Has it really been 10 yrs?

January 2000: Sad

I was still very new to "divorce-hood" but learning how to breathe on my own after spending nearly 10 yrs in "married-hood".
It was getting exciting by this point & I was 33 yrs old.
I started out the year 2000 by losing my foxxie dog on New Years day. She died & I cried for 2 weeks. Then my grandfather died & I cried the rest of the month & beyond. I assure you I'm starting out January 2010 on a much better note, hopefully.

Jan 2000-Dec 2009: My "me" decade

This was the decade of new beginnings for me.
Like I stated above I went from "married-hood" to "divorce-hood" & there is only one word that comes to mind when I think of my decade, "Shenanigans". Yep, I guess you could say I sowed some wild oats, rediscovered myself, regained some confidence, & discovered that running was something that I really LOVED! Aside from finishing my degree (FINALLY!) at the start of the decade, I also bought a house (ALONE!), ran my first marathon (Plus 7 more after that), & I really learned to like myself again. True, those who know me personally know I dated a few not-so-nice fellas. In all honesty, there is only one worth mentioning that I've kept in touch with (via email) Rollin, (Mr. Big). Yep, I started out the decade being "Carrie" & then I started watching this fantabulous show on HBO & I'm like, "Hey, that's me but in a small town!" Long story short, this is why I will always be in love with "Sex & the City". Life has been interesting & without my wonderful friends & family I don't know what I would have done to get through this past decade. To all of you who read & who were there with me, "Thank You & I love you!"

Goals for 2010:

*Praying that short little Dr. Johnson sees no dreaded black line on my X-ray on the front of my shin (I'm tired of the shin-ister X-rays!)
*Praying that I don't fall off anymore porches & twist anymore ankles
*Praying that a "project" that I have going on goes well & completes by summer
*Praying for more patience & confidence concerning my "project"
*Praying that I get into the New York City marathon (this will be my 3rd try in 2010)
*Praying that if I do get into the NYC marathon that I can actually train & run it
*Praying for good overall health, job security, world peace, & good will towards men, yadda, yadda, yadda (You guys know what I mean & damn I miss "Seinfeld"!!)
*Praying that Joe doesn't wake up one day & think I'm too naggy to deal with anymore ha!

In all honesty, I'm not making too many goals. I have a few in my head but that's where they'll stay for now.

Getting back to Christmas....yes, we went to San Antonio & we did the usual fun stuff. Joe now realizes there's a clone of me that's a more conservative "Bree Van de Camp Hodge" type living in TX. ha!

Below: Joe & Debbie playing mexican dominoes. Christmas morning: Deb & I rolled out of bed to play with the dogs. Toby is always in the picture. Avery showing us his Spurs cards.
Austin, Avery, Mark, & Deb at the Spurs game, Dec 23rd.
I love this pic of Mark & Avery. It should be framed.
Eva is trying to steal a Christmas kiss from Toby & he'll have none of it. Deb & me at Spurs game. Is it wrong we talked about Tony Parker's hotness? (Fyi, no Eva Longoria Parker sighting)Eva's Santa coat said, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas" when you pressed the buckle on the back. ;-PWe saw "Up in the Air" during Christmas. It was good but definitely not as good as "The Blind side".

The weekend before Christmas we did Christmas with Joe's kids & I didn't have my camera. Hopefully he'll send me some photos. His kids got wii's...one for his house & one for their mom's house. (wii games, clothes, books, etc...) Joe got me a HUGE bottle of glucosamine tablets & diamond earrings. ha! He also bought my plane ticket to TX. (He's so nice!) I got him a new suitcase, bathroom rugs, Central Michigan T-shirt, Titans ticket to the Dolphins game, & a sports book. Clint & Trisha's babies These three little angels are my cousin, Clint's kids. Macy & her twin brothers, Connor & Braden. I spent time with them & my Aunt Becky the day after I got back from Texas. Absolutely Adorable! It's hard to believe the twins will be one year old in January 2010!
It's hard to believe that 10 yrs ago I wasn't a huge fan of Christmas but now I'm A Ok with it. It's all about the kids, the family, & the friends who are your "family". Cheers to a new year, new decade, & new memories!

Samantha's benefit

This past weekend I realized just how much goodness there are in people. A while back some women I work with starting talking about Samantha Abbott. I put 2 & 2 together and realized her mom graduated High School with my TX sister. I graduated High School with her older sister & I had older sister's son's in my middle school afternoon program once upon a time. I'm also familiar with one of the grandmother's etc... Yes, in this small town it's like there's a "Kevin Bacon" connection everywhere with folks.

The benefit got planned pretty much inside of a month. All things considering...the state of the economy, the time of year, etc... We did good! I was all to happy to do what little I did do. I volunteered Fara & Joe, of course. :-) Last total that I heard on monday was around $11,000 in the fund right now. Ya know some people really have it to give, some people don't but give anyway, & others just ignore your emails & text messages. (I won't hold a grudge.) I'm sure there were a few of my "friends" who thought I was being a pest but I didn't give a hairy rats butt. For those locals who had parties, funerals, work, sickness, I totally understood. We had a great time at the auction (that was 3 hrs long!) & the blood/bone marrow drive went well. Like I said, all things considering, it was well done & I'd do it all over again. We may not have had the turn out we had originally hoped but there was a lot of love, prayers, & hope there. Samantha's grandma sent out an email thanking us & in it she mentioned that Sam said that she hoped she could repay the favor one day. :-) Fara & I served bbq plates & chili. She's truly an angel. Sadie Lou (who's appeared on "Ellen"btw) was there to entertain the kids, including Joe. She was awesome. Joe ended up entertaining kids too & believe me he won exactly what he wanted at the auction, too! (signed Steve Sullivan Preds jersey, Preds tickets, & some Christmas baskets)

Coworker Katrina wrapping gifts for donations. She used to work with Sam's grandma (Bobby's mom). She worked really hard on getting donations for the auction.
Brian (BB), another coworker of mine who does A LOT of auctions but this one he worked for free, of course. :-) He's good at running his mouth & keeping us entertained at work. (See Halloween posts for his wild costumes!) Quilt that Sam's great grandma made. Coffee County Mayor was Brian's assistant. These folks worked feverishly to get this together. Santa will certainly reward them all.

On my home front, the same as usual for me....spinning at the rec ctr, weights at harvey's gym, football games at LP Field, Christmas shopping (mostly online!), & work. We were told today that we will get 1/2 our pay cut back in Jan & $200 gift cards for Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised. The auto industry is slowly climbing out of the gutter for us or so it seems. (Thanks to the Germans!)
We were blessed to be awarded a VW contract earlier in the year & now BMW is looking at us. Go Sales & Marketing team! Go M-Tek, Inc.! I know that one day I won't be working there but I'm pretty damn proud to be a part of the team right now. :-)

I'm counting down the days/hours till our flight arrives in San Antonio. We will be going to a Spurs game on the 23rd, a Christmas service on the 24th, hanging at house on the 25th, the Riverwalk on the 26th, & then back here on the 27th.

Merry Christmas!

Starting December with bullet blog thoughts

*Birthday was low key just like I like it. The text messages, phone calls, & facebook wishes lit up my blackberry. :)

*Woke up to a very light dusting of snow on this cold Saturday morning.
Whoo Hoo, I blinked & it was gone.

*Rode my trainer, went to pilates, worked abs, & cleaned house. Now the Christmas cards are staring at me. Ummm, maybe I'll send a few.

*Loving the fact that the Titans are on a winning streak. Yes, could it be that #10 is turning into a passing quarterback? My gut says that they won't beat the Colts but ya never know...

*I hope the Gators beat Bama but if Bama ends up playing the Longhorns. "HOOK 'EM LONGHORNS!"

*Got Joe's company Christmas party tonight. Gesh, has it been a year since we went to that?

*Preds beat the Redwings before Thanksgiving in Nashville. I don't think Joe wants to go to another Wings game with me ever... ;-P

*Looking forward to Christmas in TX. Pulled out a few old Christmas pics of me with my sisters, some of the boys when they were toddlers...so very cute! Made me smile!

*Love the pic Cheryl sent me from Rockefeller center today. *Still staring at tree in box. I may just let Joe put it up next weekend when he comes into T-town to help with the Samantha Abbott benefit. Wish us luck! Afterall that's what Christmas is really about. :)

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/samanthaabbott