Sick Again

Are you kidding me?? Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME??? How could I possibly be sick again? How is it that it is the fourth time I've been sick in January? I've been sick for the past few days, feeling a burning in my chest/lungs and coughing uncontrollably.

Went to CareNow tonight. The good news is that I don't have the flu, strep, or mono. Phew. Cleared those tests. Bad news? I have bronchitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis (a throat infection), and some type of viral infection.

Lovely.

Seriously trying not to be whiney. But really, enough is enough. I've had the friggin flu, had two colds, and now all this crap? I'm getting enough sleep. I'm NOT running myself into the ground (the most common thing I'm hearing these days). I probably am not eating healthy enough. Taking vitamins and all the rest of that crap. But I'm sick. Again.

I've really had enough of this shit.

Let the Mocking Continue

Finally, I have the funds to buy the shoes that have been mocking me everywhere I go. I love these shoes and I am so excited to get them. And what happens? They're on backorder!! The pair I want will be available to ship April 15th!! Crazy. Now, if I want the orange pair--those are a month earlier. Too bad I am ultra conservative in my shoe habits and don't branch out past black and brown, with the exception of one pair of red ballet flats I own.

So, from now until April 15th, I will continue to be mocked by those damn Tory Burch shoes. So close, yet still so very far away.

Very Spoiled

Turning 30 couldn't have been better. Friends, family, fun, and laughs. What a great last few days (with the exception of poor Andrew locked in the bedroom for three days, of course!). Thursday night was a great dinner with my mom, Mom Mom, and brother Jeremy along with Andrew and Maggie. After dinner, Andrew and I went to Rooms To Go. Our birthday present for ourselves? New living room furniture and kitchen table/chairs!! I'm so excited. Everything should be arriving mid-February since the loveseat is on back order.

On Friday, we all abandoned the office for some sushi! Dana Eisenberg joined the HFC staff (Larissa, Cheryl, Christi and Cricket) along with my good friend and board member Cameron Smith. Delicious sushi and great conversation. It was a treat to sit and visit with Dana and hear all about how the twins Sam and Ethan are doing. First grade! And doing fantastic!! And Dana? Well, she's Dana. Which means she is freaking hilarious, kind and compassionate all at the same time. Just love her. Cameron just had her fourth beautiful daughter this month. I have yet to meet little Kate due to being sick this month, but I hope to hold her soon. She looks exactly like her daddy, especially in the crying picture! We were of course, swamped when we got back to the office, but it was so worth it. I love these girls so much.

Friday night was our time with the Kriegers. We had dinner at La Hacienda Ranch where Maggie was an absolute nightmare. She refused to sit in her seat and threw at least two fits. Plus, countless trips to the potty. Once at the Krieger's house, she looked at me and said, "I want to go night night." Listen, my kid doesn't do that. Ever. She went to bed without even a muffled cry before 8:30. A miracle. We played games until past midnight laughing hysterically and telling stories along the way. We have such a great connection with Mike and Angela. And of course, we love Josh and Joey! Only downside of the evening was when I was called an "embarassing disappointment" while losing during a Wii trivia game. I'm going to let it slide though since he did get sick in the middle of the night that night. Obviously, he just wasn't in his right mind, right?

Saturday was an easy lovey day with my sweet love while Andrew slept in our bedroom. She struggled for naptime, so we had to make an extra long car trip around the neighboring small town (one trip around Fairview usually gets her to fall asleep!). Then she was off to my mom's to spend the night. I got to relax and do nothing Saturday night, finishing a book and starting another before going to bed at 10pm. It was perfect!

But my favorite part of the weekend was still yet to come. Dinner with the girls. Through a string of emails detailing the plans, I knew that Tracey wasn't coming. How could she come all the way from Austin for my birthday dinner on a Sunday night? Amy was going to be late, and Jenn was going to have to miss as well. She sent me a sweet email telling me she was so sorry and that she couldn't believe it had been so long since we've gotten together. So, it was me, Jen, Deb, and Megan, with Amy possibly joining us late for dessert. I was looking forward to our dinner all evening. Maggie and I went to Josh's basketball game to watch the Rockets beat the whoever they played--22 to well, I don't know the score. Josh was very happy until a kid on the opposing team punched him in the chest instead of giving him a high five at the end of the game. Now how's that for sportsmanship? After the game, we hightailed it to Deb's house to pick her up. She is having episodes of dizziness, and it has now happened twice while driving down the highway. So, Brandon drives her most places, and I was more than happy to drive to dinner. We dropped the little Munchie off at my mom's and headed to my favorite restaurant, Houston's. I mean really, they don't call them the "Fork and Knife Ribs" for nothing. Divine.

