Way late, but ...

I feel like doin' The Mambo

1. What was the best album released in 2004?
Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

2. What was the best single released in 2004?
Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows

3. What new (or new to you) artist did you discover this year?
Dashboard Confessional (They're new to me. I'm old. ;))

4. What was the best video made this year?
It's hard to pick just one but, Bowling for Soup's 1985 makes me smile.

5. What was the best concert you attended this year?
Did I attend a concert this year?

6. What was the musical scandal that amused you most?
The Ashlee Simpson SNL lip sync thing. The Janet Jackson boob thing was amusing for a while 'til people starting taking it too seriously. It's a boob, folks!

7. What song or album that you discovered this year would you recommend to us?
Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

Just stuff

I'm sad about Jerry Orbach. I'm sad about the tsunami, and I wish there was more I could to help besides sending money. I'm sad that Erica lost her baby. I'm sad that my Mom is never going to get better. I'm sad that Nick's Mom isn't going to get better. I'm sad that the GSG thing isn't working out. I'm sad that I don't have time to do all the stuff I want to do. I'm sad because I don't get to see Steve as much as I want to.

But, I'm not depressed. Just sad.

However, I am happy because I didn't gain as much weight as I thought I did over the holidays. I can still zip up my jeans. Yay me. I'm happy because (I hope!) I'll get to see my nephews this weekend. I'm still happy that the Editor's Pet and Sweet Girl asked me to go out with them Monday. I happy that the Bills gave me hope after all. I happy that we're getting a break from winter weather & it's gonna be in the 40s and 50s for the rest of the week.

Anyway ... Jaeger Bombs are the new coffee. I wish! I could go for starting my day with a couple of them. Big thanks to Sweet Girl for introducing me to them.

Update on yesterday's 16-year-old moment: The sports guy said he forgot to talk to the coach about me. However, I could have sworn that I heard him say "She's here right now." Could have just been my imagination, though, I guess. Anyway, the sports guy said he will talk to the coach about me next time they talk, which probably won't be 'til next Wednesday. I guess I can wait that long. I wonder how much weight I can lose by then. Not that it should matter. If he likes me, he likes me. It shouldn't matter that I need to lose a couple of pounds, especially if the sports guy can somehow throw into the conversation that I've lost 125 pounds so far & I'm still working on it.

Okay. I have to go put my clothes in the dryer. I may just write more after that.

Untitled

First of all, thanks to everyone who stopped by to wish me & Mom well. That means a lot to me.

Mom is doing as well as can be expected, I guess. She's kind of depressed, though, because I think the seriousness of her condition has finally sunk in. But, she tries to stay in good spirits. I think that's partially to keep me from being too depressed, though.

Anyway, she gave me the best Christmas present she could have given me on Thursday. That's the day we realized my sister, although she hadn't made it official yet, wouldn't be here for Christmas. Earlier in the day, I had bought a fiber optic Christmas tree, just 'cause I wanted a tree with lights and we didn't have one (and didn't feel like going to all the trouble). I wasn't sure how Mom felt about it 'til I walked through the front door on my dinner break from work & saw that she had turned the tree on. I said "Wow. You turned my tree on." She said "It made you so happy when you got it, I thought you might like to have it on when you got home." After that, she told me that she really appreciated everything I'd done to make Christmas nice for everyone. She said she was sad because there was so much she wanted to do but didn't have the strength or energy to do. But, I did it without being asked or told. And it was simple stuff, too, like putting her Christmas table cloths on the the dining room & kitchen tables and displaying the Christmas cards. So, we hugged each other & told each other we loved each other. One of the coolest Christmas gifts ever, 'cause she's not a huggy "I love you" type person.

Enough mush. The only thing I really wanted for Christmas (besides seeing my nephews, which I ddin't get) was for the Bills to win. They did! One more win (and a Denver or Jets loss) will do it. With the abysmal start to the season, I can't even believe I'm thinking playoffs in the last week of the season.

One of these days, if my life ever calms down, I'm going to get back to blogging regularly. I hope it's soon because I sure do miss it. And there are many days at work that are this slow & give me the time to make such long blog entries.

If it stays like this for the next 6 1/2 hours I could be doing all my catching up on the blog tonight.



