Christmas Tree Is Coming Along Nicely

Decorating is coming along ok. Taking longer than I had hoped. I enjoy decorating, but I wanted to get it done sooner and have the house cleaned so that I could spend more time enjoying it during my long weekend. Instead I spent a good chunk of Friday cleaning, Saturday I did more cleaning and started decorating and today I'm still working at it. I got the tree up last night, put together that is. I didn't start on the lights until this morning. Two of the strings from last year didn't work for some reason. Hate it when that happens. I tried putting a spare light in to find where the problem was, but all of my spares had bigger bases and wouldn't fit. Funny how that works. I think companies do that on purpose. They all have different sizes so that you can't mix and match extras when needed. If your strand goes out and you don't have the specific spare to that set your screwed. LOL Anyhow, I got about half way down the tree and we made a run to Smiths. I got two sets of 150. You'd think that would have gotten me through the tree, but nope. My Mom always did her lights from the inside out on each branch rather than just wrapping them around the outside. When you have lights all through the branches the tree glows more and the ornaments stand out more. The whole thing sparkles when your done. I love it, but it is the biggest pain in the bum to get the lights on. I'm done now, thank goodness. My boyfriend ran back to the store for me and got two more sets of 150. Would you believe that I still have 1 branch without lights? Oh-well, that branch will be at the bottom in the back so it really doesn't matter. Now I'm working on the ornaments. I usually start with all the gold, green and red balls. Then I move on the the different ornaments. Most of my Christmas ornaments are hand-me downs from my Mom. I love them all. They are all pretty random and some are really old. I'm trying to take just as good of care as my my Mom did with them. Well, I'd better get back to work. Just wanted to take a quick break.

Time To Decorate

So today I'm going to start decorating. Hopefully I don't create too much of a mess in the process. I actually tried getting some cleaning done first because I don't want to start with a messy house. Just nicer when things are clean and organized. I still have a bit of vacuuming and dusting to do, which really should be done before I start pulling all the decorations out. I have all kinds of decorations. Many of them were given to me by my Mom. She had a pretty big house to decorate when I was young, so now that she's starting to downsize she's giving me quite a few of her decorations. I got quite a few when I first moved out too. I'll probably start with the tree. I have an artificial Christmas tree that I put up each year. So much easier and cleaner than getting a real one. I also have a big artificial Christmas wreath that I made when I was young. I didn't make the actual wreath, but I decorated it with lights, bows and berries. I have been collecting a few pieces each year to a little Christmas village too. I have a hard time with it though with my animals. Well, mainly my cats. They think they need to walk through it the second I have everything in it's perfect place. It never lasts very long. It's nice once it's all set up though. One thing I don't have is a train for my tree. My boyfriend thinks they are annoying, but I like them. I remember my grandparents always had one running around their tree. My parents had one too, but for some reason, theirs would start all by itself in the middle of the night. You'd hear the choo choo whistle and it chugging along. There's a Disney Christmas Mickey Mouse train that I really like, it would look nice under the tree. If I don't get one this year, I'll definitely get one next year. Well, I'd better get to work. Lot's to do today. Hopefully my boyfriend let me play some Christmas music while we're working.

Snow Is Here

Snow is finally here for good, unfortunately. We had a pretty big storm the other day. Not quite as big as they thought it was going to be, but it was enough to give us a few inches that isn't melting away. That's the only thing I don't like about where I live. The snow lasts forever here. Seems like we get snow in October and it doesnt go away until May to June. Our summer lasts for about 3 months and it's gone. Not much of a fall or spring. The skiing is great though. We have several different mountains to go to. I haven't been in quite awhile, mainly because I've felt so out of shape. I know once I start having more energy skiing will sound more fun. We'll have to hit a Utah ski rentals shop first though for my boyfriend. He has a snowboard, but he doesn't have any other gear. When he's gone, he's just worn my ski pants, so if we go together, one of us will need a pair. I have all of my equipment. My family did a lot of skiing growing up, so I have skis, poles, ski clothes, goggles... everything I'd need. That is, if I can fit into them. LOL Hopefully within the next 2 months everything will start fitting better. I used to love skiing. I'm not the type to go if the weather is nasty though. I don't like feeling cold. I never have.

Big Winter Storm Warning

So we're supposed to be getting a HUGE storm today. My work told everyone to leave by 3:00 to ensure everyone had time to get home and safe before the storm hit. It's here now and it looks nasty out. The sky is black and wind is blowing like crazy. My boyfriend had to go run an errand so hopefully he'll be back soon. I hate him out driving in this craziness. You never know when someone else is going to lose control of their car and hit you. You could be as careful as you could possibly be and still get into a bad accident. It's super cold out there too. The wind feels like ice. Flights are getting canceled too. Glad I don't have any family trying to fly in for Thanksgiving. I'm sure a ton of families are being affected by that.

