hello blog friends! Happy 2012! Let's make it better than last year, shall we? I am so ready for great things!
So. What's been happening since the new year....Well, we celebrated my mom's birthday (January 1st!) and her and I made my grandfather's homemade ravioli! (what a bitch!!)...what a blast!

I made her a canvas painting/sign which I will show you soon. We had our yummy ravioli, ate pineapple cake and relaxed.
But backing up a bit. New Year's Eve Scarlet and I spent the night at Grammie and Poppy's house and watched the ball drop on TV. Nothing like poor Dick Clark keeping the years coming! (hey, at least he was making out with someone at midnight, unlike myself!). Then I "slept" on their couch and didn't sleep- between their cat that moaning like a suffering victim all night and my brother coming in sometime in the middle of the night burping, microwaving food, and cracking Pepsi cans open!
And backing up to the night before- I got to go out to an authentic Arabic restaurant with my "someone special"...

The food was so yummy! (even if I'm still not the biggest fan of lamb!)

The tea was to-die-for, and I bought some for home and found the secret was putting a couple of cracked cardamom seeds in while it's steeping!

So the past week has been nice. And now tomorrow Scarlet and I both go back to the classroom! I miss my students, but it's been a nice vacation. Sleeping in late suits me well!
For this new year I plan on doing a few things.
-Spending responsibly. Being frugal when I can. Still going out to eat and enjoying life, and buying books (second-hand)... but cutting the corners, and not impulse-buying.
-Thinking each day: "How can I make someone else's day better?"
- Living in the moment and making those moments fun.
What about you? Are you making resolutions, focusing on a "word" for the year?
I will be back real soon, but for now, I wish you and yours a very happy new year!"