When we walked in, I was greeted by my sweet girlfriends--yeah!! Amy was taking a picture of me walking in, which only made me giggle and thus look a bit bewildered and stupid in the picture. Once I got through some initial hugs, I got to quickly tell Jenn how excited I was that she was able to make it. She wasn't coming, but there she was. But wait, Amy was supposed to be late, and yet there she was! How fun!! More girls than I expected. Amy rustled us up for a big group picture, which I thought a bit odd since we were crammed in the bar, but oh well. She stepped back to get a picture. Then a little bit farther. A nice lady stepped over and offered to take her picture. But Amy kept standing there. So I said to Amy, "come on, get in the picture--she said she would take it." And with a very recognizable voice I heard, "I'm happy to take your picture." Holy crap--it was Tracey!!! YIPEEE!!! My sweet friends are the rottenest, sneakiest, best friends EVER!!

From left--Amy, Jenn, Tracey, Jen, Megan, me (feather boa and all) and Debbie

Dinner was perfect. Filled with delicious food (the spinach dip? Yum), hilarious giggling, lots of profanity, and even a discussion that left us all blushing just a bit. I couldn't ask for a better time. And then, they gave me my present. I kept insisting that the dinner and all of them being there was present enough. But, with a giggle in her voice, Megan insisted that I needed my gift, and thrust a pretty package at me. Hmm...what could it be? A box--oh wait, a Tory Burch box?? Oh yeah!!! With gift certificates to help me purchase the shoes I want!! The shoes--the shoes that mock me wherever I go because I see all the women wearing them and I desperately want a pair. The shoes that look so damn cute but yet so damn comfortable all at the same damn time. Yeah, those shoes. I'm so excited! Of course, when telling Andrew about it when I got home, he quickly responded, "you mean those ones you like with the weird symbol on the top? I don't like those." Tough, they're going to be my shoes and I don't care.

As the evening progressed and a couple of girls had a few more martinis (sorry Megan and Deb--nothing for the preggo girls), it just got better. A few of the husbands received text picture messages of their wives at the table. And we laughed like school girls when someone's phone would beep with a response back from one of the men joking and egging us on even more. So funny.

After finally chasing away the other tables around us with our laughter, we decided it was time to depart the restaurant and head to the next location. Did you know the Starbucks at Midway and Beltline closes at 9pm? On Sunday's it does. So, standing cold in the parking lot in front of Starbucks, Jenn has a genius idea--that's a DENNY'S across the street--yeah, let's go there!! We jumped back in our cars, crossed the intersection and pulled into Denny's for another hour of laughs. It was the greatest night. I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Throughout the entire drive back to my mom's, Deb and I hashed out the evening. How much we love sweet Amy and her quick wit. How Jenn is one of our heroes that we like more and more every time we're with her. Or how we could absolutely eat Megan up with a spoon. I seriously emailed her the other day that if I didn't love her so much, I would just love to hate her--gorgeous, funny, sweet, talented, and kind? Just not fair. We talked about how Jen lights up a room with her smile and makes can make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts (which Jenn M. kept saying throughout the night, "oh, my stomach hurts" as she was hunched over laughing). And of course, we said that Tracey was the glue that holds us together and that we love and adore her even more for driving from Austin on a Sunday to be with us. It's always been me and Deb. For over 13 years, its been us. We each have our own set of friends, but we never really shared a group per se. Now, we've found our group. This is it. And it's awesome. I've never been happier and I am thankful for each and every one of them.

A few more pictures from the evening:

The nice lady at the bar. Hmm..looks a little familiar to me??

Holy crap--it's Tracey!!! You can tell my surprise--and check out the girls cracking up behind me!

Ah, now the Dallas Posse is much more complete.

