Tonight, I got a fantastic surprise

Stephen is always doing things to surprise and spoil me. Tonight, I came home and he made me stop in the entry-way and tell him what would make me feel like the Queen of Sheeba... then, he made me close my eyes and he walked me into the kitchen. When I opened them, there it was... gleaming and glistening in its wonderful newness. What was it you ask? It was none other than a perfectly round, perfectly non-stick crepe maker. Indeed. I am in heaven.

I may or may not have...

... called and spoken with Dr. Laura this week.

The depravity of man

This past week, I have been feeling overwhelmed by the depravity of man. My own depravity, along with that of our species collectively. I am deeply saddened by its presence all around me, and within me. How does God endure the heartache?

What could have been...

I have realized about myself that I often look back at times, when they're coming to an end, and think "man, I wish I would have done that different, developed that relationship more, spent more time with that person, done more fun things with that group." It has, on more than one occasion, left me feeling like I've missed out- with regrets. Sooooo...I think my New Year's Resolution (a bit late I know) is to try to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves more often... and to make more of an effort to instigate opportunities, as well. I guess, I'm going to try to be more outgoing, in a way - less reclusive. Here's to a new year.

As it turns out

One of those days turned into one of those weeks, and I have little hope for improvement tomorrow. Work has just not gone well this week - all except Tuesday. Tuesday was a pretty good day (I was in Salem for an 8-hour deposition that wasn't nearly as boring as most!) And then I worked for a few hours in the office, after everyone but Graham and Donnie had gone home. I closed the day by indulging in my guilty pleasure of American Idol. I admit it's true. Perhaps I shouldn't do so quite so publicly.

I really don't know what's going on at work, but it just feels like no matter how hard I try, it's not going right. Shelley recently told me that when she was a waitress, she would sometimes get a "nightmare table," where no matter how hard she tried or what she did, everything would just go wrong. I guess I feel like that this week.

My parents are coming this weekend for a visit, along with Kim, Fred, and August. I am happy about the visit. We will eat good food and play with a good baby and generally relax, I think (hope). OK... I'm off to bed. Maybe a bit more sleep will help tomorrow go better.

One of those days...

So, today, I had a ton of work to get done. It really seems like with my job, it's feast or famine - or maybe it's just the result of me being a procrastinator, that I don't think there is stuff to do on my cases until there's a deadline pending - it's just not true and I need to be better at that. Anyway, it seems that this week has a ton of important stuff going on in many of my cases, so I knew I was going to have to work a long day today... which I did. What I did not know is that many things would go wrong, making my day even longer. First, my computer kept crashing; then my time-keeping program crashed - then the printer driver wouldn't install... and then, the ultimate UGH... I forgot to save something I'd been working on for over 2 hours and POOF, it was gone. It was my own stupid fault for not saving it as I went along, and so I have no one else to blame, but it was upsetting because then I had to recreate the document, and of course there is no billing the client for that mistake... So I lost quite a bit of time. I am feeling exhausted now. I am going to bed, hoping that tomorrow goes a little more smoothly.

Working toward a goal

I ran two times this week, and will try to run again tomorrow. The first day was ROUGH, the second, not so bad... maybe third time will be the charm and I'll be able to increase my distance a little bit.

Last night, two of our renters stayed at our apartment after they flew in from their holiday vacationing and that was fun. We ate my new favorite food: crepes. First, we had savory crepes with chevre, spinach, basil and ham (well, turkey for Suzanna, since she doesn't like pig). Then, we had dessert crepes with Nutella and banana.... this is my learned phrase from Germany. "Bitte - einen crepe mit nutella und banane" - that's all you need to know to survive the Christmas market in Frankfurt.

We have not eaten dinner tonight because Steve is slacking and didn't make anything. I will go investigate.

Lazy-fest 2009

Well, 2009 has officially begun, and the first weekend is being spent by Steve and me, at home, with Ian. Matt & Brielle arrive tonight for supper. It will be fun to have the clan here. We're spending our time lounging around, playing with the dogs, playing Age of Empires. I am soaking it up while I can, because I think I'm going to start getting back into 10K shape tomorrow - starting a new running schedule and workout routine. Of course, it will be a long row to hoe because I've let myself get so badly out of shape, but I would like to run the Butte to Butte this year again.

We had a good new years eve this year. We went to a church members home and mixed and mingled, and then we had communion, sang hymns, and prayed together, at midnight. It was a good way to start the year.

I am craving crepes with nutella and banana, so I think I will make that for a snack later today. With that, I think I will add my two favorite photos of Christmas 2008 and be off. Cheers!