Happy New Year!

Welcome 2007. I'm not sure I know where a lot of 2006 went, but it appears to be really truely gone. The holidays went by fast. My work gives everyone the week off between Christmas and New Years, but it's not quite enough. We had a very busy week with the majority of both families in town on different days to visit. I think I counted about 24 hours of time off work where we had no houseguests and no scheduled family activities. I'm ready for my vacation now.

Although we celebrated Christmas several days last week (I think I counted 4 separate present-opening events), I do feel like I missed New Year's Eve. I believe this is the first year in many (maybe since childhood) where I haven't stayed up until at least midnight. After such a busy week, and then spending a lot of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning attempting to clean up the house, I was ready to topple over at about 10pm. This is also the only New Year's Eve where I've been pregnant--well, pregnant enough to notice. I believe I was a few days post conception with Charlotte on Dec 31, 2003, but that doesn't count.

I did not make any actual resolutions this year. I have expectations and hopes for the year, but I'm leary of setting goals that I can't actually influence. We're hoping for a (relatively) healthy baby in March, with as easy (and safe) of a delivery as possible. Ideally, by the end of the year I should be getting back in shape, but I'm not making a goal of it. While breastfeeding Charlotte, I noticed that I was able to pump milk easier if I wasn't exercising heavily as well, so I'm not going to impose any fitness goals on myself this time either. Hopefully I will be less stressed about the whole situation this time around too, because I've been there and done that. I've considered a handful of educational goals, but all are long-term (as in, maybe starting 2008). Whether I'm talking about taking a weekly painting class or working on a masters program, it will all depend on how family dynamics with the little one work out.