New Year, New Me

...yeah right!

I always hope for that, but the truth is people don't really change, in general, including me.

The holidays were pretty good, all things considered. The Christmas Eve party rocked, as always. This year's featured drink was pomegranate martinis. As with last year, the Partridges kept refilling my glass. As with last year, I was the last non-twenty-year-old to leave.

Christmas I went down to MomTook's. We just hung out for a bit and then went to Geritol's sister's house for a huge ham dinner. Yum! I almost never get to have ham, so it was a real treat.

Took the rest of the week off work, which was nice. I thought it would drag by with nothing to do, but I ended up being surprisingly busy. I went up to Plattsburgh on Friday to do my Christmas shopping during the after-Christmas sales (Sweet) and picked up VeggieSis a set of dishes and a set of wine glasses. I also bought toys for PoopsALots I and II.

I went straight from there to MomTook's, and this time it was prime rib, twice-baked potatoes and yorkshire pudding. Okay, people? The ribs literally FELL OFF the meat it was so tender. Probably the most amazing meal I've ever had, and I'm including $40 filet mignions in that statement.

Saturday was the big get-together, we were all running late (I had a GAZILLION things I was trying to get done that morning), except CrazySis who, uncharacteristicall was an hour early instead of her usual hour late. We grazed on food all day, opened gifts, played Pictionary and watched the Pats game. It was an amazing time. I finally headed home at 10:30, and none too soon since I (sssshhhh...) nodded off at the wheel a couple times on the way back.

Oh, and my gift? MomTook pulled my name and bought me an amazing set of Cuisinart stainless steel knives with sharpener. It also includes a set of steak knives in a detachable mini-block. It's absolutely beautiful and the stainless steel with black block (instead of wood handles and block) is totally my style.

New Year's was really quiet. I patched things up with Dr. Z on New Year's Eve and we had makeup sex, so that's one way to ring in the New Year's. More on that later (not the sex, you pervs), but I've already written a book.

Sucktastic!

Okay, okay. I'll start off with a positive item. I went running yesterday and managed to knock nearly a minute off my horrendous 31:28 time despite extremely sore legs. I came in at 30:31. Yay! It also looks like warm-enough-weather is staying for a little while so I should be able to get a little winter training in.

Ah, one more good thing: Last night's kid class required almost no instruction since Sensei was basically letting the very lightly-attended pre-Christmas kid's class play games. I still got some good bo training in afterwards.

Now, the suckalicious items.

1.) On Saturday I found out that MomTook is most likely moving to Florida in the spring because of a job Geritol has been offered down there. Added to the recent blowup with Dr. Z and the moving-away of CrazySis, I'm feeling abandoned.

2.) During class yesterday Dr. Z said he wanted to speak with me after class. I spent an hour with my hopes up on finally having some news on his situation. Turns out he just found out his youngest son is having a baby and he needed someone to talk to about it. I'm like, "way to use me, dude."

3.) This morning, I have my annual performance review and instead of getting "Above Average," which is what I've received for the past three years, I get only "Average." Not only does this make me feel like shit, it directly affects my raise and bonus for next year. So much for making headway on that second mortgage.

Merry fucking Christmas to me, eh wot?

Catching Up

The blind date ended up being a bust. The guy himself was nice enough, if a bit rednecky, but he's jobless, in the middle of a legal battle to get his kids, and trying to move from Atlanta. In addition, he has this large lump on his head from shrapnel (which was conveniently airbrushed out of the picture he sent). Oh well.

Thanksgiving Day was nice - went up to CrazySis's. With all the depression I've been feeling I was extremely grateful to not have to spend the holiday alone. (Even if I felt a bit like a loser for tagging along.) It was a blast though. What a crazy household with a toddler, a newborn, two dogs and two cats!

Friday I ran around getting ready to host Thanksgiving II - spent over a hundred dollars at the grocery store, a new record for me. I also cleaned the house so that it would look decent.

Saturday got a late start as VeggieSis and BabySis didn't get up as early as expected, but was fun. MomTook hung the shade I bought for the bedroom, so I finally have some privacy. (All I have for curtains right now are sheers.) We also played Scrabble while waiting for the turkey to cook. I actually won, despite playing against someone with an English degree (VeggieSis)and a grammar Nazi (MomTook). Dinner itself was delicious, of course. Afterwords, we watched Christmas Vacation, as is the tradition. All in all, a lot quieter than last year's get-together, but still fun.

