Spring fever!

I'm feeling it already...the urge to purge! I want to get rid of everything! I'm sick of all my fake plants and nic nacs! Arggghhh. I want to move things around and clean clean clean. I want to paint and bring in new fresh stuff!

The trouble with this attitude is that I am so behind on even maintenance things like deep cleaning and putting away the Christmas decorations. Maybe when I get that done, I won't feel so grossed out by my house.

In other news, I'm back to work after two weeks off. It's been heavenly to just relax and not worry about work for a while. One week is just too short to get that relaxed feeling I think. I'm more than glad that I have a good job, don't get me wrong! I feel my good fortune in having a challenging and rewarding career. I just need to recharge my batteries every now and then.

Well, short post but I am going to try to get busy today and at least get the Christmas tree down!

Oh, I guess I should mention that a few years ago, Kevin and I thought it would be a great idea to just buy a fake tree...after all the years of going out to get a tree and dealing with the dry needles, etc. at the end of the season. We bought one that already had the lights on it so it would take that hassle out of the setup and take down processes...how smart!

But the first year we put it up, we were blinded by the lights they put on this thing. So we went out and got some fresh pine boughs to put in and around the fake branches. It dimmed the lights somewhat but then we had to take all the real boughs out at the end and they threw needles all over. So we bagged that idea.

The next year, I wired a bunch of fake evergreen boughs to the fake tree in order to cover the lights and add a little variety to the greenery on the tree. That didn't really work either because the lights were so overpowering still.

This year, we got the brilliant idea that we would just take out every other bulb or so since the strands stay lit even if you are missing some bulbs...it worked until some of the remaining bulbs got overheated and burned out! So here is our lovely fake tree about half way through the Christmas season. We had to string some lights at the top to get us through Christmas just so we could have a semi decent tree.

See how bright the bottom is even with half the bulbs gone? Ridiculous! Or as Chelsie likes to say...Rahhhhdiculous!

So we decided to sell it on Craigs list and tell people the top half doesn't light but they can string lights and it works ok...maybe we'll get 50 bucks for it...who knows? The sad irony is that we have hated this tree from the start, have gone through three seasons with it...and are right back to the commitment of getting a real cut tree every year from now on.

Big Island trip/Happy New Year!

Kevin and I recently attended a non-wedding on the Big Island of Hawaii. Without going into details or revealing the parties involved, let me say that the bride and her family handled the situation with grace and generosity. The groom's parents were also very gracious and made a difficult situation easier.

The wedding had been called off the previous weekend but all the travel arrangements were in place so the entire party assembled on the Big Island for a few relaxing days in the sun. We had a lot of fun and saw just a small part of the island. It's definitely a study in contrasting landscapes! We stayed near an old lava flow so the surrounding area was just barren rock. But the small islands of green (that were built up with resorts) made up for it. The beach we went to most of the time was absolutely beautiful and one of the best beaches I've been to.

I had to throw this photo of Kevin in here...he was trying to sleep on the flight over and decided to rig up his eye mask to keep his head from lolling forward. Notice how the strap of the eye mask is wrapped around the headrest on the seat of the plane...it worked...kind of. But I couldn't stop giggling so he eventually removed it. I ruin all his fun! This is early morning on that beach I mentioned...no one was around...very quiet. What was I doing so early in the morning on a beach you ask? Why, taking Kevin to the beach park so I could have the car and he could fish! I sat there and read and caught up on my blog (previous post was written in that park) then I went to a starbucks and did some shopping at a some nice shops near there. Same park later that day...beautiful trees...hard to imagine that only 200 yards away back up the drive is a black rocky expanse as far as the eye can see.

This park was full of turtles all over the place. This is the part of the beach we spent most of our time in...fine sand, secluded spot, great swimming. I loved it. The girl who's wedding had been called off spent a lot of time there also, just relaxing and contemplating the sudden changes she was facing. She said she was so glad she came if only to rest on a beach like this and be able to think without the pressures of everyday life. I agreed!

Ok, back to the way most of the rest of the world spends it's December...brrrr! This shot was taken by Polina's mom Elena during the winter last year...love this shot of these trees in a park near St Petersburg. I want to make it into a poster or something. I hope my readers are having a good winter! Happy New Year!