Happy New Year!

Well, 2010 is finally here! I'm trying to come up with an affirming mantra for the advent of this new decade: I'll be an RN in 2010 (no, that's just a statement of fact)...Life will begin in 2010 (what in the world is this crazy thing I've been living thus far)...I vow not to sin in 2010 (well, if that were possible I wouldn't need to be at confession every week & the world would be a better place)...this is kind of difficult. I really want something that's going to embody the concepts of optimum health, financial independence, organization of my home, a stronger relationship with God, and peace on earth. I'll keep thinking.
Meanwhile, let me just tell you about my day. It started with a few meager goals: a trip back to the library to "unlock" the DVDs I rented yesterday and forgot to "unlock" before leaving; a stop by Wal-Mart to get beef bouillon for a soup recipe I was planning to make, clearing the kitchen table, and a lot of cookie baking since I'm the designated dessert person for our annual New Year's Day dinner at our friends' home this year. In the back of my mind, I had all sorts of other "goals" as well: clean the kitchen and keep it clean throughout the cookie baking process, mop the floor and organize the "plasticware" cabinet, take a picture of the kids to include in the Happy New Year's cards (for those folks who didn't get in on the first "round" of Christmas greetings sent shortly after Thanksgiving) and of course, run to Costco to pick up the prints. Then, there was that vegetable-beef-barley soup recipe I wanted to throw together so we'd have something to warm our bones on the last day of 2009. There were also Aaron's homework assignment and Alisa's projects which had been put off the whole break until now, etc. Okay, so my brain is aware that there are only 24 hours in a day and only about 12 waking hours when you don't get up until 10 a.m., and that sounded like a lot even to an eager beaver. Here's how my day progressed...
I dragged myself out of bed just before 10 a.m. After a shower I headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast and call the library to see if I could visit a branch location to unlock the DVDs or not. Nope, I had to return to the main library--it seems they're the only ones who keep their DVDs under lock and key. I thought if I could snap a shot of the kids, upload it to Costco then head out, by the time I went to the library and cruised back across town to Costco, the photos would be ready. Then, I could swing by Wal-Mart and be back in for the remainder of the evening to clean and bake cookies, and maybe even get a nap. I quick whipped up a Happy New Year poster with runny Elmer's glue and glitter for the kids to hold in the photo (I didn't need 50 greeting cards which is the minimum order for Costco). Then, my cousin Barrett stopped by for a brief visit. The kids got dressed and I snapped their photo. It took me the better part of an hour to remember how to navigate costco.com's 1-hour photo center. Meanwhile, Aaron reminded me that I wouldn't have to go to Costco if I'd just hook up the new printer/scanner they bought me for Christmas. He was met with some very unkind words spoken from sheer frustration, mind you. The good news was that I found a coupon for 50 free prints from when the kids bought me my flash drive last Christmas, so I uploaded 50 prints of various Christmas photos. I fixed myself a sandwich and chips, and we headed out the door just as it was beginning to rain (yes, it was well past lunch time by now). My photos were to be ready at 2:56 p.m. The mission to the library was accomplished with relative ease--I even remembered to pay my fine so I could start the year off with a clean slate. My photos were just coming off of the printer when I walked up to the counter at Costco. The kids decided we should stop by home to get sheets of their graph paper for their assignments so we could make extra copies. I grabbed the pages and we were off once again. The copy shop we normally use was closed, so we continued on around the corner to Wal-Mart. What in the world were all of those people doing at my grocery store?! Alisa & I did a quick once over. She was determined that I was to only get the four items on my list, but I kept thinking of other things from the list in my head (like laundry soap...I noticed I was really low when I washed a load of towels earlier; chips...after all, I had remembered to bring my Fiesta ad for price matching, etc.). It didn't take that long. Then, my sister-in-law called and said they were back in town and en route to PaPa & Tia's house to retrieve their house key, so the kids & I ventured that way, too, to see her new wheels she'd just driven from Chicago. We stopped to drop off some recycling and mail a Happy Holiday card to my cousin on the way. Does anyone but me hear all of the "extras" that were not on my original list of "things to do today"--the load of towels, a stop by the copy shop/post office, recycling?
So, we made it back home at long last and unloaded the couple of bags of groceries. I immediately set out to put the soup together and get my cookie baking strategy in order. All of this is to say, I finally began baking cookies around 7 p.m. I even fired up both ovens (since I only have one rack in each) and it still took me until 10:30 to bake about 12 dozen cookies. I realize that sounds excessive, but I still owe some folks Christmas cookies I never got around to baking for Christmas in addition to the ones I need for, well, later today. I still have cookie dough in the fridge, but figured I'd start to get too tired and burn them up if I continued. I was busy trying to tidy up dishes (from the soup and the cookies) and thinking of clearing the kitchen table before the stroke of midnight. I did manage to point Aaron in the right direction with his math homework once I got a couple pans of cookies in the oven. Alisa was on my case about us doing our nails together with the new set she received from her T'Renee and family for Christmas. At some point I had the foresight to place a bottle of sparkling cider in the bottom of the fridge to chill.
At 11:35 I took a break from the kitchen to join Alisa in the bathroom to do nails. I didn't get very far before Aaron was exclaiming we only had 5 minutes left before the new year, so I headed back to the kitchen to ready our sparkling juice for the toast. My first hint that the sparkling cider was no good should've been when I couldn't remember just how long it had been in the pantry. My second indicator should've been that it didn't spew all over the place despite Aaron's shaking up the bottle before I eased the bottle cap off of it. The final clue should've been that it was dark amber and smelled more like prune juice than apple juice. Aaron & I missed the "final countdown" messing with that mess, and ended up toasting in the New Year with our snack size Baby Ruth & Twix candy bars (which Alisa had not objected to my picking up even though they were not one of the original four items on the grocery list) instead of a sweet and bubbly drink. C'est la vie, no?!
Anyhow, that's how my old year ended and my New Year began. How I hope it's not true that the first day of the year sets the tone for the rest of the year! I'm doomed if that's the case. I wish all of you reading this blog the best of everything in 2010. Until next time...