KirstenL4W

It took me quite awhile to come up with an entry for K. Way back in the beginning of my blog, I wrote a post entitled K is for Kirsten in which I express my joy at being able to assert my independence and freedom from roommates. In the encyclopedia series, I wanted something with a more specific topic other than myself, especially since my blog’s title is All About Me - And Then Some. Makes sense, yes? So I pulled out my trusty student dictionary, the one I received as an 8th grade graduation gift, and read through the entries in the short K section, looking for inspiration. And inspiration I found.

In 1979, I turned 5 years old, and it was time for me to go to school. We lived in a tiny house in Salem, NH, which didn’t have public kindergarten, so my Dad registered me at a school in the next town, over the state line in Methuen, MA. The bonus was that my Gram was the secretary of the school, so I got to see her every day as well.

I remember the day I went to check the place out. I think my Dad talked to Mrs. Lang, the teacher, while I played with a Mr. Potato Head. I took note of the classroom - kid-height tables and chairs, two bathrooms, a chalkboard in the carpeted area, another play area with storage for our coats and lunchboxes, the door to the hall, and the door leading outside. Mrs. Lang’s desk was by the windows.

In September, it was time for school. I don’t remember what I wore, other than it was probably a dress since I usually wore a dress for the first day of school. Dad hoisted me into his old pickup truck for the drive to school, since the bus wouldn’t pick me up in a different state. We got on the highway, off the highway, and headed down the road. He stopped at Walter’s Variety, a small convenience store near Gram’s house and on the way to school, so I could buy a snack. I chose Twinkies - I’m not sure why, and I don’t think I’ve eaten them since. I don’t ever recall being a huge Twinkies fan.

I honestly don’t remember much in particular about that first day of school, but I remember bits and pieces of the school day from throughout the year. We had projects to do. I liked that sort of schoolroom crafting that we did. We made the obligatory toilet paper ghosts, handprint turkeys, etc. We also practiced reading and writing our letters, learning the alphabet, show and tell, and some songs. I don’t remember any of this learning being particularly challenging work, but I enjoyed it because it was new. I liked reading, and had been sounding out words on my own since I was three (or so I’m told - I don’t remember that far back).

Back then, kindergarten was a half day. For the first half of the school year, I had morning kindergarten, from 8:45 to 11:45. After school I took the bus to my aunt’s house. Things were safer in those days, and the bus dropped me off at the corner. It was probably about 150 yards to my aunt’s house, but I struggled with it. For some reason I had this thing about walking alone without any sort of cover. I would be ok walking along the bushes, then stop at the end of the hedge, gather up some courage, and run to the tree. Then to a mailbox, and so on. I still get made fun of for that, but hey, I provided amusement to all those who watched the 5-year-old me walk to my aunt’s from the bus stop. When I got to my aunt’s house, she’d feed me lunch and I got to play with my cousin. He was just a baby then, and it was fun being over there and playing with him, especially once he started walking. He followed me everywhere, and I thought it was fun to help my aunt feed him.

After Christmas, the morning and afternoon classes would switch, so I got switched to afternoon kindergarten. Both my younger sister and I got dropped off at a babysitter’s house. I remember her name was Margaret, and she was old but not a nice grandmotherly old. She smoked More cigarettes and made us powdered milk. I still shudder thinking about that shit. After she fed us lunch, she’d drive me to school, and I was thrilled to not have to spend the entire day with her. I didn’t really have my sympathy for my sister having to be there, though. After school I’d still go to my aunt’s house, but only every other week. Since my Gram worked at the school, I split my time with my aunt and my Gram. On those weeks, I’d stay after school with my Gram in the office, helping her by telling her which bus just pulled up so that she could announce it on the PA. Then we’d go to her house and I’d help her get dinner ready. On Friday nights, instead of Dad picking me up, he’d drop my sister off and we’d spend the night, which was pretty cool.

