Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx

I have been trying to keep up a steady pace of reading. One book I just finished is "The Go-To Girl" by Louise Bagshawe. I loved it. The story was great, the characters were believable, and it ended well. I recommend it for a fun read.I am now reading "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" by Sally Smith O'Rourke. It is also proving to be very enjoyable. It toys with the idea of Fitzwilliam Darcy having been a real person in Jane Austen's life. I'm about halfway through it. Lined up next, I am going to finish reading "The Bronte Project: A Novel of Passion, Desire, and Good PR" by Jennifer Vandever. I began this while in NM and didn't finish it. But it also seemed promising. I'll let you know how they are.

I feel a story coming on...

Not much to report. Comp cord is still kaput, H's comp went kaput, now we're using Mister's comp. Also, our cell phone is kaput. Fun. Little Man is rolling everywhere and is trying to scoot a bit too. He managed to unplug the Gamecube while Tiny and Mister were playing it. Tiny brought him to me and told me what happened and all I could do was laugh. This, I'm sure, is only the beginning of the mischief.

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT! Whether you're political or not, whether you like him or not...I am so excited. I told H that anytime I see Pres. Obama, I feel proud...and full of hope. I loved the inauguration, bloopers and all. I felt like I was witnessing something very important. I can't wait to see what he has in store and I hope to play a part in making a better tomorrow.

And the last update, I am beginning the first steps of writing a story. I'm hoping it will grow up to be a book, but I am excited. I'll just tell you that my research will be centered in familiarizing myself with the works of Jane Austen. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me. I have read half of her works and will reacquaint myself with them and introduce myself to the others. I will let you all know more as it progresses. Wish me luck.

Cord Troubles

Just putting in a post letting you know that my entries will be sparse for a bit. I have just killed my third power adapter for my laptop and will need to send it to Toshiba for it to be replaced. It sucks less to have it die when it's still under warranty.

Things are much the same here. I'm missing my family down in NM. I loved visiting them. We have the house up for sale and I am trying to weed through the extra crap we've accumulated during our time in this house. The realtor wants to have pictures taken soon and I'm trying to make it look like someplace a person would like to live in, rather than run for the hills screaming. You think I joke, but I'm dead serious. I have not had a handle on this house in quite some time. I hope I can weed through it til it hurts to give up anymore. That will help keep it presentable...for now. I also dread the idea of having to box all this stuff up and moving it to a new place half this size. Ugh.

H is working hard at the ski resort and losing weight. He weighed three days ago and he's down 27 lbs. I'm impressed with how disciplined he's been. The kids are enjoying their Saturday with a friend over, and avoiding any housework. Little Man is finally over most of his cold and can breathe through his nose again. He's still not back to sleeping through the night though. Not fun for me. H got a new (to us) car for $600 bucks. It just needed a few things repaired and works great for him to get back and forth to work. It's an old Crown Victoria police cruiser. Thankfully, it doesn't have any markings from when it was a cop car. It's really decent.

Well, that's all for now. Better try to clean something else before Little Man wakes up.

Pottery Barn Dreams

I remember the first time I received a Pottery Barn catalog. It was the Christmas 2003 catalog. I know this because I still have it. When I opened the pages for the first time, I nearly swooned. It was warm, it was comfortable-looking, it was beautiful. I loved everything in there. I wanted to go broke decorating my house with every little item. And I still feel that way every time I look at it...except the going broke part, we're already there...and, without one item of PB furniture.

I believe that it is very hard to find what your true style is. You can look at home magazines and like one style and you can window shop at furniture stores and admire a few of the items. But, it's when you walk into a room, be it literally (in a store) or figuratively (in the pages of a catalog) and what you see takes your breath away and simultaneously makes you feel all warm and fuzzy...you've found your style. So, as cliche as it may sound to some of the more eclectic or traditional decorators, Pottery Barn is my style.

Since that Christmas 2003 catalog, I have tried to receive as many of their regular catalogs as possible. Hey, they're free. And I have to say that my level of infatuation for their products has had ups and downs. I still love the warm colors of the fall and winter lines, but find myself picking and choosing from the spring and summer items. While I love bright colors, I prefer them as accents, not main designs. But, no matter the season, I can always pull out the PB catalog and feel my heart melt looking at my comfy, cozy ideal living room, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. I think it's the clean, uncluttered spaces and fun designs that capture my heart and hold my attention. Maybe one day, I will be able to afford to leaf through each page and order to my heart's desire. Or maybe, I'll have to content myself to poring over each new catalog and at least match the wall colors the best I can and taking joy in a freshly painted room that mimics the ideal. Oh, to dream of clean rooms, beautifully decorated and wonderfully organized.

AT LAST!

I am so glad to be home. You wouldn't believe the weather and traffic we had to fight through on the way home. Usually, the trip from my parent's house to ours is a 14-hour drive. Well, it took us 14 hours to drive half the total distance. The snow wasn't so bad, but the road was a sheet of ice and the traffic was backed up for miles in some spots. We actually took a service road to get around the stalled traffic. There were a few accidents along the way and I'm thankful that we were safe.

We stopped at midnight last night to stay at a hotel and then got underway again this morning. Little did we know, we were only a little ahead of another big snowstorm. We stopped off at H's dad's house to visit and ate a bit before heading home, normally a 40-minute drive that took 2 hours. The storm had caught up with us. But, we made it home, safe and whole. The kids tore into some gifts that were waiting for them, played with their new things, ate some dinner, and headed to bed. They have school in the morning.

Little Man tolerated the trip pretty well. But I'm sure he won't want to see the inside of the car for a while. He won't sit in his carseat without fussing right now. The change from warm to cold weather on the trip seems to have caused him a slight fever. He was a little grumpy and generally feeling a bit yucky. But, hopefully, the tylenol will help and he'll be good to go soon. He is almost 6 months old and this was his first big trip. He seems to share his daddy's sentiments on travel; the shorter, the better.

I missed my house more than I thought. Right now, it looks like the van upchucked all our luggage into the livingroom. But I hope to get it all sorted soon. Thus will begin my "weeding" of the house. Since we are so behind on our mortgage, it will come down to either selling or foreclosure. We have the house listed in hopes of short-selling it before the mortgage company comes calling. So, either way, we'll likely be moving within the next couple of months. I am going to start "weeding" through our belongings in order to minimize what we will be needing to move to the next place.

On that note...H is still working at the ski resort. He is getting a lot of exercise and has lost 20 lbs. in the last month. He is also eating really well. He looks really good. You can see the difference in his face and his "glow". He looks healthier. I mistakenly weighed myself today and was dismayed to find that I did, indeed, gain weight on our vacation. I am now 25 lbs. heavier than I want to be. I am making a goal to lose this weight. I am not going to obsess or worry excessively about a time table. I have found that while I am breastfeeding, I am content that I have some extra weight that is helping to meet Little Man's needs. But I would like to be healthier and I am going to slowly start to work toward my goal. I already have an exercise regimen that I can start up again and, with the holidays over, I will be able to avoid some of those food temptations that I fall victim to. I will post on my progress as I make it.

Well, I better get some things in order for tomorrow and get some sleep. I don't think Little Man will sleep through the night while he's still getting reacquainted with his surroundings. Hope you are all safe and well too and enjoying those last few bits of holiday treats.