Happy New Year!!

Look! It's me! Yes I'm still alive... I survived laser eye surgery, "Turkey Day" at work, family Christmas, AND New Year's Eve! Let's see how much of it I can cover before I get distracted or tired of typing.

First of all, let me say that I don't understand why I blog more in the summer than I do in the winter. You'd think that because there's nothing to do in the winter, I'd have all the time in the world to blog. Summers here are so short, and don't get me wrong, I did enjoy my summer to the fullest last year. But somehow I also found more time to blog than I have lately. Weird.

In my last blog I was still reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Since then I've finished that one, read the entire Half-Blood Prince, watched both movies, read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and just the other night saw part one of the Deathly Hallows movie. Yeah... I'm a nerd. But the Deathly Hallows movie was so worth it! It stuck quite close to the book and was definitely worth seeing at the "expensive" theater :P I can't wait for part two--the FINAL movie!--to come out in July!

Okay... so on December 17th I had my eye surgery. I won't go into great detail here, but overall the procedure itself went well. The days afterwards were hell... but I was warned about that. I've been asked, "would you do it again in a heartbeat?!" and the answer is no. I would only do it again if I have to, that is, if my vision gets bad enough that I need it done again. Any "enhancements" are free for life with the package I got. And thanks to my sweet little benefit plan at work, the whole shebang only cost me $1200 out of my pocket! :D Anyway yeah... I spent the 3 days after surgery dealing with my eyes burning (like when you cut onions) and wearing the dark sunglasses they give you 24/7. The curtains were kept closed and I couldn't even watch TV (just listen to it). By day three I was getting restless and bored, and by that time the meds were making me sick to my stomach. Fun times. Light sensitivity is still an issue, especially at work in the morning. It takes a couple of hours before my eyes have adjusted to the fluorescent lights and the computer screen before I can take my sunglasses off. I have my one-month follow-up appointment next Friday and I'm confident my vision will be 20/20. It's great and I love it, don't get me wrong, but the 3-5 days after surgery were hell, hence NOT wanting to do it again in a heartbeat. Only if necessary lol.

I went in to work for "Turkey Day" on Dec. 23. We were fed turkey, ham, perogies, cabbage rolls, and all sorts of other great food from an awesome Ukrainian restaurant in town. Then we got to drink all afternoon. I believe I was drunk by 1:30... I remember pouring myself a stiff rum and coke, then being handed a couple shots' worth of Grey Goose. I didn't think to put ice in it, but it was still very smooth. It's the first time I've ever had it and I was eager to try it straight because one of the guys at work raves about how good it is. It definitely left quite the impression... just typing this is making my throat burn and I feel like I could puke at any second. So enough about vodka. I stayed at work and drank until mom came to pick me up around 4:30. I apparently ate supper at home, sent some incomprehensible text messages to my best friend about Harry Potter, threw up, and passed out. Best work day of the year!

Christmas was good. We kept it very low key because everyone in the family is having financial difficulties, but it was still great to have everyone together. And the food... holy crap! We do an appetizer pot-luck and holy crap was it ever good!! Ribs, mini sausages, grandma's potato salad, spinach dip, shrimp, seafood dip, raw vegetables, and various desserts... I'm hungry just thinking about it! I even got a Christmas card from my dad with my youngest brother's school picture (totally made my day!) and a Best Buy gift card. I was totally shocked by it, I didn't expect them to give me anything. I think I'm going to save it and put it towards a surround sound system.

New Year's was fantastic! Some friends got married and the reception was wonderful! I paid mom $20 to be my cab so I wouldn't be stuck waiting hours for a cab. I didn't get nearly as drunk as I did at Turkey Day... which is kind of disappointing because drinks were only $2! But I was so busy dancing and catching up with friends (and then eating at the late lunch) that I just didn't end up getting too drunk. Oh well... I can't say enough what a great time it was... best new year's in recent memory! I didn't kiss anyone at midnight, and I didn't even care that I didn't have anyone to kiss at midnight. All my friends were going around hugging each other saying "Happy New Year!" and that was one of my favorite parts of the evening--just spending it with the people I care about, and who also care about me. I've known one of the brides for almost five years now. She's been in long-term relationships before but never committed. I can still remember her telling me when she started seeing her (now) wife... she was the only one that didn't bail on a movie night or whatever it was that I had planned. Anyway we were sitting in my living room and she told me about this new person she was seeing. And now less than a year later they're married! I know it's something special, and their wedding reception warmed my heart and made me believe in love again. I wish them nothing but the best for the future, they are both such genuinely good people!

After the chaos of the holidays it was back to work. Work has still been super busy. I went in on the 29th to do the year-end audit, and we missed a few things so the auditor came back last Tuesday. Then I had a different auditor in for something different on Thursday. Plus I've had month-end stuff to do, and soon I'll be spending more time with the accounting people helping put together the audit file. In a way it's good that I'm keeping busy because it means I don't have time to dwell on the fact that it's another 2-3 months till spring. Ugh!

I've decided to paint my condo! I've been here a year and a half as of January 24 and it's time for a change. The whole thing is painted the same colour, and I want to do something a bit different and really make it my own. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm hoping it'll help pass the time until spring. And this way I don't waste my summer painting! :) Right now I'm still filling holes and scratches with poly-fill. I'm trying to go through each stage in the entire condo before moving on to the next--poly, sanding, priming, washing, then painting--however in some rooms I already know that won't be an option (the storage room!) because there's too much stuff to move back and forth after every step. And the bathroom will probably be the last to be done because I still want to get a new mirror and medicine cabinet. As much work as it is, I'm still excited about it and looking forward to the end result.

Financially I'm doing quite well... I'm very very proud of myself, and if a few things fall into place like I'm expecting them too, I'll be almost debt-free (except for my mortgage and one loan) by April. Just in time to buy shares at work lol. I have my first "bonus" paycheque in March. It comes as a result of being switched from getting paid twice a month to every two weeks. There are three paydays in March and I only need two of them to pay my bills. With the extra money I'm thinking of taking a trip out to see some friends in the Okanagan. I haven't been to the mountains in almost 4 years, and not only am I looking forward to finally seeing my friends again but I'm super excited about going back out west! I'm thinking positive and hoping nothing major happens between now and then that I'll need the money for something more urgent :S

I've also got a tattoo coming up at the end of the month! I'm getting one of my current ones cleaned up then added to. It was pretty sweet... I was on the computer on Christmas Eve day--note that my computer usage was still pretty minimal because of my eyes--and I got a message on Facebook from my tattoo artist. That day only, for every $100 you spent on gift cards, they'd throw in an extra $50! I rushed down to the shop and got $300 for $200. The best part was that my Christmas spending was $150 under budget, so technically I was only spending $50 that I didn't already have. I was pretty pumped! Add in what I paid for my deposit and there's not going to be much left for me to pay on the day of my appointment. I'm quite impressed with my thriftiness! :)

Anyway this blog is pretty long... I'm hoping it won't be so long between blogs next time! I'm blaming it on my eye surgery and the chaos of the holidays :P I think I'm going to go to bed... one of my cats started bugging me for breakfast at 5:00 this morning but I wasn't going to feed them until after we got back from the vet. They had their vet appointment at 9:00--all good except I think their scale was out of whack when they weighed one cat--and when we got home I spent the day cleaning and doing paint prep. Makes for a long and tiring day.

One last thing... I actually made New Year's resolutions this year! But I'll tell you about them next time... I'm exhausted!

Here's hoping your 2011 is as awesome as I know mine is going to be!! :)