I resolve not to resolve.

Wow, I can't believe a whole year has passed me by again. I can't recall what my New Year's resolution was last year so I can't tell you if I kept it or not. *Sigh* My memory is fading. My daddy told me this would happen. Bah!

Well, Christmas was really nice, really nice. We spent Thursday with boyfriend's extended family (aunts, uncles, and cousins), there are about 30+ of them. The food was absolutely yummy. The menu was a typical Italian menu, I'm told ... Lasagna, Pizza, Stuffed Artichokes, and various dessert and treats. Oh and I must not forget, Bloody Mary's (and let me just tell you, these people make GREAT bloody mary's). It was very, very entertaining to say the least. Really, his family really is great. And they are so cute about how they exchange gifts. First of all, Mimi and Pawpaw (that's the grandparents for you Yankee readers) take a seat in the corner of room so that everything in the room is visible to them. It's almost like a scene from The Godfather, sort of like they are on thrones. Then, all of the little ones gather in the center of the family room. All of their gifts are passed out to them and are accumulated in piles in front of them. At this point they all have to wait to open gifts one at a time. The youngest child opens everything in their pile, and so on and so forth up to the oldest child. What's so amazing is that they actually wait! This would never happen with my family, I'll explain that later. Then when all of the children are done opening gifts they all gather up their loot and go upstairs to play with everything. Then the adults follow the same process. It's all very organized and makes for great photo opportunities. Simply a blast!

Friday, boyfriend and I got up at the butt-crack of dawn to drive to Louisiana where my family lives and we still didn't get there until 11 am. Then boyfriend had to meet a customer an hour further into peaux-dunk country to complete a car sale. Poor thing had to actually work on Christmas Eve, my sweet work-a-holic. Anyway, so we finally get everyone home and ready to exchange gifts around 2 or 3 and the chaos begins. Thank goodness, my family's Christmas is much smaller (about 15 people). Everyone gathers in the family room and picks a spot. My baby sis (she's only 10) and myself proceed to pass out all the gifts and create piles for everyone. When everything is passed out and the bottom of the tree is bare, everyone just sort of tears into their gifts. The best thing about this is that it's all over in about 30 minutes as opposed to boyfriend's family's 3-hour gift exchange. Not that I'm knocking the way they do it, I just like to get it all over with so we can eat and relax. Our Christmas meal was Shrimp Victoria, a typical Cajun dish. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

So boyfriend and I start driving back home that night and just as we get back into town, IT STARTS TO SNOW, and really hard! It would have been great except that Houston never gets snow; therefore, no one here knows how to drive in weather like that. Typically, once you hit the outskirts of Houston, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to our house. However, when it snows, it takes 1-1 1/2 hours to get to our house. Why? ... You ask; because there were 4 major (by major, I mean 4-8 cars involved) accidents in a 20-mile stretch of freeway. That comes to 1 major accident every 5 miles. Needless to say, by the time we made it home, I had literally said about 50 small prayers and was extremely thankful to have made it home in one piece.

Saturday, Christmas Day, again we get up at the butt-crack of dawn to head to North Houston to spend the day with boyfriend's immediate family. Finally, a relaxing day. The food was again yummy! The gifts were all perfect. Everyone is happy. I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas this year. I got to spend time with my whole family, my wonderful boyfriend, and his beautiful family. I ate way too much and loved every second of it!Now, it's about to be 2005. I'm thinking about all the lessons I've learned this year, and trust me, there are many. In no particular order ...

Once trust is broken, it's extremely hard to get it back. But if you work really hard on it, you can.

Family and loved ones come first, because they aren't always going to be right in front of you.

Beware of whom you trust with secrets. Not everyone knows what it means to keep a secret.

Just because someone says they are your friend, or that they love you, doesn't mean it's true. People often say what they think you want to hear, not necessarily what is true.

True friends support you and are consistently there for you when you need them most even if you don't take their advice.

It's ok not to go out and party every night of the weekend. You aren't missing anything that you haven't already seen.

If you feel in your gut that something sounds shady, it probably is. Trust your instincts. God put them there for a reason.

Past loves are "past" for a reason. Let them go and don't look back. Focus on what's right in front of you.

Don't stop being friends with someone to please someone else's insecurity. True friends are hard to come by, don't let one go to waste.

You can find a true friend in the most unlikely place if you just open yourself up.

Patience is the key to life.


I'm sure I will think of more, but those are the one's that come to mind right now.

We're planning to have a fabulous New Year's Eve celebration this year. I bought my gown a few weeks ago when I did my Christmas shopping and it's gorgeous. It was a size 2, but I had to have it altered. Apparently a 2 is still too big for me, sucks to be me (just kidding). With all the visits to the gym that I've been making, I've lost an
inch off my bottom in less than a month. Hmm, imagine that, boyfriend was right
about something ... working out does pay off. HA! And to top it off, I noticed I've finally got those sexy bottom row of ab muscles right below the hip bone that make you squirm. A huge "thank you" to my work-out buddy. You've been great honey!

Well, I think this entry is long enough. I hope you all have a very happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration. See you next year! Smooches & hugs all around!