KirstenL4W

So, here it is New Year’s Eve. I have just under 12 hours left for this year, and I’m tying to get it all done. Today is house cleaning day. Never mind that I haven’t started yet, or that there’s partying to be done tonite. And of course since Boyfriend and I are partying with our East Coast friends, that means midnight is at 9pm PST, when the ball drops in New York, so no showing up at this New Year’s party at 11pm.Yes, today is house cleaning day - an activity that I admit gets neglected until it drives me bonkers. And it’s junk food eating day. I think there’s some sort of law or something that says that everyone must make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and/or eat better. Boyfriend and I have that one in mind, which means that we have a lot of junk food to finish off today.

Since I already did my yearly wrap-up with my Christmas Post, I’ll blog about what’s ahead for 2008.

The Blog:
I have made the decision to switch to WP. Once I get paid (since this is the week without a paycheck as I switch from weekly to bi-weekly pay) I’ll get that part done. I can’t wait! It will be so exciting to do all the things I want to with my blog since I’ll be able to create different pages. My head is spinning with thoughts of all the possibilities!

The Job:
As you know, I’ve been at my job for 6 months now, and I recently got hired on permanently, which means I can take advantage of their benefits. I’d like to go back to school and study accounting, which is something I realized I actually like (not like when I took it way back when). This is a course of study that can take me anywhere, and I can take advantage of my education immediately since I’m already in the finance department of Big Company. With that in motion, there’s nowhere to go but up!

The Boyfriend:
Since I met him, my life has been better than I ever imagined it could. Sure, Aunt Flo steps in every month to try and tell me otherwise, but she can take a flying leap for all I care. Boyfriend is awesome, and we are going to continue that so in love it makes you sick thing through 2008 and beyond.

The Personal Miscellany:
I gained a ton of weight on prescription anti-depressants, which I finally was able to ween myself off of last spring. I haven’t been able to kick the weight though, and motivation has been in short supply. Personal and job upheaval hasn’t helped. Now that things are steadier, and they have the WW Cult at work, I should be able to find the motivation to stick to it. I haven’t needed the meds either, instead choosing vitamins which, except for Aunt Flo’s interference, have worked quite well. I’ll have my health insurance in effect April 1, which will be great because I’ve put off going to the doctor for well visits, so this will be the year to get healthy all around.

I also want to get more organized. Boyfriend and I have a 1 bedroom apartment, so it’s been really cramped since I moved in. We don’t know if we’re ready to buy a house or just move into a 2 bedroom. Either way, I want to get my stuff out of the garage. Yesterday I cleaned out my email and cleaned up some of my music, but I want results I can see. Over the next month I hope to organize my desk area and at least unpack the rest of my books so that the bookshelf isn’t so empty. That’s about 10 boxes of stuff that already has a home, and will give me a good sense of accomplishment. I’d like this next year to be more organized and less cluttered, not just with my material things but with my life overall.

I hope all of you have a very safe New Year’s Eve, and here’s to a Great 2008! Cheers!

I have to say that this Christmas was the best one I’ve had since I moved here to Vegas 4 1/2 years ago. Having Boyfriend to lavish love, affection, and gifts on was a huge part of that. I finally finished his stocking, which turned out quite nice (if you don’t look at the stitches). It’s in his favorite colors - the main stocking is black velvet and it’s hung by a red velvet ribbon. It’s also quite a bit bigger than a regular stocking, which is also something that he enjoyed. “I wish I had a stocking like this when I was a kid - it’s bottomless!” he exclaimed.

To give the illusion of Santa, I woke up before dawn and filled it with some yummy foods, a jacks and ball set, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Two-Disc Special Edition), which Boyfriend is watching right now. I also got him a new blender, which he’s been saying he wanted, a tin and calendar featuring the art of Michael Godard, and a character portrait based on his astrological chart from Equinox. I got one when I was in London about 10 years ago, and it was quite good. Boyfriend thinks his is pretty decent too.