Best Friends Always and Forever. The best there is. And she's mine!! I'm so lucky!

Sandwiched between two beautiful pregnant girls. I'll live vicariously through them, thank you very much.


Giddy at my shoes. That my friend is called a Tory Burch high.

A first kiss. Slightly apprehensive Jen to a yelling Tracey, "Kiss me, dammit, I'm CUTE!"

More laughter, more kisses. Can you tell Tracey had a few martinis? I believe they were lemon drops, Rich--for future reference.

So, you see, I'm very spoiled. I have the best family, co-workers, and amazing friends that I could possibly ask for. Thank you to everyone that made my birthday so very special.

Down for the Count

The flu bug has reared its ugly head once again in my home. I'm good, but my sweet husband is one miserable man. He has fever, chills, bodyaches, sinus pressure, and incredible pounding headache that won't go away. Maggie hasn't seen her daddy since Friday and probably won't at least until tomorrow. The two of us are going to watch first grade basketball and cheer on Josh Krieger, and then she's back to Ga Ga's (she spent the night there because Mom wanted her!) so I can enjoy my girls dinner without the toddler. Bringing her would mean frequent trips to the potty to possibly pee but more importantly play with the water in the sink and see what color the soap is.

So poor Andrew is out. He's napping now, after his first Neti Pot experience. I apprehensively asked him how it went, knowing that the only other person I know that experience the Neti Pot was Amy. And I remember how that went. I think he faired a little better.

So far, the little Munch hasn't even so much as sniffled. Maybe because she was the only one of the three of us that had the flu shot? Could be it. But the last flu shot I had gave me the FLU! And not just the flu. The I'm-nine-months-pregant-and-about-to-have-this-baby flu. I gave birth to Allie with a darn oxygen mask over my face because I was so ill with the darn flu. But, given that it's been four years, maybe I should rethink my opinion next year and have the shot. Because this has not been a fun experience for the two of us. Not fun at all.

A Little HFC Promotion

Minimum donation of $10 for a card to be sent to a loved one. These cute cards, designed by our awesome volunteer, Megan, will be mailed to your loved one right away. To order, click HERE.

Goodbye Twenties

When I rolled over at 7:30 this morning to a two year old requesting Wiggles and yogurt, I realized that my twenties are gone. Over. I'm 30.

The HFC girls are the BEST!! When I pulled into the office this morning, I noticed that everyone was already there. Megan's car was already there too. Strange--she usually drops off her son and then comes around 9:15am when she volunteers on Thursday. But it was only 8:50?? I was clued in pretty quickly to what was going on. "Happy 30th Birthday" is across the wall in a banner, along with hanging streamers, and cute banner Cheryl made, and and balloons in my office. Plus, Megan made peanut brownie cupcakes!! That's a way to my heart right there. Delicious!!

And of course because our group has gotten into pictures of all of us with food, here's my birthday cupcakes--missing the rest of the girls! Tracey--that's specifically for you!

I'm being spoiled over the next few days. Our family is doing dinner tonight to celebrate both mine and Andrew's birthday (since he had a not so fun one with the sick wife!) at my old place of business. Tomorrow is birthday lunch with the HFC girls to celebrate both my birthday and our Business Manager Cricket's. Cricket told me to pick--I couldn't resist. It's been a long time since Larissa and I have scrapped the plate of an ahi tuna tower at Blue Fish. Yum!! Then it is a game night with the Kriegers to make up for missing on Andrew's birthday. Finally, the "Posse" is heading out for a girl's night out dinner Sunday night. Seriously? I'm going to be stuffed!!

So much for starting the diet this week--maybe next week. I at least have a personal training session set up for next week. That's a start, right? Of course, I had it set for last week too but didn't make it. That damn flu.

You know, I took the end of my twenties pretty well. I'm ok with it. I've had good and bad times, but there have been some amazing times along the way. I married the greatest man who I love more than than I did at 20. I've given birth to two beautiful little girls. I had a career in education that I love and found a new career that I love just as much.

So, today, as I look back on my twenties, I have few complaints (can't say none because of course, I do wish I had my Allie. I will always wish that!). I'm happy. I love my life, love my family and friends, and love my husband. And I am excited to begin another chapter in my life.

