Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone! It's time for my annual "here's how Christmas went" blog followed by the random "I'm lonely but I'll laugh about it with a fun TV scene" monologue. This year was awesome! First off, I had a really good time with my family. We had some yummy meals, and surprisingly, I actually pulled off making a huge Christmas dinner. (Mom helped some.) We had turkey, made from scratch mashed potatoes, corn bread, carrots, giblet gravy, and squash casserole. So good! Katelyn was so sweet, she randomly comes up to me and gives me hugs and says, "Merry Christmas Aunt Joanna" over and over. Last night she said "Aunt Joann-ie", and I said, "JoannA"...she looked at me and laughed and said "Joann-ie." Little Bear has a sense of humor. :-) Here's a picture of her and I.
Isn't she sweet?? Oh yeah, and presents: I got some cool stuff for everyone this year, but the piece de resistance was Katelyn's dress up set. I painted an old hardback suitcase and bought all the clothing in random places, and I even got some fabric for Mom to make her a cape (pink, shiny, made for the princess that she is) AND I got some of LaRae and I's old dress up clothing to add to the pile as well. Here's a couple of pics of the dress up case:
Cool huh? :-) Mom and Dad super surprised me this year. My Super Nintendo (from Christmas my 4th grade year) broke this year, and they got me a Nintendo 64 for Christmas this year. Oh yeah, still lovin' the Old School, but it's awesome! I got a lot of games (no literally they were a LOT from ebay, so I have some randomly weird games), and two controllers. So great! I got the Scene It! Friends edition, a hot chocolate electric pot, a pitcher to match my china, a Tinkerbell shirt, and other cool stuff. So great this year! I was truly surprised. Mainly I told them all year that I wanted money for my ski trip. When that fell through, I didn't have any ideas ready to tell them, so they thought outside the box this time. w00t! :-)


This morning we all got up and went after Christmas shopping. I had some "Nana money" left and decided to update my wardrobe. I ended up with 8 new shirts (6 of which are appropriate for work). OK the two "inappropriate" shirts are a neat Christmas shirt for next year (which doesn't look scary holiday sweater Christmas-y) and a shirt from the Disney store that says, "I Love Jack" (think hard on who that is....there ya go). I also got 3 new pairs of jeans (much less low rise...much more flattering) and a new leather coat. That's right no more white trash 2 sizes too big black plaid coat! I know it sounds like I got a lot this year, and I did, but I'm so thankful. I got great deals this year to have nice clothing through the rest of the cool weather. :-)


What else is going on? Not much really. I was thinking this morning about not having a significant other to share Christmas with and how c of c singles.com is doing nothing for me, and I thought about an email of encouragement I sent to someone a while ago about the reality of possibly never marrying, and I thought "that's crap...I'm full of crap...I'm alone and really sad about it." But then I started thinking about my old prospects of who I could be with, and I'm ok with not ending up with them, so to Travis, Sean, Justin, Aaron, and some I won't mention: I hope you are having a great holiday season with the ones you love. Better them than me...tee hee. :-) There are some days I am so ok with being a strong, independent woman...wait did I really just say that? I mean I am ok with being alone...some days. Other days, it's really really hard. That's no secret. But I have no prospects right now, and I need to accept that. Seriously Randy told me that I should go up and talk to this one guy, and I said, "are you insane? Don't you know that when I get around beautiful people all I can say is, 'humina humina...?!'" Lol. No really, I clam up. I need a friend like Will in Will & Grace. I saw this scene the other day, and it's how I feel a lot, and I need that friend...here read this scene:


WILL ENTERS THE BACK ROOM. GRACE IS ALONE, IN ALISON'S WEDDING DRESS, LOOKING IN THE MIRROR.]

GRACE: Hi. What do you think?
WILL: You look beautiful.
GRACE: Really? I think it needs to be taken in.
WILL: Yeah. Honey, I think maybe you need to be taken in. Sweetie, look-- Look at me. You're not getting married.
GRACE: I know. I'm never gonna wear one of these things, am I?
WILL: Sweetie. You're a beautiful, intelligent woman, and somewhere out--
GRACE: Don't give me the stock, best friend response. Be honest. This may never happen for me.
WILL: You know what? It--It may not.
GRACE: Thank you for telling me the truth.
WILL: You're welcome.
GRACE: Damn, that was harsh. [GRACE SMACKS WILL'S CHEST.] What were you thinking?
WILL: What? But-- You just ask me to--
GRACE: I don't care. You know me better than that. The next time I ask you to tell me the truth, you give me the stock best friend response.
WILL: Ok. You're beautiful, you're gonna meet a doctor tomorrow, and you'll be married by the weekend.
GRACE: Thank you.