This week has been extremely boring. I still haven't gotten my brown belt, thanks to Sensei's printer going belly-up (meaning he can't print the certificate). Otherwise, it's just work as usual.

PoopsALot II Has Arrived!

Well, actually he arrived Monday, but I just haven't been in the blogging mood as of late.



He did end up having to be delivered by c-section, but mother and baby are doing just fine. In fact, CrazySis and PoopsALot II should be going home today.

In other news, winter is finally here. It had been delayed a bit (yesterday was in the mid-fifties), but a winter storm has come in and the forecast doesn't have it getting above freezing again. Looks like yesterday was my last outdoor run for the year. (Going to the gym and signing up is on the List of Things to Do today.)

False Alarm

Well, CrazySis went off to the hospital last night with contractions. Turns out it was a false alarm though - she was only dilated one centimeter. Poor thing - MomTook told me she was crying. Not that I blame her - she's five days overdue at this point.

Oh well. MomTook's convinced it will be on Friday since it's a new moon. (You know, women's cycles and all that.) I, being the pessimist, think it ain't gonna happen until they induce on Monday.

The Weekend

Went out to CrazySis's house with MomTook on Saturday. Her new house is gorgeous - a definite step up from her last place. She was happy about the "big girl bed" we brought for PoopsALot, who also loved it. Poor kid is already suffering from new baby syndrome - she thought it was for PoopsALot II.

Did a bunch of stuff around the house yesterday - laundry, vacuuming, mopping - that sort of thing. Went down to Station Street to watch the big Pats v. Colts game and found out that thanks to Sunday Ticket, I could watch the end of the Packers game. (Which was an awesome game.) I will now be heading there for my football needs as they will put on any game you ask for. Plus? They have GUINNESS ON TAP. Love.

I only saw the first half of the game as I had to go to JewishMom's dinner party. It was pretty fun, although all the other "single women" were middle-aged or older divorcees.

This week looks to be pretty busy - aside from being on-call for CrazySis, work has picked up, voting is tomorrow, and I have my post-op appointment on Friday.

Still No Baby...

Argh...the suspense is killing me. Oh well. Shot an e-mail over to MomTook and CrazySis has a doctor's appointment today so maybe that will get things going. MomTook also said that's she's ready to head over there and feed her spicy food and take her for rides over bumpy roads. Hee.

Did get about a dozen trick-or-treaters last night. It still surprises me how late they come nowadays. I was still getting stragglers wellafter seven. (Which doesn't sound late, but I went at like five when I was a kid, not to mention the fact that around here it's pitch black out at that time this time of year.)

I'm hoping to go shopping and get my hardware all put back in during lunch, but I'm afraid to go. Just like when I went for a walk today I was afraid that was when I would be getting the call from MomTook.

Almost Here!

Well, PoopsaLot II is about to make his grand entrance. CrazySis reported that not only has he dropped, she had contractions that got down to eight minutes apart Sunday night. Her due date is Friday, but since PoopsaLot was two weeks late (and even then had to be induced), I wasn't holding my breath. Now, the breath is held. I've packed an overnight bag and am waiting for the call from MomTook.

In other news, the bathroom is supposedly done. I'm not happy with part of the trim work, but it is otherwise finished. Yay!

A Good Saturday

The sun was actually out for a brief time yesterday morning. It inspired me to get a lot done, including going to the dump. (I even did all my recyclables.)

Went over to MomTook's fairly early as CrazySis had woken up at 4:45 in the damn morning and was on the road by 6:00. It was great to see her and PoopsALot even if I missed out on a road trip. Of course, since CrazySis is due in a couple weeks I'll be making a road trip up to her place soon enough.

Left around 4:00 or so and chilled and had dinner before going out to see MMAMusician's band. They rocked, as always, and were playing the Maroon 5-type stuff that was perfect for the sucky week I had. However, I bumped into these three girls out together and this couple who had just gotten married that day after living together for twelve years and having four kids. We all had a blast and I even got up and danced for a few songs. Since I was wearing my hot new jeans, I did not mind shaking my ass in front of MMAMusician. (See: Smoking hot.) The bride was making all these comments back to him during one of the songs and at one point he goes, "I'm being sexually harassed up here!" Hee. Too bad his hot girlfriend was there and accounted for.

I left around 11:30 shortly after the other girls did since the set was going to end at midnight anyway. Came home and watched the ALCS until it went into extra innings at 1:15 in the damn morning. They got CLOBBERED in the eleventh inning anyway, allowing SEVEN RUNS, so I'm glad I went to bed. Thank god there's five games left.

