Slumber Parties

Yes, I should be working, but this is too darn cute not to share.

My girls are lucky enough to have their own bedrooms, but very rarely does a weekend go by when they don't have a 'sleepover'. With eight years between the ages of the oldest and the youngest, you wouldn't think they would all love it as much as they do, but on either Friday or Saturday nights, blankets and pillows are hauled out and dragged down the stairs. A movie is chosen, snacks are eaten and the girls fall asleep in a big ol' pile of arms, legs and stuffed animals.

I makes my mama heart very happy. And last night, when I saw this, I knew it would make you happy, too. Aren't they adorable?

Screw The Literary Crap. It's January!

Blah blah blah. I'm working. It's January, and it's our busiest time of the year, and I'm working. I have four articles that ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY MUST BE DONE by Tuesday (and yes, the yelling was necessary), and I finished one today. One.

So why am I blogging?

Beats the heck out of me. Most likely, because I feel like I would be cheating you if I didn't have at least one OH MY GOSH, IT IS JANUARY rant on my blog (yelling not necessary, but it's kind of fun to type with the caps lock on).

Also, I'm blogging because the boss called me yesterday... on a Saturday... to say in his most cheerful voice, "Hey! Wanna go to Vegas?"

1. Of course I do!
2. I knew this was coming.
3. Darn it, I don't have time for this!

That conference that I presented at in New Orleans two years ago is happening again at the end of March in Las Vegas (Wow, that is a grammatical mess.). And even though programming has been moving along swimmingly, and I have almost nothing to do with this particular topic in my normal working life, I had a feeling I was going to get sucked in at some point. The point came on Saturday. According to my cell phone log, it came at 11:53 a.m. on Saturday.

So now, in the midst of all the other January fun, I need to think about putting together a one hour program on using LinkedIn, along with interviewing a couple of other people on the subject and figuring out which ones want to come to Vegas with me to sit on a panel. The boss is going to pick up some of the slack on that one, since I'm about to have a nervous breakdown.

In the first six weeks of January, our office will produce five magazine issues, three e-newsletters, a visitors guide and an association directory. I will be involved in everything except one magazine and the visitors guide. There's a small chance I could get out of the association directory, but I'm not counting any chickens.

Probably because my blog is all about bunnies. Exhibit A:

Ahem. Anywho, to sum up: I'm busy. It's January. Thank goodness for wine. And in two months, I will be in Vegas for two days, home for five days and then off to Orlando for four days. That will require vodka.

Working My Way Through More Literary Goodness

I finally have a reason to update my reading list, thanks to a period of extreme laziness that saw me curled up on the couch with my Nook and ignoring all sorts of housework. I also made a trip to the library, and Santa left me a book or two. It was an embarassment of riches!

I started the Game of Thrones series and Oh. My. Goodness. I almost wish I hadn't started it, since I've finished Book 1 and Books 2 through 5 are waiting for me. Unfortunately, it's January and my work load beckons. I haven't seen the television series, but the world created in the book is crazy, elaborate and intriguing. I can't wait to see where it goes next.

I snagged The Pirate King, the new Laurie R. King book, and it was exactly what I wanted from Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes. The Help was on my reading list, and I really liked it. I now give myself permission to see the movie! Also, I gave my mother-in-law Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible for Christmas, and you'll be surprised to hear that almost every recipe contains at least a stick of butter. Heh.

Next up is another book in Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series, David McCullough's The Greater Journey (about Americans in Paris during the 1800s) and Unbroken, since it's been languishing in the reading list for far too long. Miss N has Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children on her Kindle, and I'm hoping she'll let me borrow it long enough to read the book. N said it was really good.

On a related note, Barnes & Noble had a deal right before Christmas where they allowed Nook users to turn in their 1st generation Nooks, purchase a new Nook product and get a $50 gift certificate in return. I was on the fence, but the battery on my 1st gen wasn't reliable anymore and I hadn't been using it as often since it's incredibly irritating to be in the middle of a gripping story, only to be told that it's time to charge. I exchanged my 1st gen for the Nook Simple Touch, and I love it. It's exactly what I want it to be - an e-reader. It doesn't do music or games or play video or do anything, except allow me to read books. It's smaller and lighter than my 1st gen, and the battery life is incredible. If you're a dedicated reader, I highly encourage you to purchase a device that is dedicated to reading. I can read on my iPad2, thanks to apps from Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Apple, but the experience is much much better on my Nook.

