Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 to everyone! I am totally looking forward to ending 2008 and moving on with a much happier and healthier 2009.

As the subtitle of this blog says, Stamping with a Slash of Chatting. Um yeah....neither have been going on in my life. Basically, I have not stamped or chatted since I quit JustRite back in October. Life happens and priorities are brought to the forefront and my eyes were opened that my life was totally out of balance. It was time for a much needed break and reality check.

So what have I been doing? Spending time with my neglected family and my best friends in the whole world. I did blog a bit in November that Amy came here from Guam for a two week visit. So I asked Jen, Beth and Mary to come over for a girls night "in" and we had a feast of Chicago foods. It was so awesome to see everyone together and just sit and chit chat about everything and of course lots of giggles and laughs.

Life wouldn't be complete with out some bumps in the road and I have had my fair share with my teenage son. Without getting into too many personal details I will just say therapy, therapy and more therapy. We have along road to go and after many tears and many more prayers I just hope that he will come around and get that we care about him and only want what is best for him. And no this is not drug or alcohol related.....teenage know-it-all-ism is a huge factor here.

Going to work each day is a sanity saver. I have unofficially started working full time. I just have a lot of marketing project on the horizon and don't mind putting in the extra time. It'a great feeling to know that I do the marketing for a community bank....of all places in this economy.....that has a billion dollars in assets and was recently ranked #1 by the FDIC. People ask me all the time if we are in trouble and we are definiately not part of any economic crisis. As a matter of fact, we are growing and hiring. Yes, when people are losing their jobs daily and banks are closing left and right my bank is hiring and secure. I've said a million times here and I'll say it again....I love my job.

So that is a briefing of what I have been doing up til now. And now......I have been addicted to the Wii game system. OMG....I have played so much that my body has been sore since Christmas eve. But it is a great kind of hurting. LOL Jen has come over and we now have her addicted to Rock Band and We Cheer. So much so that we gathered "the band" at her mom's house last night and jammed all night long. Sooooo much fun.

We also have the Wii fit and I have the high record on the Ski Long Jump and Super Hula. After the kids go to bed I play and bust into a sweat. It's great exercise and I am totally addicted. Hopefully it will help me lose some weight and win the Biggest Loser competition at work. We are doing it for 12 weeks and we pay each week if we lose, maintain or gain. Winner will get the pot of money at the end of the 12 weeks. I hope to lose 20-30 pounds and I'll be happy.

And finally, my New Years resolution is to get back to stamping and blogging. I have eliminated all the clutter from my life and now have time to get back to some fun things that I like to do which will also coincide with my other resolution.....acting upon my kind thoughts....performing Random Act of Kindness. What does that mean? Well I am always thinking about doing kind deeds and just never act upon them. Like my co-worker Mary is jumping into Lake Michigan today and I thought about giving her a beach towel and of course didn't do it. Just little gestures of kindness that run through my head and never happen because I am too busy and too forgetful.

Oh....one more resolution.... Bill and I are going on a debt diet. I have been reading all these blogs and newpaper articles about cutting back and living within your means. Needs over wants is the goal for us. Only spending money on needs which should be much easier now because I was able to pretty much fulfill all my wants for the house over the last few months...and paid cash for my kitchen remodeling and new living room furniture. I don't need any craft supplies and I am an avid collector of papers and all things stamping, scrapbooking and die cutting. I just want to use up what I have and scrapbook!!!

So you are all caught up on my oh so exciting life. Thanks to all of those that have been emailing me and checking in on me. I figured Beth was the only person that read this blog and cared about my personal life crap. Apparently, others like to read my soap opera too and don't just look for the cards and pics.

I have been on Facebook too if anyone is looking for me on the internet. Ah....Facebook....the place you can say what you want and not be under the microscope of certain eyes and easier to figure out who is not my "friend".

Happy New Year and see you on the blog!