Crick in the Neck

The theater advertised that the movie was at 7, but nope.  It was cancelled for a special event.  We decided to go see Sherlock Holmes instead. Wasn’t something I had planned on seeing in the theater and in a way I feel like I still haven’t seen it all.  The theater was a descent size, but the rows flanking the sides of the theater were only 4 deep and there were 5 of us.  We wanted to sit together of course, but even all of the center rows, while 8 deep, didn’t have 5 together until the 4th row from the front.

It was hard to take the whole movie in from that close. Almost got motion sickness at one point.

The experience reminded me of a movie theater in Indy (that has since closed) that had video chairs in the front row.  You know the ones; like legless chairs that rock.  We got stuck in those once.  The movie we saw then was “River Wild.”  Not only were we in the front row, but the place required a 2 drink minimum (it was a 21 & over bar ~ the only theater I went to on weekends ~ no annoying teens, just annoying drunkards).  So, we felt waterlogged AND had a crick in our necks too.

The movie was entertaining. Can’t go too terribly wrong with Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr., and Guy Ritchie.

Not Too Bad for a Month’s Work

Almost a month, 7 pounds. Not too bad. I was hoping for at least another 5 pounds, but I am not complaining.

Over the last few days, I realized my pants weren’t nearly as obscene as they had been. I even had to pull my belt out ~ 1st time I have needed that in ages.

The lack of the need for my belt was part of my motivation for re-joining Weight Watchers. It was either join or buy the next clothing size up. Not only would that be more costly, but also very disheartening. I had pushed them seams to their limit.

With Love from I Have a Death Wish, NJ

I am getting ready to leave for a trip to NJ.  I get to go there rather frequently ~ not as frequently as Long Island, but enough.  I have to admit, there are some lovely places in New Jersey.  I just rarely get to go to those places.  No, I get to go to the New Jersey that is represented by the people you see on Cake Boss and Jersey Shore.   For my loving friends out there in NJ, I feel sorry that this is what people get to see, but I have to admit ~ I see the same when I am out there.  Not everywhere, but enough to have to tell my sister “well, yes, a lot of people in NJ ARE like the bride that destroyed the beautiful wedding cake hours before her wedding trying to teach the talented baker what color is.”

I digress.

There are some places in Jersey you just don’t stay.  I stayed there.  There are some places in Jersey you just don’t go. I had to go there.

I booked my hotel for this trip and when I let my colleague know where I was staying, she said absolutely not.  She then sent me this review:

stay far away

Jun 15, 2009

This is one of the most disgusting hotels I have ever seen. The manager was unavailable even to the the choice hotel customer service center. I was chased in the parking lot by a little dog. People were making out in the parking lot. Drunks were stumbling in with bottles in brown bags looking for rooms. Stray cats were sneaking in the back of the hotel through a hole in the wall.
The manager told the desk clerk to charge our rooms for one night even though we did not stay. We were there for two hours until we got rooms at the Holiday Inn next door which was excellent. We went into one room and there was a dead bug in the bathtub. Wires are exposed everywhere. The breakfast area is a card table with four folding chairs.

Good hotel if your a prostitute or crack addict.

Needless to say, we aren’t staying there.  It did remind me of a hotel I stayed at in Elizabethtown, NJ.  I though to myself, “Self, why not stay close to the airport tonight and then in the AM, go back to the airport & pick up the rental.” Myself answered back, “Superb idea.  That’s why I like you.  Good thinking.”

I don’t know why I stayed. My review would be quite similar to the one above, but I’ve even got pictures!

Unfortunately, you can’t see it here but, there is, underneath the emergency instructions, someone scribed “Please, Lord, don’t let me die here.”  I wanted to 2nd that. Notice the daylight you can see under the door.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the door didn’t really close.  I put all the furniture that I could move in front of it.

The next picture is showing where the “deadbolt” was suppose to bolt into.  Yeah, it’s didn’t line up.  

No, I am not a stupid person normally and no, I shouldn’t have stayed, but then I couldn’t write a blog to entertain you with my temporary insanity.

I “slept” in my clothes on the twin bed (what kind of hotel has one twin bed in room big enough to hold 2 kings?). I moved the furniture in front of the door.  I ate the mints in my travel baggage.  I was scared to leave.  I was scared to order food ~ I’d have to move the furniture and open the door, which opened out onto the parking lot.