That Resolution Thing

I am a little behind on the New Year's resolutions thing as I'm starting 2012 with a lovely case of bronchitis. I've done nothing for three days now in an effort to keep this from developing into pneumonia. Luckily, that's given me plenty of time to read, play Words with Friends and contemplate paint colors.

Which leads nicely to the resolutions... or goals... or whatever...

Goal One is on hold until the bronchitis goes away, but this year I WILL run two 1/2 marathons. I am already signed up for Lincoln again, but the last couple of years, I run Lincoln and then lose my mojo. This year, the fall trail 1/2 is mine.

Goal Two is the ever-so-popular weight loss goal, but mine is fairly modest. I have a huge tradeshow on the schedule in early April in Orlando, and I'd like to drop 10 pounds by then so I can buy some fun new summery clothes without guilt!

Goal Three is the big one. We have lived in our home for nine years, and it is looking dated. We meandered our way through a small bathroom remodel, but in 2012, I have my eyes on the kitchen and all of the woodwork on the main floor. I am going to paint all of the woodwork an off white (currently oak - everywhere in the house, all you see is oak. I am OVER it!), paint all of the rooms on the main level and attack the 1980s kitchen. I am painting the cabinets white, installing beadboard to cover the horrid green check wallpaper under the chair rail and I am looking at a golden honey yellow for the upper walls. To mix things up a bit, I am thinking of painting the island a dark chocolate brown. If I win the lottery, I also want to replace the floors with tile and install new countertops, but those may be more long term projects. As it is, I will be spending a fortune on paint and supplies, but by the end of 2012, I will feel like I have a new house. Of course, there will be pictures.

There you go. Three goals for the new year. What are you looking to accomplish in 2012?

Rockin' The Bunny Slippers

You may have noticed the completely amazing header when you visited the blog today. That, my friends, is the work of the fabulous Eric J. Carter, who typically does cool stuff like this:

Because I am lucky enough to work with Eric... and because I wouldn't stop bugging him... he channeled his artistic talents into the creation of this:

I feel like the little guy has just been busted for doing something illegal, and he is assuming his most innocent expression before the cops show up. He and his little bunny slipper buddy make me happy. No one else in the blogosphere has evil bunny slippers! I win!

I also have a completely custom blog header courtesy of a killer artist. Now, if he would just paint something for that big empty wall in my office... Ahem.

Dashing Through The Snow

Last weekend, we didn't have too much on the agenda so I thought I'd get a head start on the holiday wrapping, maybe get the girls to pose for the Christmas card photo and - if I was in the mood - do a little baking.

Then I ended up sorting through P's outgrown clothing, running my children to eight billion activities (and completely forgetting about a basketball game I was supposed to coach) and hollering at my girls to please, for the love of Pete, clean the darn family room!

This weekend, the agenda is a bit more hectic. I still have piles of gifts to wrap. I haven't taken the holiday photo... which means I haven't ordered the cards... which means there's no way I will get those babies in the mail before the annual trek to Nebraska. I haven't made any Christmas cookies, and I promised to take treats over to our Ronald McDonald House. The office holiday party is Saturday night. Our school bookfair is Saturday afternoon. We really need to go to church on Sunday morning. And I'm running behind on some freelance work.

Guess I should have taken advantage of my 'not too busy' weekend, hmmm?

The Dance

Middle school has been a surprisingly pleasant experience for both N and I this year. I was worried that all of the socializing would be a distraction... and that all of the boys would be a distraction... and that the girl drama would overwhelm what is supposed to be a pretty cool time in life. However, my mama worries haven't come to fruition and N has sailed through the first few months.

I think part of the success can be attributed to all of the activities N is involved in at school. She was the 7th grade football manager, made the 7th grade girls' basketball team and now will be the 8th grade boys' basketball manager. Each of these groups bring her into contact with new people, so she's constantly refreshing her pool of friends. N also was admitted into the gifted program (yes, I am VERY proud of her!) and that has her spending time each day with another group of kids and an incredibly special teacher who divides classroom time between sharing life lessons and emoting Shakespeare... from the top of a desk... in a falsetto...

In other words, life is darn good for my favorite middle schooler. And then on Friday, she attended her first semi-formal dance and she looked like this:

And I was forced to admit that my baby is not a baby any longer.