1. Brian got a new car.
2. Dad got sick and was hospitalized for 2 weeks.
3. We got puppy Leah.
4. I traveled to Richmond for work.
5. Both my parents health has been stabilized.
6. We went to San Diego for vacation.
7. My maternal grandmother passed away. Click here to see neat a mausoleom my mom’s family built in Cambodia.
8. We bought a dining set (my half of the deal since Brian got the new Macbook). Only one more room to fill – formal dining room.
9. We threw a holiday party.
10. Took a much needed vacation where I did absolutely nothing.

So here’s my personal resolution for 2009. I know it’s silly to make resolutions especially when they’re broken in about 2 months, but hopefully, just maybe I keep these resolutions.

1. Workout 4-5 times a week
2. Learn how to meditate
3. Read at least 1 book a quarter
4. Eat more veggies
5. Eat out no more than once a week at work
6. Cook more
7. Blog more
8. Wake up earlier and begin a morning routine (ie. do chores, walk the dogs, eat breakfast, chill, then get ready)
9. Organize our closet
10. Do more gardening
11. Read the news more
12. Organize the stuff in our cabinets
13. Fix the hole in the ceiling of our dining room
14. GO TO EUROPE

I think all of these are attainable, with the exception of the last one. We’re hoping to plan a big trip for the fall, but I haven’t even begun to do my research. I was hoping I was going to get some that research done during my holiday vacation, and I suppose I still have a couple days left, but the task seems to be overly daunting. Maybe I should just call the travel agent that a friend recommended.

Happy New Year everyone!

This morning’s drive was extremely slow. We had fog today and it’s the most dense I’ve seen in years. There were idiots who drove around without their headlights. One of them was a gray car. UGH. I HATE PEOPLE.

I packed my workout bag again today and will be heading off to the gym at lunchtime. Two days in a row. Let’s hope I keep this up for the whole month. If I can do that, it’s one milestone attained!

Anyway, it’s that time of year again where we’re looking at vacation spots. Every year we keep mentioning San Diego, so for once I think we’re going to book our trip there. Not sure why we want to go there in the first place…

I’ve started saving for our Europe trip next year. That is if the value of the dollar is going to go up. If not we’ll probably wait until 2010. The big trip before we start popping out kids. ACK.

Last year, Brian came home and made dinner. This year we’re doing the same, although we’ll be cooking together. I splurged (got carried away) at Central Market. I have to admit that place is a rip off, but it’s hard to avoid at times. Anyway, so that’s our plans for vday. Too bad our fireplace doesn’t work, otherwise, we can enjoy a good movie in front of the fireplace.

Speaking of which, I think we’ll wait until the summer to get it fixed. It may be cheaper then.

Anyway, I’m a little over halfway done with re-reading my PMP Textbox. I got some other study materials from Amazon which I’ll conquer this weekend. Only one month to go.

I’m also looking at the PM Certificate program at UTD. But I wonder if the certificate is redundant to the PMP Certification. I certainly wouldn’t mind taking the courses if it actually helps me do my job better. Although there is an interesting Business Intelligence Certificate course at SMU that also looks good. I did see some of my old professors teaching some of the classes within this program. Both programs are about 18 credit hours each, which essentially is an entire semester. However, with the UTD course, I think I can work up to getting a Masters.

I guess I should take things step at a time…

The other big money purchase was a DYSON. Mmmm. It’s kinda sad that I’m so excited about a vacuum cleaner, but since Linens N’ Things was having a sale on vacuums it was too good to pass up. We’re still 350 bucks shorter now. Who knew a vacuum can cost so much, but it sure picks up dirt pretty well.

With the big purchases and Brian’s car troubles, we’ve spent so much in December. Boo. I’m hoping to start the new year off well without making frivolous purchases. But I do hope Brian gets a new car soon.

Anyway, with that aside, I did not sleep well last night. Work has been on my mind, and I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking of what I need to follow-up the next day. Ugh. I hate when that happens. I was up for two hours trying to remember what I needed to do. On top of that, my mother calls me at 5:30 in the morning. My dad was having issues, I think he was trying to pass a kidney stone. I called her again this morning to see if everything was ok, and she said he’s fine now. Thank goodness. I was hoping we can get through 2007 without having to take him to the hospital again.

Anyway, I hope 2008 is as good as 2007.

I also got from Brian a Chi hair straightener which I love. A cozy fleece jacket (now I don’t have to borrow his). A purdy watch. A book. Some more kitchen stuff.

I got Brian a receiver for the game room, a set of speakers for the family room downstairs, a shirt, a belt, and the annual ornament we always give each other. Christmas was great. Thanks everyone for the lovely gifts.

Anyway, I was looking through some old photos, from right before the wedding. Hrmph, I need to get back to the gym. Even Brian had dimples I can see. We’ve both been focused with other stuff, that I think we’ve lost the urge to stay fit. With the Christmas holiday around the corner, it makes it worse. Plus I think drinking more alcohol doesn’t help. It sounds so cliche, but we need to start on a clean diet once the new year rolls around. I keep looking for motivation, but nothing is a better motivation than looking and feeling good. I still want to run that marathon someday. Or maybe just a half.

Anyway, tomorrow is my last PMP class. I need to register for the test so I can have a target date to cram for. I’ve started on my flash card. You usually get a test date 2 weeks from when you register. I think two weeks is too soon. But I would like to take the exam in the 3-4 weeks. Maybe the first of the year would be good. I can’t delay it, otherwise I may forget everything. If I can devote an hour each night for the next few weeks, I think I will ace this test. So far my score is about a 70, which technically is passing, but why go into the test with only 70% of what you should know?? It’s all those dang glossary terms that I have to memorize. Hmph.

