To Resolve, or Not To Resolve

I hate making New Year's resolutions. I don't think I've managed to follow through on one over the course of my entire life. I haven't made a resolution in years, largely because it's a sure-fire path to failure and, by extension, depression and self-loathing.

This is not to say I don't support the concept; the cusp of a new year is an excellent time to reflect on the previous 365 days and make some sort of conscious effort to improve upon them over the next 365. The problem is I inevitably set impossibly high goals for myself. Like losing 50 pounds. Or excercising 5 days a week. These kinds of expectations are clearly unrealistic for mere mortals such as myself, but I get swept up in the moment and the next thing I know I'm swearing off chocolate. As if.

So my more recent approach is to congratulate myself on getting through another year in customer service where I shed no blood or tears (mine or another's), appreciate the wonderful people I'm truly lucky to have in my life, and be thankful I have my health, a roof over my head, and a job that pays me decently well.

Next year's chips will fall where they may and hopefully in another 365 days I'll be counting all these same blessings again and looking forward to another year of them.

I Think I Have a Christmas-cake Hangover (No, wait--It's PMS)

I was completely spoiled this year--my Mom got me not only a brand new coffee maker but also 3 different varieties of whole-bean coffee, two georgeous mugs, a set of 4 placemats with matching napkins and a steering wheel cover exactly like my friend Koochie's so I can think of both her and my Mom everytime I get in my car. My favourite aunt gave me a $50 gift card for Chapter's and my brother's family gave me a huge duffle-like travel bag with wheels and a pull-handle-thing for visiting my Honey in Cali.

Speaking of my Honey, he came home on Christmas Day (see? I said I was spoiled) and he brought me a purse made out of candy wrappers by Mexican prisoners. Where does he find these things? I can't make this shit up.

Tonight my KW friends and I are doing our gift exchange--we drew names when my Honey was here in November--and I can't wait to see what Randy got me! The suspense is killing me! I hope LP likes her gift and I'm really curious to see what Kiki got my Honey. She's gonna love what he got for her!

On a more serious note, my sister-in-law and nieces had a close call the week before Christmas. They're in the process of adding a ginormous addition to their house--a large 2 car garage with a new master suite above--and the furnace company had provided them with a temporary propane heater while they were replacing the exisiting furnace and some of the duct work.

My brother was away on an overnight for work so "the gals" were home alone. At some point while they were all asleep, the heater malfunctioned and started spewing soot and carbon monoxide into the house. When my sis-in-law woke up in the morning, she and the girls had this black stuff all around their noses and mouths. She called the contractor who in turn called the furnace company who then called my sis-in-law and told her to get herself and the kids to the hospital right away. All three of them had carbon monoxide poisoning and they've all been sick ever since. Ryles has a bad chest cold and a double-ear infection and Haydie has been so nauseous she's practically stopped eating and has lost a noticeable amount of weight. My sis-in-law also got a bad cold and had almost completely lost her voice by Christmas Day. All in all, it looks like their recovery will be long and slow. Very scary! It could have been a lot worse!

Merry Christmas, Dog Lovers

It almost makes me forget I hate snow:


http://maniacworld.com/dog-having-a-blast-in-the-snow.html

Christmas Barfed All Over My Livingroom

I got into the Christmas spirit (finally) yesterday and put up my tree and put out all my little Christmas knick-knacks and candle holders. No horizontal surface escaped unscathed: I have my collection of angels on my diningroom table along side a centrepiece of pinebows and candles; two snowman votive holders adorn my side table; 6 little wooden soldiers are protecting my bookshelf; and two nutcrackers and two angels (one playing a flute and the other a guitar) flank the top of the TV. It's pretty frickin' festive, I tell you!

I'm quite pleased with the tree; it's pretty heavily "decked" with a bunch of beautiful decorations accumulated over time from friends, family and my own shopping discoveries. I bought two special decorations in Sausalito this year--one is a silver flute and the other is an accoustic guitar--which I had managed to hide on myself quite effectively. I finally found them on the top shelf of my bedroom closet, tucked in next to the snowman figurine that my niece painted for me last year. I had to buy a larger 4 foot tree last year to accomodate all my decorations and there's no room to spare! Sadly I have no pictures to post since I'm still in the dark ages and don't own a digital camera, but I assure you it looks lovely.

I'm very excited about going home for Christmas because my Mom has insisted on a real tree this year. I'm so looking forward to the smell of pine throughout the house--we haven't had a real tree in more years than I can count without taking off a sock. There's nothing like a real tree--the needles under foot, the constant watering, the fire hazzard. Nothing says "Christmas" like a three-alarm fire! But seriously, I really am looking forward to it. Almost as much as I'm looking forward to my brother and sister-in-law's hot tub.

I Think I'm Developing Super Powers

I just had the most productive weekend of my life. Saturday I went to the gym, went grocery shopping, baked 8 dozen Gingersnaps, made half my Christmas cards and went for beer at my favourite hang-out with Guy and Hymenia. Sunday I went back to the grocery store, went to Michaels for more card supplies, made the rest of my cards, made a giant pot of lentil chili for Sunday night dinner, talked to My Honey on the phone, did two loads of laundry and then spent the evening at Guy's eating the aforementioned chili.

I blame it all on Gonzo.

CPAP UPDATE!!!....like you freakin' care...

It has been a week since I welcomed Gonzo into my life. I've had to make some adjustments, we've had to work through some issues, but all in all it's been a success. I am definitely feeling more rested and have more energy, especially in the evening (if you know what I mean, wink wink, nudge nudge...too bad My Honey's back in California).

I'm looking forward to bringing him home to meet Mom at Christmas. I think she'll approve :)