Top Ten Memories & Moments of 2008

I saw Jillian’s post on her favorite things in 2008, so I started thinking of my own highlights from the past year. In no particular order, here are some of our favorite memories and moments from 2008.

1. Watching Katie Anne grow and change… At the beginning of 2008, Katie Anne was still a baby. Having only really mastered saying “Daddy” and just getting the hang of crawling in January, she was still really a stationary little tiny person. By the end of the year, she’s a runner, a dancer, a talker, a singer – just a totally fun and funny little girl. This has been an amazing year of change and growth for her, and we’ve loved watching it.
2. Spending time with family… We love to spend time with both of our families. Katie Anne is such a lucky little girl to grow up less than a mile from the homes of both sets of her grandparents. From going out to eat to hanging out at home to watching Katie Anne’s antics, it’s a lot of fun to hang out with the Glawsons and the Joneses!
3. Being with friends… Saunders and I are very lucky to be surrounded by a great set of friends. We so appreciate the support and camaraderie we find in our friends. We have a great time going out for girls’ nights, having the guys over to play poker, heading to Athens for football games, or just sitting around and talking!
4. Celebrating Katie Anne’s first birthday… Watching your first baby turn one is such a magical moment. It is so bittersweet- we loved seeing Katie Anne growing into a toddler and couldn’t wait to see what the future would hold for her, but it was sad to think that we’d left our first experiences of the cuddly baby stage behind. We had such a fun time spending her birthday week together (it was my Spring Break, and Saunders took vacation time with us) and then having lots of friends and family over for her party!
5. Seeing Greg and Jillian get married… Although it has seemed like Jillian’s been a part of our family for the last few years, it was great to have her join the Glawson ranks officially. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a lot of fun, and everyone – especially our dancing girl KA – had a great time. We’ll have memories from that weekend for years to come!
6. Visiting the Joneses and Corens in Arizona… It was so sad when we heard in May 2007 that Jodi, Jason, and Marley were moving to Scottsdale, and then we got the gloomy news that, in May 2008, Carlton and Trisha were moving to Phoenix! When we heard the Dawgs were playing in Tempe, Saunders and I just had to make the trip out. We got to spend several fun days seeing the sights in AZ and visiting with family. We had such a great trip- and the Dawgs won!
7. Our summer vacation… Taking Katie Anne to the beach this year was so much fun. Our family created memories that we’ll never forget. Seeing her running toward the water, not afraid at all – watching her face as she saw the fireworks for the first time – going out together as a family – playing board games and relaxing- just a great time!
8. Celebrating five years of marriage… Saunders and I have now been married for five years, and we’re so thankful to still be as much in love in December 2008 as we were in December 2003. It has been an amazing five years together! We can’t wait to see where the next fifty years takes us.
9. Celebrating my mom’s 50^th birthday… I had such a great time creating the memories scrapbook for my mom. It was so hard for me to keep a secret from her that long! I loved making it – I looked forward to checking the mail each day for pages that her friends and family created, and I was thrilled when she loved it, too.
10. Being hired for my new teaching position… I am so happy in my new work environment in first grade at CPS. I love my new bosses, students, curriculum, schedule (hello, 2:00 dismissal!) – just everything about my new job! Katie Anne and Saunders love it, too, because I’m in such a better mood when I come home each day.

How fitting that these wonderful memories make up my 200^th post on the blog!!!

Ringing in 2009

Today, we had my parents and Greg and Jillian over to watch the UGA bowl game and ring in the New Year. We enjoyed some yummy appetizer-type snacks and hanging out together. When it was game time, the guys watched the game in the basement so they could concentrate while the girls watched upstairs so KA could play and we could talk. Of course, after a bit of a stressful game, the Dawgs came out with a victory over Michigan State, so we were all happy! Greg and Jillian tried out my Wii Fit, and of course they loved it because it is awesome! My camera made absolutely terrible pictures today- very blurry, so there's not many. I'm putting a nice new camera on my 2009 wish list!

My New Year's Resolutions

Like almost everyone else on the planet, I make New Years Resolutions every year. Sometimes I do well, and sometimes I do not. Last year, these were my resolutions and my analysis of their sticking power…

1. Go on a diet!

Verdict: Until Jan. 15, great job! For the other 11.5 months, not so much.

2. Lose weight!

Verdict: No. Maintaining counts for something, doesn’t it? :)

3. Cook more meals at home instead of eating out.

Verdict: Yes! Last year, we ate at home 4-6 nights per week.