I made out pretty well, too. First of all, my family back east sent me loads of junk food - Tastykakes, Drake’s Cakes, and my mom even sent me a whole pan of squares! I am so gonna need to go back to Curves when this is all over.

Boyfriend gave me some pretty decent stocking stuffers - candy, fun party-favor type toys like tops and wind-up toys, some Burt’s Bees goodies, and a new travel alarm clock since mine is barely hanging on. I also got a magazine subscription that I’ve been wanting, A Winter’s Night: Best of Christmas CD, Mr. Bean’s Holiday (Widescreen Edition), and Absolutely Fabulous - White Box, which was the last DVD I needed to complete my AbFab collection. I also got a lovely, luxurious spa-like bathrobe, which was also on my list because my cotton jersey one wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

My mom really loved the craft I made for her. It’s titled Memories of Home and Family. I wanted to capture some of the things that symbolize NH to me, and of course include my nieces and nephew, whom I love so much and really miss. My mom said it was her favorite present and made her cry.

We went to dinner at a friend’s house last night, which had the traditional turkey and ravioli (yes, Christmas dinner served by a real New York Italian!) and had a lovely evening in the company of friends. All in all, it was an excellent Christmas.

I hope all of you got what you wanted, and (as the card my mom sent says) want what you got. Merry Christmas!

So here we are at the end of another year. This has been a year that, while starting out rather stressful, finds me deliriously happy at the end of it. At the end of last year’s post, I was working, but just barely. Some job shake-ups left me with a part-time security dispatch job, which did become full time, and a full time major cause of stress. I quit that job in February and quickly found another job - office manager of a small construction company. It was stress free for awhile, but I quickly realized there was not enough to do to justify it being a full-time job. I was bored, and had to move on. I quit that job and before long had a new one. This new job was through a temp agency, but it wasn’t boring and had the potential to go permanent. It took a little more time that I thought it would, but on December 10 I had my first day there as a permanent employee. I’m not bored, don’t feel undervalued, and it’s a place where I can go far if I want to. I think I’ll be there for quite a while, and it feels really good to have that kind of stability and satisfaction again.

On a more personal level, I met the man of my dreams this year. A friend of mine used to date him, and she thought we’d be perfect together. A few emails and things fizzled out from there, but we bumped into each other one evening at a social event, and have been together ever since. I guess my personality just doesn’t shine through in “Hi, how are you” emails. We met, hit it off, and life is grand. He surprised me at the last minute by attending the Chantal Kreviazuk concert with me. We moved in together, which freaked me out a bit, but I got over it and now have a very hard time when he’s not here with me. We take road trips from time to time, which, although tiring because we do these in the course of a regular weekend, they are great fun. I did have another minor freak out which almost saw me moving back to New England, but it turned out that I was so much in love I couldn’t handle it. Boyfriend helped with that by being a great listener and actually having a clue, showed his awesomeness so much more. I resolved then and there to show him how much I loved him by eating fish bait for his birthday. I lived to tell the tale, and Boyfriend had a fantastic birthday. Now we’re looking forward to our first Christmas together.

I didn’t get a chance to go back to New Hampshire this year to visit my family, and I do miss them. Boyfriend and I are talking about a visit. The California boy that I fell in love with has never been to New England but feels a calling. I did get to go to Florida again, at Thanksgiving, to spend the holiday with my sister and her family. Boyfriend didn’t come since I bought the ticket before we met, and he’s not exactly fond of Florida. I missed him, of course, but it was great to see my sister again, and see how well Mia was doing since her early arrival. She’s adorable! I don’t know who that kid is in the pictures that my sister has been sending me, but it sure isn’t the adorable little girl who greeted me at the airport with an enthusiastic HI!

So that’s my year. Having The Best Boyfriend in the World has made my life all it could be. Unlike the end of last year, things are looking up and up and up, so here’s hoping that 2008 will continue that upward swing. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and for those readers who don’t celebrate, I hope the rest of your December is fantabulous!