Sick & tired of being sick & tired

It's been a rough month so far. Two weekends ago I was really sick. I didn't have the flu, but I did have a fever and was totally wiped out. Then, before I even had a chance to recover, my Mom got sick. She has congestive heart failure so it wasn't totally unexpected but with every episode it gets worse. She spent 8 days in the hospital, which you would think would be easier on me. It wasn't. She's very demanding when she's in the hospital. Then, when the doctor was ready to send her home, she wasn't ready to go. He said she'd have to go into a nursing home. She wasn't ready for that either, at least on Wednesday. Thursday morning, she said she was. By Thursday evening, she was ready to go home again. Thursday was very stressful. But she is home now. However, she's still very weak and unable to do much of anything. And, it figures, that I'm working a lot during the next couple of weeks so I have to make sure everything's in order for her so she doesn't have to do anything for herself when I'm not there. As if all of that isn't enough, I'm sick again. I've been using hand sanitizer, taking mega doses of Vitamin C and doing everything else I can to keep from getting sick but, obviously, it didn't work. At least by running to the bathroom every 15 minutes I should get enough exercise to lose the 10 pounds I gained by not eating right all month.

Then there's this crap:



I'm tellin' ya, if the Bills lose today I'm going to slash my wrists. Not really, but it'll be depressing. They went and got my hopes up again, I hope they don't let me down.

More angel stuff

I was going back to work after my dinner break last night. I parked on the street, across the street from the building. I distinctly remember saying "I better turn these lights off so I don't forget & end up with a dead battery. Then I turned the lights off. There were a couple of cars in the road, and it was raining, so I waited in the car 'til they passed so I wouldn't have to wait to cross the street. After the cars passed, I opened my door and heard the "ding-ding-ding" warning that something wasn't turned off in the car. I closed the door again and, just as I did, another car came whipping around the corner and came within probably 2 inches of my car. If I had gotten out of the car & was standing there, I would have gotten hit by the car and my car door would have been ripped off. So, what was the "ding-ding-ding?" The lights were on.

Now, tell me I don't have a guardian angel.

Ken Jennings

Okay. Did anyone else get teary-eyed when Ken Jennings lost on Jeopardy? Man, I'm such a geeky dork sometimes.

Catching up 'cause I've been neglecting my poor blog for too long

TV Tuesday -- Week 32 - Holiday Habits
The Holidays are quickly coming upon us, what will be on your TV?

1. Any holiday favorites you can't live without?
Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving & Christmas, Rudolph, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th St., A Christmas Story, The Santa Clause and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

2. Holiday viewing: Parades or Football?
Both, but I also like the dog show

3. What's your favorite holiday TV memory?
When I was 5, after watching Rudolph, I saw a red light in the sky and ran to my parents' bedroom to tell them I saw Rudolph. After coming into my bedroom to see Rudolph, they told me I better get to sleep fast because Santa would stop at our house if was awake. A few years later, a heard my parents talking about finding out the flight schedule at the airport so they could point out "Rudolph" to my younger brother. I imagine that was just in case they missed Rudolph because I know that's what I saw.

~Bonus~ Holiday remakes, are you a faithful fan of the old classics or do you prefer the newer versions?
For the most part, I don't even bother watching the remakes. Could anyone be as good as Natalie Wood? I don't think so.

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. But, you know, it's not easy to write 40,000 words in 15 days. I know. I know. You don't want excuses. You're hurt. You're confused. You're feeling unloved. You don't need my excuses or apologies. What you need is for me to post more often.

Well Blog, I'll do my best. I won't make any promises, but I'll try to get here more than I have in the last couple of weeks.

Stay strong, dear Blog, it's almost over!

Love,

<3 Me

Sorry!

My apologies to anyone who has been here lately expecting actually find a new post.

work + NaNo + doing stuff with/for my Mom = no bloggin' ... well, here anyway. I have posted a couple of things here.

Everything will get back to normal here on Nov. 30 or when I hit 50,000 words, whichever comes first.

Out of the mouths of babes

An e-mail from my sister:

I was watching President Bush's speech this afternoon with Alexandyr and Aaryn when the crowd started chanting "Four more years! Four more years!"
Alexandyr took the lead and started shouting "Four more years!" as well.
Aaryn, always doing whatever his brother does, too started shouting. "Four more ears! Four more ears! Four more eyes! Four more eyes! Four more noses! Four more noses!"