Closing Out 2008

So I realize I haven't blogged in a while, but it's not for lack of activity--just a huge defecit of time! The holidays kept us hopping! Rather than trying to give you a play-by-play of the last few weeks, I'll just hit the highlights.

1. Enjoyed a number of festive, holiday outings with the girls, including our annual trip to view holiday lights, followed by dinner at SuperDawg, and our annual visit to the ZooLights.
2. Went sledding (a great time was had by all).
3. Baked cookies. Baked more cookies. Baked still more cookies.
4. Enjoyed a number of Christmas celebrations, at which the girls collected lots of great gifts.
5. Slipped on a patch of ice while out running and sprained my wrist. Oops. The irony is that it was 60 degrees out and most of the ice had already melted.
6. Celebrated New Year's Eve at a rock show (Dianogah and Hum) while the girls partied with Grandma and Grandpa.
7. Spent a total of about seven hours at Ikea (over two days) and went from declaring it "Disney World for grown-ups" to "Hell on Earth."
8. Ikea-fied the entire house. Now everything has a place--until Ella's birthday hits!
9. Took photos of various toys to label Ikea bins for the girls. This has backfired so far. Sure, they know where everything goes, theoretically. They just can't be bothered to put anything away. As Sadie says, "I don't like cleaning up." Does she think that I do??
10. Planned two birthday parties. Designed invitations for two birthday parties.
11. Played countless games of Go Fish and Old Maid with Ella, who rang in the New Year by learning to play with Grandma and Grandpa. This is quickly becoming my #1 favorite thing to do with Ella and my least favorite thing to do with Sadie.
12. Mourned the death of yet another frog, a.k.a. "Toady" (this is frog #2 for those of you keeping count at home).
13. Bought two new zebra danios and another frog (#3) for our 10-gallon tank (new population: four danios and a frog). Had aquarium water tested (it's fine). Named new frog "Toady 2," though I am secretly calling him "Not Dead Yet," or "Not" for short. Don't worry--if this one dies, we are done with frogs. If he lives, I'll start calling him "Charm," as in "Third Time Is a Charm."
14. Ordered a new camera (we got the blue one)!! If it's here today (supposed to be), you can look forward to new photos on the blog tomorrow. Just in time, too, because our old camera (which has been dropped one too many times) is starting to fade fast.
15. Cursed all the "New Year's resolution" folks at the gym who muck things up for those of us who go to the gym all freaking year long.

Well, that's the last two weeks in a nutshell. Happy 2009!