Author: Kathleen

  • Year In Review: 2009

    happy_new_year_fireworks

    Well, here it is: the last day of another year. Before I launch into my plans for 2010, I want to remember 2009. I got most of my huge life changes out of the way in 2008, and this year has been mostly one of settling in. Still, a lot more happened than I would have thought.

    January: I went to Angel Fire, NM with a couple of friends for the fifth time. We moved into our new house. My husband was recovering from his first hip surgery. I precepted a new hire at work for the first time.

    February: I turned 27. That’s enough for one month, right?

    March: I joined paperbackswap.com, which completely revolutionized my book reading. We had a giant leak in our attic pipes. David had a second hip surgery.

    April: I was informed that I was finalist for the best new nurse award. I didn’t win, but it was an honor. I started my list of 101 goals in 1001 days. I was involved in an intensive calling campaign at church. I changed my blog design to what you see now. I became an aunt for the first time when Lucas was born.

    May: I decided to train for a triathlon. We had our living room painted and had to live with David’s parents for a week. My hard drive crashed, I freaked out, and spent $100 on recovery software to retrieve some of my files. David went on a business trip to Nashville and I missed him. A lot.

    June: The locks and handles to my truck broke, ushering in a new era of annoyance. My house-sitting days came to an end when our good friends Bridget and Dave moved away. I became a charge nurse, against my will. I was a camp nurse for a week.

    July: I was floated to another unit at work for the first time. Then our unit flooded and we were at half capacity for a week. Our home air conditioner broke, but we finally got a few rooms in our house looking decent. David and I had our pastor’s kids come spend the night. I decided to delay my triathlon training.

    August: I started making an effort to improve my cooking and try new things. I finally got tapped in to the blogging community of girls my age, in my stage of life. I “graduated” from my hospital’s new nurse residency program. David and I went to Austin to spend the weekend with two of my best friends and former roommates.

    September: I got my hair cut and colored. I rode in the Tour de Pink. I started a new work schedule which gives me an additional day off.

    October: David and I celebrated our first anniversary in San Antonio, where I met a penguin. The very next weekend we visited my best friend in Wichita and attended one of my college’s homecomings. I attended SchipulCon and finally met Lauren and Chelsea.  Our dog Eddie hurt her leg.

    November: I participated in and completed NaBloPoMo. I decided I want to eventually become a nurse practitioner. I attended a lovely women’s retreat at my church. I worked on Thanksgiving, but got to come home to a delicious meal at my parents’ house.

    December: There was a lot of preparing for Christmas. I worked a lot. And of course, Christmas itself.

    It was my first full year to be married and living in my own home – that alone made it an exceptional year. I’m happy with it, and at the same time I’m ready for new beginnings. I think that’s a good way to feel. :) Happy new year, friends!

  • Christmas “Vacation”

    So Christmas happened, and I kind of feel like I missed it.

    The day itself was fantastic: Lil Smokies, banana bread, coffee, and OJ for breakfast at my parents’ house, cuddling with my husband on the couch, opening stockings and presents, four dogs playing in the discarded wrapping paper, becoming obsessed with Words With Friends and playing against my brothers all day, my in-laws coming over for a delicious meal, and seeing Sherlock Holmes.

    The problem was, it was over so fast. It’s really tough to get vacation days around the holidays when you work in a hospital, so I didn’t ask for any. I worked up until Christmas Eve, then I worked all weekend and finished up with a long shift yesterday. Apart from the long hours, it’s just been tough lately. I don’t want to get into it, but suffice it to say that my job is one where taking vacations are a necessity. I didn’t ask for Christmas off, but I’m taking five days starting Thursday and it can’t come soon enough.

    I don’t know if I’ve ever looked forward to a new year as much as I do this one. The short vacation helps, but like Stephanie said, it may be cliche but New Years’ works for me psychologically. For some reason it really feels like a fresh start. I’ll be sharing with you soon some of the changes and resolutions I plan to make. You may scoff, but I make realistic goals for the new year and I more often than not achieve them. It’s how I got myself to floss, quit texting while driving, and ride my bike more.

