2009 Recap/2010 Resolution

One year ago today I was writing about doing or not doing resolutions, finally taking down Christmas decor, backdating posts etc. Honestly, I could save myself some time and just cut and paste the entire thing because it all still rings true...down to the finally throwing out the pumpkins from Halloween (this year I had a 4 year old ask me why I still had a pumpkin on my porch in late December - that should have been a hint- but I hope he still enjoys the pine wreath come spring) and Ben is still wishing that I would carry my cell phone. One thing I have improved upon is getting places on time. Really!


So even though I still would claim to not officially "do" resolutions I thought of a good one for me. And that is to not wish away time. I decided this as I found myself doing just that during a block of time at church. Whether it was because it was a boring lesson or if I was just wanting to get home and get something to eat I'm not sure but it tends to happen. It also happens frequently around 4pm when I wish Ben would come home from work - but at least then I have chocolate to turn to. So instead of wishing time would go faster I'm going to try to enjoy every single dull (there's not that many after all) and exciting moment of my life. Especially with my children. And I'm going to stash some chocolate in my church bag to help me power through. And this resolution isn't going to be easy when it's still overcast and raining in May. Or when I've got 9 weeks to go and I already look/feel like I'm carrying a full term baby (actually, although I'm anxious to meet our new little guy and anxious to not be pregnant, I am not so anxious to do the exhausted new mother thing). So here's to making the most of every minute.


But what happened last year while I was still wishing away the seconds?


-Well at some point I got pregnant, although according to the ultrasound dating we had done Ben was out of town at a conference/fishing trip during what would have been a crucial period of his involvement. But those high-tech down-to-a-science sonogram machines are known to make mistakes. Ben says as long as the baby doesn't come out part Thai, black and really good at golf then we should be all right. And it's a boy.

- We built a house.

- The kids got passports. Mostly in case we want to take them to Canada.

- We went on vacation. Without the kids and their passports.

- I found a really good, reasonably priced spray tan: Salon Bronze from Sally Beauty. It comes with about 3 full body applications and an airbrush gun for $12.95. My sister also discovered a really good spray tan by Bliss: A Tan for All Seasons. It runs about $36 at Sephora and maybe has one more application than the Salon Bronze and it is the most real color spray tan I have ever seen. At least on me. (Britt I don't think you read my blog but I used your spray tan while you were gone.)

- I did some mystery shopping, which I have always wanted to do. Most were actually customer service phone shops, one was an oil change and a couple were mall kiosk inquiries - nothing fun like real shopping or restaurants although I did get offered a sporting event that I couldn't do.

- Now that we have a garage and some extra storage space I started getting more serious about our emergency food storage/supplies. More on this later.

- I learned how to properly make mashed potatoes. That doesn't mean that mine are spectacular. I just finally got the science behind the process.

- Music I particularly liked in 2009 was the new Pearl Jam album Backspacer, the song Beggin' by Madcon and the band Recess Monkey for the kids.

- My 2009 crush was on Rick Bayless. He won Top Chef Masters and has a show on PBS called Mexico: One Plate at a time. Something about this nerdy, super nice chef just makes me want him to cook up some duck carnitas for me. I would settle for Ben taking me to one of his restaurants in Chicago and whispering topolobampo in my ear (I don't know what this word means but it's one of Bayless' restaurants and I just love the sound of the word) because darn it, even after all these years I still have a crush on that guy too.

Other stuff happened, most of it has been recorded in previous posts, or if it was personal or difficult, it was recorded elsewhere, or hoped to be forgotten. But all in all 2009 was a success by my standards and I look forward to what 2010 has to bring. This doesn't mean I won't still be digging up posts from 2009 - I have a half finished but very long Thanksgiving entry that I still need pictures for...