When I awoke, I went to open the curtains and was dismayed to find that there was a sliding glass door there.  With no lock.

Needless to say, I survived.  I went on to a friend’s lovely wedding in one of the pretty parts of Jersey, where my cell phone disrupted the ceremony.

Can’t take me anywhere.

Time Life: Romancing the 70’s

I am not embarrassed.  I know every song that Tony Orlando has mentioned/played thus far.  And I like it.  What does scare me is that I have barely moved from this spot today and apparently, I am a little too lazy to pick up the remote to change the channel.  I don’t really need to order this, I probably already have these on a tape or CD somewhere.

Either that, or Mom has it on what I like to call her “suicide” CD since they are all depressing songs of love lost…Seriously, every time she has it on in her car, I want to veer into oncoming traffic.

It is kind of oogy that they have “You Light Up My Life” on a romance CD since it’s about her devotion to God.  Whatever floats your boat…

OOo!  They just played the “But WAIT, there’s MORE” line!

I need to understand how “Sad Eyes” is a love song?  It’s about a man cheating on his wife/girlfriend while she’s out of town & is sending his mistress off:

Looks like it's over, you knew I couldn't stay
She's comin' home today
We had a good thing, I'll miss your sweet love
Why must you look at me that way
It's over

Sad eyes, turn the other way
I don't wanna see you cry
Sad eyes, you knew there'd come a day
When we would have to say 'goodbye'

“Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song;” “Alone Again, Naturally;”Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue;” “Just When I Needed You Most";” and my favorite, about a guy who’s friend just died, “Seasons in the Sun” ~ ah, nothing says romance like a terminal case of cancer!

Pet Tigers Devour Poppies

I had a weird dream last night.  In this dream, I was traveling (nothing new) to a new place – Long Island…(huh?  NEW?  Not…) and on this trip, I went for a walk to check out the neighborhood.  I found the water and had to cross a bridge to get to it.  It was an old wood bridge that appeared to be sturdy.  You picked up on the word “appeared” didn’t you?

I was talking to my Mom on my Blackberry and as I crossed the bridge, it started to twist & turn.  I refused to hang up, but instead put the phone in my mouth and pretty much had to shimmy up and across the bridge.  As I get to the other side, I drop my pashmina.  I am disappointed, but then realize I have crossed far enough that I will be able to get it fairly easily.  Until I see the tigers.  Yes, there are three tigers down there!  Well, the size of the bridge makes sense now!  Quite frankly, the enormous spanse of the bridge didn’t make sense ~ because everything else has so far…

Oh, but the tigers are on the other side of the gully ~ I am good.  I look down at the pashmina & it has landed on the ground near a patch of yellow poppies that are growing on one of the supports for the bridge.  Another patch of orange poppies are next to the scarf.  As I am hanging there, still shimmying across the bridge, I think “wow, those poppies are beautiful & would make a good picture from here.  Crap, I don’t have my camera…but I DO!  My new Blackberry has a camera on it!”  I take it out of my mouth and snap a pic.  Success.  Award winning.  The lighting is amazingly perfect; sun kissed and glowy.

I am about to drop to get the pashmina and the tigers catch my eye again.  OH MY GOD! There are children over there!!  They are closing in  on them!!  I need to call someone, I need to do…nothing.  They seem to know the tigers.  They “attack” the kids by licking them and knocking them down by rubbing their heads lovingly against them.  The sheer size of their heads is enough to knock them down.  They are pet tigers.  The father of the kids along with another little one walk out and the igers and humans visit.  They are a family.

Once I land, the orange poppies have turned into a friend of mine’s little girl. She is in her pjs (sun has almost been setting for a while now).  I tie up her orange robe that is light and flowing, just like the petals on a poppy.  She looks adorable in the robe.  Not too tough, she’s an adorable girl to begin.  Just not too sure why she is in there ~ I don’t really know her all that well.

Now my sister is with us too, reminding me that we better get a move on.  We are a mile or two from the hotel/house – not sure which we are heading to.

Next I know, we are at something that resembles Southlake Mall (the mall near my hometown in NW IN).  Whatever our destination was, seems to be attached to it.  There was some great food, but I had to run an errand 1st.  I went to the mall area and found the place where my company has a little space.  We don’t need retail space for what we do.  This doesn’t make sense, but come on…the tigers do?

I go in and it’s really just a hallway back to a storage area where many of my co-workers are making a video that requires them to rollerblade in the roller-derby-esque setting.  There are bits and pieces of shredded paper strewn about.  That part at least makes sense.  We use a lot of paper.  I just walked in, laughed, said hi, and left.  I had to meet up with my foreigners, but had to go get the food from the house 1st.

There was a lot of stuff in the house.  I went to  the basement which was very 70’s – all red brick – it was a huge space and my friend was down there playing the guitar.  There was a ton of music equipment in the center of the room that morphed into exercise equipment.  He was no longer playing guitar, but lifting hand weights.  His arms looked really nice ;)

I just remember trying to get his attention.  He didn’t seem to care much about me, but my response to him and his flexing muscles.

That’s all I remember.  Have fun interpreting that one!

Ummm…No! I’m Not Looking, I’m Not Looking!

“Come play with me!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“See how CUTE I am?!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I am going to pretend that I don’t see you!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Now I am going to look this way…I am pretending I don’t see you…I am SO going to psych you out by taking off as soon as you get close!”

 

 

 

 

 

“I know we played, and you were an admirable adversary, but I want more!… Ma…?  Ma…?! Come back out!  Ma…?”

 

 

 

 

 

Greedy bitch…

On Track

Well, even with the evil temptations (Chinese Buffet, Lebanese Restaurant, airport food…), it appears that I still lost a little this week.

I rarely get to see my cousin and his wife; the occasion wasn’t going to be dampened by my restricting my intake.  We were having fun and eating really good food. I know you read this Craig, and I did have a lovely time with you & Beth!  It always seems like no time has passed when I see you two. <3

With the automobile issue, I wasn’t able to go to the official Weight Watcher’s meeting tonight. 

My scale at home, and my naked morning weight (stop picturing me naked!) has been consistently 3-4 pounds lighter than the evening clothed weight at the official weigh in. 

So, today, my evening weight @ home was 2 pounds higher than this morning, so even with adding another 2 pounds to my evening home scale weight, I am still down 1.1 pounds for a grand total of 5.9 pounds in 3 weeks.

Out of My Element

Whimper

Whine

Whinge

Cry

Sob

Yes, I have done all of the above.  Add in bawl and blubber like a baby too.  All of which just piss me off more. Grrrr.  Time to get tough, girly britches.

It is difficult because my guess is that only a few people really understand why I fell apart when my car went kaput westbound at mile marker 48 on US I-80.  It’s a car.  I could (somewhat) care less.  It’s money, yes.  Money that I don’t have.  I was expecting bad, but tried not to assume it was the worst either ~ my family has a tendency to jump to worst case scenario.

But my break down (versus the car’s) was more self pity for the other crap that I have been bottling up. This is just an inanimate object/situation in which I can exert that energy without having to deal with the real issues at hand (that ironically aren’t my issues to begin with ~ I just got drawn into it).  Drama finds me. I think my Element knew I needed an emotional dump and it sacrificed itself for my sanity.  Good lil’ car.  Momma loves you, even if you are as useful as a paperweight at the moment.

And just for the record, all of the “Wow, I am surprised!  MY Honda has 330,000 miles on it and I never even put oil in it?!” doesn’t help.

I may have found an old HS friend that can help me out with conducting the heart transplant on my self-sacrificing car…keep your fingers crossed for me.

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

No, Sergeant Pepper wasn’t there. But I was. I arrived a day late due to weather delays ~ probably originating from LGA. Don’t all delays originate from LGA? In my world, they do.

On the plane, I sat near a kid named Stephen that warned me not to call it ketchup and was mortified going through Customs when I realized that “huh…yeah…un-popped popcorn IS a grain…and no, it can’t enter the country.” That wasn’t the mortifying part – that was when I had the pleasure of watching a very cute Aussie have to shake out my underwear in front of everyone because a bag had broke open. Fun times. Welcome to Oz! Thank God the underwear was clean!

My Aussie Mum, Nana, and very quiet sister picked me up. I still have the Koala thermometer & the Koala stuffed animal that they gave me. I remember thinking to myself that the wheel was on the other side and of course I was so excited and tired that I gravitated to that door ~ almost to prove to myself that the wheel would be there (Difference #1).

They knew they were in for it when I talked incessantly. I was excited, what can I say?! As we were driving, I remember how crisp the lines were and how I could smell the salt water in the air. I was so over tired but I WAS IN AUSTRALIA!

We got home and I settled in and took a nap. Once I woke, I was asked if I was hungry. Mum said she had some hot dogs. For the record, Aussie Hot Dogs…not a fan. They have thick red casings on them, yick! Difference #2. But, I ate it. I refused to be the ugly American. They butter their buns too. Difference #3.

I ate the hot dog like food product while sitting by our salt water pool. I am going to like this place!! (Salt water pool – Difference #4). While I ate, it was explained that we needed to scan the pool for creepy crawlies. As many know, Oz is chock-full of poisonous critters. Some can live in water – Difference #5.

My sister’s friends came over and we played some Australian Trivia game ~ I lost. Go figure. One of the friends that came to welcome me tried to cheat. He tried to see if I’d let him get away with it. I didn’t, but I called him on it in a polite and fun way. We were instant friends.

I’d have to look, but I believe it was that night (or the next) that we went to the movies. I do not recommend going to the movies right after you travel for 2, almost 3 days straight on such an emotional high. Especially if that movie is “She-Devil” starring Rosanne Barr. Yes, I am serious.

Before we left, my sister kept talking about going to Maccas. I was so excited to try this magical place. We get ready to go to the movie and we pull up to…McDonalds. Yes. Maccas is the lovely nickname (Aussies love nicknames!) for McDonalds. I’ll call the McDonalds/Maccas Difference #6 solely based on the nick-name diversion– but no matter the continent, it’s still the same…

I order my meal and, remembering my training from 12 year-old Stephen, ask for Tomato Sauce. The guy behind the counter, looking very proud of himself boldly says “Don’t you mean Ketchup!?” I swear, to this day, there was a sparkle that gleaned off his tooth and a little “ting” noise that accompanied it a-la-Lyle Waggoner in Wonder Woman. (couldn’t find the pic I was looking for, but this one made me laugh).

As we finished our fabulous meal at McDonalds, I offered everyone a piece of chewy (another lesson learned from Stephen gum=chewy Difference #7) to my new found friends. It was Big Red. Apparently, cinnamon wasn’t popular nor readily available down there (Difference #8). My friend starts chanting “BIG RED!” Seems he was a fan. Yet another thing for us to bond over.

My memories of my time in Oz is still quite crisp. I just recently spoke to a friend that I met on day one. I hadn’t spoke to him since I visited in 1993. I frightened him with the detail of my recall. I had to explain to him that I typically have a good recall, but when it comes to Oz, it is more so. It doesn’t hurt that I kept a journal & documented everything and kept a scrapbook of everything and took photos of everything. I was blessed with the opportunity to go but even more so with the family and friends I made. It truly was the Best Thing and this was just day one.

Decisions Decisions…

UPDATE: Technically, the treadmill won because, even though I snarffed down the decadent cake (only 3 WW points!), I then got on the treadmill and not only walked, but did the weights too. So, I pretty much worked off what I ate. I am trying to put this out of my mind though because now the little bit of rebelliousness that I felt has been crushed.

VERSUS

Yeah…which do you think won out?

…and BTW, it should be called “almost better than sex cake”. If it is better than, I hate to tell you, you must be doing it wrong.

With a Little Help From Their Director

It was the 70’s, but really?  Was everyone involved with this movie high?  I had wanted to watch this at some point.  

Apparently, the very nice Homewood Suites in Washington DC was that place. Man was it a nice room. 

I had seen Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (the movie) referenced in movies and documentaries, but I had never had the *err…* pleasure…? of seeing it until now.  It’s The Beatles and a darn good album, how bad could the movie be? Heh…

Plot?  Yeah, I am not sure if there really is one? But, you have to love a movie that not only is narrated by, but acting in, and has singing by one Mr. George Burns.  Yes, George Burns sings The Beatles.  Notice the lack of an exclamation point.  He was Mr. Kite.

The cast of characters would be a phenomenal PHEMONENAL concert, but this setting made them a little pitiful.  Frampton (as Billlllyyyyyyy Shhhheaaarrsss) didn’t come alive. The Bee Gees (as the Henderson's) barely stayed alive (get the funnies? Frampton coming Alive, Bee Gees: Staying Alive?! ooh, and they both have “alive” in there too…that was an unintended coincidence.  Damn. I am good.).

