Hello 2011

Today is 1/1/11.

That's pretty fun to write :) Ahh... a New Year. Happy to say that today was a good one for starting of this new book, 2011. Overall, it was relaxing, somewhat productive and fairly uneventful.

The only downside to today was taking down the Christmas decorations. Before I got myself out bed, Mom had already started removing the wall decor. Once I had my breakfast, I joined her in taking down our mantel/fireplace decorations, nativity scene, and the ornaments. Mom hauled the empty tree out outside and then we were left with a very open living room. Always feels so strange to remove the tree.. It's always hard to adjust to not having the glow of the lights and all the fun festive decorations around. But before we know it, Christmas will be here again soon...

After undecorating the house, Mom and I got some of our January decorations out. For the past few years we have decorated with navy blue, silver and white colors. On our fireplace mantel we put a navy blue sash with some wintry decor and a string of white lights mixed in it as well. We also enjoy decorating with a variety of candles-- having some light in the house during the dreary Winter months.

To get a break from all the decorating and undecorating Mom and I dropped some items off at my cousin's house. We enjoyed chatting with her and her husband. I hadn't seen their home since they moved into it a couple of months ago. Not only was it great to see it all Christmasy but I got to see the changes they've made. Makes me excited to have my own place someday-- so many cool things you can do with a home.

Once our visiting was over, Mom and I did a little "mouse housing." We were on the hunt for wintry decorations, but didn't come across any. On our outing we did manage to stop into Starbucks, which was quite lovely :)

We came home and putzed around some more and then eventually went up the street to visit my aunt, uncle, and my Granny (who is staying at their place for a few days). Mom and I stayed for awhile and had a good time chatting with them. We particularly enjoyed observing my aunt make a delicious split pea soup. At one point she invited us to just stay over and join them in eating it! Let me tell you: wow! That was a wonderful soup-- tasty and all natural. Perfect for a cold day. After finishing my bowl of soup, my aunt asked me if I would like another serving... I said "of course, if you're offering!" She got a laugh out of that. I figured, hey, it's good if the "students" (Mom & I) are familiar with the taste of the soup before making it on their own. ;-)

We got back home not too long ago and parked ourselves on the couch. Ahhh... good start to 2011. Hope that you all had a wonderful start to the New Year!