The blizzard that hit here last Thursday seemed to put every ones’ holiday plans on hold while all the interstates and turnpikes shut down. There was a lot of grumbling about the inconvenience, but I couldn’t help but get a little giddy. It’s not often (if ever) we actually get to have a White Christmas.

I took this picture as Chris and I were flying down the turnpike to my parents house on Sunday. The roads were mostly cleared, but the snow is still around. I love how a blanket of snow can completely change a landscape. A field we pass by thousands of times suddenly seems new. Appropriate because the New Year is upon us.

So, we had to have Christmas with the family a little later. Postponement didn’t make the Christmas dinner of oysters and shrimp taste any different or the time shared with loved ones any less special.

Happy Love Thursday!

As the new year approaches every one’s thought tend to shift to their plans and resolutions for the next year. I never make actual resolutions. Instead, I make up a list of things that I’d like to maybe accomplish. Looking back on last year’s list, I realize that I didn’t do that bad. I had two really big things to accomplish and surprisingly enough, I got those done. When I read over my little things list, I laughed out loud. I didn’t do any of those things except move my iTunes to an external hard drive, learned something about my camera, and maybe watched an hour or two less of TV. That sock I was supposed to have finished is still toe-less.

This week, I’ve been feeling a bit anxious and edgy about the approaching year. It’s like that feeling you’d get on Christmas Eve when you were still little enough to believe in Santa, but not as warm and fuzzy, more knotty and stabby. I have things that I want to do next year, but the anticipation of it all is killing me. I want too much. I want to be crazy healthy, run a marathon, learn foreign languages, simplify, love my new job, be a better yoga teacher, finish knitting projects, have a food fight, go roller skating, go to New York, go to Yogaville, be super organized, relax more, camp more, ride the scooter more, be more charitable, be a better friend, be a better person….Can you see why I might need a Xanax?

I have started doing something towards the “be more charitable” category. Today I started my paper work for registering my bone marrow in the National Marrow Donor Program. I probably would have completed the application today if I didn’t need some information that is at home. I heard a story on NPR recently about a little girl who needs a bone marrow transplant. After listening to her mother plead with listeners to be tested and register your marrow, I couldn’t say no. I just couldn’t think of a good enough reason not to do it.

In all honesty, it’s hard for me to really plan much for 2010. I feel like 2009 has been a really really good year, something I haven’t had in long time. And I’m just a little sad about leaving this year behind, but I know that the new year will bring just as much love, laughter and joy.

What an odd week it seemed to be. Short work week and being snowed in. It all seems so surreal. I sat down to write this entry and realized that I hadn’t added anything to the list. Nothing. Nada. But there were things that made me happy last week. I swear it.

Being lazy for two whole days
Watching This American Life on the Roku
Snow on Christmas Eve (yes, I know it was crazy and messy, but it was really pretty)
Buying this year’s shrimp from our local fish market. Best idea. The shrimp were really good and the guy even cooked them for us
Having a “no obligation” Christmas
Having belated family Christmas dinner on Sunday with oysters and shrimp
Dad telling us about getting stuck in his neighbor’s ditch and having another neighbor pull him out with a tractor
My parent’s fireplace
Christmas nachos
Our dog in the snow
Holding Heather’s hand as we walk through an icy patch in a “if I go, you go” pact.
Hooper’s snores

I am thankful to be in a warm dry house and that we’ve decided to postpone Christmas with the family until Sunday or Saturday (haven’t really decided yet). This is our first Christmas with out obligations and I have to admit to being a bit smitten with the idea of it all.

I hope every one is safe and warm and with someone they love this morning. Be thankful for the tiniest Christmas gift. Merry Christmas!

If I learned any thing crafty from my mom, it was how to tie a proper bow. I don’t use the skill but maybe twice a year, but it’s very much like riding a bike.

I think my minimalist approach to wrapping this years gifts turned out nice. And with every bow I tied, I could feel my mom watching over my shoulder with approval. I love that mom can take a simple task like tying a ribbon and turn it into something fancy with a fluff here and a twirl there.

Hope all is at peace and that every one has at least one bow to untie. Happy Love Thursday.

