Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 to all! I wanted to post something on 1-1-11 just because it sounds so cool but our internet was down most of yesterday. Since many of you seem to feel I have an internet addiction, you can imagine how bummed out I was. On the other hand, I did accomplish some tasks that have fallen by the wayside, such as sweeping floors and throwing bathroom rugs into the wash.

My coworker Pipa is very creative, enthusiastic, full of fun, and endlessly upbeat. She is always looking for new and interesting things for us to do. Right now, she's busy preparing for our Channel 8 fundraising auction in February and decided she wanted to invite everyone in the community to come to an outdoor "Wii Just Dance" party in the parking lot behind our building, all to be videotaped for the auction. (Last year, she had a bunch of people doing a "Bollywood" type dance in the rain--I was out of town and missed that one!) So we put out the word and had a good crowd of kids and parents show up on Thursday night for our dance party.

Everyone had a blast!

Lining up and getting ready

Tonya, Erin and I were part of the "Mom" section in the back, where we had a big ole time, but were doing our best just to keep up. I am hoping I don't show up on the video--not the most coordinated person in the world. Pipa promises she will edit to show our best moves.

Board member Melanie was cheered up by the fun--her son left to go back to college that day so she was in need of a diversion.

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet--Rich and I both worked all day and then went out to dinner at the Chart Room. We had a nice meal and the added bonus of friends Kristine and Joe joining us during the dessert portion. Kristine always makes me laugh!

I mentioned to Rich that I liked these cute bird plates so he got them for me for Christmas. Aren't they cheerful? Maybe I am pining for spring already and they make me happy.

Our photo printer takes up too much space on our small square kitchen table, or else is banished to the floor, so I ordered this side table to use for printing materials and equipment. We put it together last night. It is not very well made but it's too much hassle to send it back and they only charged me $20 for shipping to Alaska, so I will just hang onto it. It serves its purpose. :)

We were both off for New Year's Day and had a restful day at home. A few chores, a nap, a movie ("500 Days of Summer"--pretty cute), Rich's homemade turkey/rice soup.

I am leaving on Wednesday for a couple of weeks in New Jersey. My mom is having surgery tomorrow but I couldn't get out of here any sooner. One of my brothers lives near Mom and my sister from San Antonio has been in NJ since the 25th of December so Mom's in good hands. She's feeling okay and everyone's just hanging out waiting for the surgery for the most part. It will be good to be there and to help out after surgery. Hopefully all will be well and I will be posting from there as I can.

Happy New Year, everyone!