New Year's Resloution

Before I get into that, let's back up to just before Christmas and the last time I blogged...

I spent Christmas in Ohio with my mom's brother, Zdis, his wife Maryann, their three boys and subsequent wife and children. It was such a blast. It was freezing cold, yes, but did it snow!? NO! Geez! What good is it to go to a state and freeze your tookis off if there's no snow? I see it as a test. I think Santa had a last minute deal with Mother Nature to see how I'd react with no snow in OHIO on Christmas. I probably failed miserably because I complained (imagine that) and shook my fist while cursing in Mother Nature's general direction. I expect I'll have regular visits from an Eeyore like rain cloud above my head in the coming year for that one.
Aside from the no snow, Christmas was amazing. We were surrounded by little girls opening gifts and squealing when "Santa" showed up that morning to personally deliver a gift to each little girl. I got more than I deserve, as usual. Mom always sets these parameters like," this year, the limit is $100." Or, "this year, there won't be any little gifts, just one or 2 big ones." Or, "this year, we aren't doing stockings, just a few gifts." Never works, bless her. She always goes above and beyond and spoils us rotten. I love that woman. I made out like a bandit, naturally. (It's that whole being shallow and easy to buy for thing that I mentioned last month) Alex and Chris each bought me a shirt and went in on a cd together for me. I got new flip flops, clothes, books, a warrior fairy figurine, jewelry and a new evening bag. Grandma got me an adorable little NYC SnowBabies figurine with a little top hat and cane. My gift to myself was a new professional hair straightener, which I bought with Christmas money from my aunts and uncles and grandparents. It sounds crazy, but honestly the thing is amazing.
The most surprising gift I got was from the guy I'm dating, Curren. (Who is now my boyfriend. More on that later). He dropped my gift off at Wendy's house so she could give it to my mom to give to me on Christmas morning. So, that morning, I finish opening all my gifts, so I thnk and mom hands me one more and says its not from her and dad and it's not from Zdis and Maryann... it's from someone. Random. So, I open the little box and there's a note on top of the tissue paper which says "Found this on the seat of my sleigh. You should really fix that hole in your pocket. Mr. C" So, I start to get excited and a little puzzled because, if you don't know, Polar Express is my favorite Christmas movie ever. So, I root thru the tissue paper and uncover a little brown wooden box, much like a tiny treasure chest. Inside the box, wrapped in a soft black leather was a bell. A sleight bell much like the one that was given as the first gift of Christmas in the movie! Underneath that was another note, this time from Curren. I know. Amazing. I loved it :o)
New Year's eve was a new experience for me this year, as we had Beauty and the Beast that night. They cleared part of the floor to make room for dancing and we pretty much partied away once the show was over. We still had to take care of the patrons, of course, but they were too busy drinking free champagne and dancing to care about anything else. It was a good time, and everyone made a boatload of money. After we were done at the theater, we all went to a party that our friend Heather was throwing (she's one of the Silly Girls in the show) and stayed there til a little after 4 in the morning just chatting and eating yummy food. It was that night (or, morning if you will) that Curren and I had a chat in which he asked if I would be opposed to being called his girlfriend. I said nope. I mean, we've been dating for a month anyway, so it was just a matter of time :o) My only stipulation was not saying our relationship began New Year's Eve, so we'll play roulette for a date I suppose.
So, that's pretty much the update...
All that to say... I don't do New Year's resolutions. I think it just sets you up for disappointment.
Example: Resolution: To lose weight. When you don't lose weight, you feel bad about it, right? Dumb resolution.
Example: Resolution: Do volunteer work. Then, when you don't magically hae the extra time you somehow thought you would, you feel like a crap person for not giving back, right? Dumb resolution.
See what I mean? I figure, if one really want to lose weight or volunteer, etc, you'd already be doing it. It shouldn't take buying a new calendar to make you want to make a change in your life because by the time March rolls around, everyone is back to the same old same old. It's like after September 11 when everyone was SO American; every store in the nation was sold out of every American flag for weeks, people from New Jersey were actually polite on the road and the world (even France) was sympathetic to our plight. Now? Nothing. We're back to putting crappy anti Bush bumper stickers on cars and France is again thumbing their nose at us.
All that to say, if you are so inclined, choose your New Year's resolution wisely.

Here are some Christmas pictures! http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=40731199391272551/l=342237247/g=118219072/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB