There's a running joke in my family that each Christmas is The Best One Ever, because each holiday is filled with love and laughter and warmth and goodness. This year was no exception. Christmas Eve, Jim and I woke up late, packed the bounty of presents we would be distributing into the car, and headed to my parents' place. We got into town and discovered that Jersey ended up with far more snow than we did for once, and we were pleased to have that be the case. Once we made it safely to my parent's place, the good times commenced. There was food to be eaten, punch to be drunk, a tree to be decorated, and presents to be wrapped. It was a lovely evening, and Jim and I spent the night next to the Christmas tree again.
Since it has been brought to my attention that my family finds my childlike wonder and glee a bit excessive on Christmas morning, I elected to read for a bit once I woke up and spare them the usual antics. Nobody noticed, naturally, nor was particularly thankful for my forbearance. Kate and her man wandered over early (7:30, which is about our usual time, i think) for breakfast and presents, and we had a lovely time discovering how good we were to each other. I ended up with a brulee torch (i have wanted one for years, i feel every home renter should have one), some gorgeous laceweight that will be a shawl for me, and a shopping spree from Jim, among other things. Jim was gifted with two bottles of his favorite vodka from various housemates, a fancy keyboard, and an Xbox controller. He's decided he wants an antique rifle, but because of the weather last weekend, I wasn't able to get it for him before Christmas. Still, better late than never, no?
After a lovely brunch, we headed back home for the next round of presents with Jim's family, and to start dinner. Once again, we were spoiled lavishly, and returned the favor in kind. Kate and Patrick came up for a dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, and various vegetables. The company was wonderful, and the food was pretty tasty. The best part, though, was that Jim's mom did the dishes! After dinner, we all sat around keeping each other company, and Patrick and I played a round of Left 4 Dead 2, our current household obsession.
The rest of the weekend has been peaceful and quiet, and thanks to the rain yesterday, most of the snow is gone. Jim took me out for the first round of my shopping spree, and our first stop was wonderful. Since I spent so much time in a work uniform before this job, and so little in presentable clothing otherwise, I asked for clothes for Christmas. Jim gave me a gift card and free reign. We stopped at Ross and picked up about eight different shirts (only two or three of which are black. i'm trying to add some color to my wardrobe. it's sort of working) and a gorgeous cranberry-colored blazer (it makes my waist look tiny and my bust look enormous. i am in love) and then headed for the mall. That, dear friends, was a mistake. We sat in traffic for about forty five minutes after what is normally maybe a fifteen minute ride. We finally made it to the mall, and it was crowded. We dared to try a jewelry store so I could get my finger sized. No such luck. They weren't very busy, but they were definitely trying hard to ignore us. This was the case in very nearly every store we went to, sadly. I came away from the mall with nothing but a new bra, since I need one without an underwire. Still, I have a good chunk of money left on my card, and we can shop some other weekend, when things are less frantic.
Today, I'm relaxing and knitting one of the scarves I've promised to various people. I'm also going to find myself a gorgeous lace pattern to make a shawl out of. Since there's no time limit, and I've managed a basic piece of lace, I'm feeling adventurous. We'll see how this works out.
I hope everybody's holiday was full of warmth and love and laughter and wonderful people and good food. If it wasn't, you can feel free to come spend the holiday with us next year, we'd be happy to show you a good time.
In review:
--Christmas rocked! Hope yours did, too
--I am never going to a mall on December 26th again. Ever.
--Lace knitting is on the horizon. Once I get through these plain scarves, anyway.
--There's too much stuff in my house for me to spin right now. That makes me all kinds of sad.
--Four-day weekends fly by like you wouldn't believe.
--Comment moderation has been turned on because some of my posts are getting spammed. Sorry, guys.
--Jim told his sister it was okay to take me ring shopping. I'm trying not to make too big a deal out of this. Probably not succeeding, though.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Almost Ready...
...for Christmas, of course! The house is decorated, the tree is standing proud (and tall, much to colleen's dismay) and is covered in lights and ornaments, and at long last, almost all of the shopping is done. We got some snow this weekend, and were only just able to get out to shop for a few hours today.
I'm not sure what our final snowfall totals were, but I'm inclined to call it 'enough' (it's drifted in a lot of places, but it comes up to just about my knees). Jim and I went out to grab some groceries yesterday and check road conditions, and things were gross. We decided to cancel all of our plans and stay inside. Dadumms and I had planned on doing some shopping together today, but things were still pretty messy when I woke up, and I decided it would be better to try to get some of my shopping done locally than to risk heading down to Jersey. I missed shopping with Dadumms this year, we go every year we're able to shop together. It's a lot of fun, unless we've both got the flu and are pumped full of cold medicines.
We've only got a three day week coming up, because Jim and I both took Christmas Eve off. It was a delight to me to just be able to submit a request and have it approved without threats, drama, or other types of insanity. I could get used to this.
Jim and I are heading down to my parents' place Christmas Eve, then back up here Christmas Day, where we'll host dinner with his parents. Kate and Patrick might come up, if they're feeling like making the drive. I invited Momolla and Dadumms, too, (and el, naturally) though they don't like to travel on Christmas. Momolla's response was that they would come up when I had small children. Hopefully, she realizes that there will be no children here for years yet. I'm finally starting to get my life back into some semblance of order, and I'm not prepared to start a family until I've finished school and made a few other changes.
Our company let Jim and me spearhead our annual Toys for Tots drive, since our landlady is involved with the organization, and we wanted to contribute this year. Last year, we were all incredibly broke, and we bought as many toys at the dollar store as we could. I sacrificed some of my already tight decorating budget for it, but we were determined to bring some toys with us. This year, we were able to pick up several toys of our own to donate, and our co-workers helped us fill the back of my Jeep. Our goal is to raise two truck loads next year. We are nothing if not ambitious.
It felt really, truly wonderful to be able to give to charities and to help people who needed it. This has been an undeniably tough year all around, but I am finally in a position to help. I'm not rich, but I'm also not forced to choose between food and fuel for my truck any more. There have been so many times, especially this past year, when people have stepped forward to offer me support and assistance. It was fantastic to know that I was able to do the same, albeit rather more anonymously. There are still things I want but can't afford, but those are all luxuries. I have enough, more than enough, to survive comfortably, but there are so many people out there who don't. We also donated to a huge local food drive put on by our favorite radio station every year. They raised over 150 tons of food. I can't wrap my mind around that number, it's so high. This food drive is one of the primary sources of supplies for the food bank they support, and the donations are put to use year-round. Because of the economic upheaval the country's gone through, demand is even higher than ever. Amazingly enough, so were donations. Just when you think there would be less donations, less support, less resources, people dig even deeper and surprise you.
Some people tell me Christmas is for kids. They see how excited I get by the lights and by the magic. Maybe that's the part we lose as we get older, the magic. But to me, it's always there, every year. Because for a span of a few all too brief weeks, people are willing to come together to help one another. We believe that one day, there will be peace on earth. We give because it's right, not because it's easy or makes us look good (though there really is no wrong reason to give). People see the potential for kindness and compassion that we have, and they go out of their way to realize it. We concentrate on the people we love, even the ones who drive us batshit crazy, and we are softer to them (unless they are eating all our cookie dough or refusing to let us get a big christmas tree) , and to ourselves. There's magic in getting a present, in realizing somebody loves you enough to give you something. There's even more magic in giving something to the people you love. There is magic in being surrounded by family (and we all know that two people can be a family, and that family of the heart is as valid as family of the blood) and friends. There's so much magic in sharing warmth and laughter and comfort. The beauty fades and the magic wears off so quickly, we have to savor it while it lasts.
I have been absent from the blog much more than I like recently, because after I spend my entire day on teh interwebs putting out fires, I pretty much come home and goof off, then go to bed. I still love my job, but it's becoming apparent to me that my company is not as strong on the planning front as I would like. We recently started a promotion in conjunction with two of the forums we work with to offer a $12 gift card for $10. It's a pretty good deal, and we had good, strong sales on these cards (one guy bought 110 of them. i hate him). We also offered 'random' car parts and gift card upgrades. What we forgot to do was find a let people buy a $12 card for $10. Our computer generated about 370 $10 cards, which we sent out to customers. Once we caught the error, early last week, we spent the whole week running around trying to fix things. It's been a long, exhuasting, irritating process, and the whole sorry mess could have been avoided if any of us had stopped to think. A whole lot of people looked at this promotion before it went live, and none of us questioned how we'd make ten equal twelve. but for all that, I still have the best job ever.
In review:
--Tree? Check!
--Lights? Check!
--Tchockes? Double check!
--10 does not equal 12. Assuming it will if you just tell people it does will not make it so.
--We were able to donate to a food drive, and to Toys for Tots. It feels great to give back.
--Spinning? What spinning?
--Snow is really pretty, until you have to dig your car out and shovel your walk. Then the novelty wears off really fast.
--Holy crap, it's going to be 2010 soon. Shouldn't we have flying cars and food replicators by now?
I'm not sure what our final snowfall totals were, but I'm inclined to call it 'enough' (it's drifted in a lot of places, but it comes up to just about my knees). Jim and I went out to grab some groceries yesterday and check road conditions, and things were gross. We decided to cancel all of our plans and stay inside. Dadumms and I had planned on doing some shopping together today, but things were still pretty messy when I woke up, and I decided it would be better to try to get some of my shopping done locally than to risk heading down to Jersey. I missed shopping with Dadumms this year, we go every year we're able to shop together. It's a lot of fun, unless we've both got the flu and are pumped full of cold medicines.
We've only got a three day week coming up, because Jim and I both took Christmas Eve off. It was a delight to me to just be able to submit a request and have it approved without threats, drama, or other types of insanity. I could get used to this.
Jim and I are heading down to my parents' place Christmas Eve, then back up here Christmas Day, where we'll host dinner with his parents. Kate and Patrick might come up, if they're feeling like making the drive. I invited Momolla and Dadumms, too, (and el, naturally) though they don't like to travel on Christmas. Momolla's response was that they would come up when I had small children. Hopefully, she realizes that there will be no children here for years yet. I'm finally starting to get my life back into some semblance of order, and I'm not prepared to start a family until I've finished school and made a few other changes.
Our company let Jim and me spearhead our annual Toys for Tots drive, since our landlady is involved with the organization, and we wanted to contribute this year. Last year, we were all incredibly broke, and we bought as many toys at the dollar store as we could. I sacrificed some of my already tight decorating budget for it, but we were determined to bring some toys with us. This year, we were able to pick up several toys of our own to donate, and our co-workers helped us fill the back of my Jeep. Our goal is to raise two truck loads next year. We are nothing if not ambitious.
It felt really, truly wonderful to be able to give to charities and to help people who needed it. This has been an undeniably tough year all around, but I am finally in a position to help. I'm not rich, but I'm also not forced to choose between food and fuel for my truck any more. There have been so many times, especially this past year, when people have stepped forward to offer me support and assistance. It was fantastic to know that I was able to do the same, albeit rather more anonymously. There are still things I want but can't afford, but those are all luxuries. I have enough, more than enough, to survive comfortably, but there are so many people out there who don't. We also donated to a huge local food drive put on by our favorite radio station every year. They raised over 150 tons of food. I can't wrap my mind around that number, it's so high. This food drive is one of the primary sources of supplies for the food bank they support, and the donations are put to use year-round. Because of the economic upheaval the country's gone through, demand is even higher than ever. Amazingly enough, so were donations. Just when you think there would be less donations, less support, less resources, people dig even deeper and surprise you.
Some people tell me Christmas is for kids. They see how excited I get by the lights and by the magic. Maybe that's the part we lose as we get older, the magic. But to me, it's always there, every year. Because for a span of a few all too brief weeks, people are willing to come together to help one another. We believe that one day, there will be peace on earth. We give because it's right, not because it's easy or makes us look good (though there really is no wrong reason to give). People see the potential for kindness and compassion that we have, and they go out of their way to realize it. We concentrate on the people we love, even the ones who drive us batshit crazy, and we are softer to them (unless they are eating all our cookie dough or refusing to let us get a big christmas tree) , and to ourselves. There's magic in getting a present, in realizing somebody loves you enough to give you something. There's even more magic in giving something to the people you love. There is magic in being surrounded by family (and we all know that two people can be a family, and that family of the heart is as valid as family of the blood) and friends. There's so much magic in sharing warmth and laughter and comfort. The beauty fades and the magic wears off so quickly, we have to savor it while it lasts.
I have been absent from the blog much more than I like recently, because after I spend my entire day on teh interwebs putting out fires, I pretty much come home and goof off, then go to bed. I still love my job, but it's becoming apparent to me that my company is not as strong on the planning front as I would like. We recently started a promotion in conjunction with two of the forums we work with to offer a $12 gift card for $10. It's a pretty good deal, and we had good, strong sales on these cards (one guy bought 110 of them. i hate him). We also offered 'random' car parts and gift card upgrades. What we forgot to do was find a let people buy a $12 card for $10. Our computer generated about 370 $10 cards, which we sent out to customers. Once we caught the error, early last week, we spent the whole week running around trying to fix things. It's been a long, exhuasting, irritating process, and the whole sorry mess could have been avoided if any of us had stopped to think. A whole lot of people looked at this promotion before it went live, and none of us questioned how we'd make ten equal twelve. but for all that, I still have the best job ever.
In review:
--Tree? Check!
--Lights? Check!
--Tchockes? Double check!
--10 does not equal 12. Assuming it will if you just tell people it does will not make it so.
--We were able to donate to a food drive, and to Toys for Tots. It feels great to give back.
--Spinning? What spinning?
--Snow is really pretty, until you have to dig your car out and shovel your walk. Then the novelty wears off really fast.
--Holy crap, it's going to be 2010 soon. Shouldn't we have flying cars and food replicators by now?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Where Did November Go?
I don't seem to remember much of it, but I know it must have happened, because tomorrow is December. Let me see if I can recall a few details. If not, I'll distract you with some pretty pictures, like this one of the scarlet silk I've been spinning. I'm not quite halfway done, because it's slow going. I've discovered that your hands have to be in really good shape to spin silk hankies, or this silk catches on the rough patches on your skin and doesn't spin well.The new job is going really well, so far as I can tell. We've been running a promotion on one of our forums for most of the month that turned out to be a lot of work for me, but it's been a good experience overall. I'm starting to settle into my job and get the hang of what needs to be done and how best to respond to questions, comments, and gripes on forums. Since I'm representing the company on several fairly large public forums, I have to be casual, yet classy and grammatically correct. It can be a difficult line to walk, but I'm learning. I probably still err towards the formal rather than the casual in my public writing, but that's only when you compare my writing to what a lot of people put up on message boards.
Thanksgiving was especially lovely this year, because I spent it with family, and because it resonated with me. There are so many things I'm thankful for. I try to remember them and remind myself on a regular basis, but it's nice to have a holiday where I can really focus on being thankful for the amazing people, circumstances, and things in my life. Here's hoping I have this much to be grateful for next year. (the three spinning wheels gathered for thanksgiving. momolla, kate, and i all spun together, after dadums adjusted my wheel)
Christmas is right around the corner, and I'm starting to be excited. This weekend, Colleen and I are decorating. This year, I'm putting lights up outside the house, as well as inside. And we're hoping that perhaps the world's ugliest coffee table will be gone. If it isn't, we'll just go with last year's plan and cover it with wrapping paper. We're planning on hosting Christmas dinner up here again this year, and I'm hoping to have as good a time as last year, but with better food. My parents have already bought me a ham for Christmas, and I'm planning on doing some actual baking this year. This is one of my most favorite times of the year, and I'm hoping to make a little magic for my loved ones. This is the handspun I'm most proud of, because it's turned out to be beautiful. I look at it and feel smug, which is probably wrong for a lot of reasons, but the yarn is smooth and the colors are gorgeous and my friend Laura will love this (i won't tell her it will break my hear to part with it).
And hopefully this scarf will make somebody happy come Christmas. It's the first handspun scarf I mentioned forever ago, and I've finally gotten a picture of it. From a distance, it's striped. But if you get right up close and look at it, you can see all the layers of color that it's made up of. It's soft and colorful and drapey and hopefully will be well-loved.In review:
--November? Where? I haven't seen November! We must have skipped right over it!
--Time flies when you're working overtime and battling a series of minor colds
--Knitting is nice, but finishing things now and again is even nicer
--Things I am thankful for, the short version: health, loved ones, chocolate, books
--The camera that died in August couldn't be fixed, so Jim goaded me into upgrading, and this one is wonderful... So far...
Monday, November 9, 2009
I'm Still Here...
...I just gave myself a bit of a break after Blogtoberfest. Regular blogging will now resume. Well, as regular as it ever gets 'round these parts, anyway.
There will not be a lot of status blogs this week, because the rest of my week will be a lot like today. Let me preface this by saying that I started the shinier, newer job full time last week. And my boss was out of town at a major industry event. So there wasn't much for me to do. At all. Like, even less than usual. So I did what I could, then tried to study what I could and pick up as much various assorted information on Mustangs as I was able to. Last week was a good week, though it feels like I didn't actually accomplish anything. This week? Well, this is an ambitious week. This week, we are giving away free t-shirts on one of our forums. I am in charge of giving everybody who pm's me a unique, one-time-use coupon code to make a special t-shirt free.
Now let me just say that I have noted many things about the many forums I am charged with monitoring and tending. One of those things is not the number of active members. So when I was told about this venture Friday night, I did not think too much of it. How hard could it possibly be? Even when one of my co-workers, who helped generate the coupon codes, told me that there were fifty thousand, yes 50, 000 coupon codes and they hoped that would be enough, I was not worried. Surely there wouldn't be that much interest. Surely we wouldn't need that many codes. And besides, they would trickle in a few at a time and I could handle them as I went.
Ha. This is a forum that has over 100, 000 active members. Well over that number. The t-shirt giveaway was announced(at about 1 pm) and within an hour I had a hundred messages to respond to. By the end of the day, I had six hundred and fifty. I only managed to get about one hundred and fifty of those requests filled, and all of those came in during the day, many during regular office hours (which begs the question, don't any of these people have jobs?) and as more people log on and send me messages, there will be more. I'm really sort of dreading opening my e-mail at work tomorrow. I'm still sort of bemused by the magnitude of the response we've received. Though to be honest, it's not so bad. Sure, it's busywork, but it's helpful, and it is my job. And at least it's solid and quantifiable and will make me look good. We'll see if I'm still this positive about it by Friday, eh?
In other news, there has been spinning. Oh, there has been spinning. And some knitting, too. Very soon I will have proudly completed two whole pairs of socks. And a day of reckoning is coming for the socks that will not be named. Oh, it is coming. But let's not think of that. Let's think of the beautiful llamney I spun, that's all thick and warm and soft and maybe a little enthusiastically plied. It will be something for me, I think. Unless somebody falls in love with it, but they would have to offer me a compelling bribe to take it away from me. And then there's the merino that I spun and plied and washed and whacked. It's so pretty that I look at it and can't help but indulge in a little pride. There's purple and blue and the smallest bit of green in it. This has somehow turned out to be a light, slim yarn, probably a fingering weight (i should really find a ruler so i can determine these things). And I have started spinning the scarlet silk. It's not something I can do when I've just been washing dishes, the rough spots on my fingers stick too much, or right after I've put lotion on, which makes drafting practically impossible. But it is something that I can sit down and do for a while after work or before bed. This silk is spinning so prettily that I look at it and just want to giggle a little for the sheer joy of it. Having said that, the whole rest of the batch is going to be a ruin. Ah, well. Sometimes all you can do is tempt fate.
Momolla and Dadumms came up for dinner yesterday to celebrate Jim's birthday. Jim's parents were supposed to come, too, but there were some difficulties and they couldn't make it. So we had a lovely beef stew dinner. I prefer chicken soup, but Jim requested the stew, and I sort of winged it. It turned out pretty well, I used a couple of bottles of beer to cook the beef in and that gave it a nice flavor. It also gave me a good starting point for the broth.
In review:
--It's going to be a long, busy week at work.
--By Friday, I will never again want to hear the words 'free t-shirt'
--My parents came up for a visit, it was great to see them
--I have finished two skeins of yarn, started a third batch, and done some knitting
--Very soon, I will officially have knitted two full pairs of socks. No, really. Honest!
