Christmas with the bestests!

Last night we headed to Cirucci's for Christmas dinner and present exchange. It was SO much fun. Cirucci made stuffed shells for dinner (absolutely delish). We ate, drank wine, ate chocolate chip cookies (thanks Wen), chatted and opened presents. My volume level got louder and louder (as usual) as the night went on. It is so wonderful to have such wonderful, close friends. I am so lucky!

Thoughts on decision making

In the 8th grade (when I was in my prime of dork-dom) there was a boy named Kieran McNelis that rode my bus. I had a crush on him, and it appeared (to me and everyone else) that his feelings reciprocated mine. Everyone wanted him to ask me "out", including me. He never did. Then, at the 8th grade dance, I worked up the courage to ask Kieran to dance. He said "no". It broke my heart. A few weeks later, when my friend Denise asked him why he hadn't danced with me he said because everyone had wanted him to. He had wanted to dance, and even "date", but he didn't want to do what everyone wanted him to do. I didn't understand that logic then, and I don't understand it now.

Make decisions because it is what you want to do. Decisions you make because of others influence (whichever way you're thinking about it) generally don't turn out so well. Don't blame your inaction (or actions) on others. Be careful when making decisions that will affect others feelings, because your actions one way or the other, might hurt. You may not be given another chance.

P.S. This blog is inspired by something that I heard today, and does not related to any decisions being made by or about me (for those of you who like to read into my blogs).

4-months in...

This afternoon I have been reflecting on the 4 months Carl has had his new job, and I have to say, it has been wonderful! I know that I haven't survived a summer yet, but I'm guessing that it will be worth it for the rest of the year. I really appreciate the time that we get to spend together...especially since we didn't have much to share for so long. At the beginning, it was a bit strange adjusting to the new arrangements. Now there is plenty of time for dinner, the girls bedtime routine, and games, book reading, or tv watching together in the evening!

After dinner last night we went to Kenilworth to see the trains (as promised to Alie). One year ago, we wouldn't have been able to go as a family. I would have taken the girls myself, but its always so much more fun when Carl is able to go with us! We spent about 40 minutes watching the trains, and checking out all the buttons around the tracks. The girls had a wonderful time pointing different things out to Carl and I, and just like last time, Alie did not want to leave. It has been so fun to share in day to day holiday traditions with Carl this year: watching christmas movies, decorating the tree, etc.

I am so thankful that he was able to find a position that he loves that allows him a bit more time with his family!

oh I forgot!

My Viv came on Friday! I had been awaiting it all week (Viv generally finishes my bags early so I was suprised I hadn't received it yet). I had sort of forgotten what the fabric that I had chosen looked like, so it was a wonderful suprise when I opened the box. I absolutely love it (actually I'm kind of obsessed) and I was able to debut it for the girls birthday lunch :)

My babies are 2!

My babies are 2! I can't believe it!!! Friday we spent the day celebrating the girls actual birthday. Wendy came up from Silver Spring for lunch and we met Brooke, her kiddos, and Marge (Brooke's next door neighbor) and son at Kennilworth. We enjoyed some Italian Garden's pizza (yum-o) and spent a lot of time checking out the train (the girls LOVED it). We also thought about giving Santa another try, but he was a no-go. Later, my parents came over for some homemade spagetti in celebration of my dad's bday (his was the 13th).

On Saturday, the fam headed down to Silver Spring to check out Wen's temporary apartment (or hotel as I will be referring to it) and to spend some quality time with her and Greg. Wen and Greg are living in downtown Silver Spring, which is quite cool. We all ate lunch, then the boys played Wii and all the girls went out for some coffee. It was really nice to have a relaxing time with them and I'm so excited that they are close! Carl and I spent the evening playing Monopoly and watching a Christmas movie with Matthew Broderick and Danny Devito.

Today, I did nothing and it was wonderful (and sooo not boring)!!! I finished (well read almost all of) a book, played Uno for a while, watched tv with Carl and played with the girls. Since the morning was rainy, it was perfect for snuggling under a blanket with Carl and drinking coffee while watching the girls play.

I can't believe that this is my last week of work before Christmas break..December has FLOWN by. I still have to finish making the parents' presents!

woohoo!