While I don’t specifically remember my first day of kindergarten, I remember the last day. For some reason, slave labor was still ok back then, because the entire class took our little plastic chairs outside and we scrubbed them. Don’t ask me why, but this was a time honored tradition. Every year it happened, and it was only the kindergarten group. Thinking back now, I don’t know if the chairs got scrubbed twice or not, because there weren’t enough chairs for both the morning and afternoon sessions, but I know I remember scrubbing those things.

Kindergarten was a pretty carefree time for me. Everything came easy to me, and I loved being exposed to new ideas. I left kindergarten with new friends, a glowing report card, a assignment to Mrs. Scannell’s class in the fall, and no idea that I’d have to start learning math in the first grade.

What a long blog break. It’s my intention to blog nearly every day, and when that doesn’t happen I start getting more and more down about not having posted anything. I think blogging is like exercise - if you stop for any reason it’s harder and harder to pick it up again.

But I don’t want to stop blogging. I love blogging, I love my blog, and I love reading other blogs. It’s just that I do other things with my spare time besides park my ass in front of the computer. Need to be at a computer to blog. Wait, when did this become a post full of excuses?

It’s no secret that I read a lot of books. While reading and taking in these stories, I’m also thinking about some pretty awesome post ideas. Of course, they leave my mind as soon as I fall asleep. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of travel memoirs. If you look at my Goodreads page, you’ll see. The travel memoir has been an interesting category for me. On the one hand, I think I like memoirs or memoir-style books the best. At least, I like reading first person narration. On the other hand, I miss traveling. I traveled somewhat in my younger days - before I bought a house, moved to Vegas and got married. Now all my travel time is earmarked for visiting family. Not that that’s a bad thing, since I love my family, but with limited funds and limited vacation time available, it doesn’t leave room for much else. And without being able to travel much, it’s kinda hard to write about it, unless you want to hear about all the virtual traveling I do via Google Maps.

I’m interested in writing. It was always one of my best subjects in school, and one of my favorite (so long as I could write something I enjoyed. If I didn’t enjoy the topic, then writing about it sucked). When I’m reading just about anything, I’m always thinking about what I could be writing. I want to write more about my travels - perhaps I should dig out my old diaries. I knew that making a specific point of writing down everything that happens when I’m traveling would be handy someday. I also want to write more memoir-type stuff. Stories about me from way back when. And I want to work on how to get these ideas out of my head and on the computer. That’s the biggest challenge of all. And of course I want to continue my Encyclopedia of Me series.

I need to make a point of writing and blogging more. I need to try to do that without multi-tasking myself to death on the computer. Gosh, that’s hard. It’s like I have internet ADD. As I write this, I have 5 tabs open - Facebook, Twitter, the “write post” tab for wordpress, Google Reader, and my blog, so that I can easily find links for that handy linking to yourself thing that all the pros advocate. Maybe that’s what it takes. Maybe if I stop trying to do everything, I’ll accomplish something. I think I read that once before. It’s something to try. But first, real life beckons.

I mentioned in a post that Mister recently had surgery. I didn’t mention any more than that, mostly because I wasn’t sure that Mister would be ok with me telling you all of the gory details. But we talked about it, and he doesn’t mind, so here goes.

Due to various factors - herniated discs in his back being a huge one - Mister’s weight over the last year or so has gone up. And up, and up, and up. It got to the point that getting out of the car and walking around it to pump gas was too much physical activity for him. When we flew to New England for our vacation last fall, we knew there was no way that Mister would be able to walk all the way from the car to security to the gate, so we asked for wheelchair assistance. Being first in line at security and first on the airplane was a nice trade-off, though. Anyway, I point this out because Mister was fat. Way fat. Having herniated discs put him in a Catch-22 situation. He couldn’t do any significant exercise because of them, so he packed on the pounds and the weight made his back feel worse. It sucked all around.

