I hate resolutions so I try not to make them too difficult. So here is what I had promised to do for 2009. How did I do?
-I resolve to do at least five sit-ups. Not each night, but for the whole year. I did not do this. I don't even know if I did one. But I fit into my old jeans again so that's a plus and when summer rolls around I will just buy a one piece bathing suit and not worry about it anymore.
-I resolve to be easier on myself. Eh, somewhat. I guess. It's an ongoing process.
-I will try to spend less time on facebook while at work. This is for sure the very first resolution that I will break. Without a doubt. And it was the first one I broke. But I did my work's Facebook page so I found a way to make facebooking part of my job which I think shows creativity and ingenuity.
-I will go to the library instead of spending money on books that are generally stupid that I end up giving away within a month or so. Hmm, well, I did go to the library a few times and I got a few books. I also found out that goodreads will send you books if you sign up on a list so I got a free book that way. And I borrowed more books so that's good. General idea was kept even if I didn't go to the library more than twice. I think I also only bought one hardcover book all last year and it was the Kathy Griffin bio and I love her so it was all good.
Overall, I think I did OK with my promises for 2009. Now I just need to come up with 2010 promises.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Merry Merry Merry
We had a great Christmas here. Austin enjoyed his gifts and the Christmas dinner from Whole Foods was delicious. We have tons of turkey leftovers which means I made turkey pot pie last night and Rob is going to make turkey chili some other time this week.
Austin enjoyed his gifts. We did have to venture out to the mall on Saturday though. I specifically told my family that if they want to buy Austin clothes he needs casual winter clothes and the tag should say either "18-24" or "18". Naturally my aunt bought 2 outfits at 24 months and my mom bought 18-24 month shirts and 12-18 month pants that fit him like highwaters. So those had to go back. I was able to find exact exchanges for everything except for one outfit so it worked out.
My brother on the other hand was a bigger problem. In an attempt to keep the holiday stress-free and not terribly expensive I convinced my family that we all draw names and spend $50-$100 on the person we get and that's the only gift we have to get each other. Everyone was on board. I got my dad's name and he found an ipod speaker he wanted so that was easy. Rob got my mom's and she had a sweater she wanted. My brother got my name. The week after Thanksgiving I e-mailed him 3 sweaters from J Crew and 3 sweaters from Ann Taylor Loft with my sizes and color preferences. I told him "Pick any of these sweaters and I'll be happy" A week later I sent him a coupon code to J Crew online for 20% off any sweater and free shipping. I figured that was a done deal. Then I saw his Facebook status update on December 22 saying "I have to go Christmas shopping today" Sure enough, he meant my gift. He bought me an XS sweater. I haven't worn XS since college and sure as hell not since I incubated a kid for 9 months making my stomach all stretchy and mushy-like. So that will have to go back at some point too. Thanks, bro!
Oh well.
Today I'm back at work and I've already received one woman super angry with me to the point that she hung up on me. So that's pretty awesome. Also, my train smelled like rancid pee and my bus smelled like feet so that was another pleasant way to start the day.
Remind me next year to just take these days off in between Christmas and New Year. It's too depressing to be downtown.
At least there was no line at Starbucks.
Austin enjoyed his gifts. We did have to venture out to the mall on Saturday though. I specifically told my family that if they want to buy Austin clothes he needs casual winter clothes and the tag should say either "18-24" or "18". Naturally my aunt bought 2 outfits at 24 months and my mom bought 18-24 month shirts and 12-18 month pants that fit him like highwaters. So those had to go back. I was able to find exact exchanges for everything except for one outfit so it worked out.
My brother on the other hand was a bigger problem. In an attempt to keep the holiday stress-free and not terribly expensive I convinced my family that we all draw names and spend $50-$100 on the person we get and that's the only gift we have to get each other. Everyone was on board. I got my dad's name and he found an ipod speaker he wanted so that was easy. Rob got my mom's and she had a sweater she wanted. My brother got my name. The week after Thanksgiving I e-mailed him 3 sweaters from J Crew and 3 sweaters from Ann Taylor Loft with my sizes and color preferences. I told him "Pick any of these sweaters and I'll be happy" A week later I sent him a coupon code to J Crew online for 20% off any sweater and free shipping. I figured that was a done deal. Then I saw his Facebook status update on December 22 saying "I have to go Christmas shopping today" Sure enough, he meant my gift. He bought me an XS sweater. I haven't worn XS since college and sure as hell not since I incubated a kid for 9 months making my stomach all stretchy and mushy-like. So that will have to go back at some point too. Thanks, bro!
