2010. Jumping in!

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

Well, here it is. The New Year. We stayed up until midnight watching movies. Then we watched the ball drop. We hugged and kissed and wished one another a Happy New Year! And then...we went to bed because we had a LOT to do today!!

Chris went into the shop for a while. He needs to clean up a bit and finish the last little bit of a cabinet install.

Seth slept at a friend's house last night. He's still there. And probably still asleep!

Ian stayed up with us until midnight. He's been staying up late this whole vacation...so he's still asleep. I think I'm going to have to start getting him back on track for school night's soon. He's going to be all out of whack!

And me? Wellll....I'm still in bed, still in my jammies and still reading blogs and browsing flickr. Flickr never ceases to amaze me...the talent of everyday average people blows me away. Amazing. And inspiring.

However...my little leisure time is about up because I have work to do today! Wanna know what I've got on my "to-do" list? Here goes:

• Get Crock Pot going. I have a ham hock. And it's crying out to be turned into a big pot of beans. It will be nice to have dinner ready for me after my long day of working around the house.
• Clean my closet. I need to get rid of some clothes. And some shoes. I also have to make room for some stacks that have been here and there in our room. And...I said "no more piles"...so, they must be sorted through and whatever is left, into the closet it goes, neat and tidy on the shelf, possibly boxed or basket-ed (?) for organization's sake.
• Clean my room. This will happen automatically by the reorganization of my teeny, tiny closet.
• Take down Christmas tree. Honestly, this may happen tomorrow. But today would be nice if I can swing it.
• Organize new mail center. I splurged the other night. I needed a small piece of furniture...like a phone table type thing...to serve as a mail center/bill paying center. (I actually found three...and brought them all home. I ended up keeping two...because one actually worked on my side of the bed to help organize that mess.) This goes along with "no more piles". I had piles of mail...piles of bills...piles of coupons and fliers...piles, piles, PILES! This new piece of furniture is going to help eliminate that...so long as I can refrain from piling on IT.
• Organize eating area. Our house is small. I've mentioned this a time or seventeen. We don't have a nook...or a dining room. It's more like the end of the living area that I call an "eating area". And this area has gotten...piled up. Surprise, eh? There is one specific pile that is also going to be relocated to my closet. It's our file box of important papers. (And really, I should go through those, too, because some of them may not even be important anymore. I just thought of that....hmmm...anyway. First things first, though. Stay focused, girl.)

Because I'm crazy, I took before pictures. And unlike my haircut, I will share them. (The haircut is fine...just not a real big, dramatic change. Plus, I forgot the "before"!) I took pictures of my messy room...my messy dining room...my piles and piles...I did. And I'm going to share them. Because I have no shame. And I like keeping things real around here. We tend to take pictures of the good stuff. Which is wonderful. But...there's also some stuff that ain't so pretty. The good news? It CAN be with a little work and effort! So...on that note...it's time for me to get GOING! I've got a LOT to do today...

Happy New Year...it's going to be a GOOD one!