My Ruby Slippers...

So a month later....ugh - sorry again!

Here is an update since my last posting... and there is a lot so I'm going to try and nutshell version it!

First, in mid-December my b.f.f. (I love using a 14 year old's vocab sometimes) Vicki came home from London! I am so happy to have her home... she is currently very busy getting a new chapter of her life off the ground - finding a job, deciding where to live (I'm next up after her parent's place!) and in general has a lot on her plate, but I've seen her a ton and again, and happy that I can see her a lot!

Then of course came Christmas... my favorite holiday!!! Hold on - tea break! Ok - am all set to keep typing and going... so Christmas was SO GREAT! The day before, Vicki came over and we exchanged gifts as we were going to be otherwise occupied on Christmas Eve and Day - she got me awesome gifts! She gave me a beautiful painted piece of art that she got from Prague which i *love* and framed a photograph that she took herself in Ireland... and won't forget teh cool London CD she made me, too! I'll be listening to that tomorrow morning on my first day back to work... more on that soon....

Then Christmas Eve, Curt and I took our godson, Cody, to Build a Bear Workshop to give/make him his Christmas gift... we had him all to ourselves (Ash said he would be better if she and TJ weren't there) so we got the carseat, stroller, juice (really milk, but Cody calls it juice), the backpack with a couple diapers, and everything ready to go... and were on our way! So we got to the mall and walked around for a bit, went to see Santa (Cody is very smart and can point out Santa *anywhere*) and let him push his stroller, and then when we got to Build a Bear his eyes were so wide! So we went in, and I showed him the different ones he could choose from, and he immediately went to the frog and pulled it out, so we went with a frog - we stuffed it, bathed it, and found a great outfit for it... this was the hardest part for Cody. He kept going back and forth between the soccer and basketball outfits, but finally settled on the soccer outfit. Did I mention that Cody is almost a 2 year old? Sorry for those that didn't already know but I'm guessing they could guess with the diaper reference - or I hope so! So Curt dressed the frog in the soccer outfit (complete with a ball) and we went to give it his name and birth certificate and Cody helped us to decide on Frankie Frog - very cute. It was such a fun morning! What was even sweeter is that Cody starting saying "Curtis" - it sounded more like "Kuckis" and we didn't know if that's what he was saying or not, or if he was saying "Christmas" but Ashley verified that he apparently was saying Curtis (though we don't know where he got Curtis and not just Curt) b/c Cody recently pointed to a picture of Curt and said "Kuckis" again! LOL - I just love it... he knows my name is Tasha, but still gets a bit confused b/c there apparently is a hippo on a popular child's show that is also named Tasha so there you go - it's tough to be almost two. :-)

Christmas Eve after that was spent watching movies, and then getting ready for the big night... we had a big dinner planned with the Warner's coming over, and the Castagnos' so that was a TON of fun - good friends, good food, good times over the holidays... gotta love it. So dinner was fab (as always when Mom is cooking), then we had dessert in which more people came over which was really great too! Then everyone left and the Olds family and the Proske family (me and Curt) went to the late service (11 p.m. - so late!) to celebrate the reason for the season... I love Christmas Eve service. I always find myself reflecting on the past year, how I would like the next year to be different or how I can be better, and it always brings me great peace and promise for the coming year (even if I've had a bad one). May sound silly but I love it - I always get choked up, too!

So after church, we went back to the house and proceeded to open presents. Everyone cleaned up pretty well... I would list what I got but I'm tired, but it was GREAT! Highlight though - Curt got me a docking station for my iPod, and we tested it out and the family was dancing in the living room to fun tunes like Billy Idol, "Dancing with Myself," ACDC's "Thunderstruck," and more Tasha classics... so at 2 a.m. we decided to get to bed so Santa could go ahead and visit, and Christmas morning we were again happy to see that even as we approach our mid twenties and beyond that Santa still comes to see us - thank goodness! He brought me a *gorgeous* pair of red toe shoes - he knows I've wanted some since I was 13 or so, and I got them out of the blue! They are so beautiful that I just pet them so far, but I will get around to actually piercing them with my needle to sow my ribbons... sigh... they are pure magic. They are my ruby slippers...

After we ate traditional Christmas homemade by mom waffles, Curt and I got ready and headed out to celebrate with his family in Ledbetter (very close to Giddings and where his Nonnie and PaPa live) - the whole Ullrich clan goes so we were excited to see everyone! We had a great day with a YUMMY turkey lunch, played Apples to Apples (fun card game) in which I was losing miserably (I won at Thanksgiving!) and then made a HUGE come back and was so close to winning! Then we had yummy dessert, opened presents, and in the evening Curt and I left to head back to The Woodlands.

So that was Christmas... the day after I went in to work and worked that week (I was the only person in the city, I think) so I could take off the week AFTER so we could MOVE INTO OUR NEW HOUSE!!! Whoop! :-) So Friday, the 29th was our close date of our new place... we made it through that without event, thank goodness, and proceeded to move in that Saturday after... So we moved like crazy all weekend, took a break to celebrate the new year with friends at a great new pub, hit the hot tub (LOVE our hot tub) and then got back to making our new house our new home! We had a deadline of Curt's birthday party the next weekend so we were working hard!

Let's see... so the move was brutal so we won't bore with the details but we are settling in nicely... moving on to Curt's way fun party! So we invited friends and family, and went to dinner at Buffalo's for a quick bite to eat, then headed to to see the hockey game downtown which was a BLAST! and then we came back to our new place for dessert and showed off our house... everyone seemed to like it (maybe they were just being nice) but we had fun regardless if they really did or not so it was great! And more importantly, we love it so of course that's all that matters... :-)

So Curt's birthday was a hit, we slept in REALLY late on Sunday, and we (plus Kendyl) went shopping and spent some of Curt's Christmas money, and he and Kendyl worked on the media room while I did other things like take the dogs for a run, etc. And then Kendyl came over again last night and we hit the hot tub which was of course so fun. Maverick was going nutso snapping at the bubbles and steam in the light - it was *quite* hilarious.

So watched some TV to unwind and got ready for my first day back at work... which was so long (hence the days it took me to write this). So pulled a 12 hour day, came home and am doing misc things like this before bed...

And am exhausted, so I'm out for the moment.... I'll try to write back sooner than last time!!

xx