Today was Day 2 of my 5-day holiday break. With nothing planned to do today, I slept until around 1:30, got up, and planted my ass on the sofa for some web surfing and tv watching. It was a relaxing day, but a blah day as well. I royally screwed up an omelette for Boyfriend, turning it into a runny scramble because I just can’t cook on stainless steel. So it turned into a low self-esteem day as well. Just when I was at my lowest, before I conked out for a long nap, I realized that I forgot to call my family today.

I miss having Christmas with my family, and since my parents are divorced, I always had two Christmas celebrations - one with my Dad’s family and one with my Mom’s. Today they were both gathering. Dad’s family was getting together at my aunt and uncle’s house - formerly Gram’s house, but Gram lives in the in-law apartment now above the garage. Until I moved away, I have spent every single Christmas day there in that house. It wouldn’t seem like Christmas without it, and even though I’m far away now, still doesn’t. Since I’ve been out here, though, I’ve always remembered to call so I can talk to everyone and be there in some way, and I missed it.

My Mom’s family was gathering at her house today. It’s not as large a gathering since everyone is more spread out than my Dad’s family, and there aren’t as many kids. It’s still a fun gathering, and I missed that call too.

I’m sorry. I miss you all.

You are a Curator

• You are straightforward and real, down-to-earth, and have a healthy respect for order and stability. These attributes, complemented by your desire to be surrounded by things of beauty, make you a CURATOR.
• You don’t feel the need to try everything new that comes along – you know what you like and what you want.
• You are a no-nonsense person, not someone who falls for pretensions.
• Being strongly grounded in the here-and-now, you are practical and realistic about yourself and your life.
• You find comfort and calmness in your habits and routines.
• Although others might not know this about you, you strongly appreciate aesthetic qualities, noticing whether something is well-designed and stylish.
• You have a refined sense of taste, and you want your environments to reflect your preferred style.
• There are times when you feel insecure and vulnerable, even though you know deep down that you are a good person.
• You aren’t narcissistic – you allow yourself to be realistic about your positive and negative qualities.
• You’re not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.
• You are balanced in your approach to problem-solving, not letting your emotions hold you up.
• You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.
• You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people’s notions of style.

If you want to be different:

• It wouldn’t hurt to indulge your imagination and creativity sometimes. These are skills like any other, and develop with practice, so try to carve out some time for them in your life.
• Try to quiet your inner feelings of doubt – you will be more successful if you can overcome these worries and focus on your many strengths, such as your responsible and honest nature.

You are Generous

• Your awareness of those around you, along with your nuanced perceptions of the world at large, makes you the GENEROUS person that you are.
• You value time to yourself and understand how rich your private world can be—you know that you don’t have to go wild to have a good time.
• You are excited and energized by ideas and often enjoy things more through observation than through experience.
• This tendency gives you an appreciation for different perspectives and opinions about the world.
• Being as aware of others as you are doesn’t mean you find it easy to trust them immediately—this is something that happens more slowly for you.
• Despite this, you are aware of the complexities of many situations and are reluctant to pass judgments on others.
• Although you have fewer friendships than some people, those that you have are meaningful and are important to you.
• You value spending time alone—it is while reflecting on the world around you that you often learn something new about yourself or begin to understand something that’s been bothering you.

If you want to be different:

• Given how attuned you are to others’ thoughts and feelings, you might find that trusting people more is a way to broaden your perspective even further.
• While you know how much can be learned from observing the world around you, remember that much of life can be lived by experiencing it, not just by understanding it.

Most of you know I’m not too fond of memes. Actually, I’m not too fond of the obligation to do them when I’ve been tagged. This time, I haven’t been tagged that I know of, but I’ve seen this one going around and thought, in the spirit of the season, that it would be fun.

1. Wrapping or gift bags?
A bit of both, really. It all depends on what the item is, how motivated I am to make it look good, and what kind of variety I want under the tree. I’m still trying to get rid of some awful wrapping paper I bought on sale when I was 3, so I tend to use that a lot and save the gift bags for “Oh-crap-I-need-to-buy-a-present” gifts.

