Epic Christmas Letter Failure

So, the annual Christmas Card Letter was wrote and in an odd twist, it never got mailed.  So, please do enjoy what you should of received in the mail.  :)

Season’s Greetings and Happy 2011!!!
In true fashion, I am late with everything so I hope this letter finds you having had a blessed Christmas and a great start to 2011! To kick off the New Year, here is my rendition of an old song to catch you up on my 2010….

Twas the first month of the New Year and Santa brought to me….Relief. In January, I had surgery to fix a deviated septum and a few other sinus issues that was resulting in chronic sinus infections. I was blessed to have my Aunt Jo Ann come to Austin and be my mom for the weekend and help me right after the surgery. The doctor declared the surgery a success and so far, no sinus infections!!!

Twas the second month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…a Godson! In February, Kim and Travis became the proud parents of Maddox Vincent. I was blessed to be able to make a quick trip back to Nebraska to enjoy his first couple of days at home. I also call it my 24 hours of why being a single parent might not be a good idea as Maddox was not a happy baby his first night home.

Twas the third month of the New Year and Santa brought to me….a Cruise! In celebration of my Aunt Jo Ann and Uncle Oak’s 50th Wedding Anniversary, I was able to join them, their entire family, my parents and a few others on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Cozumel. It was a great time with family and I forgot how relaxing reading a book and doing nothing was!

Twas the fourth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…a trip to Nebraska! I was able to make it back to Nebraska for Maddox’s Baptism and was also blessed to see most of the Schmidt family at Uncle Ron & Aunt Sharon’s 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Twas the fifth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…time at Camp Curtis. I still try and make it to the Curtis Lake Cabin, although this summer I didn’t make it as often as I would of liked. It is just a relaxing time and you just never know who you might see! (There have been Elvis sightings in the area!) I definitely have a great time with family and usually end up with a story or two!

Twas the six month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…Vet Bills. Okay, the standard annual checkup bills. I am still the proud momma of my fur babies Guinness and Finnegan, or Finnegus as some refer to them. Guinness turned five in July and Finnegan turned two early in the year. Finn of course is still 100% puppy and continues to reinforce the fact that he was a termite in his previous life by eating anything wood he can get his teeth on (Crepe Myrtle tree, privacy fence, the house and bed posts). Guinness still tends to act annoyed with Finn most of the time, but it is just an act. You will see Finn with a scarf most of the time so family and friends can tell them apart, hence the name Finnegas, because without it, most cannot tell them apart.

Twas the seventh month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…another anniversary at NFP. I am still working in the Technology Firm Services department and continue to adapt to whatever they throw at me. I think I hear the phrase “Jenn has the bandwidth…” entirely too much. Of course with the anniversary I also will start earning more vacation in January. Yeah me!

Twas the eighth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…more Crummy Dates. Yes, I am no closer to being married, so you can stop asking that question.  If you don’t read my blog, you might want to go check out the top ten reasons I am still single (http://skrsntexas.blogspot.com/2010/06/top-10-reasons-im-single.html). I can assure you, I could add to that list since then. My worst date for the year, a second date that was an hour and a half car ride (one way) to go to Simulcast Horse Racing. I can assure you that had I known that was the plan for the evening, I probably would have passed.

Twas the ninth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…another year at Lowe’s. It is hard to believe that I have now been at Lowe’s for two years. I honestly enjoy my time there and am blessed to have a set schedule of days and hours to work. I took over as coordinator for the Kid’s Clinic held every other Saturday and love the time off the register! One of these days I’ll be done with the house and not need the discount. 

Twas the tenth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…a visit from Big Country & family, aka Cousin Troy and family. It was great having them visit and see some of the sights around Austin. Of course, it was complete with trips to the Outlet Mall, The Salt Lick and seeing the Congress Bridge Bats.

Twas the eleventh month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…a LOT of Company!!! A house full was had the weekend of the Texas A&M vs. Nebraska game. 16 of us made the trip to the game and thankfully not all of them stayed in my house! My parents, Travis, Kim and Maddox stayed through the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was a blessing to have them be able to stay so long and Auntie Jenn loved all of her Maddox time.

Twas the twelfth month of the New Year and Santa brought to me…an End to a great year! The month ended with a visit from my friend Melissa for New Year’s Eve. I officially became a Texan this month with the purchase of my first Cowboy Boots. Work on the house is coming along and now it is more of things that I would like to do versus have to do. My brother Travis says I need to start dating (although he used another word I won’t put here) a contractor to make some of that happen. LOL

2011 is going to be a great year and I already have a lot of fun things planned! Of course, before you ask, when is your next trip to Nebraska – I ask – when is your trip to Texas? I mean I have been here for four years now?!?!

Love y’all and miss you bunches!