Oklahoma is the place to be!

Maggie is having withdrawal--after spending a great weekend with her cousins Izzy and Max, she is missing them bad. The two of us traveled to Norman, Oklahoma to spend some quality time with our favorite Searcys. Michael was gone for the weekend and Andrew got to have some alone time at home in Texas. Maggie had such a great time with her cousins. She adores Max and Izzy. Max and Maggie, being only two months apart in age, are so fun together! They have such personality and spunk. It's funny to see what they pick up from each other too. Max likes to declare himself a "Hot Man." Maggie is now walking aroudn the house saying, "Max is a hot man--I'm a HOT GIRL!!"

It was just me, Amie, and the cousins. Oh, and some great dinners courtesy of Amie! Yummy! Now, here's a little fact about me--I don't cook. Not at all. I can't cook. Don't like to cook. Slightly embarassed that I don't, but, well, it is what it is. But Amie? Girlfriend can cook. She can whip up some potato pancakes and sloppy joes and make them a meal that leaves you wanting more (and trust me, I did). Oh, just delicious.

I am so lucky to have Amie as my sister-in-law. She and Andrew are 18 months apart in age. They are complete opposites in personality, with her the outgoing and him the introverted. And yet, they have a really good relationship. They can go months without talking, but within minutes together they can slip into a comfort like no other. I have joked over the years that they have their own language. The two get to talking and telling stories--they don't even finish their statements. They talk in half sentences and laugh like they completely understand each other. All the while, the rest of us are left looking on not understanding what just happpened or why it was so funny.

I have the deepest respect for Amie. She is an amazing mother, supportive wife, and an inspiring person all together. She is fun and funny, yet gentle and kind. She's creative--making books with her kids pictures, putting together a family scrapbook with questionnaires for all the family members, and finding fun activities to do together as a family. In her church, she is a leader of the "young women's group," leading the girls ages 12-18. I had the chance to sit with teh young women on Sunday morning. These girls were completely at ease and comfortable with Amie. And you could tell that she genuinely cared for them.

If that weren't enough--she has created a toddler music time at the nursing home! Genius really--as Amie is a children's music teacher with fun songs and manipulatives, Amie has a great repretoire of tunes. She has a group of friends that come to the nursing home once every two weeks for a thirty minute toddler music session. Maggie and I went yesterday morning. As we walked in, about two or three older ladies were sitting on the couches in the main sitting area. They immediately perked up at the sight of Maggie and Max, and one exclaimed, "Oh, the babies are coming today!" Within a few minutes, several more ladies from the nursing home began filing in to sit around the living area. They were giggling at Maggie and Max and declaring them the cutest children they had ever seen. Amie set up her stuff for the music time, and other children started arriving. By the time music time began, we had a group of about ten or twelve older ladies, walkers parked to the side, and more than ten little ones under three. The kids danced and sang while the older women laughed and smiled. It was a magical thirty minutes. And all because Amie thought to bring that program.

So you see what I mean? A pretty incredible woman. I'm lucky to know her. Lucky that I have the chance to spend time with her talking about just about every topic. I'm glad that we have a mutual respect for each other and a special bond that I hope will continue way into our friendship. And I'm thankful that she is not only my SIL, but my friend.

Returning to the land of the living

After four days of fever, sweats, chills, and miserable freaking body aches, I rounded a corner. I'm here at work today (half out of it, but here) and prepping for a board meeting tonight. My poor husband is single dad again tonight. Not to worry, Maggie and I are escaping Texas this weekend to have a cousin visit in Oklahoma. He can play as much Playstation as he wants! Too bad he won't have a Cowboys game to watch too.

OK, back to work. I think it might have been easier under the covers!

Mother of the Freaking Year

Yep, that's me. After this week, I'm a shoe in for the crown. Let's see--gone on Monday and Tuesday. I picked her up at 5:30pm on Wednesday night. We were home together Wednesday night. Thursday evening brought the start my illness. My body ached, my throat felt like razor blades, and I had a low grade temp. I went to bed at 7pm and locked myself in my room.