We knew some people who had weight loss surgery and had seen some success with it. A couple different friends here in town had the Lap-band done, and one of my imaginary internet friends had the RNY. Adam talked about his experience getting the Lap-Band. Those are basically the only two options available at the local weight loss surgeon’s office, as we found out when we went for an informational seminar. They did mention another procedure, the vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and it sounded like it would be the best choice for Mister, but the local surgeon said that it’s not available in this country. So, with a lack of any other options, we settled on the Lap-band.

Insurance companies are funny about weight loss surgery. If they cover it, they usually don’t contribute much (not as high a percentage of the costs as say, an emergency appendectomy). Which is kind of funny, because losing weight alleviates a lot of health problems. When they do cover it, they usually like you to go on a doctor-supervised diet for 3-6 months and do all sorts of other things that NO ONE else having any kind of surgery has to go through. Those things right there are enough to stop some people from doing this. Lucky for us, Mister’s parents offered to gift us the money so we didn’t have to do that.

Mister was also not too set on the Lap-band. He definitely did NOT want the RNY, because he really didn’t like the idea of someone rearranging his plumbing. Nor was he keen on the risks of malabsorption and dumping syndrome that are common with that procedure. As far as the Lap-band goes, we knew that it was easy to eat around it, and didn’t like the fact that it left this foreign object inside you for like, ever. Further research showed that if we were to ever move out of the area, we’d be hard pressed to find a surgeon who would do the fills required to keep the Lap-band doing its job. Also, I found out through another one of Adam’s posts that the reason one needs fills all the time is because the saline dissipates over time - it is not because your esophagus gets smaller as you get thinner, like the surgeon at the seminar we went to said and like I see a lot of people saying on various message boards. This makes it a lifelong maintenance item, in addition to the lifelong lifestyle changes that need to be made. It was too much. Again, fate stepped in and led us to a doctor that does the procedure Mister wanted.

One of Mister’s relatives in the SF Bay area had a vertical gastrectomy done at Laparoscopic Associates of San Francisco and highly recommended them. This worked out perfectly, since Mister has family in the area that we could stay with during the initial recovery before coming home. So, Mister got in touch with the doctor and after some consultations with the doctor, dietitian and such, the surgery was scheduled for December 16.

I initially did not want to go up to the hospital to sit and wait for him. I didn’t think I’d be very good at doing that without making myself and everyone else around me crazy, so I planned on being at work and going up that weekend to drive him home. At the last minute I freaked, called into work, and packed a bag so I could go up with him. When it came down to it, being there for him was more important to me than my own sanity. That and being with him as much as I could be calmed me more than not being there. So the day before the surgery, we drove up to San Francisco, met the doctor for the first time (and one last consult before the surgery), and drove back down to the south bay to see the in-laws. We got settled and arranged a wake up time so that we could be at the hospital for 6am. It wasn’t a very good night’s sleep, but I don’t think anyone sleeps well before something like that.

The next morning we all piled into the inlaw’s land yacht for the trip into San Francisco. We got to the hospital, checked in, and waited. When Mister got called back, I went with him. I wanted to stay with him until they kicked me out. I helped him get into his oh-so-stylish hospital gown and packed his clothes in the regulation hospital “patient property” bag. He joked with the nurse a bit as she got an IV started on him. Mister and I have very similar humor styles, so some of the jokes were in stereo, or so it seemed. Good spirits is always a good thing. The doctor came in to say hi and took off again. Then we walked back to the OR area. The surgical nurse hooked Mister up to the warmer. We weren’t sure what this meant, but they guy came at Mister really fast with a big hose and started fumbling around in the genital region. Turns out that the gown has two layers and has a vent area to hook the hose up to so warm air can be delivered. The vent on the gown just happens to be near the nether regions. Anyway, Mister met with the surgical nurse and the anesthesiologist - more questions, looking, and last minute checks. Then it was time go to. The doctor likes to have patients walk into the OR if they can to help reduce the chances of blood clots, so off Mister went, and I went back to the waiting area. Walking out of there, it was hard for me to not lose my shit, because if I did I knew that there was no way I’d be getting up off the floor anytime soon. So luckily I was able to let that feeling pass and got back to where the in-laws were waiting.

