I’m still on this whole topic of all the friends from my past I have found on Facebook. It’s fascinating to see where people have moved. I am flabbergasted at how many people I know are now living in Las Vegas. I guess I always thought of that city more in terms of Vegas vacations more than I did as a place to move your family.

One of my friends posted a lot of pictures when Vegas got snow this past December. Snow! Can you believe it? My last vacation memory of Vegas is the air being so hot and dry that I was always slathering on lotion. It would have been something else to play in the snow out there. I suppose the mere hint of season makes any place feel more like a place you can call home to me. I am aware that some people look at the fact that I live in Florida now as an odd choice. I’ve always been a fan of seasons, particularly autumn. We don’t have season here any more than they do in Vegas.

I did not get much for Christmas, but then I did not ask for anything, In fact, I asked some of my family members to skip a gift for me and instead spend more on my daughter. I suppose I feel like I am in a place where I own most of what I really need.

One thing I did not get was the flash memory I was looking for. I had it in my head to get my hands on a cheap flash drive when the stores were doing all of their Black Friday sales. I planned my shopping schedule and went out to brave the crowds, but every time I went into a store people had already cleaned out all of the flash drives on sale.

I kept looking for stores to run specials with similar prices in the month following and so far I have not found what I want. So, I still owe myself a Christmas present and I am still on the lookout for the prices I want.

One of the friends I am now back in touch with was the friend who introduced me to the craft of rubber stamping. Thanks to her, I have a huge box full of wonderful stamps, inks, and other supplies. I used to make all of my greeting cards by hand and have been thinking lately that I need to get my things out of storage and have them where I can work on little stamping projects when I am watching TV at night or want a craft to do with my daughter.

Besides, now that I am working in the public school system I am beginning to see all of the things I can use my stamps for. On top of what I already own, I can see the need for a few custom rubber stamps to make my organization easier. And, date stampers will come in handy when papers are being turned in – because no matter how careful you are, there is always someone who wants to try and dispute the facts.

I just saw a note on Facebook from the friend I mentioned above. One of her children turns ten tomorrow. I have to wonder if she stamped the birthday cards.

I almost forgot to wish all of my friends Happy New Year!

2008 was wonderful and horrific in turns. I have high hopes for 2009. I have several VERY BIG changes planned for the coming year.

I’ve loved having all of this time off over Christmas break. That is one thing you can say about working in the school system, it rocks to have the same time off as your children. My daughter an I have gone to parks, seen movies, slept in, sorted through old toys and clothes, gone shopping, eaten out — and all on the leisurely schedule that we had back when she was a toddler and I was a stay at home mom.

I’ve taken some time for myself and gone back to some evenings where I spend hours on the website Facebook. I used to do that when I first discovered it, searching for old friends and getting back in touch. Now that I have had some time, I have found a bunch of old friends from my days back in Maryland. I knew SO many people when I lived there and it’s been wonderful to touch base with many of them.

Before I quit working to stay home to be a wife and mother, I was a graphic designer. Before that I worked as a product manager and editor at a publishing house. While I was home with my family I continued to take freelance writing and design jobs.

When I divorced, I began to look at life as a single mom and I knew I did not want to have to put my daughter in daycare during summers and other school breaks. The idea broke my heart. I had also seen article after article about how the state of Florida was absolutely desperate for teachers. So, I went back to school and took my education classes and got certified to teach.

And now that I am looking for teaching jobs I am surrounded by the irony that schools are being closed and teachers are losing their jobs. How sad is that? I am working at the local high school, but not in a fully instructional capacity. I can only hope that I will fall into something this next fall.

If this attempt at a second career does not pan out, I will be forced to refocus once again. I am wondering how tech jobs are doing overall? On one hand it does seem like a logical place to go for a safe career move. On the other hand, I have known people in the technology sector who have been laid off and gone to job search seminars only to be told that tech is the way to go. They felt the same sort of irony I feel now.

I started my weight loss program before the traditional January 2nd start time that most people adhere to, because I wanted to be in the right place when I had to face big holiday meals. It was a difficult scenario for me, because I adore Christmas pies and big turkey dinners with gravy and sweet potatoes. It might be hard to believe, but I ate a big salad with some turkey on top for Christmas dinner and I finished my meal off with a slice of sugar-free low-card cheesecake that I made the day before.

In the first 11 days of my diet I lost 10 pounds. I have decided to only weigh myself once a week, so I do not have another tally for you yet. I’m hoping to be able to look at the scale on Wednesday and smile.

I was prescribed an appetite suppressant, but I have not needed to take it. Perhaps when schools starts again I will need it, but right now it is very easy to find time for my five small daily meals. I did a lot of reading online about appetite suppressants and fat burners before I started my diet. I know that products like Ephedrasil hardcore are all the rage, but I ended up going with a much older appetite suppressant and more traditional fat burning methods. I see results thus far, but if that stops I will be more than happy to try some of the newer, trendier products.

Wish me luck.

I didn’t go in for too many of the sales the stores had the day after Christmas. Most of them already had the same sale prices before Christmas this year. I was surprised at how many stores were giving 30% to 50% off of Christmas merchandise before the holiday even hit.

My daughter and I did wander into Target and Dillard’s to return a couple of items, though. The crowds were horrific. The parking at the mall was worse than the days leading up to Christmas. I was flabbergasted to hear that most retail stores still don’t think they are going to meet their end-of-year sales goals. It seemed to me that half the county was out shopping on Friday.

We did find a lot of marked down pet items at one store, though. That was our big coup of the day. There were fancy collars, sweaters, pet beds, gourmet treats, and lots of cool grooming tools. I’m not sure what having pet items marked down on December 26 was supposed to accomplish, but it worked for us.

I never would agree to let my daughter have any Bratz doll merchandise. She begged, she tired to charm; she even attempted to reason with me. I just would not give in. I did not want her to have dolls with belly shirts and short skirts and lips that look like they have collagen injections.

And so I find it ironic that now, on the eve of Bratz dolls going out of production and leaving the store shelves, I gave in and bought her a Bratz Styling Head. She wanted a styling head with the hands showing and this Cloe head was the best price I could find. I found a deal where a store had it mispriced and I walked away with it for $14.99.

And then, her paternal uncle took her shopping yesterday and bought her a Bratz Snap-On Concert doll. So, now there are two Cloe dolls in the house, two Bratz, two of the toys I said would never see the inside of my home.

*sigh*