Time.....

This year has absolutely flown by!  How did it get to be the middle of December???

I'm sorry to say that I haven't been very good at posting on here.  I'm not sure if its a case where I've just been lazy or that I've felt like I have had nothing worthwhile to say.  Maybe its a little bit of both.

Rich and I have been fairly busy the past few weeks trying to get ready for the holidays.  Work always seems to get crazy this time of year because: 1) manufacturing wants to ship by the end of the year, 2) performance appraisals are due, 3) funding gets determined for next year and for programs that don't have funding next year, we have to finish everything this year.  On top of the work stuff, there's all the preparation for the Holidays.

Christmas shopping is not one of my fortes and, to be honest, I'm kind of sick of it.  I don't like all the commercialization of Christmas these days and just about everyone in my family can buy whatever they want or need, so it makes it difficult to find the good gift.

I think lately its just been a case where I feel truly overwhelmed by life.  While sometimes it doesn't seem like we have much going on, somehow I always feel harried and rushed.  I haven't had time to just relax and not worry about things.  Even our trip to the Bahamas was stress-leaden.

Our first flight out of Albany to Charlotte was delayed in Albany due to a fuel leak.  So the 50 minute layover we originally had dwindled down to less than 5 minutes.  We had to run through the Charlotte airport and got to the next gate just as they were loading our zone.  Then on that flight, I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a kid who sounded like he was trying to hack up a lung.  We finally got to the Bahamas and picked a "short" line at customs.  Well, it was definitely a poor choice.  Every single person in front of us was going to the Bahamas on a work visa and there were problems with all of them.  So it took us 1.5 hours to get through immigration.

Our actual stay at the Sandals resort was pretty good.  We expected the food to be a little better than what it was, but the view and beach were perfect.  Several nights we had trouble finding someplace to eat because only certain restaurants would be open and some you had to have reservations and they were booked solid.  We didn't even end up eating at the French-styled restaurant because Rich ended up getting sick.  We think he had some bad veal, but it kind of made the end of the trip not much fun.  Most of the last full day we were there was spent in our room and not down at the beach.  Then because he wasn't feeling well, the entire trip home was very stressful.

At this point, I've been stressed out for so long that my entire body hurts.  Yesterday, I got to the point where I could barely move my head because my neck was so tense.  I just can't wait for my vacation to start next week.  Maybe I'll actually be able to relax over the holidays, although it won't happen until at least after Christmas day, since we're hosting Rich's family at our house for Christmas.

Anyway - enough griping....  Eventually I might get some more pictures on here, but I think for the time being, this may be a venting tool again.  :-(