Happy New Year!

December 31 - We had a low-key New Year's Eve. Tony, Heather and I went to see "Bedtime Stories." The movie didn't get very good reviews, but we all really liked it. Then, we went to Someburros for dinner. We sat at Heather's favorite corner booth. Tony worked on December 31, so he was tired and went to bed around 10-ish. Heather and I watched Mamma Mia, drank eggnog, watched the ball drop in NYC, and at middnight, went outside and popped poppers. We made a mess and left it to clean up in the morning. Heather didn't think our NYE was as exciting as the annual "Heywood Cousins Party," but I thought it was a lovely evening spent with the two people I love most. I offered to jump into Larry and Deanna's pool with her, but she declined (much to my relief). She knows how much I hate being cold.

January 1 - New Year's Day, Tony and I spent half the day putting away all our Christmas lights and decorations. Tony cleaned up our popper mess from the previous night (I knew he would). It always takes me a long time to put away Christmas decorations because I have to bid a tearful farewell to all my Santa friends for 11 months. I love my collection of Santa Claus ornaments. I always hate to pack them away. I love their cheery faces and bright red suits. Heather demanded that her Christmas tree in her bedroom stay up -- she wasn't finished with Christmas yet. She also told me that I could not put away her Tinkerbell ornaments as they were going to decorate her room.

Our house looks very bare now. I rearranged a few things, hung some new pictures and rearranged others. I sat outside in the sun in the afternoon reading and fell asleep for a short time. The sun felt so cozy and nice . . . like a warm blanket. The inside of our house is like the Arctic Circle. Tony watched the Rose Bowl. Heather played on the computer and watched the Disney Channel. Later, Heather and I took George for a walk. Heather swang on the swings in the park. She has always loved to swing. In the evening, Heather and I watched the "Holiday." It is one of our favorite holiday movies. After the movie, we stayed up pretty late reading. It was a nice New Year's Day.

January 2 - Today is my last day of vacation. I didn't get too much accomplished the last two weeks I have had off work. It was a wonderful and relaxing time well spent with Heather, family and friends and not having an agenda. I can't remember the last time I have had two weeks in a row off from work. I really feel refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of things.

Heather's wonderful Sunday School teacher invited her class over for a "Harry Potter" movie marathon today. It was supposed to start at 10:00 AM. Because Heather and I stayed up so late, we slept in. Heather didn't arrive until 10:30 AM. Oops! All this relaxing and late nights caught up with me because I have had a BAD headache today. I ran a few errands, including picking up my pain medication. It has been weird not being with Heather today since we have spent so much time together. Since I had some times on my hands, I created this blog. Hopefully, I can keep up on it! One of my New Year's resolutions . . .

Tomorrow, for our 23rd wedding anniversary, Tony, Heather, and I are driving to Las Vegas for a day. Tony surprised me with Blue Man Group tickets. We have seen them before and have wanted to see them again. We saw them a few years ago for another anniversary. Because it is so much fun, we couldn't leave Heather home. While Tony is driving, Heather and I plan to have a "The Office" and "Pushing Daisies" marathon (our Christmas presents from Tony).