4. Stop using the computer when Katie Anne is awake … aka be more actively engaged in her playtime.

Verdict: Yes! I rarely use the computer when she’s up and about, and we spend tons of time playing together.

5. Stay on top of the filing/organization in the office.

Verdict: No. The office looks like a paper bomb exploded in there. I just close the door and try to pretend it doesn’t exist. I think the reason I did poorly on this one is that I had no real plan… just a vague idea to “do better” than the previous year.

So, I’ve been thinking about my New Year’s Resolutions for this year, and I’m trying to be more proactive and think of some I can achieve. Here are my thoughts…

In the New Year, I will…

1. I will be more physically active.
2. I will walk the dogs more often.
3. I will set up a new filing system to keep our home office more organized.
4. I will uphold Tuesday Night Chore Night.
5. I will get the playroom finished.

Every year since I was a teenager, I’ve made the same ones – diet and lose weight. I always pick some hare-brained diet, do it for two weeks, and then go right back to my old habits. I’m not making those these resolutions this year! I’ve decided my problem isn’t really my food- I do go wild on occasion, but we really eat pretty healthily. We eat a lot of steamed vegetables, don’t ever fry anything, and have cut bread from our evening meals. So, instead I’m going to focus more on my activity level. All of my hobbies (sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, reading … and, um, hello, Blogger) are sedentary, so my health-related resolution this year will be to be more active. I’m going to use the Wii Fit mainly, with a little weight lifting with Saunders, sit ups, and jogging on the treadmill thrown in for good measure.

I also feel really bad about how little physical activity our dogs get each day. Before Katie Anne was born, I walked the dogs several times a week. When I was pregnant, I walked them almost every day. After KA was born, I tried to figure out how to push the stroller or carry her in her Baby Bjorn and walk them, but it was too much trouble. I always wound up walking half the mile with a screaming baby and/or miserable dogs. So, I just gave up. Now that she goes to sleep at a reasonable 7:30 pm, there’s no reason I can’t stroll with them at least one mile around our neighborhood at least 2-3 days per week. Plus, that activity can accomplish resolutions 1 and 2 in one fell swoop!

I have a great plan for a simple filing system for the office papers. Not to go into too much detail, but I’m really cutting down on the number of files, so it reduces the separating and filing time. I’ve been saving a lot of unnecessary papers, so I’m cutting back on volume, too. Also, this will be a system Saunders can do instead of me having to file everything… my other system was way too complicated. Probably why no one filed anything!

My house is driving me crazy. It needs a deep cleaning badly. I mean dusting light fixtures, wiping baseboards, cleaning blinds… really deep cleaning. So, I’m instituting Tuesday Night Chore Nights. This means, on Tuesday nights after KA is asleep, I am picking one room and going crazy on it. I mean, I’m locking myself in the chosen room with a bottle of 409 and a sponge, and only one of us is walking out - me or the filth. I hope Saunders will join me in this endeavor, but even if he doesn’t, I’m declaring war on dust bunnies and getting it done. First room up: the master bathroom.

Finally, I am finishing that playroom if I have to freaking knit the carpet myself and glue it down with my own spit. I am so ready to have that project finished! We were on a roll and did a ton of great work, and then we got tired and ran out of money. Well, we’re still tired and still out of money, but we're going to cut back in other areas and finish the drill!

My "Not To Do" List

In this month’s Real Simple magazine, they had a great list of “Not” New Years’ Resolutions… basically, things you’re resolving not to do in 2009. I thought this was a great idea because it’s much easier to decide not to do something that vice versa! So, here are my “not” resolutions…

1. I will not bust our budget.

2. I will not start a new hobby.

3. I will not take toddler time with Katie Anne for granted – she’s growing up so fast!

4. I will not subscribe to any more magazines.

5. I will not bring any teaching work home with me.

6. I will not go skiing.

7. I will not get another pet.

8. I will not feel guilty if I don’t fold and put away underwear or socks. Its fine to get them straight out of the

clean laundry basket- never killed anyone that I know of.

9. I will not circle and circle the parking lot looking for the best spot.

10. I will not waste Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday wishing it was the weekend.

Happy New Year's Eve!

Last night, we celebrated New Year's Eve with our friends. While Katie Anne rocked in the New Year with Gigi and Granddad, we went out to dinner with the McWhorters and then to a party at the Adamses. (Thanks for the babysitting duties, Gigi and Granddad!)