So any takers on the best guy friend? Now really to apply for this job you must be HOT, so sweet, funny, we can leave the gay thing out, and you can just end up with me instead, eh? ;-)
Love to all of my friends who read this. :-) Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and will have a happy new year! I'll be alone for New Years, watching Friends (I've made it to the middle of season 3!), and playing with my dog. Anyone want to join me? We can play Scene it. :-)


Edit 12/27/06: I just noticed my counter as opposed to Wade and Kelly's counters. I have had my counter up half as long as them, but they each have thousands of hits. This tells me I need to get the word about my blog out better. OR I need to be less dull. OR I need to have more friends. OR I need to try to get people to actually link to my site. OR Basically I have very little friends who are interested at all in keeping up with me. Depressing...

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Well Alright Then...

So I guess that description was me? I think it was, and while I could have looked at a lot of it as negative, I mainly saw positive traits from that color thing.

Well finals are now in full swing. I can't believe one full semester is already almost over! Last year I was in such a different state of mind than I am now. Last year I was still in panic mode trying to get everything done and make sure my kids passed. It's amazing how much of a difference one year can make in time management skills and in one's outlook on what she can handle. It's a better place to be.

OK, today's payday, and I have an odd confession to make. I LOVE paydays! No, not because I get more money to spend or anything -- because I GET to pay bills. I love paying my bills! I like to watch the balances go back to zero, or in my credit card's case, I like to watch the balances decrease. It's just a fun little numbers game to me. I get this nice feeling that I've really accomplished something big when I pay my bills. I think part of it is that the closer I get to paying off my credit card (um, yeah my Salad Master stuff is still on there...) the closer I get to saving more money each month for a new car and for a new sofa. I have money goals for the next couple of years. (Money goals being places I want to spend money once I save enough.) I want a new couch by next Christmas. I want to buy a new car this summer or next summer. I need my car to last a bit longer really... If I could get a new car this summer life would be grand...we'll see. OK, enough boring money stuff bc now I'm just thinking out loud. I'm just weird -- I like paying bills!

Mom and Dad came in last night. Their plane was delayed an hour, so I had to go get them around 10:30. Go figure it was rainy and dark, so here's what happened with that. First mistake: I brought the dog with me. Mind you, he was fastened in his car seat. Second mistake: I can't see well at night when the roads are wet. Bigger fish to fry from the mistake pond: I lost my mind when I was looking for the turn off for Terminal E. Somehow I got confused and missed turning. Then I called Randy to ask what to do bc I was heading for the South Exit, and I saw a sign for a U Turn back to the Terminals. Then the dog decided to bark non stop (I think in reaction to feeling my irritation at my stupidity. So I hang up with Randy and look for the turn off for the U Turn -- and oh yes, you guessed it, I missed the U Turn! So my phone starts ringing and it's LaRae...who just hears me saying some things I really shouldn't have said when I'm picking up the phone, and she tells me to go through the gate at the South exit and ask the guy what to do. (Oh yeah, all I had was a roll of nickels to pay the toll!) Much to everyone's surprise I think, I didn't cry at all. Turns out there was a U Turn after the exit, so I was able to go back in and find Mom and Dad. Whew. Yeah.

I've proved I can take care of myself a lot lately too:
1. I fixed my sink and garbage disposal on my own. OK I called Andrew to ask a question, but I did all the plunging and fixing. Nevermind that the reason it was messed up was because I clogged it with flour. Oh yes, you read that right, I put flour in the sink and ended up making dough.
2. I made it to the airport and back alone and in one piece. OK again a slight disaster, but I made it!
3. I fixed an issue with my apartment in one day's time to make it more comfortable for my family.
OK there's not much in all of that, but can I just say fixing my sink felt rather empowering?!

I've not really been up to much else lately. I've gotten to call and catch up with some friends, and I've gotten to take some time to relax at home. I've made it through 7 of the 40 Friends DVDs so far. I've watched each special feature as I've come to it. Turns out these DVDs have some extra scenes on them that were not shown on TV. SO FUNNY! I think the dog might go crazy if he hears "I'll be there for you" one more time. Dad is so funny with Sprinkles too. He was really playing with him last night. It just cracks me up how much he likes the dog. Mom enjoys him too, but I think she likes to watch him rather than use the hands on approach. It still amazes me that Sprinkles can come get one of their shoes or slippers and they just laugh about it. He really is their grand-dog. :-)

I better go. I've got bills to pay. ;-)

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Is this me?

I did a thing where you pick colors in order of their appeal to you, and it came out saying this is me...is this me?

"You are longing for some love and affection at this time - not that you have been deprived of tender loving care - but there are times when everyone needs to try something new or to go 'somewhere' else to perhaps experience that little extra 'understanding'.

"You are a leader in every sense of the word. You know where you are going and you know what you need to do in order to get there. You exercise an inherent initiative in overcoming obstacles and difficulties. You either hold, or wish to achieve, a position of authority by means of which full control can be exerted over events.