We were told that we could wait downstairs in the lobby, and I could check in at the desk for information. They gave me one of those flying saucer things they give you when you’re waiting for a table at a restaurant. The surgery was scheduled to take about 2 hours, so we ate breakfast at the cafe and browsed the gift shop a bit, then sat down to wait. Finally, just past 11am, my buzzer went off. I ran over to reception, where they told me that Mister was in recovery and that I’d be able to see him in about 2 hours. Yay! More waiting, but he was OK. About 20 minutes later the doctor came down. He gave me a paper with some post-op instructions, and a copy for our doctor here at home, and told me that the surgery went well but that Mister woke up from the anesthesia swinging and ready to fight. Mister’s never been under or had surgery before, but this definitely sounded like him. I was happy, and continued waiting anxiously to see him.

We ate lunch at the cafe again, then went to find Mister since I should be able to see him. After walking around and being led back and forth a bit, I finally found out the room he’d be in and was able to wait there. They kept him in recovery a little bit longer because his blood pressure started to rise, but pain meds took care of that and he was finally able to come down to his room. When they wheeled his bed into the room, Mister had a goofy smile on his face and was doing a modified version of the Royal Wave. Yep, he’s definitely going to be fine.

The recovery wasn’t as easy as Mister initially thought it would be. He thought that the pain would be no problem, but this was a bit more than he wanted. For laparoscopic procedures, they fill the belly area with gas, and it takes a while to dissipate - which is done through burping and farting. Plus, while the doctor was in there he fixed an umbilical hernia, which was the most painful of Mister’s incisions, so he wasn’t fully expecting that. But Mister got exponentially better with each passing day, and once we survived the awful California freeways, the only complaint that Mister had was drinking those blasted protein shakes all the time.

The diet is different now. Mister was on thin liquids for 2 weeks, and since he needs to make sure he gets enough protein, he was drinking those awful vitamin store protein shakes. After that was soft solids - things like cottage cheese, eggs, etc. - and more shakes to make sure he gets the protein in. The focus is protein, so that comes first, before any kind of carbs, which he maxes out on at 40g per day. He’s on solid food now, and needs to make sure not to eat too much at once. His stomach is now a thin tube instead of the giant pouch it was, so it’s 2-4oz at a time, no snacking, and chew thoroughly. It’s a big change, for sure.

So how’s he doing? Great! Mister is really doing awesome. He weighed in at 422 as he was walking into the OR. We didn’t have a scale at home that could weigh him, but the doctor recommended one that could (and looks just like a regular bathroom scale), so we ordered that. As of this writing, exactly 1 month after surgery, Mister is down to 368. He has more energy now - not enough to be running a marathon, but enough to help me out with some light housework. Also? This will sound very strange to you, since he has to go down to eating practically nothing, but he’s got a renewed interest in cooking. He said that since he can only eat so much and he needs to make every bite count, he wants to make sure that what he eats is as flavorful as possible. I’ll admit that flavor isn’t one of my strong points in cooking (Bland is Grand!), so I think we’re both happy with Mister cooking more.

That’s what’s been happening with us lately. It’s hard to have so much going on and not be able to write about it, but now you know. It’s already brought about a positive change for Mister, and I hope it will bring a lot more positive changes for us. Mister and I both want to be healthier, and this certainly puts him on a path in the right direction. If I’m going to be eating what he eats (but in normal stomach sized quantities) and making sure I don’t bring tempting foods into the house, then that will be good for me as well. I’m already down about 3lbs this month, so hopefully I’ll continue on that path too. Here’s to good health and my incredible shrinking husband!

I keep seeing these “Decade in Review” posts going around the interwebs, so in the spirit of keeping up with a higher post frequency (and having some bloggy fun), I present to you my decade in review.