I am sad to say that I fell asleep as it was getting weird(er) and the pants, if it is possible, tighter.  Seriously, how did Barrie get into those pants?  And what if he, well, you know…but I guess the pants are so tight that there isn’t any possibility of additional blood flow.  I can just see him ripping through the seems like the Incredible Hulk ~ guess that could be the porn version: the Incredible Bulk (and I am certain I am the 1st one to ever come up with that one.  I never claimed originality.).  How did I get on Barrie Gibb’s package? Oh yeah, the tight fitting pants of the 70’s.  Easy distraction.  How/Why did they ever think those were attractive?

If you want to see the whole cast of characters and find out if there was a plot, you can click on the image – I have the IMDB site linked to it.  Did I mention Alice Cooper and Aerosmith are in the movie too?

I still think they all had to be high to have thought “yeah, this movie is going to ROCK!”

National Phallic, I Mean Monument

555’ 5-1/8” of pure annoyance. I don’t like this monument.  Don’t know why, really.  I just never have.  Maybe it is my history of prudishness and the fact that this is quite phallic.  I am obviously not the only one that thinks this. I even found the following image for a suggested remodel:

I personally think this is a redundant.  Already looks like a penis, it doesn’t need the accoutrements.

I think my aversion to the priapic monument also has to do with no matter where you go in DC, there it is with it’s demonic glowing eyes, standing tall, erect.  I know it was designed to be that way and, from what I recall, it will remain the tallest structure in DC.  Yay.

I felt I needed to give Ol’ Stiffy a chance and read up on it a bit.  “Know Thine Enemy” and all…All I really remembered was that it’s 555’5-1/8” tall, it isn’t the original plan, and that it was built in 2 phases.  If you look at it, you can see the difference in the marble about 1/3 of the way up.  A silly little Civil War got in the way of construction.  I do feel betrayed though.  I distinctly remember being told that it was built with Indiana limestone.  I find out now that it is not. That’s all I had to try and tie some affection to it, now that is gone.

Thanks to Wikipedia,  I learn that the aluminum capstone has information inscribed on each side.  It bugs me that on the east side was once scribed “"LAUS DEO," which is Latin for "Praise be to God."  I cannot confirm with the information that I found if it was actually removed from the display model and the actual replacement capstone or if it’s just absent from the display.  Either way, it’s something else people can blame on George Double-Yah, ‘cause he did it.  he gave the OK to remove it from one or both of them.  I am not overly religious, but it does bug me when they mess with history.  Especially when it’s not hurting anything.  And technically, isn’t that free speech? Was the mostly unknown phrase really hurting anyone?  Really?  Did they do it to save the $20 engraving fee at Things Remembered?  I just don’t get it.  I mean, how many people realize it even had a capstone, much less be bugged by what’s engraved?  “I refuse to drive down Mass Ave & the National Mall because in 1884 they let people believe in God.  Praise him even. The gall! The audacity!”

I DID find it interesting that at time of construction, aluminum was as valuable as silver…go figure.  At least now, knowing that the capstone is aluminum, I can at least giggle imagining the annoying artifact wearing one of those tin foil hats.

I feel I need to give the Monument a chance to defend itself, so here, read about it if you will!

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc72.htm

Half the Battle?

So, I have been on the Weight Watcher wagon. It's been going well. Luckily, I recall how the program works and they are still running it the same way. Don't fix what isn't broke, right? To date, I am down 4.8 pounds on their scales. I prefer my naked morning weight that is 4 pounds lighter. Either scale you look at, the numbers have been consistent and consistent in the right direction, down.

In a way, being familiar with the program is a hindrance. Last time I joined it was a culture shock and I lost a lot of weight the 1st 2 weeks. This time, not so much. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining that I lost +/-5 pounds. It's just that I have a LONG way to go and I know that I let it drop on my priorities before, so I need to be cautiously optimistic in my celebrations.

Making the decision to go back to WW wasn't nearly as difficult as the 1st time. It was as if I were going into a sex toy store/porn shop ~ looking shiftily from side to side, making sure no one that knew me would see me. This time, my inner self was telling the other personalities that reside there "Uh, sweetie, they all know you're chubby...at least they know you are doing something about it instead of making excuses or using cutting humor to make light."

I have felt tight in my skin. I have felt tight in my clothes. I am embarrassed seeing how I look like I am pregnant in photos, how I take up most of the frame. I don't like that I have felt my heart palpitations more and more and that with my family, stress equates to eating. I need to change my relationship with food.

