Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to one and all! 

I know it's late, but better late than never.  I slept in yesterday, watched hockey (Winter Classic) and had a late lunch at my favorite pub.  The evening was spent watching the last of my DVR'd Christmas Romantic Comedies.  Yes, I am a sucker for them.  During November and December, I have on ION channel (which I didn't know had Christmas movies on the weekends), Lifetime and ABC Family Channel.  Sadly, my cable subscription does not cover the Hallmark channel.  I may have to rectify that for next year.  That and cookies are my holiday vices.

 Although, hubby keeps interrupting the programs.  Every time he walks in the living room when I am watching one of the movies, he has to ask if it is the Mimi Rodgers movie.  Not sure I can really explain other than she was in a Christmas movie once that is no longer broadcast and he thinks they are all that movie.  Yes, I know they are formulaic and all have happy, sappy endings, but come on!  Lacy Chabert doesn't even look like Mimi Rodgers.

I have been on vacation this past week and had fully intended on getting in a lot of reading time and getting back to my posts and reviews, which obviously didn't pan out.  Things going on.  I had organizing to do.

So, one of the things I asked for for Christmas was this jewelry box with an Asian motif from Pier One.  I did not expect to get it for Christmas, but my parents were awesome and got it for me.  My prior jewelry box was a cast off from my mom that is at least 30 years old.  I wanted something new and the box is absolutely beautiful.  Naturally I had to spend an afternoon organizing my new jewelry box.  I should have taken a picture of my dresser before I started organizing.  It was not a matter of just transferring from the old to the new.  I had jewelry all over the place.  Most of it, trinkets and such, but still, some was in the old box, some was in another three drawer mini chest, some in an actual dresser drawer, and some just strewn about.  I also have little mini Doctor Who figures on my dresser and some other toys, so it was a big time sink of a production as I had to reorganize my entire dresser.

The second project I undertook involved another Christmas gift.  I asked for a set of two treasure chests.  Why, you ask?  Why to hoard treasure, I mean organize my treasure.  I have a lot of odd little obsessions.  When I was a youth, my step-dad would take me to a magical place called the Collingswood Auction.  You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy...  What?  No, it was an interesting place.  There was a permanent building with permanent stalls inside and the outside was just rented tables as far as the eye could see.  It would take me at least a couple hours to walk around and see everything.  Many of the outside vendors would buy stuff from other vendors and then sell it at their table.  This was usual custom.  But I digress.

One of the tables I loved going to was a coin merchant.  He had all kinds of currency he was selling.  As I was 10 or 11 and didn't have much money, I would rifle through the cheap coin box and look for coins that had really cool images or from countries I'd love to visit.  That is what really got me started collecting coins.  Then working retail for 16 years, I used to see all kinds of currency come across my till.  I would accept it, but then buy it with American coin.  I would also buy any silver coins I got as well as old coins, dollar coins and half dollar coins.  I kept the coins first in a ceramic bank shaped like a dog my friend had painted for me, then moved to a coffee can as I collected a metric ton of wheat back pennies.

So that was how I got started.  Add to it a collection of coins from all the countries I've been to as well as the countries my friend Terri has been to and it became clear to me I needed a treasure chest.  That also took an afternoon as I had to find all the odd currency and organize it again.  The coffee can now only has wheat back pennies, still a metric ton, but all the other currency is now in a treasure chest, thanks to my in-laws.

My third project was even more of a chore and I wish I had a before picture.  My nightstand has been completely covered with books for a long time.  I had four really tall stacks that were almost reaching the light on the floor lamp and two half sized stacks.  In and of itself not much of an issue, but before the winter cold set in, I had to move all the books in my niece's room from in front of the heater so the room would get warm.  I had to move all the books, you guessed it, into my bedroom.  I have not been able to motivate myself to hang up my clothes for quite some time, so I take them out of the closet, wear them, wash them and then pile them on one of the two large areas of stacked books.  I have been unable to add to those book piles, so I started piling books on the floor in front of my nightstand.  I had three stacks going, but they got close to level with the top of the nightstand and I couldn't get my coins out to organize, so I decided I had to reorganize my nightstand.  I just had to make the books on the floor fit while shortening the stacks on top of the nightstand.

Let me tell you, one of the hardest things to do is make decisions about what stays and what goes when it comes to books.  The books by the side of the bed are TBR 1, the stacks on the floor are TBR 2 and TBR 3.  Then there are the book cases in Brianna's room, thin jobbers about four feet high.  They don't fit a lot, but there are also all the book cases downstairs and we won't even mention the attic.  So, I had to make very critical decisions about what books were going to stay on the side of the bed and what ones were going to get moved.

I first weeded out books I had on Kindle.  That was two I believe.  Then, I weeded out sequels when I haven't read the previous book.  There was a bit more of those.  After that, though, it was tough trying to make those choices.  If the book is not on the side of the bed or one of the front stacks so I can see the spine, the chances of me reading it soon are slim.  So the books remaining had to be strategically placed.  The stacks were organized deliberately, so the more pressing books to read are in front or on top.  It took quite some time.

Finally, the last project I worked on was going through all my Blu Ray discs and looking to see which ones have a digital copy available.  I then spent a good number of hours loading into iTunes or Ultraviolet or Flixster.  Now that I have an iPad, I can actually watch them on my device and not have to sit at the computer to do it.

So, with all this going on plus the Christmas cookie hangovers, it has been tough getting much of anything else done.  Now, my vacation is over and I started back to work.  It is a good time to make a fresh start of other things.

So while I haven't thought of a lot of New Year's resolutions, I do have at least some.  Here they are:

1. Post on my blog at least three times a week.  I need to get back to writing my reviews (I'm quite backlogged and may have to read the books again to review them) and the memes I participate in.  I haven't swooned in a long time.
2. Be a more patient driver and take extra care in foul weather.  I had another slight fender bender and my car is back in the body shop.
3. Get the storage facility emptied out.  I am tired of the things I never see costing me a fortune in monthly rental fees.  I'd rather have that money in my pocket for other things...like books.
4. Keep by Penguins band bracelets on until they win the Stanley cup (or whenever post-season is over).
5. Give the 12th Doctor a chance.  He's new, but I am really going to miss Matt Smith.
6. Be more diligent about my gardening...without getting poison ivy...so I don't end up with another jungle by June. 
7. Read more.
8. Get the Christmas decorations down by not long after Epiphany.  Last year Christmas lasted until March or early April.  Simply not acceptable, but then again, I have been known to be lazy.
9. Keep up the physical activity.  I should be working out at least three times a week if not more.  It's no joke.  There are Amazon gift cards at stake if I can take enough steps by next November 1st.

Well, it's a start.

Anyway, I hope you all have had a fantastic holiday and I wish you all the best prose in the forthcoming year.  May your bookshelves never be empty!