Happy new year from me and the kids! (A longer, more reflective piece on 2006 may follow. Or not. We’ll see how it fits into my extensive list of things to do before I go back to work Wednesday.)
I am only estimating here, but I gained 50 pounds over the last week. See, my sister hosted Christmas. And Kathy’s a teacher. And many of her students gave her presents. Presents in the form of food. Good food. Good food that’s bad for you.
It was a nice time, but I wasn’t really in the Christmas spirit. Maybe I used it up ahead of time? It was pretty driving to Ohio and seeing all the lights. But even Tuesday it was like, “Christmas was yesterday? Huh.” I’m convinced that it’s already January. I was thinking about St. Patrick’s Day was thought, “Hey, it’s only a couple of months away.” Or, you know, three. (Two and a half.) Maybe it’s because I have to work this week, which is totally throwing me off. And sucks.
At least I can rest easy that I’m not the only federal employee wondering whether the death of Gerald Ford is going to result in a federal holiday, the way the death of Ronald Reagan did. There was a little note on our Intranet about the time Ford visited our building (ooooh) and with it was a sidebar being all, “We will LET you KNOW if you get to miss a day of work so STOP ASKING.”
To keep you entertained as I head off to Ohio…
Christmas with Weebl & Bob. “I thought success was smelling a bit hoofy. (Courtesy of Becca, who was clearly very busy this morning)
My #1 boyfriend Michael Ball was mentioned in the Washington Post this morning! The article is about the song “River” by Joni Mitchell, and how it’s become a Christmas song. Michael has it on his Christmas album, which, yes, I own.
Awesome essay by David Sedaris about Christmas traditions around the globe
You know that part of Bull Durham where Kevin Costner tells Tim Robbins the stock answers to reporters’ questions? One pitcher decided to just post his answers on his locker in 1990 for easy reference.
And if you’re really bored…guess the movies from the scenes enacted by office supplies.
I noticed tonight that The Year Without a Santa Claus was on ABC Family and I decided to watch, mostly for the “Heat Miser/Snow Miser” songs. And…wow. I haven’t totally been watching (since I’m going to be out tomorrow night, I’m finishing things up before I head to Ohio), but what I’ve caught…OK, Snow Miser and Heat Miser rock. Loved Heat Miser making snide comments about his brother encouraging people to like hockey. Hee.
But what got me was the scene when they visited their mother (Mother Nature, of course). And they were both freakishly bigger than her. It was scary, honestly. And…is this “Blue Christmas” the same one that Elvis sang? I’m so confused.
…In one of those odd coincidences, two people this weekend started talking to me about Eddie Izzard, so I gave in to fate and borrowed the Dress to Kill DVD. It’s awesome. I highly recommend it.
…I got my hair cut tonight and, as always, I got annoyed while it was being blown dry. It always looks cute after, but it only lasts for, like, an hour. Because my hair refuses to maintain any sort of shape, as demonstrated when my sister (who has the same hair as me) got a perm which lasted all of a week. Maybe. So the only people who benefited from my cute hair were the folks at Best Buy. And the cats.
…We saw Movin’ Out yesterday and it was awesome. I am totally in love with that show. I came home and wound up dancing around the apartment. I may suggest that we do a Billy Joel number for tap next time, and am thinking about signing up for a non-tap class for the spring (in addition to tap, of course).
…Even though both my boss and the guy in the office next to me are gone this week (leaving me pretty much alone in my area), I was oddly productive today. True, I need to edit a bunch of reports by the time I leave Friday, so that’s a motivating factor.
…I had elaborate plans to make turkey burgers for dinner tonight, but now have a lovely headache, so I think it’s off to bed early for me.
Current song in my head:
“Keeping the Faith” by Billy Joel
Is it wrong that I no longer associate “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” with Christmas, but rather back-to-school? Thank you, Staples commercials. In other news, I’ve been compulsively listening to the song “Mr. Heat Miser” (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy version) since I heard it in NY&CO today and downloaded it as soon as I got home. It’s awesome.
One of the nice things about working for a smaller company was dealing with open season, that time of year when you can change your insurance, etc. At my old company, sometime in November everyone would get a piece of paper listing the choices. You either checked a different plan than your current one, or checked the “No changes” box. Pretty easy. But now I work for the government and dang. We had a “Benefits Fair” where representatives from many different insurance companies came to try to get you to enroll with them. (On the positive side, they gave away stuff, too.) Choosing this stuff is epic, and I need to be done by Monday. Sure, I could just stick with my current plans, but I feel like I could be saving money. And saving money is always good.
Current song in my head:
“What Have You Done For Me Lately?” by Janet Jackson
I’m in the middle of reading Into Thin Air, about climbing Mount Everest (and really, about a lot of people who died climbing Mt. Everest in 1996). And by a stroke of luck, the Discovery Channel is airing Everest: Beyond the Limit. I haven’t been watching the whole thing, but it’s cool catching bits and pieces of it, as it illustrates what I’m reading about. In the book, they’re about to make the push for the summit, and when I just turned to Discovery…they’re making a push for the summit. Nice!
(In other tv news, I’ve gotten hooked on It Takes a Thief, also on Discovery. A couple of former thieves find a house, ask the people who live there if they can try to rob it, then do so–once cameras have been set up. One of them robs the place, then they hook the homeowners up with all of this home security stuff. Fun!)
Because my life continues to be both awesome and exciting, I was watching my Wings DVDs tonight–season 1. (”The Puppetmaster” = Best. Episode. Ever.) And as I was watching, I was wondering how old Tim Daly was when the episodes were filmed, lo, back in 1990. After my experience with Noah Wyle last night, I figured that Tim Daly was probably, like, 25. Then I looked him up on IMDb. And holy crap. Tim Daly was born in 1956. That means that’s 50! And did you see him on The Nine (before it got pulled)? He’s still totally hot. Good for him! I will have to avoid thinking about the fact that I was totally crushing on a guy in his 30s when I was, like, 12.
Because my life is one of adventure and excitement, I’m watching The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines (how could I not, since the original was so fantastic?). And one of the plot points is that Noah Wyle’s character is 32. 32? I scoffed. He’s way older than that! There’s no way he could just be 4 years older than me. Of course, then I looked up Noah Wyle and discovered that he’s actually only 35, so really, playing a 32-year-old isn’t that nuts. And also? He’s still adorable. (Especially with glasses on. Ding dong!) I totally had a crush on him in his early ER days. Which, hm, means he was 23 when ER started. And I was 16. That’s not crazy!
The new Librarian movie is also exciting for the return of Gabrielle Anwar, who was in the Chris O’Donnell version of The Three Musketeers, which I loved.