About those last two months....

Yes. It's been a while. This is what happens when you give a perfectionist without much time on her hands a blog. One week goes by, and she's too busy, and then another week, and she feels bad about not updating. Then she feels like she has to catch up on everything before getting back to the present.

I've been putting it off because the longer I waited, the bigger job it became. Isn't that life? Moral of the story: it's ok if there are some gaps here and there - my friends and family who actually read this would rather hear about some of our activities than none at all! Duh.

So I'm picking up with one of the posts I started before the short hiatus. A few pictures from a random weekend in February -

Lily got an airplane to add to her vast collection of little cars.

Dave and I took Lily to a climbing gym. We snapped these two photos before she broke down crying and refused to wear the harness anymore:

It was really too bad, because it wasn't the heights that scared her - she just hated being hooked up to that rope. She is a great climber, so I hope to get her back there in a few months.

What else have we been up to since New Year's? In January, we took a big trip to Colorado with Dave, which was a lot of fun. Lily HATED skiing - similar to the climbing, she wasn't afraid of going downhill, she just didn't like wearing the skis and how she couldn't walk in them. But she had a blast with the other kids on the trip, and enjoyed playing in the snow.

I hit the slopes a little bit too - first time since Ski Club in middle school, which I recall with more than a little angst. But, skiing was fun!! Other than the time I ran smack into a giant pole in the middle of the hill (America's Funniest Home Videos-style), I did pretty well.

Grandma came to visit us for two weeks in February, which was fantastic (we are already looking forward to the next visit). I had a big trial, which went well. Just this week, I got orders for a new job this summer - I was supposed to switch jobs anyway, but this is a different one from what was originally planned - that will let me have a much better schedule for Lily. More on that later.

Here in North Carolina, spring is pretty much here, so we are getting outside more to enjoy the brief months between winter and Unbearably Hot and Humid.

I hope you're all doing well!

A Lovely New Year's Eve

Happy New Year, family and friends!!! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve, whether it was a champagne-feuled blast, or a quiet evening at home. For the last few years, I've had the latter type (Lily might have something to do with that!); this year, though - thanks to my parents hanging at home with Lily - I got to go out for a swanky evening with my BF!!

We went to Bistro de Novo - a jazz club in downtown Columbus that promised live jazz, a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and a champagne toast at midnight. It sure was fun getting all dressed up - I think we clean up pretty well :-)

There were a few disappointments for the evening, but Dave and I are pretty good at rolling with the punches. The live jazz band was more smooth jazz than big band jazz, but they threw in an Adele song as well as the obligatory Old Lang Syne, so all was well. The restaurant wasn't full at all, but that ended up being great - Dave and I don't get too many quiet, fancy nights out, so we really enjoyed the uninterrupted conversation. Finally, the waiter was more than a little clueless - he didn't understand the concept of the advertised wine pairings, so Dave and I just made up our own with some quick iPhone consultations - and he forgot to bring us the menu-listed oyster shooters. We made sure to request them:

Oyster shooting self-photography is tougher than it looks.... it took no fewer than 5 tries to get this gem of a shot (thank goodness the place was less than full, so no one had to endure our ridiculousness at close proximity). I won't point fingers at the person who had trouble attractively pretending to eat an oyster, but his name starts with a "D" and ends with "ave."

Despite our misgivings earlier that day about staying awake past 10pm (we are getting so old!), we made it to midnight:

And, of course, champagne!!

All in all, we both agreed that it was a fantastic New Year's Eve. I'm so glad I got to spend a special evening with Dave, since he's one of the best things that happened to me in 2011!!

I'll post soon about my resolutions for 2012. I wish you all a great start to the year!!!!!