Coming Up For Air

Ah, it's been quite some time since I posted regularly. This month has been especially difficult and busy at work, I've worked well past 9:00 most nights and the last three weekends, and a couple of nights past midnight this month to get everything done that had to be done. Most of the really difficult things should be behind me now. Of course, you know how it is with work. Something's sure to come up, but I'm quite certain it won't be as difficult as the last few weeks.

The DH has been particularly supportive while I've been having to work so hard, so I thought I'd reward him with some cool t-shirts. I love Threadless, so I found a couple I knew he'd like. He's particularly fond of toast and bacon (not necessarily together, but that would be OK too), so there are the cool T's that I found for him.

And, because great minds think alike, the DH thought I might need a little pick-me-up so he bought me a really cool sweatshirt. If you're not familiar with the logo, it's for the fictional coffee-shop in the TV show Gilmore Girls. He tolerated a lot of episodes of that show before it went off the air. He's such a good guy!

And, earlier in the month, he found this really cool and unique vase at the consignment shop around the corner. It's wonderful.

"All About Us is Din"

This morning, I saw a new president sworn in. The world is in economic turmoil. There is war all around. Many in the world and the nation are suffering.

We live in a great nation. We have a peaceful transition of power. The process was followed from start to finish. I don't live in fear that my vote does not count or is not counted. Men prayed at the inauguration.

Many have died for this day. We are not always right, but the constitutional republic is a beautiful thing.

On My Bookshelf

Tinkerdoodle lent me the book Persepolis, a graphic novel by a woman who grew up in Iran until she was shipped out to boarding school in Austria. Marjane Satrapi was only 9 years old when the revolution took place in 1979. She depicts how the changes that took place happened through the eyes of a child, but with the depth of an adult seeing it all in retrospect.

I enjoyed the style of the graphics and thoroughly enjoyed the story. It gave me more insight into life in Iran. I also listened to Rick Steves talk about his recent trip to Iran and the filming of a documentatary about Iran. I must say, it's left me wanting to learn more. I feel like Iran is severely misunderstood by Americans and I'm ready to learn more.

I highly recommend Persepolis and look forward to reading the next installment, Persepolis 2. Once I've read the second one, then I'll watch the movie. It was a big hit at Cannes a year ago and got quite a bit of press when it was in theaters here, but I didn't get to it then. It may have been the French with English subtitles that made me think renting it might work out better for me. I'll let you know how I like the rest of the stories.

Sharing Some Crafts

These are two of my favorite Christmas crafts.

The first is the pair of lounge pants that I sort of made. I had some help from my mom and sis, but I started them and I finished them, so they were made by me. Right? Right! They were a gift for my SIL and she's worn them, so they must be OK.









The second is a craft made by my crafty friend, the Duchess. She's pretty darn good considering that her specialty is fiber arts. Aren't these the cutest magnets? They totally fit my design sensibility too. I just love them. Plus, they look fantastic on the message board that my sister crafted for me!

New Look Getting Better

The Blogger error went away, so I could upload the new template. YAY! I'll customize soon.

New Year, New Look

I was trying to upload a cool new template when Blogger pooped out and kept giving me errors. So, now it's totally messed up. I'll fix it when Blogger is playing more nicely.

Happy New Year -- and Playing Catch Up

There's been so much happening in the last week that I'll just have to give you the highlights.

Christmas Eve was spent making homemade pizzas with our friends as we helped them celebrate one of their traditions. We had a great time visiting, playing with kids, catching up on the goings-on, and just having a really nice time with fantastic people.

On Christmas day, the DH and I woke up to open presents. I think we both did wonderfully. Here are the spoils for me:

and here are the spoils for the DH:

My best thing was probably the Lodis red handbag, big enough for the laptop. It's beautiful, but the best part is that the DH had seen me coveting it and then went back later and picked it up. I think the DH likes his new iPod the best, though he should probably speak for himself.

On Christmas day, the brother, SIL, and nephew came over for Christmas dinner. We had smoked turkey from Jensen's smoke house and I think I'm never buying regular turkey again. It was SO yummy! I highly recommend it if you can get a smoked turkey. The SIL also made really tasty pumpkin cake that tasted super yummy, a little like gingerbread. I made pear cake with no refined sugar for the DH and we had whipped cream with cinnamon instead of sugar in it. My friend Kathy came up with that brilliant idea and it's really tasty (assuming you like cinnamon the way I do).

The cream pudding was too thick, so after we ate, I mixed the rest of the cinnamon whipped cream into it. Now that was a happy accident! It was even tastier than it had been, which is pretty tasty.

On Sunday, we enjoyed turkey and dumplings made with some of the leftover turkey. The smoked turkey made that taste great too! Bottom line -- smoked turkey rocks.

This week, the DH has been off most of the time, but I've still been working. It's been super busy at work with my right-hand gal going out on maternity leave any moment now. good times!

Last night, for New Year's Eve, the DH and I stayed home and I set up a new printer and did some cleaning and purging in the office. I like to save a lot of things, but I sure enjoy getting rid of stuff. I like order more than I like stuff. So far, I have four boxes of things to take to DI. That feels good. We stayed up until midnight and toasted in the New Year with blueberry sparkling cider and watched some of the space needle fireworks on TV. We'll need to go see those in person some time.

This morning, we slept late and then took down all the Christmas decorations. The DH still needs to take down the lights outside, but other than that, it's all cleaned up. The house seems a little emptier now, just like it does every year. It's also a little more orderly and looks like a home ready for a new start.

I hope you all have a very happy new year!