--I have been roped into knitting another ugly camo scarf, because I have a soft spot for people who admire my handiwork
There will not be a lot of status blogs this week, because the rest of my week will be a lot like today. Let me preface this by saying that I started the shinier, newer job full time last week. And my boss was out of town at a major industry event. So there wasn't much for me to do. At all. Like, even less than usual. So I did what I could, then tried to study what I could and pick up as much various assorted information on Mustangs as I was able to. Last week was a good week, though it feels like I didn't actually accomplish anything. This week? Well, this is an ambitious week. This week, we are giving away free t-shirts on one of our forums. I am in charge of giving everybody who pm's me a unique, one-time-use coupon code to make a special t-shirt free.
Now let me just say that I have noted many things about the many forums I am charged with monitoring and tending. One of those things is not the number of active members. So when I was told about this venture Friday night, I did not think too much of it. How hard could it possibly be? Even when one of my co-workers, who helped generate the coupon codes, told me that there were fifty thousand, yes 50, 000 coupon codes and they hoped that would be enough, I was not worried. Surely there wouldn't be that much interest. Surely we wouldn't need that many codes. And besides, they would trickle in a few at a time and I could handle them as I went.
Ha. This is a forum that has over 100, 000 active members. Well over that number. The t-shirt giveaway was announced(at about 1 pm) and within an hour I had a hundred messages to respond to. By the end of the day, I had six hundred and fifty. I only managed to get about one hundred and fifty of those requests filled, and all of those came in during the day, many during regular office hours (which begs the question, don't any of these people have jobs?) and as more people log on and send me messages, there will be more. I'm really sort of dreading opening my e-mail at work tomorrow. I'm still sort of bemused by the magnitude of the response we've received. Though to be honest, it's not so bad. Sure, it's busywork, but it's helpful, and it is my job. And at least it's solid and quantifiable and will make me look good. We'll see if I'm still this positive about it by Friday, eh?
In other news, there has been spinning. Oh, there has been spinning. And some knitting, too. Very soon I will have proudly completed two whole pairs of socks. And a day of reckoning is coming for the socks that will not be named. Oh, it is coming. But let's not think of that. Let's think of the beautiful llamney I spun, that's all thick and warm and soft and maybe a little enthusiastically plied. It will be something for me, I think. Unless somebody falls in love with it, but they would have to offer me a compelling bribe to take it away from me. And then there's the merino that I spun and plied and washed and whacked. It's so pretty that I look at it and can't help but indulge in a little pride. There's purple and blue and the smallest bit of green in it. This has somehow turned out to be a light, slim yarn, probably a fingering weight (i should really find a ruler so i can determine these things). And I have started spinning the scarlet silk. It's not something I can do when I've just been washing dishes, the rough spots on my fingers stick too much, or right after I've put lotion on, which makes drafting practically impossible. But it is something that I can sit down and do for a while after work or before bed. This silk is spinning so prettily that I look at it and just want to giggle a little for the sheer joy of it. Having said that, the whole rest of the batch is going to be a ruin. Ah, well. Sometimes all you can do is tempt fate.
Momolla and Dadumms came up for dinner yesterday to celebrate Jim's birthday. Jim's parents were supposed to come, too, but there were some difficulties and they couldn't make it. So we had a lovely beef stew dinner. I prefer chicken soup, but Jim requested the stew, and I sort of winged it. It turned out pretty well, I used a couple of bottles of beer to cook the beef in and that gave it a nice flavor. It also gave me a good starting point for the broth.
In review:
--It's going to be a long, busy week at work.
--By Friday, I will never again want to hear the words 'free t-shirt'
--My parents came up for a visit, it was great to see them
--I have finished two skeins of yarn, started a third batch, and done some knitting
--Very soon, I will officially have knitted two full pairs of socks. No, really. Honest!
--I have been roped into knitting another ugly camo scarf, because I have a soft spot for people who admire my handiwork
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Blogtoberfest Wrap-up...
