worked out with my husband, tracked how many fruits and veggies I've eaten each day. We've all tried numerous methods to get fit and stay fit. Why not try a new, innovative approach with Cafe Well? You've got nothing to lose but a few extra pounds.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS.
•Share the title & author, too.

"On the landing she paused to look about her. There were a thousand chances to one against her meeting anybody, but one could never tell, and she always paid for her rare indiscretions by a violent reaction of prudence."
~p. 12, "The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton

Musing Mondays

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Musing Mondays. This week's musing asks . . .Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?

I will probably be buying myself a book or two this holiday season, mostly because of the great discounts and bargains available. My inbox is full of coupon codes for Barnes and Noble, and I plan to use them.

6WS

Call Me Cate at Show My Face hosts Six Word Saturday. Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words.

What's the rush with holiday decorating?!?

Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Friday. Want to play along? I ask a question, you answer the question in the comments. You can also ask your own question on your blog and link up on Kailani's site. Here's my question:

Do you enjoy hosting holiday events?

My answer: Yes and no. I hate the prep, the cooking and the clean-up, but I love the actual event and the sense of accomplishment that comes with hosting an event that turns out well.

Friday Finds

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Friday Finds. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!






"How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living" by Karen Karbo
"You Can Create an Exceptional Life" by Louise L. Hay and Cheryl Richardson