"You are a perfectionist in everything that you put your hand to. You are demanding and very exacting in the standards you apply to your choice of colleagues and friends -perhaps you demand too much from people. That perfection you seek in a particular person is illusive - perhaps it does not even exist.

"You are being unduly influenced by the situation that is all around you. You do not like the feeling of loneliness and whatever it is that seems to separate you from others. You know that life can be wonderful and you are anxious to experience life in all its aspects, to live it to the full. You therefore resent any restriction or limitations that are being imposed on you and you insist on going it alone.

"You don't like conflict and you endeavour to avoid criticism. You want to do your own thing and to be able to decide what is right for you. You have considerable personable charm - and this is used with considerable effect on those that keep your company. "

Do your own here.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Bummed

I'm having a sort of bummed out couple of days here. I'm not like deeply depressed, but I am too busy. I feel like I haven't really been home and been able to relax all week, and this weekend is looking like more of the same. I need time to just sit, and yet I need to be on the run constantly right now. I just want to sleep. This makes me want to not do the Christmas party or church bc that feels like the only things I can cut, but I can't cut those things! Argh. Sorry I've been a bit down on myself trying this c of c singles.com thing is actually kind of a blow to the ego when you don't get emailed or even emailed back (and yes, I've stepped out of my comfort zone and actually emailed people). I just feel a bit off where I need some good sleep and good relaxing reading time. I also want to be able to go out in public without makeup and without being concerned about my looks, but lately I've felt pressured to try to look the best I can. I JUST WANT A DAY AT HOME! Sorry. Me ranting...

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

What a Day

Today's been one of those days...you know one of those days where I feel like I've entered the Twilight Zone. I won't go into it on here, but it was a weird day. On top of it, no time for comics today...sad sad sad. Yep, one of those days. My laptop is starting to die. There's talk of replacing the hard drive which wipes out all I can't manage to back up and makes me start over on loading a ton of different items I need for school. My monitor on my desktop just died a bit ago. There's bad karma in my classroom for computers. Beware! All I want to do is go home and sleep until I HAVE to get up tomorrow.

Jennifer and Paul and I made something cool for our Christmas party table. How's that for another vague statement on my blog today? It's neat. Our table's going to be fun. I can't wait to see how people react (if we can fully pull it off that is).

I've made some realizations about certain people lately. Part of those realizations are that that's how that person is, and I should stop trying. Seriously I had this person really built up in my mind, and they're just not all that. Attitude is nothing new and nothing good. Also I've figured out that some people will never be happy just being a part of a good team, and they always need recognition. That made me just see how I don't want to be like that too. Anyways, yeah this post is vague. Sorry, it's gonna stay that way. This is just me getting my thoughts out today.

I also got off my rear this weekend at the urging of my sister, and I joined churchofchristsingles.com. Please don't laugh. I'm everydaymathchick on there as well. You can find me without joining, so look me up and laugh at my picture and profile. I haven't gotten any emails through it, but I'm praying about it. Honestly I've seen some profiles and pictures of Texas guys I would like to talk with, but I have no idea what to say in an email to them. We'll see how this goes. At least I have a picture posted that I feel I look mildly pretty in.

I'm posting a picture on here today of me and Sprinkles that Mom took while they visited. It's one of the only pictures I have of me and him because I'm usually taking the pictures. Also have you ever tried to hold a wiggling puppy up by your face and hold the camera far enough away to take a self portrait? Doesn't work at all... You tend to end up with bite marks on your face (because he's still teething), the camera in the water bowl, and scratch across your arm... (ok a little exaggerated...I'm really just guessing what would happen bc I haven't been brave enough to even try that yet!)

OK, so life at home is good. I'm really enjoying hanging out with LaRae and Randy lately. It's been calm, and for some weird reason, LaRae's really funny when she's pregnant. I mean she's like constantly throwing something witty out there. I watched Heroes with them on Monday (thank goodness I was not alone). Turns out that I called it that Sylar would figure out how the room worked and get out, and I was literally sitting on LaRae and was huddled under a blanket when the girl went in to talk to him. Also from where did Peter Petrelli absorb the ability to see the future? Issac can only paint the future -- it's new to him when he sees it after it's done. I think Peter was sick bc he absorbed too many odd abilities from Sylar when they came in contact. I really like that show, but Sylar really freaks me out. I know that, as Randy put it, I read how many XMen comics a week...and I'm scared of a show about mutants?! lol. Yes, I see the irony.

Anyways, I better go. I need to pack up and head home in a bit. Hope you all are having a good holiday season.

Monday, December 04, 2006

I'm Alive

I'm still alive...just thought ya'll should know. I'm becoming one of THOSE pet parents: me and a few girls from school are going to take our dogs to the mall in a week to get pictures with Santa. Not us with Santa -- the dogs with Santa. Off to watch Heroes now. Just wanted to say I'm alive and happy. Oh yeah, and I joined churchofchristsingles.com as a last ditch effort to find love. I need to post a picture there though...