...it's been a fun month, all things considered. I skipped a couple of days, I think, but I managed to post much, much more frequently than usual. That's a habit I'd like to keep, especially now that I have a regular schedule and have been doing things I can actually discuss without sounding angry and bitter all the time. There have been guest blogs (which might happen more than once a year, if i can coerce anybody else into doing my work for me) and a style update. The best part, though, has been keeping up with you guys every day. I won't lie, I do check my blog list every day. I may not comment all the time, but I read every entry because I love the windows they give me into so many different lives. In the end, knitting and spinning are hobbies to me. They're wonderful, and I enjoy them a lot. But stories and words are my real passion, and I love getting lost in someone else's words for a little while. I love being able to share my words, too, and to write my own story in my own voice. It's my hope that you enjoy reading these stories. Someone once told me (way back in the days when myspace was cool and i actually maintained a blog there) that I was one of the most genuine people she knew. I'd say that was always my intent, but it never crossed my mind to be other than I am, or to pretend about my life. Things are not always perfect, and mine has been a particularly twisting journey. But it's always been a real journey, without any sugar-coating or any beautifying. That is one thing I hope will never change.
Today was Halloween, and we ended up having about eight trick-or-treaters. Since we still have a huge bowl of candy, this doesn't make me too sad, but I was hoping for more. Still, I think we'll have a reputation next year, and maybe we'll see some more kids. Halloween used to be one of my very favorite hoidays. When we were younger, my family would head to my Aunt Joan's house, meet up with my Aunt Elsie and maybe one of my cousins, and go wander the neighborhood for a few hours. We always came home to an amazing lasagne dinner, and then the candy swap began. We would always trade away the candy we didn't like, and try to get as much good stuff as possible. I thought that we weren't doing it this year, since my Aunt Joan hasn't hosted Halloween dinner in a few years, but apparently my mom's brother and sister-in-law ended up hosting. I didn't find this out until it was actually going on and I was told I was missed, so I contented myself with killing zombies with Colleen for a few hours. We're very much looking forward to the sequel to our zombie-killing game, which comes out in a few weeks.
In review:
--We had more trick-or-treaters than last year, but still not a lot
--Lots of leftover candy for me!
--I miss being a part of the family Halloween celebrations
--Blogtoberfest was pretty awesome!
--Daylight savings time does something weird tonight, so I get an extra hour to sleep. It'll be days before I'm adjusted to the way the light shifts now.
Today was Halloween, and we ended up having about eight trick-or-treaters. Since we still have a huge bowl of candy, this doesn't make me too sad, but I was hoping for more. Still, I think we'll have a reputation next year, and maybe we'll see some more kids. Halloween used to be one of my very favorite hoidays. When we were younger, my family would head to my Aunt Joan's house, meet up with my Aunt Elsie and maybe one of my cousins, and go wander the neighborhood for a few hours. We always came home to an amazing lasagne dinner, and then the candy swap began. We would always trade away the candy we didn't like, and try to get as much good stuff as possible. I thought that we weren't doing it this year, since my Aunt Joan hasn't hosted Halloween dinner in a few years, but apparently my mom's brother and sister-in-law ended up hosting. I didn't find this out until it was actually going on and I was told I was missed, so I contented myself with killing zombies with Colleen for a few hours. We're very much looking forward to the sequel to our zombie-killing game, which comes out in a few weeks.
In review:
--We had more trick-or-treaters than last year, but still not a lot
--Lots of leftover candy for me!
--I miss being a part of the family Halloween celebrations
--Blogtoberfest was pretty awesome!
--Daylight savings time does something weird tonight, so I get an extra hour to sleep. It'll be days before I'm adjusted to the way the light shifts now.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fridays are Fun...
...because weekends are amazing. Thanks for receiving the guest blogs so well. It's such a strange feeling to write for someone else's blog, almost like you're speaking your words with their voice. It's fun, though!
Jim's mother has finally come for a visit, just when we were planning to spend the weekend relaxing. And Dadumms has decided to have a small party for Momolla's birthday this weekend, as well. I'm not at all looking forward to the drive, Jim and I will have to go through Philadelphia, and the President is coming to the city this weekend, so several major highways will be shut down for a while. On top of that, there is a local football game on Sunday. Also, the local baseball team is playing at home in the World Series that day. Also also, there are going to be five or six various charitable events going on throughout the day and causing well-meant chaos. What this all translates into (other than a tedious lack of non-sports related conversation in the news and workplace) is a massive, scary amount of traffic. There are only a few ways in, out, or through the city, which makes traveling difficult. We're looking into different ways to get to Jersey from here. Cross your fingers for us, eh?
