Happy 2006!!!!!!!

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind...? What does this song mean? For my whole life, I don't know what this song means.

An interesting end-of-the-year meme: Post the first line of the first blog post of each month in 2005. A sort of Blog Year-in-Review, if you will.

January: New Year's resolutions are a big deal for me.

February: Things invented in the past few years that have revolutionized my life: all-day lipstick. The iPod. And wi-fi.

March: This Wednesday follows a 2-hour season premiere of The Amazing Race 7.

April: So, I'm assuming most if not all of you got my e-mail about the new job.

May: Greetings from foggy San Francisco.

June: Today is Michelle Phillips' birthday. Happy Birthday to 1/4 of the Mamas & the Papas!

July: So, I would like to take this opportunity (ibym opportunity... slow day at work) to expound for a moment on how much I hate shaking hands.

August: I haven't had quite as much down time as I thought I would have while at home.

September: A world without TiVo... is like a night without stars.

October: ***SPOILERS ahead***

November: "Given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window, and see which one keeps me up all night and into the day."

December: What I did on my Thanksgiving Vacation, by Jamie Hawkins.

I hope everyone enjoys reading as much as I enjoy writing. Happy 2006, everyone, and God bless us everyone. *throws confetti*

Celebrity Look-Alikes

How much does our little Krysten resemble the actress Kelly MacDonald?












Does anyone else have a celebrity doppelgänger? I've been told I resemble this girl (her name is Olivia Burnett) and Punky Brewster. Whaddya think?

What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?

My day started out so good!! Evan, Sandy, and I went to see the Old 97s last night with Scott and Kathryn- great show, plus breakfast at Cafe Brazil afterwards at 1am. It was awesome. Evan and Sandy spent the night and I slept really well for the first time in a long while. This morning, Evan and I walked to Tin Star for brunch, then got huge to-go coffees, and proceeded to walk about 2 miles up Cole and 2 miles back down McKinney, writing down numbers and addresses for all the apartments that were for rent. It's an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, windy day and the walk 'n talk with Evan was great. I folded up all the papers I had collected and put them in the back pocket of my jeans.

I get home and have LOST the papers. There must have been 25 numbers on there!!! I'm so bummed. It could be anywhere between here and Knox-Henderson. And most likely has blown away from wherever I dropped it. AARRGH. *slumps* Whyeee did I put them in my back pocket? I never put ANYthing in my back pocket. And I was CARRYING A PURSE. Ugh.

Also, my date/ride for the evening got stuck in Houston, and I promised Madison I wouldn't drive her Lexus on New Year's Eve. Soooo, looks like I'm in for the evening. Which, actually, I will undeniably enjoy, but it certainly sounds sad when I say it out loud. "What did you do for New Year's?" "Oh, I watched DVDs and drank champagne by myself." Geez.

Edited to add: Ree-an and Taylor ended up coming by around 10:30 and taking me to a party with a bunch of their friends from church. Scottie-san and Kathryn were there, so it was a fun time. We only stayed until about 12:30, so it didn't push my introverted boundaries too terribly far! The bottom line is I couldn't have cared less about the party... but pretty much, my friends rule.

Fun with Sandy, Angela, Bill, Dick, & Jane

I went DVD crazy today.

First, I went to Best Buy to exchange the 2nd 5th Season of Gilmore Girls that I received. I exchanged it for the first 2 seasons of Arrested Development for an extra $11.... brilliant. Thanks Ju!

Then, Sandy told me that she had purchased the first 2 seasons of The West Wing at Sam's for $15 each. I, myself, was missing Season 2, so we went to get it for me. What else did I come across, but entire seasons of Friends for $18.88. I'm not lyin'! I already had 1-6, so I got seasons 7, 8, & 9. For some reason Season 10 was $30 so I waited on that one... once I get it my collection will be complete!

So, basically, I spent less than $100 today and got six entire seasons of television. I'm all atingle with glee.

I hung out with Sandy all day. We ran errands and sat on the porch and watched some Friends gag reels. We also had lunch with Angela and Baby Timothy, at Tin Star, natch, and then I went to Fun with Dick & Jane and dinner with Bill. Then we sat on the porch and talked. The movie was mediocre but my day was fan-freaking-tastic.

I love you, Texas!

iPod takes over the world.

You knew it was going to happen. Even Krysten has one now. This week's news:

After a four-day overseas trip that took him to four countries in the Middle East, Vice President Dick Cheney really wanted to get his iPod charged for that long return flight to Washington. Since it is his plane, the vice president's iPod took priority and was plugged into one of the only working power outlets on Air Force Two, frustrating reporters who were trying to file stories.

Seriously?! I'm mostly wondering why Air Force 2 doesn't have enough power outlets for the press AND the Veep's music.

Here's a related story psychoanalyzing GW's playlist, a pastime which, btw, really creeps me out.

No day but today.

Some of you may be expecting my New Year's Resolutions soon. I know I usually share them, but I think I'm going to try and swing it solo this year. I'm not usually a very private person, and I think maybe that has put me in some tricky situations. I definitely have things to work on, but I'll be doing that nonpublic this time around.

