Lemons? Nah. Lemonade!

With Christmas and the New Year celebrations past V and I have settled into a pretty nice routine.  I am busy with school work and she is busy with everything.  Her new favorite thing is the childcare at my gym.  I love the ability to run without pondering what the actual effects of hypothermia are and V loves the childcare center there.  I like to think of it as a win, win situation!  It has been a long time since I have exercised really regularly so I am loving this opportunity!

School is a lot right now.  I am taking more than a full load so I can knock out my prereqs and get in an MBA level class.  The upside is that since I have so much flexibility I am going to graduate in just over a year.  That puts me back in the workforce at record speed with a new degree and a new lease on life.  I like to think I am making some pretty tasty lemonade out of the lemons I was dealt :)

Speaking of lemons.  Divorce is in full swing.  We finally came to terms and the papers are signed and being filed.  I am ready to have this all behind me.  There is still much to do to tie up loose ends...namely, the house in Athens must be packed up and then sold.  I am starting the process today and plan to make substantial progress this weekend packing and cleaning and getting the house ready to sell.  I just hope that the other half of this equation puts in a little effort with regards to getting the house ready to go on the market.  That would make things much easier for both V and me.

On the horizon...V and I are planning a trip to the aquarium with some friends, I am super excited about a wine class in my future, and V and I are going to be trying a new church.  I will let you all know how it goes!

Yes, I realize how late this is!

Christmas has been an adventure of epic proportions.  I have been here and there and everywhere it seems but it has been wonderful fun!  V arrived here Christmas Eve already asleep and we slept until 9:30 Christmas day.  Normally that would be completely unacceptable in the Flanders household but, in the case, I enjoyed it quite immensely!  Christmas here is an early event to be enjoyed only after Dad has a diet pepsi and Mom has a cup of hot coffee.  The gifts must be photographed in their places and then, and only then, one start distributing the gifts from Santa.

Sidenote: Yes, I am an almost 29 (in just one day) year old woman.  Yes, I do write Santa a letter.  Yes, I do believe.  You see...we have a little saying here in the Flanders house..."When you cease to believe, you cease to receive!"  So folks, you can see why I believe.

V got lots of wonderful things from Santa, Me, Granny and Pop, Uncle Chuck, and Uncle Doug.  She got fake food, and movies, and books, and toys, and babies, and baby carriers, and clothes, and and and...It was excellent to see her having so much fun.  She laughed and giggled and oohed and ahhed.  This was the first time I have seen her really excited about unwrapping gifts.  It cracked me up!  I will say that only one gift makes me crazy.  V has, in the past, gotten fake food and cooking sets.  She loves to cook and make pretend meals.  I thought it would be a wonderful idea to buy her a giant set of all kinds of fake food.  That would have been fine except this particular set of fake food came with like 20 small fake hot dogs (and strangely enough, no buns).  So she drives her grocery cart around the house and hot dogs come flying out everywhere...the dogs are chasing her eating fake hot dogs and I am trying to pick them up as she goes.  It was kind of stressful for someone like me that has a touch of OCD.

Fried turkey, a few games of cranium, and the world's best nap were the perfect ending to an amazing Christmas.  Sorry you are just getting the update now!