Since it is SNOWING, I plan on staying in and watching the football all day. And eating. A lot. I weighed myself this morning and thanks to all the stress of the month instead of gaining back the weight I lost backpacking, I've lost another pound and am down to 99. Not good.

Blech...Monday

Had a ridiculously busy weekend. Friday night was Karate and italian with Dr. Z, as usual. Saturday was the toughest canoe race in my life. Not only was it freezing cold with windchills in the 40's, the wind was so bad that three boats capsized. And these were three hard-core racers who know how to paddle. The one other couple in our class beat us, but our terrible trim really sets us behind on windy days.

Got home late Saturday afternoon in time to have Celena pick up my old hand-powered lawnmower. It's nice to get it out of my yard now that I have an electric. Barely had time to eat supper and relax before the Mole called me. We hadn't talked in a while and ended up chatting for like two hours. By the time I got off the phone it was almost bedtime.

Yesterday was hiking. Unfortunately Dr. Z wasn't feeling well so we kept it short. (He, of course, was far too stubborn to call it off despite the fact that he's STILL sick today.) We chilled and watched television in the afternoon until I kicked him out to go have dinner with MomTook and BabySis. It was delish, the redone kitchen looks amazing, and it was great to see BabySis. Once again, I got home just in time to catch the season finale of Ice Road Truckers and then hit the hay.

So far it's been a quiet Monday. Thank God...I need the rest!

The Week So Far

Sunday, MomTook came over and we spent several hours planting the stuff I bought on Friday at the farmer's market. We also added two more buckets of horseshit for fertilizer as most of the flowerbeds are in sand. In addition, MomTook brought some evening primroses and a whole bunch of irises, which we used to fill out the south bed. I also went for a short paddle with Dr. Z. It was supposed to be two full laps around the lake, but I wore out too quickly. Guess those two weeks off affected me more than either of us thought.

Yesterday was work and karate. Nothing much of interest happened. (Except Sensei seems to be pushing more and more towards self-defense, which is making me nervous as I don't want to change schools, especially with the next-nearest ones so far away, but I don't want to be miserable either.)

Today is HOT. I mean, 88 degrees hot. My run was really tough, even though I went at 9:30. (It wasn't just the heat - it was very windy AND I stupidly didn't hydrate or eat beforehand.) Tonight is paddling - I'm sure the lake will be super-crowded with this weather, but it will still be awesome.

Oh, and just found out - CrazySis's bun in the oven is a BOY! Hooray and congratulations to her!

Randomania

So far it's been a fairly quiet week. Such is how it is for me in the summer. Just the nature of the job. Spent most of yesterday getting ready for next week's trip down to Atlanta. Now that I'm prepared I'm looking forward to it rather than dreading it.

Had sparring at Karate last night. TattoedButSweet and I went to kick at the same time and got tangled up. I ended up landing right on my lower back and pelvis and am still paying for it today. On the bright side, Sensei finally was free to help out the adult class and gave me mondo instruction on the art of fighting taller opponents. (He himself is only 5'4".)

Ran my 5K in 29:05 today. That was WITH high humidity and a stiff back. Unbelievable. Once I break 29:00 I'm going to slowly lengthen my run. I'm also bringing my training shoes with me to GA. (I called the hotel yesterday and confirmed they have a free gym with treadmills. It's going to be too damn hot and humid to run outside.)

Will hopefully be paddling after work seeing as I have a 9 mile race on Saturday. Don't know though - we had thunderstorms all afternoon and although they've left, the wind is still pretty fierce. We shall see.

Monday, Monday

Goddamn...yet again almost another month has passed by without my posting an update.

Well, let's see, today I scheduled a root canal and have to see my accountant. Is that a Monday or what?

In other news, I completed my first road trip last weekend. I went down to Boston to see my endocrinologist. Thanks to the endof the month sneaking up on me I didn't have time to plan a proper trip. I did however get to see StarWarsGeek. He kindly let me crash on his futon and we got to watch Battlestar Gallactica together just like the old days.

Yesterday I went over to MomTook's house to visit with her, CrazySis and PoopsaLot. The original plan was for everyone to come over to my place to save CrazySis the trip in her iffy car, but both of us have cabin fever in a major way, so we overrode MomTook and went down to Lewis. It was a blast and CrazySis made these insanely good brownies.

I don't know how to end this, so...The End.