Time To Go To The Dentist

So it's almost time to go into the dentist again. I've been pretty good about going in every 6 months for the past couple years. I've been fortunate to not have a lot of cavities growing up. I don't think I had my first one until about 23ish. I had one, then six months later I had another. Then I waited about 4-5 years before going in again and bamm, 6 cavities. They filled them all at once too. My face was a mess. Way too many fillings to get done in one setting. Thank goodness I wasn't planning on going back to work that day. The dentist I have is pretty nice. I had to go the the salt lake city orthodontist for a long time when I was young. I had braces for about 3 years I think. I also had surgery to my jaw. That wasn't fun, I'll tell you that. I'm glad I did though, now I just need to take care of them.

House Fire

Our neighbors house caught on fire this afternoon. Scary to have that happen so close to home. It started from the guys car and spread to his house and then through the connecting duplex. Luckily everyone got out safely, including their pets. It spread so fast. I think it was one of the biggest black clouds of smoke I've seen coming out of a house. The duplex on the other side, which isn't attached had it's siding completely melted off. If it had just been a little bit longer it would have spread to our house. I guess who ever called it in said it was a car fire, so only one fire truck was on it's way. When they got close and saw the cloud of smoke they knew it was bigger than a car fire and they called in for another truck to come out. That's whats scary about living in duplexes, or apartments for that matter. Someone else might leave their stove on, have a faulty wire, or who knows and it can spread through your home before you know it. You don't have total control over what other people do.

Starting Christmas Shopping

Well, it's about that time to start Christmas shopping. I have no idea where to start. My sister and Mom told me not to go overboard. THat's no fun. I don't think I go overboard, they just know that I don't have a ton of money. My sister wants me to get them the pillow pets, which will be cute. I should probably go ahead and order those so that I have them. I'm not sure what else to get Kota. He didn't give me any ideas. Dang. I think it's starting to get harder as he gets older because I don't know what all he has. He's been really into Bakugan, but I'm not sure if he's as into it as he used to be. He loved the webkins for quite a while too. Wish I knew. I like getting things that I know they really want rather than getting something just to get it. Zane will be 1 1/2 at Christmas. He's now at that age where he's playing a little more. Last year I pretty much just got him a bunch of clothes because he was only 6 months old. For my parents I think I'm going to give them one of those flip cameras. I couldn't decide whether to give it to my sister or parents. I got a brand new camera from work, but I already had one, so no need to keep the new one. I'm getting my sister a copy of a magazine that she wanted. I don't know what to get my brother in law either. They are both very into fitness now, but I think they pretty much have everything they want. I was searching through Amazon the other day looking at toys, Christmas decorations and different things. There are a lot of really cute Disney theme stuff for kids rooms, like wall decals, furniture, comforters and so much more. I started looking through the toddler princess beds. There is such cute stuff these days. I had a really nice room growing up, don't get me wrong. But one of the princess beds would have been so fun. Any little girl would be super excited to have something like that. One of them even looked like a little castle. I had a pound puppy tent though that fit perfectly on my day bed. I loved that. I think just having a hideaway is fun for any kid. My nephew loves to build tents too. Well, that time again. Better get back to work.

Repairs Can Add Up On You

I never know what to do when things need to be fixed, or who you need to call. I need to contact someone about getting my brakes on my car redone. I also need to get my car door window fixed. We have several things in the house that need to be fixed too. We have a few broken windows, carpet is pulling up, leaks in one of the faucets. Seems like the list could go on and on. I looked in the phone book for plumbing salt lake companies, but I think my boyfriend should make that call. He's been meaning to get my car in too for it's brakes. Crazy how different repairs can start adding up on you. I think part of the reason we put it all off is because of the money. Problem is though, that if you put it off too long it can end up costing a lot more to fix than it would have if you had fixed it right away in the first place. A lot of things you can even fix yourself, but you don't want to do it wrong and make it worse.

Good Start To Monday

I am happy to say that I felt pretty good coming into work today. Since I took care of that issue that had been eating at me for so long, I really feel much better. Usually on Sunday nights I start dreading work, but I felt quite a bit less stressed this weekend and this morning. What a great feeling. I came in today feeling like I was going to have a great day, get loads of work done, stay productive and leave at a decent time. I don't want to leave everyday drained like I usually do. We're still trying to decide if we're going to go to the gym in the morning or after work. If I can leave at a decent time, then after work wouldn't be so bad. Maybe we'll alternate and go in the mornings 2 days a week and then after work 2 days a week plus the weekends of course. I want to start taking some classes too, so maybe we'll go in and do cardio & weights on thsoe days and then I'll stop in for 1 or 2 classes a week as well. I just know that I"m going to be so sore once we get going, but I know after a couple weeks I'm going to feel a million times better. I need to go grocery shopping too and figure out what kinds of healthy foods to eat. I'm not quite sure which is going to be harder, eating healthy or making it to the gym regularly. I guess we'll see.