2. Real or artificial tree?
I’ve had both. I like the ease of setting up a real tree, the smell, and the fact that I don’t need to find anywhere to store it for 11 months. I don’t like the cost of buying a new tree every year. On the artificial front, I like not paying for a new tree every year but I HATE HATE HATE fluffing it up. That hatred comes from 2 years of helping set up the holiday display at the mall for Officer Friend.

3. When do you put up the tree?
When I get around to it. Sometimes it’s Thanksgiving weekend, other times, like last year, it’s not at all.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Usually New Years or within the next few days. I don’t like to eradicate all signs of the holiday before it’s actually over.

5. Do you like egg nog?
I’ve never actually tried it, but if I haven’t tried it by now it probably means that there’s a good chance I won’t like it. It sure doesn’t sound appetizing.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I really can’t remember anything that sticks out as being the most totally awesome gift ever, but once I bought my house my mom gave me a Braun Multi Mixer, which is quite the nifty little thing, and it’s not a unitasker, which I love because I really try to keep the single-use appliances from breeding in my kitchen.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Not a formal one, though I used to have a small frosted glass set. Not sure what happened to it - I last remember having it in my condo in MA.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I can’t say that there was any one particular one that was the worst, though there have been a lot of disappointments, mostly things that people get me just for the sake of getting me something.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Snail mail. I would love to take the time to craft them, since I love papercrafts (though I don’t know if I’m really any good at it), and I would really like to spend time on a more personal message, but I get so uninspired and usually end up doing the assembly line thing with a box of store bought cards. Since I’ve had my blog, I’ve put my blog address in the cards and done a Christmas post “brag letter”.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie?
A Christmas Story. My mom took me to see in in the theater when it came out, and I really liked it even though I didn’t get a lot of the humor at the time. (Gimmee a break - I was 9 when it came out.) Since it’s been shown on TV for 24 hours starting 8pm on Christmas Eve (check your local listings), it’s become a favorite tradition to fall asleep with the TV on.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I try to start before the rush, really I do. But I do love the excitement of the shopping season, and tend to go as berserk as my wallet will let me right up until Christmas Eve.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
All of it.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Usually clear, once in awhile multi-colored, but never, ever all blue (Ew. Just - ew.)

14. Favorite Christmas song(s)?
Oh, it depends, but I always tend towards the classics. But when I started typing this, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” popped into my head. The version by Perry Como is my favorite.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Travel is fun, but hectic during any other time of the year, but totally insane with presents. I’ll stay home, thanks.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Hey kids! You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? That’s the intro to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as sung by Harry Connick, Jr.

17. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star, but not with lights in it.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Christmas Morning, of course.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The fact that there’s even more to do than usual. Shopping, wrapping, cooking, parties all the freaking time and not a moment to rest. Oh, and the parking lot at the mall.

20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
It depends on my mood when I start to decorate. One year I did a snowflake theme, and some years I like classic red and gold. This year I just put it all up, because for some reason I don’t seem to have as many ornaments and decorations as I thought I did.

21. What do you leave for Santa?
I’ve lived alone for so long so I haven’t left anything out for the big guy in a long time. My stepmother never really encouraged the tradition, either.

22. Least favorite holiday song?
I never cared for “Feliz Navidad”, even as a kid. And “A Wonderful Christmas Time” by Paul McCartney is a bit of a turn-off, as it reminds me of some of the experimental stuff my middle school music teacher would do with the synthesizer.

23. Favorite ornament?
It’s not one I own (yet). It’s a pale green fancy beady egg ornament that my mom has, and it always gets hung at near the top of the tree, away from cats and kids.

24. Family tradition?
Since I grew up and moved away from home, there haven’t really been any traditions. But before I moved away, I used to love Christmas with my Dad’s family. It’s almost like a recycled holiday, the same exact thing every year, but I love it - along with the recycled boxes!