Oh well.
Today I'm back at work and I've already received one woman super angry with me to the point that she hung up on me. So that's pretty awesome. Also, my train smelled like rancid pee and my bus smelled like feet so that was another pleasant way to start the day.
Remind me next year to just take these days off in between Christmas and New Year. It's too depressing to be downtown.
At least there was no line at Starbucks.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Santa Issue
One of my new favorite reads, le claw, is discussing today how she knew that there was no Santa. My tale is too long for a comment so I'm bringing it over here.
Being a second child, my parents were somewhat overwhelmed with me since they hadn't quite gotten into the swing of parenting like they had with my brother. The stress sort of made them a little lazy with the myth of santa when it came to me. There were a few obvious clues and then finally my sister told me what I'd already been suspecting.
Clue #1 - Black Santa: St. Louis is weirdly segregated. One year my mom decided to take us to the downtown Santaland for Santa photos. It was a line that went about 2 hours through a mechanical winter scene and then the line split into two. The bored elf working at the end of the line didn't tell my mom the reason it was splitting into two--there was one black santa and one white santa. Separate but equal santas. My mom chose the shorter line. We met black santa. This confused 5 year old me because the previous year Santa was white and now he was not white. Still friendly, still had an elf helping him and still gave me a small toy and a candy cane but was a completely different color. My mom told us that Santa was magic and could change colors. This seemed odd to me but I went with it. If he can see every house in the world in one night, he can certainly be black for an evening if he wants to.
Clue #2 - Santa has a weird sense of humor: My mom tried to be really fair with gifts. We took turns opening them and everyone had the same amount of gifts so we all got done at once and she spent about the same amount on all of us. So when I was 6 I opened all of my gifts and sat there watching my sister and brother open their gifts. My mom said "Where are the rest of your gifts?" and I sadly said "This is all I got" and she said "No it's not . . .where's your? Um . . ." and then she went to the coat closet and behind the vacuum pulled out a whole bag of wrapped gifts and said "Oh Santa is silly and left your gifts in the coat closet!" and it seemed odd that Santa decided to play a trick on me. Maybe it was punishment for questioning his sometimes blackness? But I got a Barbie fitness gym and a Sweet Dreams Barbie so forgetful prankster Santa was forgiven.
Clue #3 - Weird Timing: I don't know if it's a German thing or a St. Louis thing or maybe it's a just a weird thing my family does but we would open our gifts on Christmas Eve. We'd eat dinner and then go upstairs to our bedroom and change into our nice Christmas clothes. While we were changing Santa would loudly come with our gifts yelling Ho Ho Ho. My mom said he was afraid of children and not grown-ups that's why we'd have to go upstairs. This made very little sense since we waited every year to see him and sit on his lap and he didn't seem afraid then. But whatever, presents . . .so we went with it. The year I was 7, my sister pointed out that Santa sounded suspciously like grandpa. My sister is three years older than me and quite bossy. She felt it was time to tell me the truth. She tied everything together--black santa, forgotten gifts, grandpa ho ho . . . it all made sense. Santa was not real. I was not as disappointed in this as I should have been. It was good she told me before the presents so I had that to help me deal with the shock of being lied to (albeit badly) by my parents.
My parents made up for it with my brother. The went all out and he believed up until 2 years ago. I'm pretty sure. I might be exaggerating.
I think 7 is a good age to learn the truth. My mom teaches 3rd grade and says every year there are a few kids who believe and the other kids make fun of them. So obviously 8 is too late in the rough and tumble streets of St. Louis.
I hope I can keep it going until Austin is 7. It's hard to say. I'm a pretty good liar but I'm terribly disorganized so it's not at all difficult to believe that prankster Santa might visit our house and hide gifts in the closet.