Lately, I’ve had very little time to write things down on the list as they happen. What I usually do is add to the list while Chris and I wait for our breakfast on Sunday mornings at the Classen Grill (seems to be our new thing). The bad part is that I feel like I might be leaving some things out. The good part is that Chris some times helps out and reminds me of things or things I said.

The List:
The response to our Christmas card
Holiday parties
Making a waitress’s day
Introducing Zelda to Froast
Oohing and Awing over Christmas lights
Singing along to carols on the radio
Looking at Christmas wrappings and ribbons
Finally getting that wire to knit with (knitting with wire is HARD)
Short weeks
The mouse cartoon I put on my lab meeting presentation
Shopping at the Farmer’s Market (I know. This makes the list all the time, but it really makes me happy)
Planning for the 365 day project (I need a big box)
Knowing that someone will be sticking around for a little bit longer then expected (cryptic)
Finding my own time for me
Explaining the meaning of various slang words to my co-workers

Enjoy!

I almost skipped Thankful Friday today just because of all the things that I have to do, but time is so odd. Turns out I’ve spent most of my morning waiting on someone else just so I could get my experiment going. The first two weeks in this lab have been a blur. Finally, I’ve managed to slow things down and do things on my time. The week didn’t fly by as quickly, but I feel like I’ve been a bit more productive at work and home and this is something I am thankful for this week.

This week, I am truly thankful that today is Friday and that I don’t have any real plans other then a movie and a couple of hours of work on Sunday. I plan on doing a bit of grocery shopping, laundry and dusting my room, and then practice being lazy. Maybe I’ll start a new book or finally start on a necklace project I’ve been thinking about. The weekend is my oyster.

With the Holidays approaching I am thankful to have this time of quiet. I am thankful for my husband and his kind a generous heart. I am thankful for my family and my friends. I am thankful.

I know this picture seems a bit dreary for a Love Thursday entry. But my entry this week isn’t so much about the picture as it is about actually taking the picture.

Davenport Chapel, built in 1939 by the W.P.A, sits in the middle of a cemetery at the top of hill over looking Route 66. Often Chris and I will take Route 66 to meet my parents or brother and sister-in-law in Stroud for dinner. It’s a good half way point for us. Every time we pass the cemetery I think of stopping and taking a picture, but we never do.

Saturday, I took the time stop. I also knew that I wanted the pictures to be in black-and-white but I had never used this setting on my camera. Taking the time to stop forced me to learn something new about the menu and features of my camera (I think I’ll start calling her Bessy). It also reminded me to slow down and to enjoy the brief respite and peace of the day, something I’ve managed to loose track of over the past couple of weeks.

Happy Love Thursday!

Good list for the week!

• Finally getting to do some microscopy at my new job
• Hearing of a friends good news
• Vegetarian tortilla soup
• Tree Huger wraps
• Taking pictures of really great looking and tasty food
• Old Christmas tunes playing in the background while we eat lunch
• Amanda’s reaction to her birthday presents
• The Food Fight contest at Whole Foods (all these yummy things to taste!)
• Breakfast at the usual place
• Having dessert for lunch
• Chris’s Mac-n-cheese
• When Hooper falls asleep on my lap
• Getting to leave work on time

That last one made me almost giddy yesterday.

Chris and I had an early lunch at CoolGreens on Saturday before heading up to Tulsa for my niece’s birthday. The food was so yummy and fresh, it needed to be photographed.

I had the Tree Hugger salad, but made up as a wrap. It was exquisite which is something we say now after seeing the Fantastic Mr. Fox.

I forget what Chris got, something with chicken. He also said that his food was exquisite.

This was the center piece on our table. We did not it this.

This was their vegetarian tortilla soup. We had to wait an extra ten minutes for it, but it was worth every minute. It too was exquisite.

On Sunday I dragged Chris to 105degrees to try their new Pomegranate Red Velvet Cake. Unfortunately, that cake is on the new menu that doesn’t come out until the 21st. We had to painstakingly choose something else.

I forget what this is called, but it’s something nougat. The chocolate is out of this world exquisite.

I have also forgotten the name of this one, but it was something parfait and it involved Pineapple ice cream. Need I say it? Exquisite.