Last post for 2012....

Another year come and gone.... I am looking forward to this one going, for sure.

I am going to enter this new year full of hope.  And a few other goals are on the horizon, as well:

Re-start school this summer. Life got in the way this fall and winter, and I totally lapsed on school. So,  starting with the summer sessions, I am going to get my butt in gear, and start working toward that BSN. First classes on the list: World History and  Life-span Psychology.

Decorate my apartment... We have been living in the apartment since July 2011, and we still have hardly anything on the walls or floors.  The apartment is still all beige and white.  Blah.... I want to finally tap into my style inspirations and change it up.  My husband may die of color overload, but that's his problem.

Hike... at least monthly, preferably weekly, especially while it is cool.

Walk... at least 30 minutes a day, every day. I have got to get my butt moving.  I spend entirely too much time sitting in my house, because others want to do nothing. The lethargy is killing me.

I wish we could get one of these... but, $2000 is way, WAY out of our price range...

I guess it is park walking for me....

Give up soda... this one may actually be one of the harder ones to stick with. Just drank my last Diet Coke... I don't usually drink them excessively, but I am getting older, and my bones need to keep all their calcium.

Knit a whole sweater.... I have been wanting to knit a cable fisherman sweater for year.  This will be the year to do it.

Volunteer... I have been wanting to volunteer for ages... but I could never decide on what to do.  This past Christmas was only the first step... Through the Lexington Rescue Mission, I have the opportunity to use my nursing skills in a helpful way. I also want to make regular food and toiletry donations to the Mission, as well as knit or crochet scarves and hats.

Find my style.... I know I have one somewhere.... sometimes I feel like I am too old to dress the way I really want. But, I am determined to find my style.... how does one dress like a preppy, rocker, quirky girly-girl with an affinity for Breton striped shirts?

Work on positivity......

Take a vacation with the family, that does not involve travel to Miami. I would like to go to New York City, Washington, DC or drive up into Canada!!

Other self improving items for this year:

Develop a budget and stick to it. 

Eat fish 2 times per week & eliminate white pasta.

Learn to paint with water colors.

Get regular pedicures.

Go to dentist.

Use no credit at all. 

Spend more quality time with my kiddo and husbeast. 

Happy New Year.

Off on a new adventure....

Today I register for school. Just taking English 2, but I figure it is a nice easy transition back into scholarly life. I was going to take it online, but instead, I think I will take it in class. I may be crazy. We shall see.

On the homefront....we took our doggie to the groomer for the very first time yesterday. May not seem like a big deal, but she is 11 and has never been before. Here, her coat and nails have gone out of control, and I am tired of vacuuming up enough hair to knit a new dog. She is so cute. I will have to take photos to post.

Also, speaking of follicular alterations..... my son shaved for the first time this weekend. He saved his little mustache but all that hair that was all over his neck and cheeks is gone. So handsome.

Other than that, I had a long conversation on the phone with my mother yesterday, and it helped me to feel better. I guess I am just missing my family a lot. I definitely don't miss Miami, but I miss my peeps, for sure.

Speaking of family....I have been researching my family tree for a few years, and I have gone all the way back to the first generation to come to America on many branches (most of them came over before the year 1700, many were here in the 1500's). I have a few branches that are dead ends currently, because my great-great-grandfather was an orphan, and there are currently no records for him. Also, my fathers side stalls out at my paternal great-grandfather. Interestingly, my father's mother was Gloria Bacon. And on "Finding Your Roots" this past weekend they did the lineages of Kevin Bacon and his wife. I love to play 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with my son, and wouldn't it be interesting if there only 6 degrees between Kevin Bacon and me?

Speaking of degrees of separation....My degrees of separation between a lot of Hollywood and myself dramatically reduced with the rise to fame of Brett Ratner. He and I went to high school together. While I would not call us friends by any stretch of the imagination, I definitely did know him, and the counts right? So, supposedly, if you believe the covers of the tabloids, he is dating Sandra Bullock. (Whom I love) Who starred in "Speed" and "the Lake House" with Keannu Reeves, with whom I have always wanted to do very bad things with, so it is like we are already dating....