My grades for the semester were just posted, both "A"s. I'm psyched! I really didn't think I had a chance to get an "A" in organizational change, but evidentally I did (I must have done well on the final).

Now to enjoy some pleasure reading until the spring semester starts in late January!

I'm finished....

for the semester that is. I completed my last exam last night, and it feels so great to be done. Since the excitment of Christmas and the girls birthday share the same month, this grad school thing sometimes gets in the way. I'm looking forward to spending the next two weeks without papers and exams hanging over my head!

Oh and Santa found a great sale yesterday afternoon at Amazon! He was able to get two tricycles for an excellent price, and FREE SHIPPING!!! I can't wait to see how excited the girls will be!!!

Holy toys and 5k runs!

This weekend we hosted Laney and Alie's 2nd birthday party. Lots of people came and squished into my rather small living and dining rooms. We had lunch and cup cakes, then opened presents. Thanks to our generous friends and family, the girls received lots of toys and books (and clothes and accessories)...and all of this two weeks before christmas. The girls are currently obsessed with their new baby dolls, baby doll carriers, and winnie and tigger dolls. The Eloise theme didn't work out quite as planned, but I think eveyone had a good time; I know the girls did!
Yesterday, Carl (with Laney and Alie in the stroller), Greg, Wen, Cirucci and I ran the Jingle Bell Run raising money for the arthritis foundation. There were LOTS of hills, which made it quite difficult on my knees. Cirucci and Greg both ran quite quickly, while Wen and I decided to be slow jogging partners. We ran the first mile and a half and then alternated between speed walking and running...our finishing time wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Much to my suprise, Carl rocked pushing the jogger! I realized later that afternoon, when I couldn't get off of the couch, maybe my arthritis has reached the point where it doesn't want me to run 5ks anymore! We had a great time anyway, and I'm hopeful that it will become our holiday time tradition!

oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I am in waaaayyy over my head. I have two exams early next week, one on Mon from 5-7 and one on Tues from 7-9. I have been studying the past two days, but I have cupcakes to bake, sandwiches to make, a 2nd birthday party to host and a 5k to run! (Not to mention a house to straighten up). Ugh, I always have trouble with this balance at the end of the semester!!!! To make matters worse, my hands have been feeling TERRIBLE (darn you RA).

Hopefull I will be a happy camper on Weds morning when this whole school thing will be done (until the end of January).

Reese's bday and mommy's day out

Yesterday was Reese's first birthday (yay Reesie!) and I took the day off so that Brooke could hang with her fam. We ended up spending the morning together visiting Santa, shopping at White Marsh and lunching at Friendly's. It was really my first "day out" with another mom, and I really did have a great time chatting and hanging out with the girls. I'm really excited that Brooke and I are getting to be closer friends, and look forward to spending more time with her (after pesky exams are over!).

I also visited Target yesterday evening, all by myself. This probably doesn't sound all that exciting, but I rarely go anywhere by myself without having to rush. I spent time looking for boots for the girls, a christmas ornament for Carl and just browsing...oh and I got Becky's baby girl a little something fun as well :)

p.s. you know things are bad when

you do the references page before you finish the paper....
eek! only the conclusion to go :)

ok I give up....

Grad school is hard! Sure, Gettysburg was challenging, and although I didn't love writing papers, once I had read all of the appropriate literature (theory or books), the paper part just sort of flowed. Not the case in grad school. I am currently working on a paper (which isn't that long, only about 15 pages) about motivation, linking theory to practice, and I am struggling. Between citations, theory, and figuring out how to clearly support my points, this paper is hard. I'm excited because its the last paper of the semester (there are exams, but those are next week...ooh that means next week I will be done for the semester, oh geez, digressing again) but I just want to be done with it.
Perhaps the problem with grad school is that there are nine million other things I'd rather be doing. At the 'burg school really was the only thing I HAD to do. I mean the party at theta chi seemed pretty important as did my job at the admissions office, but at the end of the day, I didn't have a full time, 40 hour a week type job. I didn't have family responsibilities, grocery shopping to do, trees to be decorated, birthday parties to be planned, happy hours to schmooze at...I just had school. This super-mom thing is not going well....
Perhaps I should go back to writing the impossible paper. It will be done by the end of the day so I don't have to worry about it anymore!