Happy 2008 to you and yours! Last year was just CRAZY! I'm hoping that 2008 turns out to be a laid-back, yet prosperous year. Here's a picture of my family together on Christmas Eve. Aunt Lynn, Uncle Gary, Cousin Alex, Grandma and Grandpa all came over for the traditional Christmas Eve chop suey. My grandmother used to make chop suey every year and we've kept that tradition alive. Christmas Day took us out to Valparaiso to my parent's house where we hung out with the Keanes (family friends), ate a lot and put back a few glasses of wine. It was a fun, relaxing Christmas.
Our New Year's Eve was a bit more of the same. Due to an icky snowstorm that night our plans fell through with some friends of ours, so Brian and I were left to fend for ourselves armed with nothing but some wine and a Scrabble board. Now, keep in mind that our Scrabble board is personally signed by the 2001 World Scrabble Champion (jealous?). So, of course, I won. Unfortunately my good luck quickly ran out and I fell asleep at 11:44pm, missing the chance to celebrate the New Year with my husband and partake in the pots-and-pans parade with our neighbors. There's always next year.
I should probably back-track a bit and give you a quick synopsis of December's happenings. One of the highlights of the month was when I got an A in Chemistry! Whoop! Whoop! It turns out that going to class, doing the homework, studying, not going to the bars 5 nights a week, and actually CARING really does make a difference. I wish I could go back in time and talk to 20 yr-old Mandi and tell her that the rumors are indeed true. Truthfully, I'm just glad that I proved to myself that I can actually grasp something related to science. Next semester I'm taking Organic Chemistry and Human Growth and Development. The 2nd class is online, so it will be nice to be able to do the classwork when I have "extra" time, however years of perfecting the art of procrastination might be a detriment (in fact right now I should be working on a health insurance appeal, but this is more important, right?). Classes start on the 22nd of Jan., so I gotta start living up the last days of my Winter Break. Maybe I'll stay up late and read an extra article out of Newsweek tonight. I'm crazy!
For the past few years Brian and I have been driving out to The Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere, IL to kill a real Christmas tree, and this year we were able to share that tradition with Charlotte. It was a fantastic family day, complete with snow on one of the windiest and coldest days of the month. We all went out for breakfast, drove out to the farm, went on the hay ride, cut down our tree, picked up some great bargains at the local Farm and Fleet, and made it home in time for an afternoon nap. I'm already looking forward to next year!
Charlotte's helmet came off for good on December 23rd. I'm so happy that it's over. In the end she only had to wear it for 12 weeks, but I really missed kissing her head, smelling her hair, and snuggling up to a helmet-free head. We see a huge difference between the before and after shots and we're very glad we decided to go through with the whole process. If you ever run into anyone who thinks their child might need one, or is contemplating getting one please feel free to give them my info and I'll be happy to talk to them. The window of opportunity for correcting any head shape abnormalities is pretty small, so waiting it out really isn't an option.
The best part of the whole helmet experience (besides the obvious fact that Charlotte's head shape has changed) is that we got to keep her "Head on a Stick". This is what the facility made from the initial mold that was taken (see "Peanut Piñata" 9/22/07 post), and each time we went back they would compare her real head to the head on the stick to see how the changes were progressing. And each time I would ask, "I get to keep that at the end, right"? I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Any ideas?
This holiday season really felt like it was Charlotte's first Christmas. Technically, it's her 2nd, but it was her first one out in the real world. It was so great to see her staring at the Christmas lights, playing with the wrapping paper, and wearing a cheesy Christmas outfit with uncomfortable tights. I loved being able to include her in our holiday traditions and coming up with new ones for just for the three of us. I remember last year I kept telling myself, "Next year it will be better". This year, all I thought about was how great it was to be exactly where I was. Life is good.For some people New Years brings resolutions, but not for me. I don't believe in making any resolutions because they're too easy to break. Instead I make tangible goals that I set for myself for the year. Last year my goal was to run a 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately, I hurt my knee back in July and my road to recovery was a bit long, so the 1/2 marathon turned into a 1/4 marathon. On December 30th (with 36 hrs to spare) I ran 6.5 miles. I know it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but for someone who was on bedrest for most of 2006, I'm happy with that. So, for 2008 here are my goals:
1. Run 500 miles (that's 10 miles/wk with 2 wks off ..... very do-able)
2. Run a sub-7:30 mile
3. Get into nursing school
4. Charlotte walks
I'll keep you updated .....
Before we had Charlotte I used to hug one of the dogs and ask Brian. "Does he/she look like me?" Brian would always answer, "No". So, now it's even more fun for me to hug Charlotte close and say, "Does she look like me?". Unfortunately the answer is still, "No". But she's pretty darn cute anyways!
Go Hillary!
