And so this is xmas

And what have you done? I always find myself saying that this time of year. Then I play through the whole song in my head, and basically end up being sad that John Lennon isn't around anymore. Weird, I know.

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve. I'm glad I'm here. I've had a rough last few months (and especially last two weeks), but I feel better about it all now. I just needed some time to step back and revel in the simplicity and the silence that is Kewaunee. For as much as I know I'm going to be annoyed with this place in another 36 hours, I'm really happy to be here right now. There's more snow up here than there is in Milwaukee, and even though I don't have my snowboard (or anywhere nearby to actually go snowboarding), it makes me really happy. It's also way more quiet up here. Yes, I'm used to it from growing up here, but it's just relaxing to think about it (unlike a few months ago when the power went out in my neighborhood and I woke up cuz it was too quiet).

At any rate... I just realized in the last 3 hours or so that I'm pretty sure I can recite" 'Twas The Night Before Christmas" by heart. That's not weird, right?

Other learnings from today: my brother Andy actually can read (he got the new Tucker Max book) [this is a joke, we always knew he could read...], you need to stagger your baking pans in the oven, we must have tipped my mom off about the Kindle and she was actually visibly upset when we didn't give it to her right away (we hid it... don't worry, we gave it to her eventually), my cat goes nuts for catnip and attacks me (although she never used to), and my sis and I both stuff our cash in our bras. Awesome, I know! And you know how they say your family becomes more tolerable with age? Well, that's definitely true. If you would have told me that 10 years ago, I would have probably argued with you for a good long time. But now I'm OK with it.

Anyway, I suppose it's time for bed. I hope I don't have any weird dreams like I had last night. I don't remember what they were or who was in them, but they were supremely messed up. Not cool, subconscious. Not cool.

Happy xmas everybody!

Back by popular (?) demand

First off, the main reason for my writing today (other than the fact that I can't sleep) is that someone actually asked why I haven't updated my blog in a while. You like me! You really like me! Anyway....

Today started off on kind of a bad note. I texted mom to see when xmas #1 was. It's usually the Sunday before the 25th, but sometimes it changes if regular xmas is on a weekend like it is this year. So mom informed me that it was today, and also that she already told Grandma I wasn't coming. Except she forgot to inform me. Until that point, of course, which was an hour before the party started. And given that it was a 2 hour drive and I was still in bed, well, you can see why this is becoming less and less possible by the minute. So I was bummed that I missed out, but me and sis can go see Grandma next weekend.

But then, as I continued to stumble through my Sunday routine (i.e. drag myself out of bed and move to the couch), my friend and former (x2) coworker Andy made a wonderful suggestion: SNOWBOARDING! I know by this point that if you're reading my blog and are unaware of the fact that I love snowboarding, you must be lost. I suggest you navigate away from this page immediately, or better yet, just walk away from your computer and find a book go read. You'd be much better off.

Anyway. Yes. Snowboarding. We went to Cascade. It wasn't too full, which was nice. And here's a fun tip: If you get there after 3:30 (which we did), lift tix are only $26! Since Andy and I both love being cheap, this was truly a wondrous discovery. So we bought our tickets and took a couple of pulls of Jamo out of the flask on the lift on the way up and had a grand old time. Conditions were pretty good, and all the runs were open. I also would like to point out that I haven't been to the gym in a week, and I haven't been lifting nearly as much as I have in years past to prep for snowboarding, but I still think I did pretty well. I only actually fell once, and it wasn't even from catching an edge... it was from going too slow! hah!

And so, for today, I have declared myself the winner.

Other updates: work... is work. I'm excited for our white elephant exchange tomorrow. I usually suck at these coworker gift things quite terribly, but I think that at least part of my gift will be appreciated, in some strange demented way. I'm also looking forward to New Year's so I can start on my resolutions. I'm sure I'll have another meaningful blubbering post about those come 1/1/11, because I usually do. I suppose if you're looking for something regular about this blog, you can always count on a new years resolution post, and another one for lent complaining about how I've been sucking at my new year's resolutions for the last 3 months and i'm giving myself a do-over.

ALSO. Since I think I'm far enough away from Halloween to be out of the woods: I have gone the entire length of the Halloween season WITHOUT CONSUMING CANDY CORN! Not a single one! I'm really proud of myself because said corn is usually responsible for about 2 lbs of life-ruining "holiday cheer." So go me on that.

I would also like to tell you that I had an all-Milwaukee dining weekend. Dinner Friday was the Lakefront Fish Fry with Jason, which was delicious as usual. Our server, Max, was quite awesome and deserving of 3 high-5s. Saturday's dinner was Cafe La Scala at the Italian Community Center, which I had heard rumors of but had never witnessed until this day, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING. Definitely undervalued within the city of Milwaukee. Thanks to Tony and Ross for being my hott dates. I will surely be back. (And stop calling me Shirley!)

Other stuff: I don't deal well with change, but some of it seems to be looming on the horizon. Does anybody have a "how to suck it up and deal with change for dummies" book I can borrow? And no, it's not the fun exciting new car type of change either... grr...

Anyway, it's an hour after I got in bed and I'm still pretty much wide awake. I suppose falling asleep might be more easily facilitated if I'd actually close my laptop and turn out the light, but I'm not sure that will work, given how last week went. Oh well.... here goes nothing!