sunshine state

florida-tastic

We're back from Florida. We didn't kill each other. Came close a couple of times but overall the Christmas vacation was a success. I now know why people brave hurricanes to live in Florida. Because this? This weather we came back to? Is bullshit, my friends. The current temperature makes me want to curl into a ball and go comatose until March.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I wore shorts, went to the beach with my family, and ate a feast of fresh fish. Pretty darn good in my book.

wish us luck

Like something out of a Chevy Chase movie husband and I are off to Florida. With my family. In a minivan. To recap, 18 hours with my family in a minivan.

Wish us luck.

Oh and if you happen to be on our Christmas card list try not to expect a card before Christmas. Somehow I don't think the 15 envelopes I received as part of my order is going to cover the 40 cards I ordered. If you do receive a card before Tuesday just count it as a Christmas miracle. I'd like to apologize in advance for the size of the card. I guess I wasn't paying attention when I made the order. My mom says I might as well have sent out 8 x 10 glossies.

on perfection. and showing up.

Husband and I had a discussion the other day about perfection. Being around perfect people and what that means for the rest of us. Of course there are no perfect people, but I'm sure most of us have come across someone who seems that way. Someone who seems to cast a shadow over you, someone who does things with complete ease, someone who always understands the question. Man, those people really annoy me. But in the end the annoyance is just jealousy, isn't it?

Husband's argument is that in striving to do the best job that we can we are in fact striving for perfection. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I strive to do things correctly at work. I strive to love my family and friends the best I can. I strive to be right. But I don't know if I strive to be perfect. Quite frankly I have a hard enough time trying to be the best me.

But here's the thing. It can be so easy to forget that we can't be perfect. Especially when times are a little tough and you are trying to figure it out. Whatever your "it" happens to be.

There will be certain points in life and certain situations where you will say to yourself, "this is not what I signed up for." You will have gotten yourself to a place or in a relationship or working a job that gives you that icky feeling in the pit of your stomach.

But the thing is, you have to keep showing up. Keep striving. Becuase that's what must be done for now. I stress the for now. And whether you make the hard decision to leave that situation or make the sometimes even harder decision to tough it out but change your attitude and how you respond to that situation, please remember that you get points for just showing up.

A friend recently share the below video with me. As Elizabeth Gilbert says, Ole!’ to you, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.

fragments of thoughts right now

First batch of Christmas cookies. Done.

Precipitation other than snow in December = a cranky Julia

Will Ferrell + Zach Galifinakis = all kinds of inappropriate funnies

Jimmy Fallon ain't too shabby of a singer. Husband had to witness me doing The Dougie after we watched this. And do my best impersonation of Salt 'n Pepa.

Wonder if that ZzzzQuil stuff works. I have an 18 hour car ride in my near future.

Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

hello, lover

found here

christmas tree hunt

 

 

I am a Christmas tree snob.

Live trees only in my house. I don't want anything to do with your wussy fake trees. Chopping it down yourself (er, having your husband do it) is preferable. Rumor has it that I threw a temper tantrum akin to a 2-year-old in the grocery store the year my parents decided to buy an artificial tree. This was five years ago.

My dad is the one who passed down the art of finding the perfect tree. You can blame him for my militant view on the subject. I'm not sure who to blame for husband having to chop down the fattest tree in the lot. I guess that would be me. It is anyone's guess how we are going to get it out the door in January.

Happy Holidays!

family

I lucked out. I married into one of the greatest, most loving families you'll ever come across. I am one lucky girl, yes I am.