25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services?
My church in NH has a candlelight service at 11pm. Here, it’s at 9pm, which is a bit early for my taste. I’m not sure yet if I’m gonna go this year, since I haven’t been to church in months, but that’s another post for another time.

If you want to do this meme, go for it. I’m not going to tag anyone specific because I know how that feels.

There is a mass exodus going on in the blogosphere. Many people are at their wit’s end with Blogger and are making the switch to Wordpress. I myself will be making that change within the next month or so. Snoskred has a great offer of hosting and setup, and I have to say that with the price she is charging, it is the deal of the century.

While I have been dissatisfied with the direction that Blogger has been taking, the biggest reason for me moving is that I want to do more with my blog. The Blogger baloney is the kick in the rear I need to get it going. Now I know that I don’t do a heck of a lot with my blog lately as it is, but I want to have more. I want multiple pages so that I can feature different things. This is probably the single biggest limitation that Blogger has. Anyone can teach themselves enough about coding and design to make it look the way they want, but the whole subdomains thing for separate pages? Not happening. While there aren’t as many design options without paying some money, wordpress.com, the free, they-host-it version of the full-fledged wordpress.org, allows separate pages. If you don’t want to pay for a new domain and hosting, consider wordpress.com. They make importing your Blogger posts really easy, too.

So, back to what I want to do with a bigger, improved blog:

• A better About page, for starters. The tiny blurb I currently have is hardly sufficient. I’d like a bit more of chance to let my personality shine through.
• A whole page for my blogroll. I find it so much easier to check out what other blogs people read when they’re featured on a separate page. I’d also like a place to showcase some links, but I haven’t decided yet if these should be on a separate page or not.
• A page to feature music. As those who have been reading me for awhile know, I like to participate in CD mix exchanges. A separate page for this would allow me a better chance share the music I love with everyone, without it getting lost amongst other posts.
• A contact page. At the moment, I do not have any contact info on my blog, because I’m trying to avoid an inordinate amount of spam. I already get plenty and do not need any more. A contact form will help avoid spammers while increasing communication between my readers and myself.

A new blog would give me a chance to clean up my sidebars by starting anew. Right now I’m a bit reluctant to do so just because of all the work I’ve put into it, and quite honestly I use some of the stuff on there, like hangman and weather (hangman is fun and using the weather modules is easier than going to a separate page for it).

I’m really excited about all the options available to me, and my mind is spinning with all of them. Some firm ideas are taking hold, and I can’t wait to implement them. So why the wait until after the holidays? Well, there’s the time issue. Everyone knows how the holidays are a major factor in time running away from you. Even those who don’t celebrate seem to be short of time during the holidays. Also, I just got hired on permanently at my job, and I am switching from a weekly to biweekly pay schedule. That means that I go one week without pay before my biweekly paychecks kick in. I’ve had to plan carefully to accommodate for the holidays and the lack of a paycheck in the middle of it all. Once I get used to the new pay schedule, I’ll go for it.

So, reader feedback time. What features do you want to see me keep when I move? What new features have you been hoping I would do? What do you NOT want to see at the new place?

As I mentioned yesterday, Boyfriend and I bought a Christmas tree. Today we finally got it decorated. Boyfriend thinks we need more lights, since there’s only about 400 on there. He thought that would be sufficient when we bought the lights last week, before we even had a tree. I do need to go buy more garland since I guessed at how much we would need and also had no idea that Boyfriend would feel the need to decorate the back of the tree. Lights and garland all the way around the tree. That’s how he was brought up, with a better than picture perfect tree, decorated all the way around even though it was in a corner. Ours is against the slider, and boyfriend thinks that if we decorate the back it will look nice to people outside. Um, we’re on the second floor, overlooking the pool. I don’t want it to look nice to people who are making that much effort to peek in our windows.

