Blog 365 2009?

There is no official Blog 365 2009, but a few other gals and I from the Blog365 site are considering it.  It's just that I'm in the blogging zone now after doing every day for one full year. Okay, not every post was from me as Laura did some guest blogging for me while I was in the hospital and when I was in Florida, Kelly and Kim picked up a post, but this blog had a post every single day in 2008!  I guess we'll see what the new year brings, in more ways than one, but I don't want to apply the pressure on myself in the event a night runs late and I know I won't get a post up by midnight.  I just know I love going to the blogs that I read and seeing a new post and I know that I am disappointed when or if there isn't one.  It's a fact of life; blogging comes second to actual life, but it is just my habit to check these blogs everyday.  I hope that maybe some folks check my little corner of the web everyday and if they do, it would be nice to have a post.

Not sure how it is possible that my vacation is down to its last few days, but here we are.  It will soon be time to go back to the problems that existed prior to my vacation and blah...not much in the mood for that, but "No time, dudes!" is the motto for 2009!  Tomorrow it is time to start packing away Christmas and I need to make a trip to the library. 

I have also come to another decision that should probably be a resolution.  Next Christmas, I need to find a purpose or a goal or something.  Some kind of place to volunteer some time to make the season feel more like Christmas for me.  I felt really out of sorts this year as it is all about the shopping and the wrapping and the baking and give me a break.  By the time the actual day rolled around, I was totally burned out.  With kids, the holiday is about their getting gifts for them and I just found it all exhausting.  "Did I get them enough?" "Will they be disappointed?" Blah, blah, blah.  I need something next Christmas to be for me, which translates into I need to do something for someone else who doesn't have much or who needs help or I need to make someone's life easier for the season. I have a year to explore my options and if any of you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave me a comment.  I want to find a right fit for me so I don't want to jump into this blindly.  I felt so little this Christmas as far as what the season is really about and if I am going to find my joy in this holiday again, something has to change for next year.

Okay, a few pics from New York!  There will be more in the upcoming days, but we took over 200 pictures, so I need to review them, pick the ones I want to share and then resize them. 



View from our very cold seats on the bus tour.  I love this city.  I look at this picture and my heart just pumps a little faster.  I love sitting in a little deli or bistro by the window and just watching the people as they go buzzing by.  There is just something beautiful about a place this big and energetic.



Again, from our bus.  the dudes there were setting up one of the podiums for the big New Year's Eve celebration.  The guy furthest away, when we got closer, he pretended like he was going to hop into our bus as he totally could have done it!



Some of the decorations inside of Saks Fifth Avenue.  They spare no expense apparently.



The Empire State Building taken from the bus.



The tree at Rockefeller Center. It was huge and beautiful and we got to watch the skater too briefly, but man, there were a lot of people there!  This was the day before New Year's Eve and they were coming into the city in hoards!

More tomorrow!