How old were you when you found out?
Being a second child, my parents were somewhat overwhelmed with me since they hadn't quite gotten into the swing of parenting like they had with my brother. The stress sort of made them a little lazy with the myth of santa when it came to me. There were a few obvious clues and then finally my sister told me what I'd already been suspecting.
Clue #1 - Black Santa: St. Louis is weirdly segregated. One year my mom decided to take us to the downtown Santaland for Santa photos. It was a line that went about 2 hours through a mechanical winter scene and then the line split into two. The bored elf working at the end of the line didn't tell my mom the reason it was splitting into two--there was one black santa and one white santa. Separate but equal santas. My mom chose the shorter line. We met black santa. This confused 5 year old me because the previous year Santa was white and now he was not white. Still friendly, still had an elf helping him and still gave me a small toy and a candy cane but was a completely different color. My mom told us that Santa was magic and could change colors. This seemed odd to me but I went with it. If he can see every house in the world in one night, he can certainly be black for an evening if he wants to.
Clue #2 - Santa has a weird sense of humor: My mom tried to be really fair with gifts. We took turns opening them and everyone had the same amount of gifts so we all got done at once and she spent about the same amount on all of us. So when I was 6 I opened all of my gifts and sat there watching my sister and brother open their gifts. My mom said "Where are the rest of your gifts?" and I sadly said "This is all I got" and she said "No it's not . . .where's your? Um . . ." and then she went to the coat closet and behind the vacuum pulled out a whole bag of wrapped gifts and said "Oh Santa is silly and left your gifts in the coat closet!" and it seemed odd that Santa decided to play a trick on me. Maybe it was punishment for questioning his sometimes blackness? But I got a Barbie fitness gym and a Sweet Dreams Barbie so forgetful prankster Santa was forgiven.
Clue #3 - Weird Timing: I don't know if it's a German thing or a St. Louis thing or maybe it's a just a weird thing my family does but we would open our gifts on Christmas Eve. We'd eat dinner and then go upstairs to our bedroom and change into our nice Christmas clothes. While we were changing Santa would loudly come with our gifts yelling Ho Ho Ho. My mom said he was afraid of children and not grown-ups that's why we'd have to go upstairs. This made very little sense since we waited every year to see him and sit on his lap and he didn't seem afraid then. But whatever, presents . . .so we went with it. The year I was 7, my sister pointed out that Santa sounded suspciously like grandpa. My sister is three years older than me and quite bossy. She felt it was time to tell me the truth. She tied everything together--black santa, forgotten gifts, grandpa ho ho . . . it all made sense. Santa was not real. I was not as disappointed in this as I should have been. It was good she told me before the presents so I had that to help me deal with the shock of being lied to (albeit badly) by my parents.
My parents made up for it with my brother. The went all out and he believed up until 2 years ago. I'm pretty sure. I might be exaggerating.
I think 7 is a good age to learn the truth. My mom teaches 3rd grade and says every year there are a few kids who believe and the other kids make fun of them. So obviously 8 is too late in the rough and tumble streets of St. Louis.
I hope I can keep it going until Austin is 7. It's hard to say. I'm a pretty good liar but I'm terribly disorganized so it's not at all difficult to believe that prankster Santa might visit our house and hide gifts in the closet.
How old were you when you found out?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Let's retire LOL
For 2010, I really think we should all make a concerted effort to stop using LOL. And by "we" I do not mean myself because I think I stopped using it in 1999. This is also true for ROFLOL. Please stop.
During the past week on facebook I have noticed an over abundance of LOLs. Someone will make a status update saying that they love watching Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and the first comment will be "Jana! You so crazy! LOL!"
No, no. Just . . . no.
Or "Did you ever notice that Lieberman and Palpatine look alike? LOL" Um, do not LOL yourself. That's just masturbatory.
