Happy Holidays...I'm Glad it's Over

Wow, Christmas is over. Thank goodness. I like the holidays and all, but it can be so stressful. What gifts to give, dealing with ones I got...ugh. I put numerous things on my Christmas list, and somehow everyone got me the same things. I ended up with 3 waffle makers and 2 deep fryers. Now, I have to deal with taking things back, which is almost as bad as buying. And of course, nobody got gift receipts, so I have no idea how to go about this. I guess I'll have to try to figure out where people got stuff and do the best I can. I appreciate the time and effort everyone put into it, but I'd rather people not spend money on me, particularly those who can't afford to. We are more fortunate than most of our family, and I hate seeing some of Brian's family who barely scrape by purchasing me gifts I don't need. It's a waste.

Other than that, the holidays went well. My grandfather is doing better. The doctors took him off all his medication, and he's a ton more coherent. He's 80 years old, and it was looking like he was on that downward spiral, but it turns out most of his issues were from over-medication. I walked through the door at he and Grandma's house on Sunday, and he looked me straight in the face and said, "Hi kiddo!" It was nice to see him up and around. He's still frail physically, but that's better than what he was. Let's hope it stays that way awhile.

Let it Snow!!

Wow, it's been a week since I posted. First, I'd like to thank my friend A, who's been reading my blog (she and Brian are the only ones who actually know about it). She makes very nice comments, which are appreciated! Second, what a week its been! We got the snowstorm of the decade here Saturday night into Sunday. A good 9 inches of snow, which I guess this area hadn't seen in awhile. It was nice and very pretty. And it actually worked out okay, seeing as it fell Saturday night into Sunday, so we were able to clean up pretty well. But all the schools cancelled Monday anyway, so my friend C, who is a speech pathologist with a local school district, got the day off! And I know for a fact that she really wanted that day off, as she and her husband had moved into a new house on Saturday before the snow fell. I actually spent all day Friday helping her husband move boxes while simultaneously coming down with a cold. The cold has mostly passed, thank goodness. But I feel terrible about their move, as we recommended friends of ours as movers, and a very important piece of J & C's furniture ended up getting broken. But, it appears it was not entirely our friends' fault, as this particular piece had a marble top that split where it had previously been glued because it was so wrechedly cold that day. C called me on Saturday, absolutely hysterical about her dresser. I felt very bad, as did Brian. But things have calmed down, and it seems like the dresser can be repaired. Thank goodness.

Other than that, I have finally finished Christmas shopping and wrapping. We have both families to see this Christmas. Sunday, we're going to my hometown to have my family Christmas, and spending the night with my folks. Christmas Eve, we'll head to Brian's parents for the evening, where Brian and his brother R always make homemade pizzas for dinner. We'll spend Christmas there. Then, Christmas morning, Brian and R always make breakfast for the whole fam-damily. Then presents, Christmas dinner, and we get to come home! I like Christmas, but it's stressful at times. It's very hard to make sure you see everybody's family. Luckily for us, its worked out well every year we've been together, there have been no real conflicts. I don't know what we'll do when that isn't the case!

Careless Driving!!

This afternoon, I spent several hours at our friend M's house. Two days ago, I found out M had been in a serious car accident. She lost control of her own vehicle and spun out on some ice, and then another driver blew through the accident scene and hit her car while she was outside of it. She was knocked through the air and seriously injured. Her two and a half year old daughter witnessed this entire incident, and is now incredibly traumatized. M is going to be okay, but might have some permanent effects from her injuries. It just got me to thinking about how stupidly people drive. Slow down people! Your life is not so important that you need to drive a million miles an hour everywhere you go. Furthermore, it has been statistically proven that speeding and aggressive driving across an average sized city will get you to your destination only one minute faster than if you drove with care. Is one minute worth somebody's life? M could easily have been killed, or her daughter could have been.

Again, I repeat, SLOW DOWN!

My other pet peeve regarding driving is people on cell phones. Cell phone usage, even if you are using a bluetooth, is extremely distracting while you drive. Knock it off! Whenever Brian and I are driving together, and we notice that some other driver has cut us off, ran a red light, or done something else incredibly careless, we automatically look to see if that person is on their cell phone. Nine times out of ten, they are. And then, my husband inevitably makes a comment like, "Get off your cell phone, you stupid moron," or something even more colorful. He has little patience for that sort of thing.

So, just to sum up, drive carefully this holiday season and at all times, really. You might save a life (or just a lot of damage done to your vehicle).

Many Goings On...

Boy, I've had a busy last few days!!! But, busy in a good way. Thursday, I helped my best friend take her two little ones to get their pictures taken for Christmas. That was a trip! I guess once you have two little kids you must have a helper for the pictures. It was tiring, but it could have been a lot worse. She really has two cute, nice little kids. Afterwards, she bought me lunch at Red Robin. Then, we went back to her house and I played with the little baby while the older one was sleeping.

Yesterday, we had my mom's surprise 50th birthday party at home at the American Legion Hall. (Nothing but the best in my hometown....haha!) She was totally shocked and had absolutely no idea. And with gifts she made out like a bandit! Not that gifts matter much to her, but I think she was shocked at the number of people that will come out of their way for her birthday. She means much more to people than she realizes.

