So I have a new nephew. I know that news is 6 days old, but I'm pretty sure I've done nothing in the past 6 days except stare at pictures of him, because I'm so in love and I can't wait to meet him! I don't think I have ever been so anxious for Christmas in my whole life.
Speaking of Christmas, I submitted a wish list to my mom, because apparently her flying us out for Christmas isn't enough. She wanted stocking stuffer ideas as well. So I gave her a list. That wasn't long enough. Seriously? So I suggested a few more items, but I'm warning everybody: I have officially run out of items for my wish list. So if you insist on pressing me for gift ideas, I will crumble and ask for the thing I shouldn't be asking for. I will beg you to buy me an iPod.
I want one almost as much as I want to meet my nephew, but nobody should be spending $150 on me, unless it's a plane ticket to see you, which is the gift that trumps all gifts. So don't make me go there.
We're doing a Secret Santa gift exchange with our family and friends here in Washington, so when my friend asked me yesterday what I wanted, all I could come up with is chocolate. Our maximum to spend is $25. "Jenene!", she exclaimed, "You can get a lot of chocolate for $25!" "I know", I replied. "That's the point."
As you can see, "Gifts" is not my love language. I'm too practical to ask for things I don't need. And as for the things I want, they can't be wrapped in pretty paper and bows.
I wanted to go home for Christmas. I wanted my sister to have a healthy baby boy (though I would have been just as happy with a girl). I wanted Art to get a second job. I wanted to keep my job permanently (it still isn't official yet, but I'm pretty darn sure I would be gone by now if I wasn't going to be kept on permanently). I also wanted to start saving money and figuring out a budget. All these things happened. I already have what I want.
Art has been reading those Dave Ramsey books concerning money, and budgeting, and getting out of debt, and saving, and all that good stuff. He is starting to change the way he's handling our finances, and he's so excited about it, which makes me excited about it. Watching him develop plans for budgeting and getting out of debt and becoming more financially stable speaks volumes of love to me. I couldn't ask for better Christmas gift. Or anytime gift.
My husband is blessing my socks off these days, and I'm so happy and content.
Speaking of cooking, I tried a new broccoli recipe last week. It included bacon, and you know how bacon only improves everything. I thought for sure that this dish would be a winner. I'm thinking that maybe I didn't cook it right, because it ended up being a soggy mess. It was completely unappetizing, and most of it is still sitting in the fridge. I should just throw it out; I don't know what I'm waiting for. But I'm not going to share that particular recipe with you. If you find a way to improve broccoli with bacon, you let me know.
I did make stir fry two nights ago. I had never done it before, and I know it's pretty much the easiest thing ever, but I had never done it! I didn't know how long to cook anything (I'm pretty afraid of excessive moisture these days), and I didn't know which spices to add, or how much. But it was delicious! I used to hate stir fry, but now, I'm pretty sure I could eat it ever day.
Since I made up the recipe on the spot, I don't know how much of anything I put it. But I can share with you the ingredients. I used chicken, mixed veggies, olive oil, soy sauce, pepper, curry powder, and garlic powder. I probably could have left out the garlic powder, because I didn't taste it at all.
Speaking of work, we are six business days away from the day the new database is introduced. It seems that every day, we have more and more questions, and I'm starting to get scared. How can we operate in a database when there are so many unknowns? I keep hearing that so many of our questions will be answered when we "Go Live", so I'm just crossing my fingers.
We have a test database that we are practicing in, but it's not complete, so there are some things that we can't really practice. Which means we basically won't get anything done that first week with the new database, because we will still be training. Not good. BUT: my manager is doing a stellar job making sure that we take time to discuss the questions we have, every day, and gathering as much information as she can so we can practice as effectively as we can, even with an incomplete test database. I'm not confident about all these changes, but I'm confident in her.
Speaking of Blake, here is another picture of my favorite little man!