And then someone posted "Does anyone know why drive-up ATMs have braille? LOL!" and then someone commented "LOL!" Oh God, make it stop. They have braille probably because the keypads are all made at the same damn factory and they're not going to make seperate ones for drive-up ATMS which look the same as regular ATMS. Plus, blind people can be passengers in cars. Also, this is not an original joke. It has been an e-mail forward for years and then probably a joke that predated e-mail. It is a slight smiley joke if anything but it most certainly is not the type of joke that makes anyone laugh out loud holding their sides thinking "Whew, braille on ATMs . . .Oh stop, you're killing me."
So let's all just promise to make 2010 a LOL free year.
If you must imply that something has made you laugh, just say "Ha!" which is what I prefer to do when the situation calls for it.
During the past week on facebook I have noticed an over abundance of LOLs. Someone will make a status update saying that they love watching Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and the first comment will be "Jana! You so crazy! LOL!"
No, no. Just . . . no.
Or "Did you ever notice that Lieberman and Palpatine look alike? LOL" Um, do not LOL yourself. That's just masturbatory.
And then someone posted "Does anyone know why drive-up ATMs have braille? LOL!" and then someone commented "LOL!" Oh God, make it stop. They have braille probably because the keypads are all made at the same damn factory and they're not going to make seperate ones for drive-up ATMS which look the same as regular ATMS. Plus, blind people can be passengers in cars. Also, this is not an original joke. It has been an e-mail forward for years and then probably a joke that predated e-mail. It is a slight smiley joke if anything but it most certainly is not the type of joke that makes anyone laugh out loud holding their sides thinking "Whew, braille on ATMs . . .Oh stop, you're killing me."
So let's all just promise to make 2010 a LOL free year.
If you must imply that something has made you laugh, just say "Ha!" which is what I prefer to do when the situation calls for it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Gone to the dogs
I just realized that this is the first year we are doing a photo card without the dog in it. This is mainly because Austin and the dog aren't getting along very well right now and my adorable idea of putting them in matching pajamas would have cost more than I wanted to spend. And likely wouldn't have even worked out well in the end.
So this year our card will only be of Austin & Santa. Maybe next year they'll be on better terms.
Here's a look back at Christmas with the dog as the center of attention:
2005 - Reindeer Dog
2006 - Santa Dog
2007 - Elf Dog
2008 - Santa Baby & Reindeer Dog
Wow. I bought a lot of stupid dog costumes . . . This blog post might just be a cry for help.
So this year our card will only be of Austin & Santa. Maybe next year they'll be on better terms.
Here's a look back at Christmas with the dog as the center of attention:
2005 - Reindeer Dog
2006 - Santa Dog
2007 - Elf Dog
2008 - Santa Baby & Reindeer Dog
Wow. I bought a lot of stupid dog costumes . . . This blog post might just be a cry for help.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
We came, we saw, we sat on laps
We found Santa. He was a good looking Santa with a real beard and everything. And the line was only an hour and a half long. Not joking or exaggerating. AN HOUR AND A HALF! But we survived. I fed Austin lunch while in line and we took him on long walks and bought things while one of the other of us stayed in line.
The mom in front of me was nice and friendly so I passed the time talking to her. I asked her if we were allowed to take our own photos and she said "I don't know if I'm allowed or not but I always do, I figure if they question me I can play dumb like 'oh i'm not supposed to do this?' " so I figured that was a good enough plan for us. But there was no need to worry because we were totally allowed to take our own photos. The elf guy said it was cool.
At one point I asked the mom "Do you ever wonder why we do this? I mean, my son isn't even old enough to know who Santa is . . . " and she was like "Yeah, we've come here the past three Christmases and my daughter was only 1 the first time we came. We also go trick-or-treating and they can't eat candy. I think we just go crazy when we give birth." and that seemed correct.
Long long line and we get to the front and happy Austin was confused for a bit and then freaked out a bit. But it was good. We got our photo and I can finally do our Christmas cards.
He fell asleep in the car on the way home so I went into the grocery store on my own while Rob waited with him while he napped. All in all, a good day.
The mom in front of me was nice and friendly so I passed the time talking to her. I asked her if we were allowed to take our own photos and she said "I don't know if I'm allowed or not but I always do, I figure if they question me I can play dumb like 'oh i'm not supposed to do this?' " so I figured that was a good enough plan for us. But there was no need to worry because we were totally allowed to take our own photos. The elf guy said it was cool.
