Happy New Year in 3 Hours

So long 2008...with only 3 hours left, I can truly say that you were a great year, many wonderful things took place within your days and I only hope 2009 lives up to your greatness!

This year's great moments and accomplishments include getting promoted at work,moving in with Sean, getting engaged, my niece being born, and seeing a couple of my close friends find new loves, become engaged or get married.

I am not making any resolutions this year. Every year I make resolutions and I do not keep them, so what's the point? I know what my goals are and what I need to do. I would rather seek to improve myself on a daily basis than refresh the same ideas and ideals year after year.

Having said that, feel free to laugh out loud here. Sean and I joined the gym together yesterday. We have been meaning to since last summer, and now seems as good a time as ever to join, especially with the deals they throw out there for New Year's. It's not an expensive gym, but it'll give us the equipment to workout on that we need, and hopefully we'll both learn to live more actively and healthy lifestyles by being able to encourage each other along the way.

So how is this for cliche? I have a coffee table of Chinese food and wine, and I have plenty of tv shows and movies I could watch. I'm not really feeling it this year for watching the ball drop, but maybe I'll change my mind by midnight. For now, I'm trying to stay awake till Sean gets home so we can give each other a new year's kiss.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and days of auld lang syne.

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

Christmas Overload

Merry Christmas, somewhat belated! It's been a busy past few days for me, full of wonderful things.

I went home late Tuesday evening, and for the first time since I can remember, I saw my parents, siblings, and their families every day since Wednesday. It was so nice to have quality time with the kiddos, bonding time with the girls, and it really felt like Christmas. We haven't all been together for Christmas day in at least a couple years, and if we have, it's just been for a couple hours. So this year was very special. The kids had so much fun at Grandma and Grampa's house (by today I think they'd had it though...). This was the first Christmas that my older nephew, who is 3 1/2, really got into it and knew what it was all about. My dad worked at the fire station Christmas eve, so "Santa" called Lane to ask him if he'd been a good boy, and read him the Night Before Christmas over the phone. It was really precious. Then we put out milk and cookies for Santa and Cheerios for the reindeer, and Lane was so excited, he wouldn't go to sleep! How wonderful to see it as an adult, the sheer joy and excitement about him the whole night and following morning.

I was able to go back to my parish for midnight mass and sing with the singers (it's usually a good mix of alumni and current youth singers). It felt different, but was still very peaceful and the perfect way to celebrate the holiday.

I spent Christmas Eve with Sean and his family. We booked our reception venue (more on that later) and yesterday morning I went dress shopping with my mom, all 4 of my girls, and Sean's mom. It was a successful trip! We were so successful that we found a dress for the girls too that looked fabulous on all of them! Talk about difficult finding a dress for girls with all different heights, boobs, hips...but we did it!

Now I am home and enjoying the peace and quiet of not having toddlers running circles around me. I am going to make some dinner and wait for Sweetie to come home. Did I mention I also have the next four days off? Ahhhhhhh life is good.....

Be Careful What You Wish For

For the past month or so, I have been eagerly awaiting the first real snowfall. Well, we got it yesterday in a big way. So big that work was let out at 1 pm and the highways were already clogged with people trying to get home. Some friends from work and I decided to get a bite to eat down the road, so we slowly made our way there and had a mini feast. I got a delicious steak and cheese sandwich with fries and a Harpoon IPA. We ended up staying there for 3 hours, hanging out at the bar, playing pool, and enjoying not being stuck in the traffic and weather. ARound 4:30 I said my goodbyes and headed out into the snow. It was really nasty out. I made 2 stops before getting on the highway, to get food for dinner and a shovel, and to fill up on gas. I got on the highway at 5, and pulled into my driveway at 7:30. Yuck. I didn't even take anything out of the car. I hopped out and got to work shoveling. Luckily, we have gracious neighbors who snow-blow the sidewalk in front of the house, but I had to clear a space for Sean, who was on his way home, and clear the steps and porch so our neighbor-lady could get up at 7 am this morniing to go to South Caroliina. Bless her, she came out and tried to help me shovel. I've mentioned before that she's 92, right? I let her sprinkle some salt on the steps and shooed her inside.

So it looks like it's not a great day to do much of anything outdoors. I'll go outside in a bit and clean up the front again and try to de-ice my car. I guess it took Sean about a half hour this morning to clear his car off enough to drive. And sadly, it's supposed to snow more later, which means he will likely stay at the hotel in Stamford that his company puts people up in when the weather is really bad. Given that he's supposed to be in at 7 tomorrow morning, this is the safe thing to do. I will just miss him, since he won't get out till 8 tomorrow night. IT'll be a very quiet weekend.