    Well, I’ve already spent more time than I planned on the computer this morning. I have chores and errands to catch up with, a doctor’s appointment, and a possible movie date with my brother to see Nine. All this is going to get done if I can just get out of bed…

  • Ten On Tuesday: Christmas Edition

    rr10tuesdayI’m worried that if I talk about Christmas too much, I’ll get sick of it before it even arrives. So here are my short and sweet answers to this week’s holiday edition of Ten on Tuesday.

    1. When do you put up and take down your Christmas decorations?
    Since this is our first Christmas in our new home, I can’t say that we have any set time yet. This year we put up decorations the first weekend of December, and we’ll probably take them down a week or so into January.

    2. What do you do to simplify the holiday season?

    I’m still working on this one, but we really only buy gifts for our immediate families. So far I haven’t gotten very good at getting my shopping and wrapping done early. I gave up on Christmas cards this year because they were stressing me out too much.

    3. What do you do to remind yourself and your family what the Christmas season is all about?
    Church helps a lot, and so does Bible reading. It’s also nice to have friends and family who will keep me in check when I start to become negative.

    4. How do you spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
    Christmas Eve is spent at church and then home to sleep, and Christmas Day, so far, is almost always at my parents’ house. Breakfast, stockings, gifts, lounging, dinner, movie. If I’m working (like I was last year), we adjust.

    5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
    When I was a freshman in high school my dad and I decided to go shopping together for my mom. We haven’t missed a year since then. Actually our shopping day was today, and along with knocking a bunch of things off our lists, we got some quality time in and I got treated to lunch and ice cream. :)

    6.  Did you do the whole Santa thing growing up? What do you like/not like about continuing the tradition?
    For a few years, but apparently my parents told me the truth about Santa before my friends found out. I somewhat hazily remember getting in HUGE trouble for spilling the beans to one of my friends, who had a freakout when I told her. Sorry for that, Mom.

    7. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?
    My favorite cookie is the chocolate chip. Is it a Christmas cookie? I don’t know, but I don’t really care.

    8. How do you take your egg nog?
    With a side of vomit. So, I’ll pass.

    9. What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?
    O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It’s hauntingly beautiful, and the words get me every time. I love how it relates the longing the Israelites felt for a deliverer when they were in captivity, to the longing the Jews had for their Messiah to come, to the longing we Christians feel now for Jesus to come back and make all things right.

    10. When was the last time you had a white Christmas?
    I’m pretty sure it was five years ago in 2004, and that was a miracle.

  • Sing, Sing, Sing

    Some of you have mentioned that you’d like to hear me sing, so to make that happen I wrangled my brother into recording this video with me. I find his expression hilarious throughout the entire thing. First of all, he is The Silent Man. Secondly, check out his overgrown mustache/weekend beard combo. And finally, you can tell by his eyes that he is super distracted. That might be because I made him do this during the fourth quarter of the Texans game, which was on mute right in front of us.

    Anyway, this song is called “White Horse” and it’s by my favorite band, Over the Rhine. I don’t do it nearly as well as they do, but I sure enjoy singing it. The guitar is kind of soft, but we’re not exactly operating with top quality recording equipment here. If you like what you hear, please tell me so! If you don’t like it, please don’t tell me–I am a delicate flower.

    Merry Christmas week!

    White Horse Cover from Kathleen Forbes on Vimeo.

  • A Girl’s Gotta Try

    I know I haven’t updated most of this week, and lame as this is I am writing now to tell you about how my blog/Twitter friend Ashley is giving away a laptop on her review blog.

    I would really, really like to win this computer. Not for myself, because once I went Mac I don’t think I can go back. But for my husband, because his laptop causes him to curse at least once a night, if he can even bring himself to use it. I had to use his computer myself when my hard drive crashed awhile ago, and I don’t know how he puts up with it. Sadly, a new computer is not in the budget for either of us anytime soon, hence my effort to win this giveaway. And maybe if I won, he’d start to like this blogging thing a little more. :)

    Enter the giveaway here!