2000 - I was settling into the condo I purchased towards the end of 1999. It was really fun setting up my own home, especially since the only other experience I had living on my own didn’t last long and didn’t end well. I was thoroughly enjoying my job as a receptionist at a graphic design firm since the people I worked with were great, and I loved being in a creative environment. I also took on a second job, back at the supermarket, because as it turns out, living on your own takes some dough.

2001 - I continued working the two jobs and enjoying my condo until 9/11 happened. Two weeks later I was laid off - the tech bubble that had been rapidly losing air completely burst after the towers fell. I was able to pick up more hours at the supermarket, and managed to pick up some temp work as well. Detective Friend was a maintenance manager at a mall then, and he hired me to get everything ready and help put up the holiday displays. While I’m not sure I ever want to fluff another fake tree again, and I definitely don’t want to ever see that glitter crap on fake snow again, being allowed to run around the mall all night long was way fun.

2002 - Had a bit of temp work at the beginning of the year, but the economy wasn’t really picking up, and I ended up going full-time at the supermarket. Things were rough, financially, but I managed. I also started to think about moving away, especially since the winter of 2002-2003 had way too much snow for my liking, and it was freezing - so cold that the heat in my condo couldn’t keep up. Plans to move to the upper Midwest (I was channeling Mary Tyler Moore) turned to “screw this, I’m going somewhere warm.”

2003 - Despite the job market, housing prices didn’t drop, and my condo had picked up some value. Dreams of moving away started to become more realistic when I realized that I’d be able to fund it if I sold my place. In the midst of thinking about all this, I was written up at work for a collection of tiny things that had my boss urge me to call EAP and talk to a counselor. I did, and it turns out that I felt stuck. Small wonder - I was stuck in a job and couldn’t find a new one, and didn’t have any money to do anything fun, not even 39¢ hamburgers. At the end of April, I listed my place and closed on it May 23. I quit my job, took a working vacation (to check out the place I was moving to, since I’d never been), and spent a few weeks with family and friends. In June 2003, I packed up a truck, and my dad and I drove to Vegas, where I was to make my home. New exciting life, here I come! A week after I moved to Vegas, my sister moved to Florida.

2004 - I got more settled down in Vegas, found a steady, full time job with Mad Scientist, and visited family on the east coast a few times.

2005 - Still working for Mad Sci. My sister lost her kids to foster care in February, and I spent the next six months arguing with her and both my parents while making myself sick with worry over the kids. Diagnosed with acid reflux, and went on Paxil because all the stress made me crack. Still being treated for the reflux, but off Paxil. Kids were dispersed to Messy J’s dad and my dad, and I got to see both of them that August. Spent the rest of the year gaining weight.

2006 - Decided that a paper journal wasn’t good enough any more and started my blog. Also outgrew my job with Mad Scientist, so I tried to move on. In the meantime, I was in a car accident that totaled my car, broke my hand, and sent back to New England to get a new car since my dad could give me a much better deal than anything I could get on my own out here. On the way back to Vegas with my new-to-me car, I was having lunch in DC with one of my imaginary internet friends when I found out that my sister - now in a fairly stable relationship and 7 months pregnant - had a placental abruption and emergency c-section. Since I was flexible with the job situation and obviously mobile, I changed my plans and took a detour to Florida to see my sister. I got to meet my niece, Mia, and see a bit more of the country than I bargained for. Got home about a week later than planned, and continued meeting some new people who would eventually help the stars align for me.

2007 - The job I took after I got back from my road trip didn’t work out for me, so I had a few jobs the first half of the year trying to find something that fit. I finally found my current job in June, which would be the last of the job-hopping for me for quite some time. Also? I met the love of my life and moved in with him a week later. We traveled to California, where he’s from, and I got to touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

2008 - I got engaged! And married! And we bought a house! Then in October I took my new husband to New England to meet the rest of my family and show him where I grew up.