Our evening started at The Waterstone Grill, where we listened to Doc play jazzy favorites (including Auld Lang Syne) while enjoying some delicious food. Josh and I had the shrimp and lobster bisque - very tasty - and Saunders and Vanessa had a salad. Josh, Vanessa, and I all ate the filet with cheesy mashed potatoes - yum - and Saunders had the lamb roast with creamed spinach. We had SUCH a fun time at dinner. We laughed until literally my face hurt - mostly at Josh's expense, but I promised I wouldn't blog the story or else I'd face the wrath of being featured on the new embarrassing blog he's dreaming up.

Vanessa & Josh - still laughing!

Whew- can you tell I had my first post-mono drink to celebrate 2009?
Oh, but it was such a delicious apple martini...
Vanessa tries to make up for hurting Josh's feelings!

Then, we headed back to Cartersville to Natalie and Brandon's house for their annual New Year's Eve party, complete with their classic forms of entertainment- beer pong and fireworks! This year, we abstained from the beer pong, and thank goodness we did... some new guest was sneaking in strange concoctions to the cups, and Natalie was the poor victim. Natalie had tons of yummy snacks, and everyone had a great time. We had lots of fun catching up with Natalie and Brandon and hanging out with some of their friends. We rang in the New Year and watched Brandon set off his fireworks (against Natalie's better judgement), then it was off to home and sleep!

Saunders with a celebratory cigar

I tried to be good and make this martini really weak... but I accidentally used a melon liqueur that I thought was a non-alcoholic mixer as the main part of my drink. Whoops!

Happy New Year, Saunders!
Josh doesn't look too happy here... still hasn't forgiven Vanessa!

Brandon is just as addicted to his camera as I am!

Natalie's attempt at smiling for the camera!

Love the facial hair, Josh! :)

11:59 PM - Waiting for the ball to drop...

My fun friends and me

One of Brandon's fireworks- they really were good ones!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Let's End 2008 Right...

With cleaning and organization!

Come on people, get excited!
Wait, why don't I hear cheering?

Katie Anne's room has been totally driving me nuts for weeks. Specifically, her closet and dressers. Her room looked okay from the outside, but open the closet doors, and this is what you find...

















Madness and mayhem, folks, madness and mayhem. This pile 'o shoes (90% too small) makes me sick to my stomach...













And this? I just call this corner of her closet the black hole... what goes back there, no man can find. A woman? Maybe. But definitely no man is strong enough for that fruitless search. ("What little pink baseball cap? Are you sure? Back here? I can't find anything back here, Katie... I see a bulb syringe, a pair of tiny overalls, a box of bandaids...")













The sad thing about the black hole is that the little wooden bins were so sweetly organized back in the summer!

The problem has been that I never cleared out her summer clothes before I started sticking winter clothes in there, and I actually should've cleared about half those summer clothes out in July when she had a big growth spurt, but I didn't. This causes several issues:
1. "Oh, that shirt would look good with these pants... wait, it's actually a sleeveless dress, size 12 months. Oops."
2. "Katie, please do not tell me Katie Anne needs new clothes. Have you looked at her closet? It is packed. Have you opened her drawers? Stuffed. No new clothes."
3. "Yeah, she has shoes to wear with that dress. I remember seeing some pink dress shoes in her closet... what? Oh, seriously they're size 2? Yikes. White sandals in November it is!"

Seriously, she has size 18 months shorts mixed in with her 2T and 3T pants, 12 months rompers hanging next to 24 months sweatshirts. It is impossible to find anything. Everything is so wrinkled from being shoved and jammed. So... this chore had to be done.

It took me about 4 hours to clean out her entire room because I had to do it when she was awake (duh). So, two hours in the morning, pause for lunch and nap, and two hours yesterday afternoon. In the depths of the job, I thought that maybe this was a terrible idea.













Yep, this is the point when you think, "This might have been a job too big for one human."

















But, finally, I just busted in there and finished the drill. I've got a big bag of summer clothes 12-18 months to save for the next kid as well as a little bag for Goodwill donation. All her drawers are organized, too - and guess what? Two of the six are COMPLETELY empty- awesome! It looks SO much better and I feel a lot better starting 2009 with that job behind me!

The finished closet...

















Reorganized shoe shelf...













The black hole conquered!













The room view... notice the almost-naked runner who stripped down during the cleaning process.