Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year Everyone!

The last five weeks have been like the center of a hurricane. We rushed into a vacation before Christmas holiday with a cruise to the Caribbean. Sounds like a great idea, right? The cruise was super cheap, so we thought it was the perfect way to have some family time together and relax. Little did we know that there is a reason why cruises from NYC are super cheap during the winter. Let's just say that I am thankful for Dramamine. However, Dramamine does little good when there are 20 ft swells and 50 MPH winds! I can sum up the cruise with one word: VOMIT.

OK - let me get past the super gross stuff. The holidays were good. God answered my prayer for no snow and for the first time since I moved to Toronto, we had a barren Christmas. Woo Hoo! I did marathon shopping, marathon wrapping (thanks to dear friend Christina) and marathon clean-up. I even got one BIG CHORE done when I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and the fridge. We squeezed in two movies: Squeakuel and Nine. Both were slightly disappointing, but who cares? I had a moment's peace and quiet and a big bag of popcorn.

During the holiday parties, I was thoroughly entertained watching friends get inebriated and make ridiculous comments. But, I missed my friends from work and I missed my 'own' family, i.e, sister, nephews and sister-in-law. And I dreamed about my parents - strange long, twisted dreams of conversations that never happened. The past five weeks flew by with record speed and the elapsed time made me year for days sitting under a tree in the warm Arkansas spring - where time slows an indiscernible pace.

Speaking of dreams, last night I dreamed that I met the Pope at a VIP party in a large elevator in Houston. My date was a cowboy who was afraid that he wasn't dressed up enough. I entered the party on the 89 floor of a tower and impressed the Pope because I was the only one who could make the sign of the cross. During the party, I made an astute comment about football (like that could ever happen!) and was disturbed that the Pope seemed to 'take a liking' to a glamorous guest in a long yellow gown. I was happy to get the SWAG bag, which contained a saffron colored silk Sari, which they were giving away to promote the South Asian community. Crazy right? I am usually really good at analyzing dreams, but that one takes the cake!

Tomorrow begins the 'routine' of school for the boys and work for me. I use the word 'routine' loosely, because my life is anything but repetitive. Repetition is not for me. I live on the edge of reason - but I like it that way.