And finally, today, we saw the Lion King downtown at the Detroit Opera House. What an awesome show that was. Especially the opening number. It was visually stunning, I had tears in my eyes. And when they sang "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?", I also got chocked up. So did my husband, I think. We are both such crybabies. We saw the show with our friends Danielle & Grady, and they loved it as well. We always see shows with them, which is really nice. After the show, we went to the new MGM Grand Casino in Detroit and had a casual dinner in their food court (they call it the "casual dining.") The food way okay, but the service in that area was slow. And it was a bit pricey for what we got, but what do you expect at a casino? Anyway, we gambled a bit and had fun. I walked out $2 down on the slots, which is great, but best of all, Brian walked out enough ahead after playing 3 card poker that we can easily buy the flat screen TV we want for our bedroom! It'll be a good Christmas in our house!

The Biggest Loser

I went Christmas shopping this afternoon--whew! The closer it gets to Christmas, the more vicious Toys R Us gets. Mothers and grandmothers everywhere, not realizing that their carts are completely blocking the aisles, thinking that they are the only shoppers in the world. Glad to get that done and get out of there. But I got four kids done today, so I guess the pain is worth it. All we have left are my in laws, Brian's brother and his girlfriend, and Brian's youngest sister and her husband. That all should be fairly easy. And with two and a half weeks to go! Excellent progress! Now all I need to do is wrap! (Easier said than done.)

Sorry for the tangent, now on to the actual topic of this post, which is my fave show right now, The Biggest Loser. I love, love, love it. Too bad it doesn't inspire me to get off my ass a little more! Anyway, last night Nicole got voted off. That made me sad. I liked her, she seemed like a nice girl. I would rather have either of the guys go, particularly that Neil character. I don't think I like him. I still have not forgiven him for the water loading stunt of several weeks ago, which I think is particularly underhanded. Yes, it's a game, but come on. That just smacks of cheating to me. And then a couple weeks after that, he's trying to act all morally superior and talking about wanting to send Ryan home "the right way." Whatever. And as Isabeau said a few weeks ago, Bill's not even fat anymore, he got lost on the way to skinny person camp. So, Bill can go.

While I generally do like the women that are left, I wouldn't be upset if Isabeau got sent home. She's kind of immature I think, and I believe that her trainer Jillian feels the same. Speaking of Jillian, boy is that one tough chic. I would love to have her as a trainer. She would kick my ass and make me cry (which is probably what I need right now). And Bob seems okay to me too, but I think he'd be a little too touchy feely spiritual for my taste. The third trainer, Kim, looks like a Barbie to me, with obviously fake blond hair (which I can't put down too much, as my hair is highlighted currently). The killer for me is that her boobs are obviously too large to be real to her body. I can't stand all this plastic surgery/nose jobs/boob jobs/tummy tucks all these people get. There is NO WAY I would ever put myself under the knife for something like that in the name of vanity. It's so fake. Another reason I love my husband--he hates fake people, especially really fake looking women.

I cannot wait for the finale in two weeks. I would love if a woman would win, seeing as that has never happened before. Girl power! I also can't wait to see what the voted off contestants currently look like. Especially Kae--I love her to death. She was a machine. But first, must watch next week to see who the final four will be!

First Post

So, this is my first post. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, create my own blog. I feel as though I have a lot of things to say, but just haven't had an outlet in which to say them. So now I'm going to put my feelings and craziness out there for the whole world to read.

First, I'd like to say that the title of this blog in no way reflects a love for the University of Michigan. I attended Western Michigan University and Valparaiso University, and my husband went to Michigan State, and we are NOT fans of U of M (as it's called here). I'm calling the blog "Michigan Girl" simply because I am a lifelong resident of Michigan (except for the three years I went to law school in Hoosier Land), and, despite my complaints, I love it here. Unlike many who are fleeing our state for economic and weather-related reasons, I have no intention of leaving, even though the economy is so bad here that my occupation is currently that of "domestic engineer." I'm actually a lawyer, but am unemployed at the moment. I'm trying to find something, but am having no luck whatsoever. So, right now, I'm running out my unemployment benefits and trying to figure out what to do with myself. More on that later.

Next, I'd like to give you a little information about myself. I'm 28 years old, short of stature, brown hair, brown eyes and married to an awesome guy named Brian, who is in the computer software arena. He is fantastic. I am the luckiest woman I know, husband-wise. And that means a lot right now, when I'm not exactly feeling that great about myself in some ways. Not only am I out of work, but I'm also kind of chunky right now. I have gained about 20 pounds in the year and a half since we got married. Ugh! So frustrated with myself. As I'm sure I'll talk about later, I have struggled with my weight my entire life, and for awhile, had it under control. Now, I am technically "overweight" again by about 15 pounds (according to the lovely BMI scale). I'm trying really hard, but obviously its much easier to pork out than it is to slim down. We'll discuss that later.

I'm going to sign off for now. I'll write more tomorrow or the next day. Keep in mind this blog will include my thoughts on anything and everything, from my life, to relationships (or as Dane Cook calls them, "relationshits"), to stress, politics, whatever is on my mind at that moment. Thanks for reading.