some things from 2007: I ...

...acquired a husband.
...received my first Digital SLR, and in turn...
...became addicted to photography & Photoshop.
...traveled some to Poland, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Argentina.
...felt closer to several friends, some old, some new (none borrowed or blue).
...understood my family better.
...switched from highway engineer, to bridge engineer.
...passed the PE exam.
...tried to become a better baker - "tried" is the operative word.
...decided to adopt a dog (still anticipating the birth at any moment!).
...hired a housekeeper, and celebrated all the extra weekend time.
...created a myspace page (HYPOCRITE!).
...realized that some times you have to feel things at your own pace.
...didn't dress up as anything for Halloween.
...yielded to the fact that I can't control time, I can't begrudge lost opportunities, but instead I can concentrate on what I can influence (hello, mantra!).
...developed a hundred different 5 to 10 years plans, and I didn't decide to commit to any one of them.
...was consistently off by $3.40 in my checking account balance and have no idea where.
...discovered Houston again, and grew to really enjoy it.
...kept my hair it's natural color the whole year.
...bought a journal, and never wrote in it once.
...got my first PDA cell phone, and am drunk with joy on the ability to check email remotely.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

some whining, some jubilation

Working during the week between holidays should be outlawed. It seems evil, and promotes poutiness on my part. Oh the injustice.

On a brighter note, I finally downloaded pictures from Buenos Aires on my flickr page. I was going to do the sending pictures through Kodak Gallery, which is usually relatively easy, but it turns out it was difficult to mass-download the large file pictures that come off the D40x. So upgrade the flickr account I did, and now I will be free to post pictures at a whim. Oh the joy.

All is calm...

Happy Holidays from the McNorris'

Holiday Prep

decorating

baking

gift-tagging

How cute are these? I ordered them for all the cousins we see over Christmas as gift-tags.

They came from Sweet Impressions,

my cousin's wife's cookie/baking company in Winnipeg.

I love the detail, the website, and they taste heavenly!

Jazz Hands

For Craziness Click Here.

Status Quo

I have been avoiding updating, because I keep waiting until I can upload the pictures from Buenos Aires, but folks, this process is turning out to be longer than I anticipated. I promise sometime this decade, I will put some pictures up. Excuse the delay. I have been busy doing the following tasks:

Thank You Notes.
I had NO IDEA so many people would give gifts. We are luckiest peoples.

Baking Like Crazies.
All these new fun tools in the kitchen, I have been inspired by the Christmas season [read: trying desperately to get myself in the holiday mood when its 82 degrees out] to try some baking. Janet was my victim. We have tried dinner rolls (ehh?), Christmas cookies (blech) and cinnamon rolls (yum!). I am still tweaking skills, but hopefully I will be good at something, eventually. I have this fantasy of having one item that I can make AWESOME in the kitchen. Still waiting on this...

Puppy Applications.
Sometime in the next year, we would like to adopt a puppy. Turns out this is an applying process, much like my next item du jour....

Grad School Applications.
Andrew is studying for the GMAT, and hopefully, if all the stars align, my hair gets just the right amount of curl, and the dough rises to the perfect poufiness, we will be starting MBA programs next fall. Let's hope we make those deadlines.

Dealing With The Bank.
Someone stole my debit card number and went on a spending spree last Friday night, which is just GREAT, considering I have procrastinated buying gifts for the holidays, and now we are significantly poorer than the normal level of financial irresponsibility. Lesson Learned: Never use a debit card, EVER. Ok, except to pulse cash.

Ignoring My Laundry and The Messy Guest Room.
They taunt me. I can hear them wispering my name, and then something muffled about loss of sanity.

Contemplating Name Changing Processes.
When exactly am I supposed to do that? I was told it could mess up taxes if I do it to close to filing time. So I said, alright, next year. But then does that cause problems with the grad school applications? What name do I use? I don't know what I'm supposed to sign or answer to anymore. Very conflicting.