During the month of December I continued reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I'm currently reading the 7th book in the series, Seven Up. I can certainly say, after getting addicted to this series, Janet Evanovich has worked her way up to the top of my favorite author list and is now my #1 favorite. The number of times that I laugh out loud while reading these books is many. I feel as if I can't possibly take these books in public anywhere to read them! People would think I'd lost my mind! lol
What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
During the month of December I missed many of the weekly shows I watch due to a combination of the writer's strike and Christmas specials. We did, however, watch as many Christmas specials and movies as we could. We also watched all of our old favorites as it is a family tradition to have several family movie nights during the holidays to watch our Christmas favorites. Each year we add at least one Christmas movie to our collection. This year we added The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. We all agreed this was our favorite Santa Clause movie out of the three!
What special days did I celebrate and how?
The special days celebrated during the month of December, naturally, were Christmas and Christmas Eve. This year was different than years past because for the first time ever my parents came to our house vs. us going to theirs. We decided early on that they would after we learned my brother and sil would be in the Dominican Republic over the holidays with my sil's family. Christmas Eve was spent relaxing with family (and friends), playing games and catching up. Before my parents went back to their hotel for the night (our townhouse didn't have room for everyone!) and our friends went home, we all opened our traditional Christmas Eve presents. Each year (started by my mother years ago) we give one another a special Christmas ornament. This year, in addition, I gave the girls (and myself!) matching Christmas pj's and matching 'fuzzy socks' to be worn that night. The girls loved them!
New Year's Eve was spent in front of the tv with my daughter (my stepdaughter was already back home). Dh watched tv upstairs. It was just another everyday, average, quiet night for us. The three of us did, however, gather together to 'watch the ball drop' and toasted with, none other than, glasses of coke! Such big partiers we are! Do we know how to ring in a new year or what?!?
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
It was the holidays, so there were lots of gifts given and received during this month. Too many to list, really. Suffice it to say, we were all very blessed this year! The highlights of the gifts I received from dh: My dh secretly got me a beautiful new watch. He also got me a new Bamboo tablet (love it!), a new digital camera, and a new external hard drive (very useful!). I got many other wonderful gifts from my family (and friends). Also, my SG secret pal got me one of the Christmas digital scrap kits I had on my wishlist. I cannot wait to scrap with this!! I gave my own secret pal a gift certificate to the SG boutique.
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
None, thank goodness!!
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
Lots of holiday fun was had...baking with a friend and the girls. A very, very long night of baking, at that! Movie watching, game playing...it was a good and fun month!
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
Not really any. Well, sort of. I did modify a soup recipe I had and it turned out wonderful. Everyone loved it! I made this soup and had it ready the night my parents arrived. The original recipe was Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup. I added black pepper, italian seasoning, parsley, and a little bit of crushed red pepper along with cooked (and cut into pieces) mild italian sausage and let it simmer a bit longer than usual. Yummy!
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
None really out of the ordinary that I can think of...
What were this month's disappointments?
Not finding (or being able to purchase) wii's for the girls. Instead, we wrapped photos of wii's in big boxes for them with the promise of getting them the 'real deal' once they were available. The 'wii chase' my dh and I went on each week was enough to wear anyone out! The most frustrating time was when we were 7 minutes late. We got there and they told us that they'd sold out '7 minutes ago'. Ughh! Oh well, the girls were happy with the promise vs. the real thing and all their other presents, so it all worked out in the end!
What were my accomplishments this month?
My main accomplishment this month was simply surviving the holidays! *wink*...
Other than that, I was thrilled to get to work with and be a part of a Christmas Collab Kit (Whimsical Wonderland). That was a lot of hard work and took a lot of time, but it was also fun! This was the first collab kit I've ever gotten to work on, so it was a great learning experience and I feel it to be a personal accomplishment as well.
Anything else noteworthy to record?
I survived another year!!! Now, to get used to writing 2008 vs. 2007....
My December desktop wallpaper. The photo is of Ben and I during a Christmas trip to Heidelberg, Germany a couple of years ago:
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