A Year in Review.

So long, 2007! I can't say I'm sorry to see you go...just as I predicted, life is pretty much the same.
But! Good things happened, so here's the highlight reel for the year.

January: XM! I still love it as much as ever.
February: My sister and family came to visit. Evidently that was also when I got my last piercing - how quickly one forgets. Also: I met SHAG!
March: I saw the Stardust implode. Looks like the rest of the month pretty much sucked.
April: Um...yeah. Phone calls from Morocco - that was the highlight.
May: 4.0! Yep. That was the only one. And an extended weekend in Desert Hot Springs.
June: HOT AIR BALLOONS! And the Police.
July: Sucked. But Morgan got a new job. That sucks.
August: I made it through summer session. It was a feat unto itself.
September: My outdoor sofa!
October: HAWAII. Best month of the year...one of these days I'll actually edit those pictures.
November: I think I had a birthday? I'm so funny.
December: I've had better months. But Christmas was fab-u-lous!

So, 2008? One of the most important years of my adult life. I'm charging towards May when that hood will be mine. After that? The sky is the limit, kittens.

And maybe it'll be me making phone calls from Morocco.

Today's Dose of Holiday Cheer...

...brought to you by Benedryl. Thanks, Santa, for giving me a sinus infection for Christmas. The weird thing? I'm not the only one.

In the meantime, I got piles and piles of fun presents that will take me months to get through. I think I have to adopt a divide and conquer strategy to get the most out of them. Where to start? The pasta making attachments and Golden Girls DVDs.

And then? The book cataloging software. You'd better believe I got the scanner, too. Yes, I am a dork, thank you very much.

After that? I'm going hang gliding.

But for now, it's medicine and tissues and visions of PJs dancing in my head.

Full of Christmas Cheer...

...which means - booze. I had a wicked hangover this morning, and had to drag myself out of bed and to work, with a stop on the way to collect my car. But! Since the weather was so miserable last night no one was out ticketing and I got off scott free...or it blew away in the wind.

This afternoon, I made mulled wine and cider in the office for the Christmas luncheon. A little hair of the dog, really - now I'm ready for a long winter's nap. I have my PJs in my car, even. Somehow, though, I felt funny putting them on even though I was told that I could.

It's no wonder everyone wants my job. I love it here.

So, tonight I'm going home, putting on those pajamas, and curling up on the couch with my favorite couch sharer...my dog. Who will lie on my feet and keep them warm while I stare blankly at the TV at whatever happens to be on.

Because it's my other half's turn to paint the town red. At least he never needs a ride home.

Tomorrow? I have to figure out what to make for Christmas Eve dinner. Besides meat. And buy presents for a party...one of my favorite parties of the year. Where I can drink this time, since I'm not battling my urinary system.

Life is good.

Finally!

Birthday pictures are up on Flickr...proof that the princess has taken her rightful place in the annals of history.

That sucker, btw, was gross once I was really drunk. And I think it had hair on it the next morning when I found it in the car.

In other news, I mistakenly had Christmas presents sent to my office when I am not going to be there to receive them. Fortunately, it's just one thing and not an important thing at that.

Brilliant!

The best thing about Christmas shipping is living in a city that has self-service kiosks that are open before the windows in the morning. Everything has been sent off and now I can sit around and write the Christmas cards that I purchased (shame). For years I've made my own, but this year I said hey! screw this!

Because I am a lazy, unmotivated person.

You would be too if you spent a week trying to pry information out of every vendor that worked on a project so you could get paid. I ended up driving about 50 miles to Ventura County to see one of them today, in the fog and drizzle with nothing but XM for company. Okay, the XM part doesn't sound so bad, I know. In the end, I am the hero of the day and it's one more reason that I will keep my job until I quit or die.

Yesterday I cut stickers for the company Christmas cards. All afternoon. Nothing like arts and crafts on a Monday afternoon.

I have done other things! Like visit LEED certified office buildings! I am a thrill a minute, I tell you.

I did go to the boat parade in Newport Beach though - maybe I can upload those pictures before next Christmas. I'm doing a bang up job on those 30th birthday ones - I'll be 31 before they get done.

I have to lie down now. With the bottle of Bombay Sapphire on my desk.

What I've Missed.

Holy cow - I've forgotten what I used to do every day six months ago when my work and homework were done and I still had three hours to kill at the office.

If I don't remember, do I really miss it?

Whew.

I've written so much that I might be having symptoms of carpal tunnel. And I mean that seriously. I just finished a 12-page archives final.

This, however, just prepares me for my next semester in which I will write and write to prove that I've learned something in the last two years so I can get a hood and a piece of paper. I want that hood more than the paper, really.

But for now? I'm done until the first of January when I will start my special project in earnest. And I'm excited about that.

So it's time to eat and drink and be merry. And Christmas shop.

Oh yeah - and re-work an educational exhibit. Sigh.

HAHA!

LOLsheviks.

Courtesy of Mrs. Kennedy.

Back to archives.

One More Down.

I unceremoniously finished a class on Wednesday. By next Friday I will finish the second and start yet another.

The slow march to May continues, and so little motivation remains. I Christmas shopped and read blogs and migrated files this afternoon.

I'm not sleeping well, mostly because I wake up in the middle of the night and think about the differences between archival and library theory.

I wrote my Christmas list as an APA-style report today, complete with references and a title page. I figure I might as well make my peace with the fact that I'm going to spend 12 weeks between January and April writing only APA-style pieces, so why not start doing everything that way?

I need a break - one I am not going to get this year, and I'm hoping the end result it worth it.

But! Tonight! One night only at the Orpheum Theatre...ANDREW BIRD.

That's makes it all okay today.

I'm Not all Doom and Gloom, Really!

Elephant Cake!
Originally uploaded by Ween

Look at this cake! It's the best one EVER.

I had an incredible birthday weekend. My husband flew MY SISTER! out from New York to surprise me.

I got lots of presents, had crazy fun at my party, and now I'm an adult.

Ha.

Dear 30...

We haven't even been together for a week and we already shared an anxiety attack?

You suck. You'd better watch your back because I don't have time for this crap.

F-U.

*Also: weekend update to come. With pictures! Incriminating ones!