Holiday Hermititude....

....is in full effect at the Carter's house. Well, almost full effect. We're almost ready to get our hermit on. We just need to do our grocery shopping for Christmas dinner and a couple of last minute gifts to put into stockings. That will be done before 2pm today. I've made it my life's mission to get it done before 2pm.


Then holiday hermititude will begin. This means we don't leave the house, we hole up in our winter pyjams (pronounced: pie-jams. These are pajamas - I have snowboarding monkeys on mine and Les has dancing polar bears on his.) drink mulled wine and cider and watch lots of movies. I was raised on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I never cared for Frosty the Snowman or any of the other ones. But the Grinch is my very favorite.


<------So for my birthday, my mom bought me a six foot inflatable Grinch that reaches into the chimney and pulls the christmas tree out! I love it, it's outside in the courtyard. It's completely and utterly awesome and I can't wait until we have our new house next year so it can go in the front yard for everyone to see!

On Christmas Eve, I'll beg and beg and beg Les to let me open one gift. But he'll say no and we'll go to bed but I won't sleep a wink. I'll be too excited! Then I'll wake up early - the only day of the year I voluntarily wake up early - and jump on the bed to wake him up. We'll start a fire and put the Christmas music on. Mom and Raquel are with us this year so I'll wake them up and they'll all groggily follow me to the living room. I'll pass out everybody's stockings and we'll munch on the sweet treats found inside them while Raquel plays Santa and passes out all of the gifts. We'll all fall into gift-coma and Les will start making our Christmas dinner:) Can't wait!!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanuka/Hannuka/Purim, Mele Kalikimaka, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, Milad Majid, Glædelig Jul, Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad, Selamat Hari Natal, Selamat Hari Natal, Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu, Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand, Chung Mung Giang Sinh - in any language or whatever your beliefs - I wish you all happiness and prosperity through the holidays and forever!

xxoo
KT

Irony....with a capital "I"

For our anniversary dinner, Les had the notion that we should make it together rather than go out. I was floored by that idea though because Les never wants to make any dinner! So I jumped on the chance to have him in the kitchen with me. It also made perfect sense since we're saving our pennies to buy a house next year.

So, we decided to make lasagna from scratch...the noodles, sauce and all...from scratch! Neither of us had ever made noodles but Les pulled it off, they were perfect. It was dubbed "love lasagna", buy the way;) And for dessert we made chocolate mousse. Rich, dark, meltin-your-mouth mousse.

The irony, you ask? Because we're watching "The Biggest Loser" whilst eating it. That, my friends...is irony. Especially since I never got a workout in today!

My marriage philosophy thus far....

Today is our four-year wedding anniversary. Four years of total wedded bliss. I'm not even trying to lie either. My husband and I 'clicked' from the very first day we met. We were attached at the hip from our first encounter and our bond has only gotten stronger as the days go by.

We are so much different than what I was exposed to with my parents. Their constant screaming at each other was brushed off as "just the way we communicate". Their story ended in divorce...no surprise there. Les' parents are still married after 32 years, but seem to have their off days as well. Our friends that are dating are having some major issues within their lives which leads me to believe that things won't work out....one that includes a pregnancy - and extremely disfunctionaly relationship if there ever was one. Two of our friends just got engaged and they are the closest to Les and KT happy that I've seen so far.

Les and I really make people sick with how happy and content with each other we are. We don't throw it in anyone's face, we just love. That's all. It's really very simple but for some reason everyone makes it harder than it needs to be. So, I've put some thought into this and am going to give you some of my own secrets to our success. In no particular order, they are:

1) Play, laugh, smile - all the time. Just be happy. You're not dying, you're still breathing. Nothing in this life deserves negative energy....stay positive in all things and keep a smile on your face.

2) Respect each other and embrace your differences. I really don't think this needs explanation.

3) Snuggle, cuddle, nuzzle, hug, hold hands, kiss and have SEX. You must have closeness, without it, you lose your bond. Without a bond, you have nothing.

4) Talk about anything and everything. I'm sure I talk my husband's ear off, but at least he knows where I'm coming from at all times and he's never surprised. He is the quiet one for sure, but I know what's going on in his head most of the time.

5) Don't be a nag. Nagging does NOT help anything and it never works.....so just zip it. Talk to each other like equals and just ask for what you want like an adult.

6) Have your own things to do. Time apart and indulging in your own hobbies/activities keeps you from going crazy, becoming dependant and losing your own identity.

7) Stop carrying around your past. Closed chapters are exactly that. Move on and find someone completely different than the one that always breaks your heart. Don't be afraid to give your heart away to the one that truly deserves it.

8) Go out. Get out of the house and do fun things. Together and with your own friends. Let your partner have their time out and you get yours too.

9) Love. Just love. Don't half-ass it either. Just let your heart be full of it and give it away without abandon. Because it's really what we all need just a little more of;)

There don't always have to be lists of ten....so I'm all done.

XoXo
KT

Monday Sculpt

I've been meeting Jojo at the gym lately....we're both suffering from post-Lawrence training depression. So, now that we're on our own, we must forge ahead and lean on each other for motivation. We do a Monday night sculpt class, Tuesday night plyo/cardio workout and Wednesday night spin class. It's working out well so far and hopefully our schedules can keep up with it.

Speaking of schedules....my college courses start at the end of January and they're in the morning. I'm not a morning person...in the least bit. So from now until then I need to force myself to wake up early no matter what. This means the alarm clock must be moved to my side of the bed so the husband won't snooze our lives away as tempting as it may be. It also means that I'm barely going to have enough time to do the extra fun things we're used to doing....like sleeping and eating and all those other fun things.

I'm looking forward to it though, I'm taking two classes and will continue to do so until I have a damn degree. I'm tired of feeling like less of a person at work because all of those braniacs have been to college and I haven't. I know my salary is suffering because of it as well. So, now's the time. Wish me luck:)

Workouts and such

Oh yes, I've been working out, but have not had many minutes to spare for blogging the thoughts out of my brain. Work is always busy at the end of the year for me, but much moreso now that almost all of my counterparts are on vacation and I'm covering for them. It means business for me, but an extended and severely altered workload. But as long as I can keep smiling, all is good.

Last week, I did something I probably shouldn't have. I worked out by myself towards nighttime along the Guadalupe River Trail in downtown San Jose. There are some seriously sketchy areas there as that's where a lot of the homeless make their...well..homes. I also did a spin class and the usual gym workouts with cardio and weights. Nothing special.

Les has been sick for a week now and keeping him hopped up on Sudafed, Comtrex, Tylenol PM and Mucinex. Luckily I have not fallen victim to his germs yet thanks to my suped-up immune system. Ahhhh...one more benefit of consitent exercise and healthy eating:)