The one I will share with you, which anyone who knows me well knows is always a goal of mine, is the reason I so titled my new blog: No day but today. If you're unfamiliar with the play (and now major motion picture) Rent, it's from the lyrics of one of my favorite songs:

There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today.

The Latin way to say this theme is "carpe diem." The Psalms say "as for man, his days are grass" (103:15). The colloquial proverb is to "make lemonade." It's a universal sentiment, but however you want to word it, the gist is that life is short. Don't waste time being unhappy. Even when things don't go your way, it's nobody's fault but your own if you don't make the best of the situation. Every single minute is another chance to turn it all around. Dwelling on why I'm lonely or my less-than-perfect relationship with my mother or the fact that my career is not where I thought it would be at 29 is not really hurting anyone but me. I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining. I have the responsibility to change my life, my attitude, and perhaps, the world.

So, there you have it. My constant resolution.

Silent Night, Not-so-Silent Night

A very quick post, in case anyone is reading today. I've been sick this Christmas. I slept on and off almost all Christmas Eve (even missed It's a Wonderful Life; if you missed it, too, you can catch up in 30 seconds by clicking here), and woke up at 3am to lots of snoring in the tiny trailer, a dog jumping on my head, and the neighbors' dumb-ass rooster, who never seems to know what time it is. I was incredibly nauseated, probably due to the copious amounts of Zovirax coursing through my system on no food, but managed to make it through the night. Today I still have a fever and am glassy-eyed and a little spacy, but I managed to get myself to Houston this afternoon and am finally in the land of internet access again. Whew!

We had a lovely Christmas dinner at the Walkers' as we have done for the past couple of years, and I managed to get down more calories than I've had in the past 4 or 5 days combined. I'm sure I needed the nourishment but I'm feeling somewhat queasy now. Oh, we also played a new game called Apples to Apples and it was big fun. I am hoping for the sweet escape of sleep tonight.

Merry Christmas.

The stars at night...

It's like a wasteland in here. I swear I just saw a tumbleweed blow by. Where's everyone??

I'm going to be MIA for a few days. I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow, but the good news is that I will be in Texas by lunchtime. Can you Yanks say barbecue? Incidentally, when I lived up north, I always thought it was funny that Yankees call "grilling out" a barbecue. "Hey, come over, we're barbecue-ing!" "Cool, what are we having?" "Hamburgers!" Wha? I'm having REAL barbecue tomorrow. None of that damn pulled pork either. Brisket on a white bun with pickles and onions. And potato chips. *mouth watering*

Anyway, I don't think I have a dial-up number for Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas. Sooo, I may be offline until Sunday. That's crazy-talk, no? Call my cell phone if you need me; it works in the NW corner of the single-wide. I'll be in Houston Christmas Day, back to civilization and wi-fi and blog, sweet blog.

Merry Christmas!! XOXOX

Night Five.

I can't sleep. I have pissed off the gods of insomnia and it's killing me. I lie down, I fall asleep, I wake up, I toss, I turn, I agonize. If I don't get at least 6 hours tonight I'm going to die, because Thursday I have to be at the airport early to catch my flight to Houston, and the next three nights will be spent at the Hawkins Family White Trash Trailer Bash in East Texas (yep, my dad is Hank Hill) and everyone, both human and canine, that lives in that trailer snores. Every one of them!! And there's just nowhere to go. I can't go into that on no sleep for a week. I'll never make it to Christmas Day.

Will a pharmacist please come online and let me know if I can mix Tylenol PM with liquor (I had some spiked wassail earlier)? *weg*

Christmas #1

So... I finally got my Christmas cards out. I'd like to apologize in advance for the glitter. I also mailed all the presents that had been ordered and were waiting here for me when I got back... except you Dallas girls; yours are in my bag. So, if you're expecting something from me, what are you waiting for? Go check your mail!!

Today was my first "Christmas"-- I have at least 2 more when I make the Texas rounds ("We are... an American family"). I made a pot roast for dinner and unsuccessfully tried to avoid opening presents while cameras were pointed at me. My niece is 7... and I have decided that presents are just more fun with kiddos around. We got my little sister a coat with a fur collar (no, not real), and she gasped "oh Mommy, that looks beautiful on you!" Awwwww. My OCD mother was cleaning up wrapping paper EVEN AS WE WERE RIPPING IT OFF, so I kept taking it out of the bag and throwing it back on the floor when she wasn't looking. Yes, I'm evil. I'm tres excited about the 5th season of Gilmore Girls that I got from Shan-do. Yes, Virginia, my entire life does revolve around television marathons.

So, I have this All Christmas All the Time playlist on my iPod, right? How I basically made it, was pulled everything that had "Christmas" or "holiday" anywhere in the info. Well... I happen to have the original Broadway soundtrack of Annie, which if you've never seen onstage, is a great deal more political than the movie version (which I also happen to adore). I heard tonight the razzle-dazzle FDR-singing-with-orphans finale, "We're Getting a New Deal for Christmas." HA! Classic.

What I learned today: Doc Marten's are not acceptable snow footwear.