At one point I asked the mom "Do you ever wonder why we do this? I mean, my son isn't even old enough to know who Santa is . . . " and she was like "Yeah, we've come here the past three Christmases and my daughter was only 1 the first time we came. We also go trick-or-treating and they can't eat candy. I think we just go crazy when we give birth." and that seemed correct.
Long long line and we get to the front and happy Austin was confused for a bit and then freaked out a bit. But it was good. We got our photo and I can finally do our Christmas cards.
He fell asleep in the car on the way home so I went into the grocery store on my own while Rob waited with him while he napped. All in all, a good day.
The search for Santa
Yesterday we were so organized. We both woke up early, showered, dressed, Austin was fed and dressed in his festive Christmas clothing. We went to the mall nearest our house, got lunch--Austin was well behaved and didn't grind noodles into his hair. He was in great spirits so we walked to the food court where Santa sat last year to get our Christmas card photo. Only . . . no Santa. Nowhere to be found. So I walk up to customer service asking where Santa is. This year they decided to only hold paid "Santa events" on random days throughout the month. Like a $14/person breakfast with Santa.
So no Santa. By this point in the day it was time for a nap for Austin so we went home and he fell asleep in the car so we carried him inside and he woke up so we changed him out of the nice clothes.
Today we must venture to another mall. This time I called and have the Santa hours and naturally he doesn't show his fat face up until after noon due to churchgoers so as soon as we get this photo we're back in the car and heading home hoping to beat the nap. If he would just show up at 10 a.m. this would work better with nap and meal schedules but Santa is just going to be an asshole to me this year. I've accepted it.
Going to two malls in one weekend is my idea of a nightmare. My weekends are scheduled with tons of errands. Yesterday was: Haircut appointment, mall Santa, possibly Best Buy. Today was: Best Buy, Costco, Grocery Store. Our vacuum cleaner broke and fortunately Rob and I already decided to buy a dyson for Christmas but since the vacuum is broken, this is a bit more of an emergency now because due to pet hair it actually looks like we have wall to wall carpeting. So after we decided that we have to make a second mall trip I went to Costco yesterday and tried very hard not to kill anyone. Today we do the mall, then come home and one of us goes to the grocery store. I already told Rob he can go to Best Buy without me and that counts as his break and relaxation time. My break and relaxation time were my haircut and Costco.
We also have three floating errands that we try to get done every weekend but never manage to get done: salvation army donations, post office to return recalled car seat base, storage unit to empty more crap.
I'm already tired. Keep your finger crossed that the line is short.
So no Santa. By this point in the day it was time for a nap for Austin so we went home and he fell asleep in the car so we carried him inside and he woke up so we changed him out of the nice clothes.
Today we must venture to another mall. This time I called and have the Santa hours and naturally he doesn't show his fat face up until after noon due to churchgoers so as soon as we get this photo we're back in the car and heading home hoping to beat the nap. If he would just show up at 10 a.m. this would work better with nap and meal schedules but Santa is just going to be an asshole to me this year. I've accepted it.
Going to two malls in one weekend is my idea of a nightmare. My weekends are scheduled with tons of errands. Yesterday was: Haircut appointment, mall Santa, possibly Best Buy. Today was: Best Buy, Costco, Grocery Store. Our vacuum cleaner broke and fortunately Rob and I already decided to buy a dyson for Christmas but since the vacuum is broken, this is a bit more of an emergency now because due to pet hair it actually looks like we have wall to wall carpeting. So after we decided that we have to make a second mall trip I went to Costco yesterday and tried very hard not to kill anyone. Today we do the mall, then come home and one of us goes to the grocery store. I already told Rob he can go to Best Buy without me and that counts as his break and relaxation time. My break and relaxation time were my haircut and Costco.
We also have three floating errands that we try to get done every weekend but never manage to get done: salvation army donations, post office to return recalled car seat base, storage unit to empty more crap.
I'm already tired. Keep your finger crossed that the line is short.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
