Busy, Busy!

School is already in full swing with my first test rapidly approaching (Wed!). I'm only in my 3rd week and I am already stressing. Bah

In other new, we were able to come up with the full amount due for the next payment for Ireland! Yea! That's a load off.

I have a very busy few months ahead of me with getting the bats on their way (must start them SOON), the emerald isle and of course the my-entire-life-is-riding-on-this surgery. I can.not.wait. for that glorious day to finally be upon me. Its been a long and expensive road getting to this point and I am absolutely terrified that something will come unhinged and my insurance will deny it. I don't even know how I would deal with that.

anyway =) off to eat dinner and start the long arduous math homework.

this IS important...really

because now I no longer drive single-handedly because I have a coffee mug in my other hand. Precarious indeed.

Whomever invented travel mugs....not to mention cute travel mugs. I thank you.

Getting down to the wire....

Ireland is coming up fast. We have been on a quest to scrape up the next payment due in a few weeks by rummaging through our stuff and deciding what can be sold for some moolah.

I keep thinking that I am going to find something that I forgot I had that is so awesome that it will sell for serious dough. I can't help thinking back to a beanie baby I once had when they all the rage a long time ago that a woman offered $250 cash for. It got me a plane ticket to New Orleans. Madness, that beanie baby thing. Bizarre thinking back to it. It's amusing to me that I have maybe 2 or 3 now, bats and cats, and they are used as snuggle buddies for any new rehab bats I get in. ha!

Not counting on those this time around.

Lazy Day

Spent all of today doing pretty much nothing. And it felt refreshing.

I have a to do list a mile long, deadlines to be met and brainstorming to do.

However, sometimes the brain just needs to recharge and the body needs a break.

So I took a cue from Piggy and curled up with a soft snuggley of my own and napped the afternoon away.

walk in the woods

we went on a little hike!

Super neat trail!

We painted the frontroom of the warehouse which will be turned into the retail space once we open our doors to the public in February (eep!). Since we are focusing mostly on reptiles, we chose to do a southwest theme. Now my inspiration was actually a New Orleans home that I found on a google image search pictured here (kathyprice.typepad.com)

Are the colors awesome or what? It has that adobe, mexican desert vibe to it. We had decided on a terra cotta color before searching for decor ideas so we knew that would be our main color. However, we were stuck on the accent colors so this pic brought it all together for us. I love the muted off white trim and the pop of bright blue. We have a very small space so we will have to incorporate a bit more blue and the off white but this is what we ended up with so far.

I like it. I think it will all come together nicely once we build the shelves and pretty it up a bit.

We spent New Years Eve (as in the mister, Mariana and I) at home playing Dark Souls and catching up on Dexter (just started season 5). At the stroke of midnight we headed outside and watched the neighborhood fireworks and choked down sipped champagne. It was a pleasant night but not particularly different than most others (except for the champagne and fireworks)

New Years Eve in recent years hasnt been as monumental as those passed. Not sure why. There really isn't any where I would rather spend then at my home ringing in the new year. Home is where I am happiest. I feel safe here and comfortable.

Looking back at 2011, Im not sad to see it go. However, I dont want to start 2012 drudging up the pitfalls of 2011. Honestly, I dont know why, personally, it was such a poor year. I just wasnt happy most of the time. Chris told me that I tend to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, likening me to Atlas. If I had the muscles to handle it like the latter, it probably wouldnt have been so bad. However, I am not a particularly strong person. I get by but not without taking damage (I have been watching chris play way to many video games=) It's starting to wear me down.

But, 2012 is a new year, a fresh start in some aspects. I am a little apprehensive about resolutions (other than the one I made last month), because I have never stuck with them. Maybe thats part of the problem. I make all these big promises to myself but always let myself down.

Anyway, I am grateful for what I have and I really do realize that it could be so so much worse. I have a roof over my head, food to eat and healthcare. All possible because of one person who loves me. Thats pretty special.

Its funny but a Monty Python tune popped into my head this morning and its been playing itself over and over in my head all day. It just popped in there and puts things in a little bit more perspective, in a jolly way:

Words to live by =)