I am sitting in the den, the Christmas tree is lit and the house is quiet. I'm all snug and warm in my robe, sipping cofee and listening to FNC. I'm mostly thinking about this year and everything that's happened; how fast it's flown by!
I remember, that as a child, time crept by very slowly. I would count down the number of days till my next birthday, the year between my 15th and 16th moved slowest of all years for me. I always looked forward to the Christmas holidays, two solid weeks off of school and presents under the tree! Christmas was always wonderful at home, mom and dad went overboard with presents, there wasn't anything that we asked Santa for that we didn't get.
I still remember the year I got my first microscope and chemistry set. That was also the year I got the ventriloquist dummy I'd had my eye on for months. I got quite good at throwing my voice with him and kept him around for years. I don't rememember what I did with him though, I may have sold him at a garage sale when I outgrew him, in other words, when I thought it was uncool of me to have a dummy. This would have been around the age of 16, when I got vain and a bit shallow. In hindsight, I should have kept him around, but the past is another country, and they do things differently there.
Years have passed, Christmas desires have changed and I'm a mother now; a mother to a 15 year-old and an 11 year-old. Both daughters are a lot like me in many ways; anxious to grow up and have all of the things that they think teenagers should have. My 15 year-old will turn 16 in February, and she's spent the last few months arguing the finer points of why she needs a cell phone and a car with me and Mike. My 11 year-old was visited by mother nature on Christmas morning. I didn't think that having my baby get her first menses would make me cry, but it did.
They are growing up so damn fast.
On the other hand, I've started thinking about them growing up and actually moving out. Not that I want to rush them along, but these thoughts have led me to thinking about what I want to do for myself this coming year.
2010 wrought huge changes to my life, to Mike's life and to the kid's lives too. I moved back to Houston from New Orleans, moved in with my "husband"; into my first house ever. I've had to adjust to homemaking in a 4 bedroom house with a front and back lawn, this from always just having a smallish apartment to care for.
I've had to get used to having a partner to work with and answer to. Before I made all of the decisions myself. This hasn't been all that difficult, Mike and I think quite a bit alike and he's so reasonable that it's easy to reach compromises. My first marriage was quite a bit different.
I've adjusted better than I thought I would, as have the girls. They love their step father and he loves them too. I thought that it would be a rough go at first, especially getting used to sharing a bathroom and a bed; a life with another adult. It was easier, or has been easier, than I thought it would. I can't imagine being anywhere else but here or having anyone but Mike by my side.
Last New Year's Eve, I spent on my sofa with a bottle of Moet and Chandon, watching Bridget Joneses Diary, while Mike was far away in Houston working. He's working this year too, but he will be home at his normal time, and we will ring in the new year on the front porch with a neighbor, smoking a cigar and sipping scotch. I have a bottle of Veuve Clicqout chilling in the fridge for midnight and the start of 2011.
As for what I have planned for next year? Well, I don't do resolutions, as I always break them. I do make a list of Things to Do in (insert year here). In 2011 I have decided to do the following:
1. Quit smoking. It really is time to do this. I am sick of being tied to the addiction and I really hate the way smell after I smoke. I also don't want to die from cancer.
2. Go to the health club we belong to, everyday except Sunday. My goal is to lose 10 pounds and get buff. I'd really love a set of feminine looking washboard abs, and my arse has been affected by gravity in more ways than I care to consider. This must change!
3. Get my motorcycle endorsement. I love riding bitch and all, but I really want to ride my own bike too. Mike gave me his old bike when he got his Harley, and the Kawasaki is just sitting in the garage looking all forlorn.
4. Get my concealed carry permit. Question is, do I want a Sig or a Glock? Decisions. Decisions.
5. Paint the entire upstairs of the house. This includes redecorating the master bedroom. I know what I want to do in the room, and it's going to look awesome! I only need about $1500 to do it. Very reasonable, I think.
6. Make wedding plans. True, I can't set a date until the annulment goes through (Catholicisim!), but I can start budgeting and looking at venues. I have a gown picked out, and hopefully it will go on sale! Still, for all of it's beauty, the gown is less than a thousand dollars, but a sale would be awesome too!
7. Go back to school. I want to study nursing, but need to knock out some pre-requsites first. I will work and go to school to get these knocked out. Once I get accepted into nursing school, I will have to go full time, which means no working a job. Mike is totally cool with this. He's so awesome.
That's it so far. I'm sure I will add more to the list as the week winds down. What is on your list of things to do in 2011?
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