friday flashback

On Fridays for the month of December (and until I grow tired of doing it), I'll feature a post from my old blog. These may or may not be any good.

From December 2005: Some post-holiday cheer

This year I wondered, now that our house has a little family, when will I start sending out those Holiday Newsletters? You know the ones -- I'm sure the author started out with nothing but good intentions, planning to share the events and activities from the past year. But by the time you finish reading it, you hate yourself and your own family, who are nothing but mindless slackers in comparison.

***

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,

2005 was a busy year for the Robinson clan!

Jack was promoted at work, again! Of course, since he was already CEO, they had to invent a new position for him. He just loves his job, and has nothing but wonderful things to say about his work friends.

After 15 years of raising the children and keeping the house, I decided to re-enter the work force. Not sure if my outdated skills would be of any value in this new computer age, I decided to go back to school and get one of those Master's degrees. I'm still not sure what I mastered in, but it was well worth it -- I was hired for the first position I applied to, and am now regional manager.

Little Bobby isn't so little anymore. He's halfway through his senior year at Michigan, and was the starting quarterback for the third year in a row. As I'm sure many of you saw on ESPN, he did not win the Heisman Trophy. That was a sad day in the Robinson household. But Bobby has been so mature about the whole experience, and knows it was an honor just to be nominated. And the NFL draft is just around the corner!

Our youngest bookworm Susie is loving her sophomore year at Princeton. We were worried that the pressure of an ivy league school would be hard on her, but she's handled it with grace I've not witnessed in a 15 year old. She's considering law school, but she can't give up her childhood dream of studying literature at Oxford, and is already preparing her application to be a Rhodes scholar.

This past year wasn't just about work work work for us. The kids gave us a wonderful anniversary trip to Tuscany. I only wish we could have spent July and August there as well -- June just wasn't enough.

We also have a new member of the Robinson family -- Lance joined us in March. Susie claimed she was too old for a pony, but I have to admit, I've wanted one since I was a little girl.

We are grateful for all of our blessings, and we look forward to 2006. We also hope to see many of you. We hope that your schedules won't be as full as they were last year. We were so disappointed that none of you were able to visit. Those last minute cancellations were especially hard. But we have high hopes for 2006.

A happy and healthy New Year to you all,

The Robinsons - Jack, Mitzy, Bobby, and Susie (& Lance)

i need some platform shoes

My cold returned last night and now four of my nails have chipped. I lost my nose stud last night and the only replacement jewelry I could find was a giant ring and I kept waking up in the middle of the night trying to rip it out.

How the mighty fall.

In other news -- hey! It's December. Which means something something presents something. I don't know. This is also the month where I begin drinking heavily. I love Christmas but I hate Christmas shopping. The pressure is obscene to make sure that what you get for someone is EXACTLY what they want, which is why I wish we could just give each other hundred dollar bills. "Merry Christmas, buy whatever you want." I'm always scouring gift guides in the hopes that the perfect present will reveal itself, and I can call and order thirty and be done! And a hero! And worshiped all across the lands!

Are you also struggling? Want some ideas while I totally pimp my friend's business? Sweet. Then head on over to her site and check out the goods. Beth is a rep for Silpada, and they have some of the most AWESOME silver jewelry around. (They also have some wacky ideas about wearing half of the catalog's items at one time, which, come on. That shiz is HEAVY.) I have two pieces that I adore and wear all the time.

the bracelet has square links, which looks killer. and the earrings are so delicate and pretty. unlike me.

 We saw Beth during our trip to Florida, and it was so awesome to catch up, and also she let me try on all of her stuff. Like this stunner:

WANT

There were other goodies but I was so focused on this ring I almost didn't give it back to her.

Seriously, please go take a gander at the catalog. The stuff is gorgeous. And! Beth is giving a percentage of her sales this season (through December 11) toward a charity in Central Florida that helps out needy families. And again! She's having two drawings -- if you place an order before December 11, not only will part of your money go to this charity, but you'll be entered in a drawing for a donation of a $100 to the charity of your choice, and you'll be entered into Beth's 3 Days of Christmas giveaway, where she'll draw a winner on the 21st, 22nd AND 23rd to receive a Silpada gift.

So! Jewelry! Charities! Giveaways! It's all good stuff. (Plus, my friend is awesome and I love her and you would be totally supporting her business and that would mean I would love you too.)

and so it begins

Well! Good morning, friends.

It's December first, my cold is (pretty much) over, it's lightly snowing outside, the Christmas lights are twinkling all over town, and I've only chipped two of my nails -- it's a good day!

I'd like to make sure I give you something funny to read, or pretty to look at, or something to think about every day. Which requires a teeny bit of forethought. Not a trait I'm particularly well known for possessing. So good luck to me. (Also, today does not count. Nothing to look at here. Move along.)

One of the things I want to cover this month are the various events that took place this past summer and fall that I didn't get around to telling you about. For those of you who read the old blog, I'll also be bringing some of the archives over and highlighting some of my favorite posts. My overall goal for December here at Paper, Squared is to give you a better picture of me. And to figure out what exactly I'm trying to do with this space. Prepare yourselves. Or not.

I know. You are OVERWHELMED with excitement. I don't blame you.

i blame the head cold

I'm considering posting every day in December. I tried it last year and almost made it.

In the meantime (all 18 hours), here are some pretty pictures to look at.

so now i'm two for three

I have approximately seven minutes before I have to catch a train, so that seems like the PERFECT time to write something. Because they don't call me Ms. Time Management for nothing.

Okay, no one calls me that.

So, I totally made my dad all verklempt with yesterday's post. Between that and the crying my mom did over Emma's video, I am two-for-two in the Plucking Parents' Heartstrings Like a Freaking Harp category.

And now, the real reason I'm here: my hair.

I've got that itch again to cut my hair. Correction: chop. Butcher. Massacre. (It is here that Fred will remind me that JUST THIS MORNING I said I was going to grow out my bangs. Yes, I'm fickle. I can accept that.)

I saw a picture today and I though -- YES! That's how I want my hair. Right. This. Minute. But then I had to go to the library and have a call for work and make some chai (nom nom) so the haircut will have to wait because now I only have three minutes until I have to catch the train.

Here's the picture:

(I found it on a lovely blog called Square Girl, while I was checking out Squarespace to see if I wanted to move over there. I know! I've only been on WordPress like four months. See? Fickle.)

You can't see much of the hair but there's a sense about it. A sense that it would look fantastic with my new cat eye-ish frames that I ordered today.

today

It's Veteran's Day, and so I felt it would be appropriate to post a pic of my favorite Veteran, my father. My dad was in the Navy during Vietnam, and as a kid, I loved listening to his stories about his trips to Japan. My mom wore his Navy-issued peacoat while she was pregnant with me, and when I was little I would put it on, letting the sleeves hang past my fingers. I loved that he lived on a ship and slept in a bunk and was given a sword as part of his uniform.

Speaking of uniform...

I'm not sure exactly what year this is... 1971? But I can say he looks exactly the same.

I love you, Papa. Thanks for riding on a big boat and telling me all about it.

five

Emma is five today. Yes, I'm in shock.
(I have no idea if the video loads in a reader, so click on over to the page.)

five years of emma from monkeygirl on Vimeo.