Boyfriend and I went back and forth on the proper way to decorate a tree and how it should look. He’s on the side of prettier than a picture. He can find fault in professionally decorated trees (and I’m not talking about the ones on display at the mall. I know what kind of rag-tag crew puts those up. I used to be one of those people). I, on the other hand, think a tree should have imperfections in it. Not deliberate imperfections, but come on now. The most important thing that should go into decorating the tree is love, not OCD. I myself have a perfectionist streak in me, but I know how far is too far with the tree. I told Boyfriend to chill on the decorating or I’d decorate the tree like I was 3 years old - you know, with all the ornaments really low to the ground and in one small area.

Now about this cold. I’m stuffy and I’m not happy. I’m not liking this a bit. At least today was a day off so I could rest up a bit. I hope it doesn’t get worse. That would be the last thing I need right now.

Boyfriend and I bought a Christmas tree today. Not a fake one like we had talked about. All the fake trees were so uninspiring. Instead we ended up with a nice Christmas-tree-scented real one. For those who have a fake tree but want the smell of a real one, I found that these candles are the most real scented ones out there. Anyway, we still have to decorate the tree, but I’m just psyched that there is a real live tree in our living room. Not thrilled that I had to go to four stores before I found a stand for the thing, but that’s what we get for waiting so long. Oh well. We have one now, that’s the important thing.

My Christmas post is done. I changed the date on it to the 25th, so it will be the top post on here until then. I put my blog address in my holiday cards, so I expect people will be checking it out. I wanted the “brag letter” to be easily accessible. You can see last year’s post here.

What I’m not thrilled about is this cold that I seem to be getting. I sneezed quite a bit yesterday, and now it seems that my nose is running. Where it’s going is beyond me, but this is not good. I will not be sick for the holidays. I will not be sick for the holidays. This will not happen.

I did get all my packages and cards mailed out today. Boyfriend mailed out the few that he had. We went to the little contract post office at the convenience store, because we didn’t want to be at the post office all day. I had 1 box, 4 bubble envelopes, 1 international letter to mail, and 28 regular first class stamps to buy. I knew what I had, what I wanted and was organized giving it to the clerk to process. Boyfriend had 4 letters, all going certified return receipt. Then he decided that 1 had to be there by Wednesday at the latest, so he waffles back and forth while the clerk tries to explain Express Mail and Priority Mail to him. He opts for (I think) Express. Then he decides that 2 of the letters can go in the same express package, since they are going to the same address. Mind you, while we were waiting in line I feverishly filled out the certified and return receipt forms for all 4 letters. Then, for the other two, for two different addressees at the same address, were as I filled out, but he had to make sure he explored all the options before sending them as he originally decided. When we got to the counter, there was no one in line behind us. By the time we left, there was a line snaking its way around the convenience store. Boyfriend said, “Chaos, mayhem and destruction. My day is complete!”

The decongestant that I took a while ago seems to be kicking in a bit, so I’m going to wrap this up, have some dessert, and get cracking on Boyfriend’s stocking. It’s cut and pinned, now I just need to sew it. By hand, since I don’t have access to a sewing machine. We’ll see if it actually holds anything.

I got my mom’s craft done. Pictures will be appearing once I know she’s received it and opened it. All gifts are purchased, with the exception of stocking stuffers. Those will be obtained once Boyfriend has a stocking to stuff. Gosh, that sounded rude. Anyway, I only have to wrap and pack up the one box of everything that is going to my mom’s house, and everything else is ready to go to the post office. Those mailing deadlines sneak up on you really fast.

The potential trip to Denver won’t happen this weekend. It’s a long drive to make on a regular, 2-day weekend. Boyfriend and I decided that if the weather holds out, we’ll go next weekend. We’ll still take the two days, but we don’t have to be at work the following Monday. Or Tuesday, or Wednesday. So a mad dash trip to Denver won’t be too terrible with some recovery time afterwards. Besides - snow! I’d get to see the Rockies in all their snow-covered glory. Hopefully the weather holds out enough so we can go and not have to put it off until a later, more hectic weekend.

That’s about it for now. Boyfriend and I are watching holiday-themed movies lately. Tonite is Love Actually. Time to enjoy the movie!