Last week of 2007 update

Huh? What do you mean I didn't post anything about Christmas? What? I haven't posted anything for a week? You've barely heard anything from me this month?

Well we can't have that, now can we?

So I guess we're in for another quick update-a-roo!

Christmas
This is our first Christmas where we didn't go anywhere, and hence our first Christmas tree, and OUR first Christmas with my parents. Well I think so anyway. Most of the last 7 Christmases, Eric and I have either been apart, or on the East Coast with his family for Christmas, and one year we went to Canada to visit my brother and sister-in-law. I have been craving to build our own Christmas Traditions, but Eric really just wants to be with his family. Neither of us put much effort into this holiday to make it special though, so I can't expect miracles.

We agreed to no gifts with the siblings and between ourselves, and only to give to the kids in the family. My brother still had a DVD shipped to us, but I'm not sure if the coding will work in our player as its from the UK (anyone know?). My mom gave us a box of See's chocolate which I have been promptly making disappear, usually around breakfast time the craving hits me.

On Christmas day I cooked dinner and my parents came over to eat. I made Prime Rib for my father, a lovely salad for Eric which was also supposed to be special for my mom, but I failed to remember to put in the freshly roasted beets which she loves (and they are still sitting at the back of the fridge where I put them to cool). I also made Yorkshire pudding which was a first for all of us. If you've never had it, Eric came up with a great description, Meat Doughnuts. Mmmm batter fried in beef fat! I roasted up some Broccoli and Garlicky Potatoes (separate dishes), and finished off with a rather un-traditional Christmas dessert of Strawberry Shortcake. My father only cares for 2 desserts, Lemon Custard Pie and Strawberry Shortcake, and since some lovely Florida strawberries were in the store, shortcake it was. Unfortunately, I forgot my mom can't have strawberries due to her diverticulitis, so she got seedless Strawberry Jam on her's.

Most meals with my parents are a little stressful, at least I find them to be. But who knows, maybe it's just me being super sensitive to any tension in the air when they are concerned and I just can't relax. Hell, I probably put that tension in the air. The bickering was at a minimum this particular meal though. I'm pretty sure my mom caught my pleading stare when my father started going on about his cough and how he stopped taking his Blood Pressure medication because it gives him the cough which keeps him from singing, or sleeping and therefore he can't enjoy life. This complaint comes up just about every time he has us as a captive audience, and every time I ask him to call his doctor who will adjust his medication, but nooooo he has now just decided to stop taking the medication instead. Usually my mom voices her frustration about this continuing complaint, and then things get uncomfortable, and bickering proceeds. But this time, she made a few little comments and didn't push and the subject was able to be changed. So thank you mom!

I'm hoping after we have kids, that this time of year will become the magical time I remember it being. But I guess if I want it to be special, I have to get off my duff and do something about it. Maybe next year.


New Hobby!
Eric and I have been talking about checking out a climbing gym, and this weekend we finally did it. We knew they would get a rush of new people starting in the new year, so since we said we'd do it this year, we went this weekend.
It was a blast! I suck at it, but I still had a good time. Eric has strong arms due to his work, and he has climbed in gyms and outdoors before so he was able to scamper up those walls pretty easily. He kept wanting to push himself so he kept choosing harder and harder routes, which gave me some practice in belaying and catching him when he would fall. I simply couldn't get it through my head that if I fell it was ok because the rope and Eric would catch me, so I played it really safe and stayed on the easy routes. I discovered I am afraid of heights though and would consistently freak out at the same height on the walls. Only once did I make it past that point and on to the top, and that was sure will because I was totally freaking out. I'm also grossly out of shape, and my upper body strength is even worse then I thought. I'm a tad sore today, but Eric is even more sore.. tee hee!
As we always do when we get excited about something, we jump in head first and usually that means we jump in with our wallets. After one single go, we joined the gym, bought shoes, harnesses and the whole get up. We did this with snowboarding too, and we haven't been boarding for years (we say its because of the expense, but somehow we can throw money at other things instead). At least this time, this is an activity where you have to have a partner to belay you, and even though Eric's skill far surpasses mine, the gym offers difficulties that can challenge both of us. No more getting left alone on the mountain. Plus, a month at this gym equals a single day lift ticket, so it seems a little more reasonable.


Umm... let's see, what else?
Tomorrow I have a big goal for myself (us). A day of purging and cleaning out closets. Clothing, crap, stuff, and junk closets. Just like we did when we were kids, we have, on more then one occasion, just shoved stuff in a closet or two when company was coming over. Do that a few times and you loose the floor, and then you loose stuff, and then you start re-buying stuff you thought you lost, and then you loose the floors in a different closet. So as not to overwhelm myself, I'm going to start with my clothing closet as I haven't seen the floor in there for at least 6 months.

I'd also like to put together a list of goals for the year. Not so much resolutions, but just some things I'd like to do. We'll see if that happens, but I'm not setting my sights too high, because I do indeed hate failure.


Phew... only 2 more minutes until we hit midnight, so I'll wrap up this babbling update and I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!