In a weird turn of events, 2012 is now here.

Friday, December 30th was a grand day. We had paid all of our bills and had some money left over, so Bryan gave me permission to go and spend some dough on a new (to me) phone. I have been openly bitching about my crap Android phone for almost a year now (it’s touch and go, the external speakers don’t always work, and a call has a 75% chance it will actually come through), but since they released a new model and we weren’t quite eligible for an upgrade, we had decided to wait. When my father fell and tore his rotator cuff and my mother tried to reach me to ask for help (but no call or message came through), we were done with the waiting game.

I have a coworker who shares an office with me and he also has heard said bitching for a long time and he was all, “HERE, I HAVE AN IPHONE FOR YOU WILL THIS SHUT YOU UP ALREADY?” (Okay, he was kinder than that.) Anyway, so YAY! I got a working phone on Friday!

Also! On Friday! My big, mamma jamma proposal that I worked for about a year on was awarded .. to us! We won! And oh, the joy and elation was something that dreams are made of. I was seriously walking on air all night.

… UNTIL BRYAN’S CAR DIED.

Bryan’s car, a paid-off 1996 Nissan Pathfinder, stopped running. A couple of times. With him and Jack struggling to get home.

::le sigh::

Bryan can fix anything under the sun.. except cars. We know very little about cars between the two of us. And it won’t run long enough to get it to a shop. And we’re between paydays. It’s one of THOSE perfect little storms that makes me angry at myself every time I have to use my new phone. But. There we are.

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I made my own fabric softener today, as we are now entering another “financial fast”. I grocery shopped for two weeks on Saturday (plus Sunday’s New Year feast), and realized once I got home that we were out. (BLAST.) So I made some. And .. hey! It works just as well and it really only cost $2 in NEW supplies. (I already had vinegar on-hand.)

6 C water
3 C White Distilled Vinegar
2 C Cheap Conditioner

I went with the Suave something or other conditioner for $1.99. Heat the water up enough to dissolve the conditioner, and then add the vinegar. It made about 2L, which I just put right back into my empty Gain bottle.

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I finished my 2011 365 Photo-a-day project, missing about 50 days through the year. I love being able to look back on it and hope to turn it into a coffee-table book whenever we have some more spare money laying around. I plan to do the same for 2012.

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Oh, our New Year feast! I made collard greens, black eyed peas, and an apple tart. Our main course was a TurDucken (a turkey stuffed with chicken breast and duck meat) that was stuffed with seafood jambalaya. No, really. And it was HUUUUGE.

I was .. honestly, I was really proud of myself. I made collard greens that everyone ate! Everyone ate them and .. either liked them or didn’t dislike them! Even people (BRYAN) who hate greens! Also I made black eyed peas “from scratch” and, damnit, I was also very proud of my apple tart, mostly because it looked pretty.

We also spent a goodly chunk of time playing Kids vs. Adults, which was fun. (Dude was on the kids’ team. OBVSLY.)

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Last night, post-feast, Gee and Dude took Tony and we brought Jack back north and Bryan and I saw a movie. We finally made it to a movie theatre and saw Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and it was awesome. I have so much fun with my husband. Even if it’s just sitting and people-watching, we never fail to amuse eachother.

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Also, I’ve been (almost) dairy-free since Christmas Day. When my stomach trouble hit, dairy and other indulgences seemed to be the culprit, so I’ve officially knocked it out. I MISS IT HORRIBLY, don’t get me wrong, but I feel so much better. It’s one of those things that makes you consider all things you put into your mouth – does this have hidden dairy in it? - and as a result, I feel like I’m making better choices. Last night’s choice of splitting a Mile High Mud Pie with Bryan was a bad one. I paid for it pretty severely, but hey! It’s okay to fall off the wagon if we get back on, right?

If any of you do dairy-free, have you found a decent substitute for cream cheese? Most of my cooking staples have some sort of cream cheese in them, and I have no idea what to sub in. Thoughts?

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Normal life resumes tomorrow. I’ve got my gym bag packed (running 3-4x a week now), I’ve cleaned out my computer bag, and my calendar is up-to-date. I feel like I’m starting school, but most importantly, I feel like I’m starting it off on the right foot.