I stayed home from work on Friday and my mom picked up Maggie and took her until last night around 6:30. I spent my time with chills, body aches, fever, and general misery. When Maggie came home last night, I was locked in my bedroom with a raging fever. Andrew would call me and report on what was going on. It was torture--I could hear them laughing and talking, and i couldn't do anything about it!

No, we didn't do anything for Andrew's birthday. I was too sick. When he found me sticking my gatorade cup on my head to cool off, he decided we weren't going to try. What a fun 30th birthday for him, huh?

Today, he and Maggie went to Ft. Worth to ride the trains and visit Nana. They're back now and while I am in her view, I'm still camped out on the couch and not really apart of what is going on in my house.

So there you have it. In one week, I hung out with my child on Wednesday night. The rest? Nope. Mother of the Freaking Year.

Happy 30th

Today, my amazing husband turns 30 (I'm still 29 for two more weeks!). I couldn't help but to look back and remember our years together. The first birthday we celebrated together? We were 18, had been dating for about five monhts or so, and oh so much in love. Andrew saved up his money (remember, we were in high school) to take me to a fancy dinner at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. It was the fanciest dinner I had ever had! My mom had bought me my prom dress early, so I wore that and Andrew wore his suit. Andrew borrowed his mom's Camry (because we didn't want to roll up to the valet of the mansion driving a Ford Fairmont), and we had one of the most romantic dinners. Still one of my favorites to this day.

We won't be doing anything too major tonight, just a nice dinner with the Kriegers. We cancelled our vacation that was set for next weekend due to dog issues, but we plan on trying to get out of town another time. I've been home sick (AGAIN!!! So frustrating!) since Thursday, so I plan on relaxing as much as possible before dinner tonight.

I look back on our twenties and think about all the things we've been through together as a couple and a family. Andrew is my rock and the person that balances me. I love him so much, and I hope that one day we'll be celebrating our sixtieth birthdays together (which that comment this morning had him roll his eyes and say, "Wow, that's a really long time to be with you!" Have I mentioned that he's a bit of a smartass?).

I'm about to take a little walk down memory lane. Join me, why don't you, as I look back on our twenties....

20--I spent the summer in France studying. When I returned, Andrew proposed! We were engaged! Less than two weeks later, in a journey to find what was best in his life, he left for the Army. Yes, he joined the Army. I knew that I would follow him wherever the Army took him, but I had to admit I was nervous. Six weeks later, with the help of an old foot injury, Andrew came back to me and out of the Army.

21--With our wedding in June, we were busy with all the plans. I was still in college in Lubbock and Andrew was living in Dallas. In February, wedding plans came to a halt when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. It was hard to be so far away from my family through the whole thing, but Andrew got me through. I graduated in May, and my father walked me down the aisle in June. June 5, 1999--what a happy day! We didn't take much of a honeymoon--just three days in San Antonio. We didn't have the money, and my dad was too sick for us to be out of the state. Andrew and I were living in a small apartment in McKinney. I went back to grad school, he was working, and we spent most nights with my parents during my dad's illness.

22--While I was student teaching and making no money, Andrew was working two jobs to support us. He never complained, just did what he had to do. At the end of March, I got hired at Rice Middle School to begin in the fall! Three days later, my dad died. Andrew was my rock through it all.

23--It was now my turn to support us. Andrew went back to get his Microsoft Certification to pursue a career in IT. He was so much happier in this career, and I was incredibly proud of him. It's been the right career for him, going on 7 years of IT work now. I won Beginning Teacher of the Year in May for the entire city of Plano! A few days later, our first baby came into our lives. Sweet Brandy was a ball of fur at five weeks old when we took her home from the breeder. That summer and the rest of the year, I think we were consumed by life with the three of us.

24--We took our first vacation! From a package deal with the travel company we were going to France with students, we earned a free trip to Rome. It was awesome. Just the two of us for four days in Rome! With a growing golden retriever in a one bedroom apartment, we started thinking that a house was the next step for us. We found the perfect neighborhood and home for us to build. In order to make a little extra to save, I worked a second job at Outback Steakhouse. We moved into our home in August of that year, and I quit waitressing as soon as I could!

25--The best thing about this year was my pregnancy with Allie!! I found out on Mother's Day that I was pregnant with our first child. Andrew and I could not have been happier. Life was perfect. Allie was born one month before we turned 26.

