Naturally Optimistic

So here we are on the last day of the year. How did that happen? Isn't supposed to only be August or something? I could've sworn we missed an entire season. Ah well. I suppose we didn't and time just moves quickly and here we are. I'm not going to lie. This year was tough. Having a new baby was something that I was prepared for and so totally unprepared for it's hard to explain. I fell in love with my daughter but I don't think I adjusted to motherhood well. I'm not used to sleepless nights and having to put someone else first 24 hours a day. While I consider myself to be fairly laid back, this new little person had me stressed out and discombobulated for most of the year! I think we're both learning though and figuring out our relationship and both of us are gaining some independence from each other, and I think that's a good thing. I love this little one so much. Her goofy crinkled up nose smiles, all of her "words" and noises, the way sh...

Dahlia in her party dress. The weekend, once again, flew by MUCH too quickly. I mean really? Two days off and five days on? Who thought this was a good idea? (okay okay, don't answer that - clearly the people working seven days on thought it was GREAT!)...I digress... Friday night...we had a pick up shoot for WHITE MAN'S WORLD at my house. It involved Jason & our actress Kris, Pat our makeup guru and myself. Mostly Pat & I sipped cocktails & discussed religion & philosophy while the scene was being shot. I dug it! The scene went great it was a fun night. Pat LOVES Dahlia so it was nice that they got to spend some quality time together. Dahlia slept til 7:15am on Saturday! Whohoo! THAT rocked my world. The rest of the day was spent putzing around, more ADR work for GOD ROCKS and Dahlia's first birthday party! It was for our friends' little girl Claira who was turning 3. There was a lot of commotion - gave us a glimpse as to what we're in for in a cou...

Steve & I had a lovely anniversary. On Saturday we met Michelle & Chris for pizza at the best pizza place in the world, Sammys. It was yummy as usual and I enjoyed it. I know it's not very FANCY but I didn't care! It's my favorite. Afterwards they came over and we had a cake that Michelle made. Yum! Michelle & Chris met at our wedding (convenient match-making seating arrangement, dontcha think? hee hee!) and have been together ever since. It was fun to hang out & catch up. I was so excited to do something SOCIAL! Whohooo! I stayed up past MIDNIGHT that night which is unheard of these days. Therefore I slept later than I planned to on Sunday. Sunday Steve & I headed up the North Shore to Lutsen for a day of fall colors. The day was gorgeous. In the upper 70's, not a cloud in the sky, beautiful blue sky with all sorts of gorgeous fall color. Not exactly like the craptacular weather we had a year ago! Ah well. We took the gondola to the top of Moose ...

November was full of lots of ups & downs..... First we had the " Case of the Missing Husband " which kicked off the month. There was cheesecake and dinner parties and Friends stopping by. There was crime and there was SUCCESS ! There were a few wedding memories and thoughts of tomorrow's honeymoon . My Grandma's health is failing, but she's still hanging in there for now and I got to see her on Thanksgiving . A new baby was born, a lovely trip up the shore was taken and I inched towards my future . There were some surveys, a meme or two, a couple of self-portraits and lots of mindless rambling. All in all it was a good experience. I read lots of new blogs and really enjoyed sitting down for a few moments each day to be thoughtful (sometimes) about my life. I would do this again!

I don't know how or why these have to go so quickly. There is never enough time to get as many things done as you'd like. *sigh* The dinner party last night was a lot of fun. We ate, we drank, we played "Apples to Apples." Fun was had by all. The cheesecake & other foods went over very well and there're plenty of leftovers! Today we got up and started tackling all the dishes. Ay yi yi. That was a big project. This afternoon my friend Freya & her family stopped by for a visit as they were on their way through town heading back towards "the cities." It was so nice to see them. I hadn't seen her children since they were wee babies so this was great. More dishes, boiling a turkey carcass into fabulous turkey stock for future soups, a trip to the city's food composting site (ooh! Fun!), a hike in Chester Park with my husband and dinner at my mother-in-laws house. Now I'm home and just poured 18 cups of turkey stock into bags for freezing a...