A friend is on a similar mission, but has a far shorter journey than I do. He posted his starting weight. I wont being doing that. Once I am far enough from the starting point that it seems like another life, another person, I may disclose where I started, but for now, I need to keep that close to the vest. I have shared it with a few, but public disclosure scares the shit out of me. Suffice it to say, I am overweight. I know it. I am trying to do something about it. It will be a long journey, but I know I have the support of some amazing people. If we go to dinner, you can be one of those people too...one of my best friends splits her order of fries with me ~ I get just a couple and she gets the rest. We both win, I quench my fry-lust and with the portions they usually give, she doesn't miss the 4 or 5 I take. It's a win-win.

This is my 1st time traveling for work while on the plan...it's challenging ~ I should know, it's why I fell off the wagon in the first place. Damn, those fries are smelling good....

A New Sign, please?

The sign seen in Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant today:

You know, seeing as this is a self-serve buffet style restaurant, I’d actually prefer if everyone washed their hands before leaving and going back out there to touch what may very well be my food.

This sign has always caused me to pause and reflect on the fact that there are people that really need the reminder that they should wash their hands after using the toilet.

Then, there is the fact that it clearly focuses on employees, as if to say “oh, you are just a patron that will be touching the ketchup, mustard, salt & pepper shakers, and various other condiments that we rarely disinfect? No worries, you are free to go!  Actually, thanks, that saves us $$ on the ol’ water bill & from having to refill the soap dispensers!”

Yes, I know that some lame-ass somewhere down the road used the excuse “oh, I didn’t know I had to wash my hands” and therefore companies had to dole out money for signs to state the obvious.  And I know that there are good reasons for the signs to be there, but damn it, it’s my blog & I want to be a stinker!

Well, You are welcome for my UNDERSTANDING, but…

Maybe try saying what you really mean next time? (forgot the “in” in inconvenience)

Colors

New Year, new blog color scheme...

And so it goes…

One hundred sixty times. That’s how many times that phrase appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse 5.  It bugged the Hell out of me, not at first.  At first, I thought it was clever, but by the 2nd chapter, it was distracting.  Maybe it reminded me of my Grandmother’s catch phrases “they get you coming and going” and “can’t win for losing.”  Fingernails on chalkboard for me (ironically, fingernails on a chalkboard don’t bother me, but you get the reference).

I loved the intro and the first few chapters, but then it just really annoyed me for a chapter or two.

I am glad I soldiered on, no pun intended. I grew fond of the main character, Billy Pilgrim.  I found my compassion.  I got past the “and so it goes” and started to understand the character more, or should I say that I understood the message that Mr. Vonnegut was relaying through Billy.

When I finished the book, I was inspired to look up reviews.  I found a nice BBC recording of Mr. Vonnegut being interviewed in 2006, about a year before his death.  The obvious questions were asked.  Questions that he must have had to answer time and time again.  His Hoosier upbringing was apparent even though he had spent much of his post-wartime life on the East Coast.  He was polite and entertaining.  He answered the questions as though it was the first time he has ever been approached by that angle.  I liked him. I liked the book.  So it goes.

Faded

It always interests me how everything blends in. While Christmas isn’t officially over (we’re only up to 8 Maid a Milkin'), I decided that I would take down the decorations today. I wanted a day or two of back-to-normalness before going back to work. To do that, I needed to clear out all the gifts from under the tree (all the soap and anti-bacterial products!). It amazes me how everything can blend in as though it was part of the decor all along. It’s not only with Christmas, the same goes with, any gift-giving occasion, trips to IKEA and any other home decor locale.

With IKEA It seems so unique, so specific, but once it gets in the house, it’s like camouflage. It adapts to the environment and looks like it’s been there all along.

Soon, the need to remind ourselves to write 10 not 9 will do much the same, blend in and become the norm. The 2010 will be the now versus the unfathomable future. Before we know it, 2010 will fade into our lives and we’ll be reminding ourselves to write 11.

Do I Offend?

I found it slightly entertaining (enough to post it here at least…) that I received not only one bar of soap for Christmas, but two bars of soap, some antibacterial wipes.  I think my New Year Resolution needs to include ampin’ up my hygiene!

disclaimer: the soaps and anti-bacterial wipes were much appreciated and lovely ~ the soaps were fancy and/or brought back from Honeymoons in Greece.  Just thought it was funny that I got a few stink removing presents this year :)