I thought about bringing them to work, but of course I wasn’t the only one with that thought. There were buckets everywhere.

We got several bunches of kids ranging from little wee ones to teenagers. It was good night. Our first set of kids came by too quickly because Reesey was still loose in the house. The minute that doorbell range, she went bark crazy. I literally had to walk out and hand them the candy. But since the door was still crack open, I could feel Reesey by my legs, so in an effort to keep her from eating little Cinderella and Spider-man I slammed the door shut as soon as they got their candies. I hope I didn’t seem like that crazy neighbor lady. The rest of the night we had Reesey stay in the back. She spent the entire night barking up a storm. Brian had to go out there and sit with her. Nothing we say or do will keep her from barking. Arg. Maybe we should get a spray bottle and spray her everytime she yaps. I finally got tired at around 8:30 and turned off our porch light. I think I passed out at 9.

Anyway, we need to get rid of our jack-o-lanterns. I’m starting to see mold grow on the inside. I was hoping to light them up last night but Brian was too afraid of fire. I guess next year we’ll have to find a battery operated candle.

On a side note: I ended up returning the wooden spoon and fork. I guess I should invest in something we both like.

This is rather random or early, but I’m in search of a good Christmas Tree. And yes I’m all for the fake stuff, why chop down real trees that end up being in the trash later on?? Stupid people. Anyway, I’m not sure where we can find the best deal on one. I known we can wait until after Christmas, but I want a good one now! I’m thinking a 9 ft tree would be ok (YIPES, it’s 199 bucks at Home Depot). Maybe that’s too tall? I can settle with a 7.5 foot one. I also need a good tree skirt. Or maybe we just stick to the current one and wait for the after Christmas sale…

So I was thinking of a new vacation, perhaps around New Years. Then I realized, that’s probably the busiest time here at work, so maybe around February. We get Washington’s Bday off which is February 18th. That’s perfect timing since it’s right around Valentine’s day. Hmmm. I’ve always wanted to go skiing. Brian thinks it’s silly because “we don’t ski”. I think there’s an opportunity to do stuff at least once. Who knows, we could be pros (or not). Anyway, I guess we’ll have to think about it a little more.

It’s odd having a holiday smack in the middle of the week. But I guess I’ll take whatever we can get. I have no urge to go back to work tomorrow though. At least it’s Thursday! The past week has been rather uneventful. We did spend time with the Neidig side of the family at the Hyatt Regency Resort in Bastrop two weekends ago. That was fun and a much needed break. We spent 4 days lounging around, sleeping, at the pool, doing absolutely nothing.

The house is a slow work-in-progress. It’ll be awhile before we can fill it entirely, and probably be a year or so before we’ll get real furniture for the formals. However, we did finally buy chairs for the kitchen table. It doesn’t exactly match, but oh well.

My herbs are sprouting and I can actually see cilantro leaves. My next goal is to plant some real plants, maybe not this summer, but since it’s been a mild summer I just may. I want to plant a pepper plant and some lemongrass. Those are the two easiest. Although I may not be using as much lemongrass as much, it’ll at least be aesthetically pleasing in the garden. We’ll see if Brian would let me. Speaking of gardening, the previous owners left a bird bath on the side of the house. I want to put that in the front lawn, lay some of the leftover bricks around it, and plant some flowers inside the bricks. We’ll see.

Someone called me this past weekend though. She was trying to explain what happened and why she bailed on my wedding day. I haven’t called her back, not because I don’t want to, but because I wasn’t quite in the mood for an awkward conversation. I hate those situations. Why can’t it be cool all the time?? Anyway, I am over it and was never quite that upset, but I am curious to know as to what happened.

I finally got back to the gym after a 2 month hiatus. I spent 30 minutes doing cardio this morning. I guess it’s a step. It wasn’t quite as packed as I thought it would be, but there’s still this one annoying chick that I keep seeing. She goes at super sonic speed on the elliptical while reading. Anyway, that’s all.

She had tried to no avail to find me a Wii before Christmas so she could surprise me but this was just as good. If she had actually been able to find it and wrap it and put it under the tree, I would’ve easily spotted the box and ruined any surprise.

The first night it took close to two hours to get the darn thing set up. Unboxing and plugging everything wasn’t too difficult (finding space for it in the A/V rack was a little fun) but the two separate system updates too forever. I think it may have been our Internet being slow and not Nintendo’s fault, but one update took about half an hour and the other at least 45 minutes. It kind of ruined that initial joy of turning a brand new console on and starting it up and playing some games. (Yes I could’ve skipped the updates but I had no idea they’d take so long when I started them.)

We eventually got the Wii up and running and played some Wii Sports. The very first thing Christina says when she sees the game’s graphics was, “Why is it so ugly?” The graphics are most definitely a big step down from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Wii Sports is uglier than pretty much all Xbox and PS2 games as well. Hopefully the impossible to find component cables will improve things a bit if Nintendo ever decides to make any actually useful accessories available in stores.

The first mini-game we tried was tennis and it was a great time. Christina just thought my dancing around and waving around the Wii-mote was hilarious. It actually looked fun enough for her to want to play too. We played some more tennis and bowled a few rounds and had a really good time. The graphics suck, the console and accessories are too expensive, and we only have one Wii-mote, but if you can make Christina actually play video games you’re doing a good job.