2009 - A rough year - Mister became unemployed, I got bummed out about turning 35, but we still managed to visit our families and friends in California and New England. I worked hard and earned a promotion late in the year. Kept waking up beside the bestest husband in the world. Finished the year full of optimism.

So there you have it - my decade in review. It was kind of fun, when I wasn’t distracted with the thought of re-reading my entire blog from the beginning (and that was fun, too). Almost wishing I had a blog 10 years ago so I could do a 1990s in review post. But I don’t have all night. I need to get some beauty sleep, you know.

If you have a decade in review post, link to it in the comments - I’d love to visit your blogs and see how far you’ve come in 10 years.

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, at least not with any amount of seriousness. This year is no different. I do, however, have goals. I always have goals, but I’m not always so forthcoming with what exactly those goals are. So, without further adieu, I give you my goals:

Health

I’d like to get my weight on a downward slide. I’ve been overweight for too long now, and my weight has inched up over the past few months. This is not acceptable. Not only does nothing look good on me, I’m way out of shape - a point that was driven home when I went to the mall the other day. A simple walk around the mall at a leisurely pace totally kicked my ass, and I had to take a nap when I got home. No, this will not do.

I’d like to eat healthier. I’m not talking about swapping out microwave meals for their slightly less evil counterparts, either. I’m looking to severely limit the amount of processed foods in my diet. They’re so prevalent today, and so not good for you. It’s a process, and I’m not going all out just yet. I’ll work on this by focusing on planning my meals around healthy protein sources and veggies, and trying not to look at all the crap on offer at the supermarket.

Also in the eating category, this goal is intended to save money: I’d like to make it a goal to eat out as little as possible. Sometimes it’s necessary, like when we travel, but other times it’s not. I’m going to try my best to bring healthy lunches to work so that I’m not tempted to spend money on an unhealthy meal.

Home

I really need to get this place organized. It’s not a total pig sty - I mean, give me a little credit - but we do suffer from Horizontal Surface Disease. You know how every flat surface in the house will get covered in STUFF? We got that. I need to figure out a way to get stuff organized and figure out some systems that work with my I-don’t-want-to-deal-with-it-itis. I want to figure out a way to keep things organized with the least amount of effort possible. Still working on that one.

Blog

I spent a good deal of Saturday going through my reader and blogroll to sync them up. I need to do a better job of keeping up with that in the future. It’s too easy to add things to the reader and forget about the blogroll.

I want to try to post a bit more often. I’ve been really slack on that over the past year or so, and it’s just not acceptable. I really like my blog, and interacting with all of you, and posting more than 3-4 times a month will help with that. Also? If I want to sharpen up my writing skills, I need to do something other than stare blankly at the computer when I get home from work.

Since I’m still lusting after the Thesis theme, I’d like to buy that and get it installed on my blog sometime. I think it will be just the thing to help me do more with my blog without having to learn a whole bunch of nasty code, which I just don’t have time for.

Those are the main things I want to work on this year. I’m sure I have other goals, but right now I think I’m coming down with a nasty cold and it’s preventing me from working to my full potential.

What are your goals for the next year and beyond?

Today marks the end of the first decade of the 21st century. It’s also the end of the first decade of the new millennium. It’s a night when most of us like to go out and celebrate the fact that we hang a new calendar tomorrow. Sounds ridiculous when it’s said like that, doesn’t it? Mister and I were invited to a party, but we still aren’t sure at this point if we’ll go. We usually don’t like being out on NYE, since most people like to celebrate by consuming copious amounts of alcohol. While I’m not averse to having a drink or three, I prefer to do it in the safety of my own home, especially on a day where it’s considered sacrilege to abstain.

What we will definitely do is watch all the people who pack themselves on to the Las Vegas Strip on TV. The Strip closes to cars on NYE because about 300,000 people will be out there, drinking like fish, acting like idiots, and screaming, “WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” every time a camera pans by. It’s even more pathetic than watching people in Times Square, since it’s perfectly OK to have a drink as you walk down the Strip. Not legal, mind you, but it’s overlooked in the vicinity of the Strip. Anyway, you can watch it for yourself on our local news channel, KLAS. Keep in mind that I’m on US Pacific time, which is GMT-8. See my time here.

