Happy 2008!

Wow, the week since Christmas has flown by so quickly! I had a great time in Lafayette with my parents and sister, and hated to leave them on Friday. Natalie and I got in some good shopping, and took care of her baby registries. That was a lot of fun, but strange to be doing it with my little sister.

I sent home a lot of our presents with Darren on Tuesday. Even still, it took two hours of packing Thursday night and over an hour to load my car on Friday. The drive was pretty uneventful; we stopped at the Texas state line for Zach to run around, and he had to feed Zoe outside of Beaumont. Once we arrived home, it took me almost two hours to unload the car. I didn't want to just dump everything in the house; the housekeepers had come Friday morning, plus I didn't want to have to deal with a mess before our New Year's Eve party.

We spent the weekend cleaning out the garage and yard, and trying to get ready for the party. Yesterday, I didn't feel a whole lot of pressure until the early evening, but we pulled it off. Everyone had a great time, and we had tons of food and drink. Our guests enjoyed karaoke courtesy of my friend Haley, and we toasted at midnight with champagne and lots of confetti. The last guest stayed until 2:45, and by then, I had cleaned up most of the mess. As soon as I check out the pictures that other people took on my camera, I'll post some shots of the festivities. If you are reading this and took pictures, please send them to me.

Zoe gave us a great gift of sleeping until 10:00 today. It was greatly appreciated, since we didn't go to bed until after 3:00. We've cooked breakfast/lunch and watched a movie so far today. I guess I need to clean up the final things from last night and hit the grocery store. Going back to work tomorrow is going to be a drag, but I can't make it not happen. I may as well accept that.

I don't do the resolution thing, because I would be terrible at keeping one, and would beat myself up about it. I do have a few goals for the coming year, though. I want to eat better and exercise more, with the intended effect being weight loss. Since I only gained nine pounds with my pregnancy, and lost 21 after, I haven't been good at all about watching what I eat. Also, I have the nice effect of my gallbladder surgery that most food goes right through me. I do need to lay off the Christmas candy and baked goods, but they seem to be one of the few things that my body can tolerate. Figures.

Other things that I would like to accomplish this year would be to cook more, catch up on my scrap booking, organize more of the house so I am less stressed, and find a career that I love. I know that teaching isn't it, as I have probably written here a million times already. I really do want to pursue a career in childbirth education, but can't figure out how to become employed doing it. If I want to work for the hospital, I will more than likely have to go to nursing school and become Lamaze certified. I think my best bet right now is to start my own business and network through local Ob's, but I have no idea if my doctor is willing or able to help me, and don't want to ruin our relationship by overstepping my boundaries. I have until September to come up with a plan. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have an unhappy baby who is refusing to nap yet again, and I am still in my jammies. I guess I should go and address both of those issues.