I hope you are all safe and warm and have power and food. Stay dry and have a very merry Christmas week. I will be heading home to my parent's house for Christmas eve and will be there through next Sunday, so I might not get around to posting. Enjoy your holidays!

Ding Dong Merrily On High

Wow, I am slacking in the blogging department this month compared to November. Don't worry, I still have a pulse!

Thank you to all for the well wishes for the engagement and the new baby in the family. Life is pretty fantastic these days. I am in the final push of work before taking my first vacation in 2.5 years. I can't wait to have 13 days straight of not having to work!

This month has been fairly busy! We had a tacky Christmas sweater party Friday night, which was a big hit and we will most likely be hosting one each year from now on. We had another party on Saturday, and most of the day I was recovering from Friday night, so I didn't go too crazy with food, and I consumed only 1 glass of wine and probably a gallon of water and Gatorade. Oh, the things we do to ourselves around the holidays...My work party is Friday at an Italian restaurant in Stamford. There is wine a-plenty, so I will do my best to restrain from becoming belligerent. I don't think I'll be going to any afterparties this year as I have the past two, so the idea of driving home from Stamford on the Friday before Christmas is enough to limit myself to 1 drink.

I think I'm doing pretty well in the weight loss department, I'm down 8-10 pounds from October, and since it's the holidays, I know I'm doing well because this is when I usually pack on 5 or so extra pounds. It'll be easier once the holidays are over and I have time to get to the gym. These days I'm relying on diet alone, which is not easy.

I won't bore you any more with my mutterings, but I'm still here. Just very, very busy...

Cheers!

Just over a week later, wedding planning is underway. There is a lot to do right away, I'm finding, and then we'll have months of waiting, and then another lot to do in the month or two beforehand. So with Christmas approaching, I am trying to stay cool and relaxed and not worry too much about everything must get done. We are calling the church tomorrow, I have scheduled an appointment to go try on dresses the weekend after Christmas, and we already have a pretty good idea as to where and who we want for our reception, photographer, and possibly DJ. The big thing will be firming up the date with the church and then with the reception venue in a couple short weeks. And that's when we start shelling out the money.

I am more excited for this Christmas than the past two since living on my own. I think a lot of it has to do that I love my roommate (*giggle*) and we've really made this place our home. The tree is up, the entire house is decorated, and it's so cozy and full of love and warmth. It sounds so cheesy, but this is what the season is supposed to be, and it finally is for me.

Also in wonderful news, my sister-in-law had a c-section on Friday and my first niece (I have two nephews) was born at 2:47 p.m. Bailey Elizabeth graced the world with her presence and my world has been changed dramatically. I first saw this little face and almost started crying, just out of happiness. My brother and Kathy are on cloud 9, everyone is doing well, and I managed to take a day trip up to see them all on Saturday, as I am an impatient auntie and couldn't wait until Christmas.

So to leave you with a smile....

Photos taken by the proud mommy & daddy.

A Holiday Engagement

Well, it's been over a week since I posted, and a lot has happened in that week that is worthy of sharing! First of all, I cooked (with Sean's dishwashing help - life saver!) a delicious gluten free feast with everything I put on the menu minus dessert and dinner rolls. There was an overabundance of food, and I am very proud of the success of not only my stuffing but my green bean casserole. I spent much of Wednesday night making the homemade components for the casserole, and it was just plain delicious with the meal. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is our feast:

Since Sean had the day off, we had talked about going into NYC to spend the rest of the day hanging out, possibly ice skating or seeing a show...So we hopped on the train and were in the city by 4 pm. We walked up Fifth Avenue, looked at all the gorgeous window decorations and displays.

We made our way up to Central Park, commented on the delightful smell of the horses and carriages (yuck!), and kept making our way to the skating rink, stopping to take some pictures along the way.

We got to the rink, and it was very crowded, so we decided against skating. I probably would have knocked over many small children. I wanted to keep walking, but Sean suggested we go over to the observation deck area and watch the skaters for a little while. That sounded like a lovely idea! We found an empty space along the railing to watch and take pictures. I had just taken this picture:...when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and Sean said "Shannon? I have a question for you..." He got down on his knee and opened a small black box with a ring in it, and asked "Will you marry me?" It took my breath away. And of course I said yes!

It was the most perfect, romantic, memorable day I have ever experienced. He is the man of my dreams, and in January 2010 we will say our vows before our dearest friends and family, and become husband and wife. How lucky am I to be marrying my best friend?

So after the important phone calls were made (it was hard to actually get a hold of most people since it was dinnertime on Thanksgiving - duh!), we walked down to Times Square and got tickets to see Avenue Q, a delightfully politically incorrect musical starring puppets. It was the perfect way for us to end the day, laughing together, unable to stop grinning from ear to ear.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and as we near Christmas, I hope your hearts are filled with joy, wonder, and peace. Cheers!