I have been drowning (no pun intended) myself in Titanic programming. I have been interested in Titanic for as long as I can remember. If I ever go to Nova Scotia, I plan to visit the Titanic gravesite there. Also, last time I went to NYC, I stayed at the Hotel Jane in Chelsea, which 100 years ago used to be a kind of retirement home for old mariners. All the rooms are like ship's cabins, with room for only one. Well, anyway....the hotel is where they put up the surviving crew members while the sinking was being investigated. Cool, no? And, if that kind of thing does not float your boat, back before RuPaul was famous, he used to live there. Just sayin'....

Ok, so that was fractured. I must be off to do school stuff and take care of the dreaded groceries.

W. :)

Planning.....

Now that winter has come and gone, I am looking forward to spring and summer.

Spring is such a beautiful time of year, watching nature reawaken. The daffodils are all in bloom (my second favorite flower), and there is a whole line of bulbs planted next to the parking garage at work. So tempting to just cut all of them down and take them home and fill every vase, cup, pitcher and mason jar with those happy, yellow blooms. Soon, all the wildflowers will be popping up, and I will be on my way back to Raven Run to visit the Flower Bowl.

I think this may be one of my favorite places to go, no matter the season.

March: thinking the husbeast and I need a real date night. And what better weekend than Conception Day (oops I mean St Patrick's Day) weekend. There is a burlesque show on 3/16 and then the parade and stuff on 3/17.

Spring break will be coming up soon for the kiddo, and while I was not able to get any extra days off from work, we are planning some local driving trips on the days I do have off. We are going to go to Louisville, and visit the Louisville Slugger Museum, and explore the vintage clothing shops around there, maybe see the Bats play. Visit Harrodsburg, see the fort, go to the Shaker Village. Drive up to Cincinnati, and actually get out of the car this time. (First time we went it was 101 degrees. And we ended up in the dodgy part of town.) Go down to Richmond and visit Adventure Falls.

Oh, and the farmer's market. Summer is all about fresh fruit, veggies and strolling through the market downtown on Saturday morning.

May will be a visit to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival at Bryant Station. Tons of yarny goodness, sheep dog exhibitions and cute little alpaca and sheepy faces to smoosh.

June is the Kentucky Renaissance Faire. Oooh.... fun!

July, we will be driving to Missouri to attend my nephew's wedding. Then it will be the Fourth, and there will be fireworks, and hot dogs, and all sorts of patriotic goings on.

August...... my 20th wedding anniversary. I would like to go visit Mammoth Cave and Cave City. Stay in the Wigwam Village. Go to Guntown Mountain. Really kitsch it up.

Wow.... summer is over already.

W. :)

Ok....other vacay pics, mostly not about clothes....

I have an unwilling victim here!!!





























This is my Aunt Glo! She is like my second mother. We are very alike, personality-wise. She is a 2 year survivor of breast cancer. I love her to death.





















This is my cousin, Joseph! We are 8.5 years apart in age. We are more like brother/sister than cousins. He and my son are really alike.



















This is my grandmother. This is how you will find her every single night. She literally reads a book a day. As you can see, she is just finishing this on up!




















Thursday was her 82nd birthday! We took her out to Red Lobster (her favorite).
















Here are a couple of findings at the mall that were funny/interesting to me:








The purse on the right could be yours for the low, low price of only $1,350.00. The purse on the left, was from fall of last year. Still cute, and way out of my price range.












If you are not a purse person (which I am not), how does this tickle your fancy?










An 18kt gold "personal massager." For over $2k. For that price, it had better never break down, and should also be able to do the dishes.




















This is the reason why people retire to Florida.














This is the way the local morning news anchors dress. Granted, this is Telemundo. Still the local non-Spanish new people do not dress that much differently.












The airport is so close to the ocean, you can actually see cruise ships from the aiport!












For reals!!












And look! Samuel L Jackson was totally sleeping in the airport!!! :D







W. :)