now breathe

Even though I declared January to be stress-free and project-free I forgot to tell the rest of the world. Oh well. This month we had my Dad's retirement party and Emily's baby shower and the preparations took all month. In the middle of planning and preparation, Amy was hospitalized for a bit. Even though there wasn't a terrible amount of things to be done, it seemed to be a pretty packed month. Even just the waiting for the week to arrive seemed to make each day busy and full.

At last, it's all over. It was a wonderful weekend and certainly worth all the work. Dad's party was over the top. A horse and wagon transported him from work to the church. We decorated the gym for the party. There he was greeted by friends, family, co workers, and representatives from the church. They had a musical number, tributes, plaques from the First Presidency and the LDS Family Services Commissioner, presents, and FOOD! April, his amazing secretary, planned a huge luau. My projects were Grand kid interviews and a video slide show. At the end Mom arranged for a bag pipe performance and gave Dad a four wheeler to ride home on.

Friday night we had an adult only dinner for relatives at Dad's favorite place, Sizzler. Nate pointed out we've never gone out to eat with just the adults before. It was nice, but I ate way too much at the luau to be hungry. This day was also our wedding anniversary so we jokingly thanked everyone for coming for the special occasion.

Uncle Larry, Aunt Dorian, and Misty stayed with us. They are the easiest guests and so delightful to be around. I'm trying to come up with more reasons they should come visit. Perhaps I can convince them to stay permanently.

Saturday was Emily's baby shower. She's probably the most gorgeous pregnant girl ever. It's been a hard pregnancy for her and we can't wait for her little girl to arrive. So we had more family and friends gather at Kristi's for brunch. She was given some amazing gifts, especially meaningful blankets. One was made by Grandma's sister, Hazel, who had gone blind. She would count the stitches and then at the end of a row would move a bean from one pocket to the other so that she could keep track of the rows and know when to change colors.

All in all it was wonderful. I'm also glad it's over. I'm tired ;)
Since I can't even think about hooking up my camera, here's a picture that I already had on my computer from the slide show. I love it.

Mom (pregnant with Nate) and Dad. Kristi, Ben, Lisa, and Dave.

I'm over it

Well, it's January 2nd. I got online and after about 3 minutes decided I am SO over New Years. Actually, I guess I never really got into it to begin with.

CELEBRATION: We didn't do anything. Of all the options nothing sounded as good as staying home, being together, and getting some sleep. Though I usually really get into holidays, I didn't even mention anything to Mason other than to let him know the next day was a new year so he would be going to his new class at church. Oh, and I gave him two packs of POPS which he delightfully threw on the porch in complete satisfaction. Some of the Starr fam: Jeff, Necia, Joss, and Joe came over. We visited. Ate. The kiddos played. Then they went home and we went to bed. It was just what I needed after such a crazy December. It was peaceful and effortless. I definitely mark it as the best New Years yet.

RESOLUTIONS: I see several blogs boasting this as the year for "Organization", "Simplicity", "Taking over the world one craft at a time", or "Continuing to be the best at everything". I know I may sound lame but I am just not that interested in conquering the world this year. I don't have some big defining goal summed up in one all inclusive word pasted in a cute font. I always have things I want to improve on but resolutions, in January, seem so cliche. That's why I started working out in December (snort. True,  but that sure sounds superior.) If you weren't doing something yesterday, why would you start today just because of the date on the calendar? If your motivation is the date, no wonder most resolutions FAIL.

Perhaps it's that I'm not looking for Big Change. I really like life as it is. It's not perfect but just a little more of some things and a little less of others and we're about there.

Must I list something? Fine. Then I resolve not to bite off more than I can chew... for at least two months. No big projects, overhauls, or special causes. December flat out down right wore me out. So I resolve to take it easy for a bit. Take THAT, ambition.