So the end of 2009 brought all kinds of change for us. And after a year where change was kind of the theme, I’m over it!

We sent Nici home. Back to Austria. Never to return.

Remember Nici? She was our au pair. She was with us for 14 weeks. She was supposed to become one of our family, bond with our girls, enhance our lives and just be all-around awesome.

She did not and was none of those things. In fact, she became so far the polar opposite that after a particularly gnarly ride to the airport to drop her off for a trip home to visit her family for the holidays wherein I had to listen to her raise her voice, be beyond disrespectful to my husband and then remind her to say goodbye to my girls, the entire reason she was even here in the United States, I turned to my husband and told him, “I can’t do this with her anymore.”

And that was that.

Our household is back to the way it was. I’m figuring it out. But the darkness of living with someone – a stranger – who so obviously didn’t like us? It’s gone. It’s light and happy and Nici? Her name is never mentioned by the girls, even now, three weeks after she’s been gone. It’s like she was never even here.

So I hope you all had a wonderful and joyous holiday season and that 2010 brings all kinds of excitement and adventure for you.

Myself, I am hoping to get back on schedule, back on task, back to the things I enjoy… skiing, cooking, blogging.

Happy New Year!