I remember when everyone was worried about Y2K. I was living on the east coast then, and had the weekend off from both jobs. I got up early to watch the celebrations around the world on CNN, and was able to see Sydney and Tokyo. I went out for provisions after lunch, then came home to watch the European celebrations, watched a movie as midnight crossed the Atlantic (I like to watch When Harry Met Sally on NYE since the final scene takes place at midnight). Then it was our big moment. I pretty much knew at this point that nothing would happen as far as Y2K went, since the rest of the world saw their clocks and calendars change with no ill effects, but you never know - there was still that chance since it was hyped beyond all belief. Down the ball in Times Square went, and then - TA DA! It was 2000. My clock did the same thing it does every single day. My computer still worked. My lights were still on, and I was watching the Times Square revelers disperse.

I called my mom to wish her a Happy New Year (and to see if the phone still worked) and continued to watch tv. Then my neighbor called and invited me over, so I went. I was fine with drinking since it was only a short crawl home, so I did just that. I drank. And drank. And drank. Then I puked and passed out. Or passed out, woke up, then puked. Either way, I got sick. I ended up crawling the 30ft home and passed out again, and ended up spending 1/1/00 with a major hangover. I’m pretty sure that was the last time I was hung over like that.

Anyway, it’s time to get myself dressed, go do a few errands, and get home before the mayhem begins. Happy New Year, everyone!

Here’s my Christmas wrap-up. Wrap. Christmas Wrap. Get it?

Anyway, moving on…

Since Mister recently had surgery, we decided to keep it a very low-key day at home. With all the goings-on, it was all I could do to decorate this year, but a few days before Christmas I finally put a few ornaments on the tree to make it look like I cared. It was a bit hard to get it the spirit this year, but in the end everything turned out OK.

Christmas Eve I went to church for the candlelight service. I don’t attend church too much anymore, but I really love the candlelight service. I got home in time to watch a movie with Mister. Since the Christmas Story marathon wasn’t on this year, we popped in the DVD. After so many years of watching it on Christmas Eve, it’s pretty much a tradition. After the movie was over, I kept trying to get Mister to go to bed so I could fill his stocking. I think he finally went to bed around 1am. I filled his stocking and joined him shortly thereafter.

I woke up on Christmas Day at 8:30 because Mister kept calling me from downstairs. He’d been up for almost 2 hours and couldn’t wait for me any longer. I stumbled downstairs, got some juice, and we went about opening our stockings. Mister loved his stocking. I wanted to do a non-food stocking for Mister, since 1. it’s too easy and 2. he couldn’t eat it anyway, and after having a bit of a tough start, I finally was able to fill it. He got a gardenia votive candle (his favorite scent), some frankincense and myrrh soap, a Rubik’s cube, a yo-yo, a kazoo, some LCD screen wipes, Nun-chucks (those little boxed novelties on a spinner near the checkout at the bookstore) and a bouncy ball with red glitter in it (and probably a few other things too - his stocking is huge). I got a few CDs and some candy in my stocking. One thing about the CDs - they are both Christmas CDs. The ONLY thing that sucks (the CDs themselves are great, and were on my wish list) is that when you receive Christmas music for Christmas, you really only have a few hours to listen to them before packing them away for the year. Remind me to put some non-holiday music on my wish list next time.

Then it was on to the presents. I got Mister a few books he wanted, an ellipse template since he wants to draw more drafting type stuff, a speaker dock for his iPod that has a plug and battery power, so he can bring it with him if he is in a different part of the house, some of those LED tap-lights, some photography magazines, the new Harry Potter movie and another DVD, and a piece of game glass. What’s game glass, you ask? Well, you know when you’re looking at a slot machine and there’s the graphic near the top that tells you the name of the game you’re playing? Since I work for a company that makes these games, and since my company recently offered employees a chance to buy these game glass pieces from old machines (proceeds went to charity), I bought one with a theme that Mister would really like. I got it framed, and he said it was one of the coolest gifts he’s ever gotten.