Ending Up With Stretch Marks After Weight Gain

Another thing that really sucks about gaining weight is stretchmarks. You think stretchmarks are only for pregnant women, but anyone that gains weight quickly or even loses weight fast can get stretchmarks. I have some around my waist. I've never had any kids, but I've gone up and down in my weight a lot over the last 10 years. They say the best time to try and get rid of them is within a year of getting them. Hopefully I'm not a lost cause because I don't know when they truly happened. There are all kinds of creams that help prevent stretch mark scars and help get rid of them after they appear. I've read about them for pregnant women. I would assume they would helpful for anyone though. I might check into it further. I'm hoping to lose about 50 pounds so once I get rid of my weight I definitely don't want stretch marks showing.

Dart Night

So last night was dart night. Every Thursday from October through May I go to darts and the local bar. I used to help run it for the last several years, but since I live 45 minutes away I decided I didn't want to be committed to being there every week. Some weeks you just don't feel like going out after work, you know. Plus, when I do go, I'm pretty tired on Fridays. With how busy work has been these last few months I can't be falling asleep at work on Fridays. It was fun though, not too big of a crowd. Sometimes there will be 25 people, sometimes 8. Last night we only had 12 players. We draw for partners and usually pay out first, second and third place. If there's not enought people then we only pay first and second. I'm not too competative, I just want to feel like I did good myself. It's fun to hang out with friends too. Some people get super competative though. You almost don't even want to be their partners, because I end up playing worse. I'm so worried about them getting ticked that I don't even play as good as I usually do. Well, better get back to work. Thank goodness it's Friday. I'm so relieved. These last few weeks have been nuts. Hopefully we will hit the Gym for the first time this weekend and I'll start getting into that.

Facing Bad Decisions

So I finally sent off an email on something I should have taken care of months and months ago. Like I said in one of my previous posts, procrastination is a horrible thing. Nothing will go away by ignoring it. You might like to think so, but it won't. And, when you think about the stress you put on yourself by not taking care of something right away. You constantly have that thought at the back of your mind. It just gets worse and worse the longer you wait. I really need to make a committment to myself that I won't put off things that I'm afraid of dealing with. Weight loss is kind of the same in away. You constantly think that you'll start tomorrow, but then before you know it tomorrow is already over. Time goes so fast and if you keep saying tomorrow you will never get it off your chest. Anyhow, I finally sent an email off to some people, at least explaining a few things. It's not over or dealt with by any means, but I have to come to a resolution now. I can't keep stressing over this issue. I would be enjoying my job a lot more if I didn't have this issue stressing me out. Hopefully, I'll have good news to come...

Christmas Gifts For This Year

Christmas is around the corner and I need to start figuring out what I'm going to get my two adorable nephews. My sister recommended getting them pillow pets. Have you seen that infomercial? They're pretty cute. She wants me to get the monkey for one of them and the puppy for the other. I think they'll like that. I love shopping for my nephew's though. I don't have any kids so why not spoil them? Well, I was told not to go overboard this year. Please, it's Christmas. Oh-well. I'll probably get them at least two things though. I asked my older nephew what he wants and he said, "nothing that I haven't already asked for". Well, that doesn't exactly help me. LOL One year it was so funny, he had me take picture with my phone of the catalog on each page where he'd circled an item. It was funny, but it actually helped me while in the store. The pictures weren't great, but I could somewhat see what it was. Another idea for my little nephew might some wooden abc blocks. He has all kinds of toys that make sounds, sing songs, light up and so forth. Just something simple that he can build, stack and play with. Right now he just likes carrying little things like that around with him. He'll bring you something, like he's giving it to you and then takes it right back. He's funny.

Not Enough Time

Another busy day at work ahead of me. I have two conference calls, a meeting and I need to go through billing and invoicing with someone too. Plus, all of my regular work. I need to try to get out a little early so that I can get down to Pleasant Grove at a decent time to visit with my Mom since it's her last night here. Seems like there's just not enough time for everything.

Another Stressful Day

Today has just been one thing after anohter. Work is crazy. Before you can finish one urgency another has started. I had to keep reminding myself today, one thing at a time. I'm always so tired by the time I get home each day. Mentally drained it seems. I'm sure it would help if I ate healthier, drank more water and got into better shape. Then I probably wouldn't be so tired by the time I get home. I know it makes a big difference. I hate feeling like I need a nap everyday when I get home. I'm tired enough to take a nap, but it doesn't usually help. I'll just feel drained the rest of the night. I need to do something though. My Gold's membership is active now, so I need to start going. Just trying to figure out what time to go, whether it be in the morning, during lunch or after work. I think I might try going to some of the classes too. That might help motivate me to go in the mornings.