KirstenL4W

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.

Note: For all those who come to my blog looking for the Hex or RGB codes for Pantone 15-5519, they are: RGB (69, 184, 172), or #45b8ac. This was answered by one of my readers in the comments below.

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.)

I went to the dentist yesterday.

Got an inlay done, which is now ceramic and doesn’t require a 2nd visit. They take 3-D digital images of your tooth and have a machine that carves you an inlay right there in the office. It really wasn’t so bad. I mean, other than the chemical pina colada flavor of the topical numbing agent. Or the fact that I still can’t quite feel my cheek. Or the industrial strength epoxy they used to glue the inlay in place. Man, if I thought the novocaine was wearing off, I forgot all about it when I got a whiff of that stuff. It’s probably not legal to drive after smelling that.

And yes, I did smell a whiff of smoke when the dentist started drilling. But I survived.

“Atticus, he was real nice…”
“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”

There aren’t many books that I haven’t wanted to let go of. When I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I held the book close to me for just a few minutes more. It’s the kind of story that sticks with you, that you don’t want to finish.

I first read this book in a high school English class. I don’t remember much of the book except that I read it so fast that I didn’t really retain anything in it, and ended up passing that portion of the class based entirely on paying attention during discussions. So when I was perusing lists for my Banned Books post, I decided that I absolutely had to put this book on my list. On the next trip to the bookstore, I bought a copy. I’m glad I did.

Harper Lee’s only published novel is generally agreed to be one of the best books of the 20th century. It is a tale of innocence lost while faith in humanity is maintained. The story is told from the point of view of Scout, a young girl growing up in a tiny Alabama town during the depression. Scout is, as can be expected of any 6-year-old, naive in the ways of the world, but possesses a strength and determination that is beyond her years. She wants to understand the adult world around her. I really liked the way that the story was told as a vivid recollection of events all while keeping the inexperienced mind of a child intact. There’s no “if I knew then what I know now” feel to it that would, in my opinion, ruin the storytelling.

I’ve read some of the reasons why this book has been banned or challenged. Language, racism, and references to a vulgar crime are the usual excuses, and poor ones at that. While To Kill a Mockingbird doesn’t have endless chapters describing the landscape the way a Steinbeck book does, the author brings you to Maycomb in a way that is so real you can almost smell the dirt road that Scout and Jem walk on every day. You get to know the people as well as Scout does. There’s a gritty realism to it, and it’s a rare story that’s able to bring you so completely into it. So much more can be gained from a story such as this one than a sugar-coated fluff piece that takes place in a perfect world.

Now I sit here, up way past my bedtime, trying to stop myself from re-reading the book in its entirety while calling it “research” for this post. Trying to sum up my thoughts and convey to you all why this is such an excellent book, coming up against the walls of fatigue and my own limited writing ability. I can’t seem to tell you why this is such an amazing book or say anything that would compel you to pick up a copy for yourself. It’s a well-written tale. It’s a commentary on Depression-era society. It’s a book with a lesson that (I hope) will always be relevant.