Mister got me a few books I wanted - On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. Since I’ve become more interested in honing my writing skills, and I love to read, I put these on my wish list in hopes that they would inspire me and help me refine my mad skillz. And also? Remember the Wii that I wanted last year and didn’t get? I finally got it! Mister also got me the Mario & Sonic 2010 Winter Olympics game, which is a bit harder than I thought it would be after I mastered bowling so quickly. Now I need to add the Wii Fit Plus to my wishlist.

Here’s a sampling of our loot:

Once the damage was done and there was Christmas carnage all over our living room, Mister and I sat back to relax a bit. We watched some Christmas Britcoms on BBC America, called our families, and settled in for the day. We watched the new movies, I took a nap, and we played the Wii for a bit. There wasn’t a fancy dinner since it was just the two of us, so it was nice to not have to go through that sort of effort.

Overall, it was a very nice Christmas - we were both happy with our haul and the fact that we didn’t have to run around anywhere or worry about making a big fancy dinner. I hope all of you got everything you wanted and enjoyed your holiday!

It’s time again for my annual Christmas post, just like the ones I did in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

This past year was one of trials and tribulations, and my poor little blog has suffered because of it. The Drama that started early in the year has continued, though it’s leveled out to a point that it’s not driving us to the nuthouse. Mister’s unemployment is related to The Drama, and neither situation is resolved at this point. Also, Mister had a surgery recently, so all this stuff brings a lot of stress, tension, and help-me-before-I-crack moments.

But even in these worst of times, I realized how much Mister and I need each other. How much we love each other. How much we lift each other up. When I spend too much time and energy worrying about him, he’s the one who says, “When you’re out at the store today, why don’t you stop and get yourself something special. You deserve it.” I know I married the most wonderful man in the whole world, and I don’t think either one of us would have made it through this year without each other.

Some good things happened this year as well. I turned Thirty-Five (not sure you can call that a good thing, but whatever), and Mister and I celebrated our First Anniversary. We also took another vacation to New England to visit my family. I miss them and that part of the country a lot, so the vacations there are always nice.

One thing that I don’t think I mentioned here is a promotion! I got a promotion at work last month, due to someone on our team retiring, and I’ve been crazy busy. The extra money is nice, and so is the job security! As busy and crazy as it can get (like now, since I work in finance), I really enjoy my job and the people I work with, which makes it worth it. I’ve been there 2 years now (2 1/2 if you count the time I was there as a temp), and I’m looking forward to many more years.

That about sums up my year. There’s just a week left to 2009, which I’m looking forward to spending with Mister in the most relaxing way possible.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

No? Well I must have been too busy to pay attention to my blog.

I’ll try my hardest to have my annual Christmas post up by Thursday. For now, there’s way too much to do.

I’ve already told you all about my favorite color. And as some of you may or may not know, Pantone, the color gurus to the design world, choose a color of the year every year. Last year was some god-awful mustard color - not Dijon or brown mustard, but the yellow stuff that some people (not me) like to put on hot dogs. Blech. But 2010 will be different. We’ll see a much more soothing and versatile color. The Color of the Year for 2010 is Turquoise! Squee! I’m so excited. Do you know what being chosen as the color of the year means? Do you?

It means that you will see it EVERYWHERE! It will be so easy to find clothing, accessories, home decor, and all sorts of other stuff in the color of the year. The yucky yellow color was a bit of a bust, and I’m glad it wasn’t everywhere. But Turquoise will be, and rightly so. Color me happy.

Does anyone know what the hex code equivalent for Pantone 15-5519 is? I might want to change some blog colors to celebrate…

(Please ignore the sound of my husband’s retching. Life’s hard when the only color you like is actually the absence of color.)