Happy New Year!

Oops.  I took a hiatus.  And I liked it.

I love working in education because of the winter recess that gives me at least a week off at Christmas and New Year's without me having to take extra vacation days.  Although I did work from home one day and took a half day to have a complete 12 days at home.  And it was luxurious. 

So, I guess I'll bring you up to speed on the last few weeks and then we can start with new stuff later.  And I'll try to not leave you for so long without at least giving you fair warning.  Ok?

Dave and I put up our little Christmas tree and had a pretty festive holiday.  And a well behaved Rondo didn't disturb it at all.  He never bothered the gifts or the decorations. 

Dave did lots of lights outside on the house, but I don't have a picture.  We were hoping to get a nice snow-covered lights picture after the snow storm, but the 14-20 inches they predicted ended up only being about 4 inches for us, because the storm system had a huge hole right over our county.  It was a little ridiculous.  And then the winds blew so much that we had drifts of 6 inches in one half of the lawn and bare grass on the other. 

Christmas Eve we were invited to have dinner with our friends, Stacy and Don, as they had a dinner party for their family.  It was a nice evening with friends and we definitely ate too much.  But that didn't stop us from going home and snuggling up with hot chocolate and cookies and watching Christmas specials.  Although Dave wouldn't let me open my Christmas gifts until Christmas morning.  We spent Christmas Day with my in-laws and it was really nice.  We had dinner, exchanged gifts, and just enjoyed the company.

Dave and I exchanged Christmas stockings, but decided not to do presents this year.  This was in part to our tighter budget and in part to us recently trading in our Wii for a PlayStation 3 with the Move system.  We traded in the game system, all the controllers and games, used gift cards and store credit Dave earned from doing surveys and ended up with a brand new PlayStation 3, the Move system, extra controllers and 4 games for less than $24.  No, that's not a typo.  So of course, the day after Christmas, we headed back to GameStop to get some more games to keep us occupied during the holiday break.  Dave got a racing game that I actually don't mind watching him play and I got Little Big Planet.  I love it and I'm totally addicted.  Not that it's a hard game, but in the week we've had it, I've almost finished the game.  I just can't stop playing.  I'll turn off the system and then 15 minutes later, I'm back at it.  And I found out that Little Big Planet 2 comes out in a few weeks.  Cannot wait.

I spent a few days down with a cold, and I may or may not have used that as an excuse to spend at least half of every day on the couch in stretchy yoga pants or pajamas.  And I couldn't have been happier.  The four or five pounds I put on don't really matter--I'm sure once I stop eating crap and start working out again (which is on the agenda for tonight), those will come right off.  The break was so relaxing and stress-free that I really don't care that my jeans are close to snug.  Totally worth it.

We did go cross-country skiing one day.  It was great to be outdoors and playing in the snow.  We went to Windblown, which is about 30 minutes from our house.  The trails were great and the glittery snow was perfect for a late-morning/early-afternoon outing.  It's been almost 2 years since we'd been out since Dave was broken last winter and couldn't do any outdoor activities.  The fall tally was 4 for me and 1 for Dave, although I contest the fourth fall since I was standing perfectly still and stopped.  I went to look at my watch and without warning, I crashed down (hard) on my butt.  The first three falls I'll own--I have a hard time turning or stopping, so I just aim for the soft, fluffy snow and usually end up doing a face plant.  But I love it, so I'm looking forward to going out again soon.

Rondo has some good news too.  He had two applications come in and it looks like he might get adopted in the next week or so.  The first application was for a family with three kids and another dog.  It seemed like a reasonable match, but maybe a little too active for him.  We were willing for the whole family to meet with Rondo, but unfortunately we weren't able to get in touch with them to make the arrangements.  In the meantime, a single guy applied for him, excited about adopting a bigger dog and looking for a buddy.  Tyson loved Rondo right away and impressed us by asking all the right questions and expressing appropriate concerns or suggesting solutions to potential difficulties.  After checking with Tyson's references, we have another volunteer who will do a home visit this week, so hopefully Rondo will have a new floor to snuggle up on by the weekend.  We're sure the home visit will go well since one of Tyson's references told us that when he was house hunting, one of the top priorities was having space for a dog.

And here we are in 2011.  We had friends over for New Year's Eve--ate, drank, and played some games.  Cindy and Keith came over for dinner and Stacy and Don came over later in the evening.  Unfortunately no one stayed to watch the ball drop.  It was a late night and a long week for them, so that's ok.  Cindy had to work the next morning, and Stacy was coming down with a cold.  And it was kind of nice for us to be able to change into pajamas and curl up on the couch with our champagne for the countdown.

New Year's Day we invited my in-laws over and I cooked (with Dave's help) a pretty good meal.  I made pork tenderloin and sauerkraut in the slow cooker, baked butternut squash fries, buttered egg noodles, and a tossed salad, which Dave grilled another pork tenderloin that had been marinating in a roasted apple glaze.  And again, we ate too much.

A little (big?) part of me wanted to stay on vacation, but being back into a routine isn't so bad.  I'm not sure what 2011 will bring, but here's hoping it's a new job for my husband, more time with friends and family, and happiness and health for everyone.

Can't take yourself too seriously

I am so sore.

But I am a dancing machine. Watch me get down.

I suppose I should back up. D and I like to play video games. D had a PS2 that we played together and then we both got PSPs for our commute. Recently we traded in the PS2 for a Wii and have been having a lot of fun with it. We just play goofy games and enjoy spending a snowy, cold winter evening together.

So last week, my dear friend C told me she got Just Dance for the Wii and absolutely loved it. It's fun and a great way to embarrass yourself or others while playing a game. Her son actually told her, "That's so wrong," while she danced to Ring My Bell.

I was intrigued. I went online and read some about the game, watched the hi-LAR-ious videos of other people playing the game and was hooked. So Saturday I bought the game, and Sunday all chaos ensued.

This is what I learned: I am not coordinated.

I sort of already knew that. A few years ago, I had a Pilates DVD at home and decided to try it. I ventured to our basement gym and popped it in the player. Although no one else was home, I managed to embarrass myself into hysterics for how poorly I could 1) do the correct movements; and 2) keep up with the instructor. I have refused to do Pilates ever since.

So it should come as no surprise that the first time I played Just Dance, I was bad. Really bad. The game scores you on Bad, OK and Great and at the end of your performance, it will tell you the percentage of moves you had in each. I was more than 50% bad for at least the first 4 songs.

But it was so much fun. I must have played for over an hour and a half yesterday. C came over and showed me how to do it (and kicked my butt on every song). Then my friend R came over and played (her first time even hearing of the game and still schooled me in 2 out of 3 songs).

I love to dance, I just never had anyone actually point out to me that I'm rhythmically challenged. The game wants you to be a mirror image of the dancer on your TV. At one point, D looked at C and I and said, "One of you is wrong because you two are a mirror image of each other." That would be me.

So I shall practice. And come my friend's wedding in June, I shall overcome my coordination and rhythm impairments and own the dance floor.

Or give everyone a good laugh.