26--Well, I think we all know that story. Allie was diagnosed with cancer in May and died in June. 26 was a bad year for us. We were young and naive and dealing with one of the toughest situations a couple could go through. We easily could have fallen apartment. You can't go through an experience like that and not have it change you.

27--I was working with Larissa on establishing Heroes for Children. Andrew was settled in his job. I have to say that I have the most supportive husband out there. He's by my side through it all, and I'm by his. This year proved it. In March, I found out I was pregnant with our second child. To say it was an easy pregnancy would be a flat out lie. It was rough on so many levels. And Andrew helped me through it all. We welcomed our second baby girl in October 2005, just one month after the one year anniversary of Allie's death.

28--This was our year of Maggie! She was, well still is, our life and our focus. We worked hard and found happiness together as a family. My kind of year.

29--With other years being jammed packed with major life changes, I was happy to be nice and settled this past year. It was a good year.

To my husband--Happy Birthday, Andrew. I look forward to the next decade with you.

The Allie Bag

It's not everyday that I get to hang out with cool up and coming handbag designers. I was never the cool kid or the one in the popular crowd. And yet, here I am in this cool job where I get to meet amazing people who not only donate their money or project, but their time, talent and energy.

I'm in Houston until Wednesday for business (yes, it's going to be one of those weeks). We had four different meetings today, including drinks with Elaine Turner and her amazing group. Tomorrow, we head to Texas Children's Hospital for a photo shoot with a cool photographer, cancer children, and some pretty beautiful handbags. Magic in the making!

And the coolest part? Elaine's collection will be getting two new additions in the Fall 2008. Specially design with the colors of HFC in mind (one red and one straw)--the Taylor and Allie bags!!

Now really, how cool is that? The Allie bag!!

Weekend with the Robinsons

After incessantly asking about "Pincess Lucy" to view her pictures on the computer and look like her as a princess, Maggie finally got to have a real life playdate with Lucy! This weekend, the Scotts headed to Austin for a visit with the Robinsons. We had a great time! Lucy was a reluctant princess at first to share her throne with another princess. But that didn't stop the sheer adoration from Maggie. She followed Lucy around like a lost puppy dog, wanting to do every little thing Lucy did. It wasn't long before Lucy warmed up and held Maggie's hand all the way to the park. And that was all it took for Maggie's girl crush to escalate to a new level.

We had such a great time with the Robinsons. We played Wii with the boys, the grown up boys kicked our butts (sorry, Tracey, I wasn't the best partner) in Trivial Pursuit, and we tried out a new fun game. We laughed, we talked, we bowled.

A few lessons learned from the weekend:

• Sam Robinson is intense at boxing. And he's got some smooth moves too.
• Tracey likes rules. Lots of them.
• You can't recycle a Pace Picante glass jar. Much to the dismay of tree hugging recylcists out there, it is just not done in Round Rock, TX.
• There is New Jersey style pizza in Texas. And it's good.
• Some 2 year olds giggle hysterically when a large Goldendoodle sits on them to lick them from head to toe. Some two year olds try to get said Goldendoodle to do it more than once.
• Beavis and Butthead were the first to deep fry a rat on television.
• Andrew and Tracey have the same ironic, sarcastic, smartass sense of humor.
• There is no accordian in a piano trio.
• When in doubt for a baseball question--remember--Pete Rose and the Reds. Always Pete Rose.
• There are crocodiles in Africa. Really. Trivial Pursuit doesn't lie people.
• A proper stocking should always include either pistachios or jelly beans (especially when the recipient doesn't like jelly beans).
• It sucks when your child wakes you up at five am and won't go back to bed. Really, really sucks.
• If you wear out a toddler enough, she will sleep from the moment you get into the car to the moment you pull into the driveway more than three hours later.

And our most important lesson for the weekend has to be

• Hiroshima, 1945 was indeed--ackward.

Thanks Robinsons for a really great weekend. Our house is here in Dallas anytime the clan wants to have a bowling tournament. My deepest apologies to my elderly and wise Trivial Pursuit partner. We'll do couples next time and you can kick my butt. I promise.

2007 List of Things

Got this from Tracey's blog and thought I would give it a few minutes. Pretty fun!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

Traveled for work.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't remember making more than exercising and eating right. I know I certainly didn't always keep up with that one!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Larissa had Lilly, Katie just had Carmen, and of course, Deb is expecting those two bundles of joy in a few months!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Not this year thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

Grand Cayman and Mexico on our cruise in August. I could move to Georgetown!

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

Free time.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

April 13th--our first event in Houston. I cried the entire day out of pure pride for Heroes for Children and our growth.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Probably Houston Heroes and Handbags or the 5K

9. What was your biggest failure?

Missing out on time with my family.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My new fancy Garmin that has a wide screen and blue tooth. I love it! I guess technically though I didn't BUY it. Andrew traded a pistol (yes, you read that right) for it. My friend Allan says that Andrew is living in the wrong era. He would have thrived in the 1800's when bartering was the main way of obtaining items! He finds deals like you wouldn't believe.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My mom. She has been our saving grace in the last year with her love and her complete and utter adoration for the Munch.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Oh, I would rather not say. This is a very public blog. :)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Maggie! The Munchie is expensive for sure!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Our slumber party at Jen's!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

Do the Wiggles count? Because really, that's all we've been listening to lately.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?

Much happier. Very content.

b) thinner or fatter?

Much fatter!!

c) richer or poorer?

I wouldn't say richer by any means, but financially doing better.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

exercised. Or cooked!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

wasted time on the computer.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve at my mother in laws with the cousins and Christmas day at my mom's. It was a great Christmas!

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

A little more with him each and every day.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Definitely the Office!!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

While there are certainly people that make me nuts, I can't think of anyone I would use the word hate on.

24. What was the best book you read?

Book Seven man---Harry Potter!! Just reread it last weekend too!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Not sure.

26. What did you want and get?

Canvas pictures of Maggie!! Oh, I LOVE THEM!!!

27. What did you want and not get?

Balance in my life.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Waitress!

Or was it the company going to the theater--"I'm getting popcorn, sir!!"

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

29--Don't remember what I did. Probably just a dinner with Andrew in between our two birthdays.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Less debt.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

Usually slightly too tight because I've gained too much weight. Once I found things that fit comfortably, I wore them over and over!

32. What kept you sane?

Andrew. He grounds me.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I've never really been over the moon for any celebrity.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Health insurance.

35. Who did you miss?

Allie and my dad.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Amy, Jen, Tracey, Megan, Jenn M, Stacy and Debbie - Love these ladies!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

I don't have to do it all myself. That was certainly a hard one for me to learn! Still working on it.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Um...

Happy New Year!

It's my final day of vacation before heading back to the office and preparing for hopefully another great year for Heroes for Children. I have a long list of things waiting for me to begin and projects to complete, but today, I am sleeping in late (courtesy of the cranberry margaritas from last night!), taking a nap, and spending lots of time loving on my family. It's a perfect way to start my new year. Maybe I'll even get in a shower at some point!

I was thinking of doing some type of year in review for us, but then didn't come up with much. We didn't have anything too major happen this year. Simply put--it was a great year. We had lots of time with our family and friends, our work prospered, and Andrew and I are in love as much as we were in 1995 now in 2008. We love our daughters and have found great joy in our lives as a family. This year has been a year for finding some type of work/life balance and feeling that at most times, we handled it well. It was a year of strengthing old friendships and making some new, strong, and I think lasting ones too (yes, you know who you are!). It was a tremendous year for Heroes for Children, and one that I look back on with great pride for my growing organization.

I never did lose those 25 lbs I wanted to (they are right back on my rear end to be perfectly honest), but maybe, just maybe it will happen this year. I didn't learn to cook (one of my resolutions each and every year), but I didn't really try either. I kept my goal of leaving my computer in the office at least a few times every month, and Andrew and I made our goal of finding quality time for each other.

As for New Year's resolutions for 2008, I don't know that I will make them this year. I enter a new phase of my life this month, with both me and Andrew turning thirty in January. I hope this year finds more family time, success and happiness with my work, health for my family, and stronger friendships with those I am blessed to call my friends. Really, what more could I ask for? Well, except for the possibility of sticking to a diet and losing those pesky 25 lbs!