1-1-11

Happy New Year! It's been a crazy few days, what with the drooling, teething, night-waking baby, the hysterical meltdown by my mother-in-law accusing me of everything from not loving (or even liking) my husband, not respecting my own mother, and "using anyone I can to get ahead", the writing of a complicated legal brief by myself for the past days, a flurry of post-Christmas returns (yay for store credit for spring shopping!), and the hosting of a small New Year's Eve party last night, I haven't had nearly enough time to blog (or read the 15 new books waiting for me on my Kindle).

(pics from last night: Claire and her doggie)

But enough about all that. I sent off my first draft of the brief at 4:00 today (kicking off 2011 with 8 billable hours, woo hoo, kind of) and am now watching the Biscuit pseudo-CRAWL around the playroom. She only goes backwards, but she does it in wide circles, so while her view keeps changing, she still can't get her hands on the plastic piece of broccoli she so desperately wants. I should go get the video camera, because it is very cute, but I'm cross-legged on the floor and feeling quite cozy with my laptop on my knees and my increasingly (and frighteningly) mobile baby beside me.

(that's a smile, really)

2010 was a great year, obviously, with the addition of our little Clairebiscuit, and I'm pretty excited about 2011 as well. There should be fewer changes than in past years - no moves, no graduations, and no babies, but hopefully some small good ones- like a new, paying job for JP and some manual labor re-landscaping we'll (he'll) be doing in our backyard. I know Claire is going to change so much in the next year, as will Landon to a slightly lesser extent, and I look forward to all of that too. As for me, I hope to expand a bit more in my practice area at work and get more involved in legal things outside of my office. I'd love to get in shape, etc., but I'll be realistic and say that I hope to continue to eat pretty healthfully (while still indulging in my cookies, a world without a cookies is not a world in which I wish to live) and to start back up with the family walks we were taking every night before the time change.

(when Landon saw Claire's shirt, he ran upstairs to change into his Superman shirt so they could match)

Our New Year's plans were simple, but fun, as fits the budget-conscious, slightly sleep-deprived, parents of two that we now are. We had friends over for dinner with their kids, so I got to make appetizers (Mexican Cheesecake!) and decorate the table and bar area, which I love doing, and we didn't have to go anywhere. The kids played, Clairebear smiled, the adults drank wine -- we had a great time. Our next door neighbor had a few fireworks going off in the cul-de-sac so we watched those, watched the kids play some more, and then at 8 everyone left and our Superkids went to bed. JP and I stayed up a while longer playing Scrabble, drinking a bottle of red wine, and toasting to the East Coast New Year's before heading to bed. We're boring. Also happy. Life is good.

Happy 2011 everyone!