In other news, I start my shiny new job on Monday. I'm a little nervous, because my boss is going to a big industry even on Monday, and won't be back for the rest of the week. So, things will be interesting. Still, it will be blissfully quiet without a dozen phone lines ringing in my ears all day. I'll keep you guys posted as things progress.
Halloween is tomorrow, and I'm sort of looking forward to it. Unlike so many of my friends, I'm not going out to party (when did every holiday become an excuse to go out and get really stupidly drunk?), because I'm going to stay home and give candy out to the trick-or-treaters. I like to think of it as karma, since I spent so many happy years going out to get free sugar from the neighbors. Jim was determined that we would be the cool house that gives out full-sized candy bars this year, in a blatant attempt to lure more kids in. We're the only house on our block, really, so we never see more than a handful of kids come through (this makes perfect sense, really, because you want to cover as much ground as efficiently as possible in the time you're allowed). This makes me a little sad, because I love watching the kids troop by in their costumes. Halloween was one of my very favorite holidays for a very long time, and it makes me happy to see kids enjoying it now.
In review:
--Jim's mom finally made it up. Yay!
--I will probably spend most of Sunday sitting in gridlocked traffic. Boo! Hiss!
--I am incredibly tired of hearing about baseball. I could not care less about it under any circumstances, and at this point, I wouldn't start caring if all the players stripped naked and dipped themselves in cheese.
--We're the cool house with the good candy this year. Maybe we'll get real trick-or-treaters
--I burned myself twice tonight cooking dinner, which is pretty unusual and sucky for me.
--Weekend!!!
Jim's mother has finally come for a visit, just when we were planning to spend the weekend relaxing. And Dadumms has decided to have a small party for Momolla's birthday this weekend, as well. I'm not at all looking forward to the drive, Jim and I will have to go through Philadelphia, and the President is coming to the city this weekend, so several major highways will be shut down for a while. On top of that, there is a local football game on Sunday. Also, the local baseball team is playing at home in the World Series that day. Also also, there are going to be five or six various charitable events going on throughout the day and causing well-meant chaos. What this all translates into (other than a tedious lack of non-sports related conversation in the news and workplace) is a massive, scary amount of traffic. There are only a few ways in, out, or through the city, which makes traveling difficult. We're looking into different ways to get to Jersey from here. Cross your fingers for us, eh?
In other news, I start my shiny new job on Monday. I'm a little nervous, because my boss is going to a big industry even on Monday, and won't be back for the rest of the week. So, things will be interesting. Still, it will be blissfully quiet without a dozen phone lines ringing in my ears all day. I'll keep you guys posted as things progress.
Halloween is tomorrow, and I'm sort of looking forward to it. Unlike so many of my friends, I'm not going out to party (when did every holiday become an excuse to go out and get really stupidly drunk?), because I'm going to stay home and give candy out to the trick-or-treaters. I like to think of it as karma, since I spent so many happy years going out to get free sugar from the neighbors. Jim was determined that we would be the cool house that gives out full-sized candy bars this year, in a blatant attempt to lure more kids in. We're the only house on our block, really, so we never see more than a handful of kids come through (this makes perfect sense, really, because you want to cover as much ground as efficiently as possible in the time you're allowed). This makes me a little sad, because I love watching the kids troop by in their costumes. Halloween was one of my very favorite holidays for a very long time, and it makes me happy to see kids enjoying it now.
In review:
--Jim's mom finally made it up. Yay!
--I will probably spend most of Sunday sitting in gridlocked traffic. Boo! Hiss!
--I am incredibly tired of hearing about baseball. I could not care less about it under any circumstances, and at this point, I wouldn't start caring if all the players stripped naked and dipped themselves in cheese.
--We're the cool house with the good candy this year. Maybe we'll get real trick-or-treaters
--I burned myself twice tonight cooking dinner, which is pretty unusual and sucky for me.
--Weekend!!!
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