Year In Review

I have been sadly remiss in my posting duties this year and I have been feeling slightly guilty about it since this is the closest thing I have to a journal. So I thought a quick review of the year was in order, which once started illuminated precisely why I didn't get to blogging much.

January

January started with a cancelled flight or two that led straight into a 17 credit term. That is pretty much all I remember.

February

February was the month I got the death flu during midterms. It was also the month that my dad announced his intention to get remarried and I was called to be the Relief Society President. But really, all that happened in the same week in February.

March

In March I survived a second term and celebrated by going to the Woodland Park Zoo and a Sounders game with my brother's family. The celebration was short lived, as I was in a car accident the next morning, which ended with my car totaled and me staying in Seattle for a few more days than planned. Thankfully, I have a wonderful brother and sister-in-law who took great care of me! And shortly thereafter I started another term, only taking 13 credits this time. Finally, I met my future stepmother when she flew up for a weekend.

April

I got a new car in April but had to fly to Utah in order to drive it back. I also got to spend time teaching the book Tuck Everlasting to a fantastic group of 6th graders. And spring came to Bellingham, which meant sunnier days and the planning of adventures.

May

In May I started exploring around Bellingham and visited great places like Larrabee Park and Teddy Bear cove as well as surviving another round of midterms.

June

After another round of finals, I flew to Arizona for my dad's wedding and met my new step-siblings. I also started yet another term, the summer term that had classes everyday for hours and hours. It was completely exhausting and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

July

School ended in July, for a whole month and a half. So I decided it would be a perfect time to plan a move and start packing up my life. I also chopped off all my hair.

August 

I spent most of the month packing and cleaning. It is amazing how much stuff one can collect in such a short amount of time. The reward at the end of all the packing and the moving and the cleaning was my trip to California to spend time with my aunt's family and then nanny her son, the Peanut, while she went to Scotland.

September

I spent fun weeks in California and came home to a house all put to order by my wonderful, wonderful roommate. My bed was up and made and such a nice relief since I had to start another term of school.

October

I turned 31 and got another round of the death flu, although I don't think it was in quite that order. To be honest, October was pretty much a blur surrounding a couple of moments of severe doubt about my ability to survive school and/or teaching. Zeros on two totally different assignments in two totally different classes can do that to a person.

November

The month was more blurriness punctuated by stress. Thanksgiving was a nice, albeit short, break to collect my thoughts. I got to see my dad and stepmom's new, if temporary, house.

December

One more week of finals, the conclusion of a term in which I had to pull more all-nighters than ever in the whole of my college career. After school ended, I was able to catch up on Doctor Who, punctuated by a mini-marathon of the recent specials the day after Christmas.

That was my 2009, a year full of major events and lots of hard work. And, frankly, I'm completely exhausted. So my New Year's Eve plans consist of staying at home in my yoga pants having my very own monster Doctor Who marathon whilst consuming unholy amounts of junk food. Hope you are all spending New Year's Eve the way you want!

"Maybe one of these days you'll find a way to create teachable moments without ruining my life."*

I was in the middle of cleaning my room (and by 'in the middle' I mean moving 3 months worth of stuff from my bedroom floor to my bed) when I decided, in a patented Scully procrastination move,  I needed to write a post.  And that decision led to a 30 minute search for a Glee quote that could sum up my life. Glee has been one of the few bright spots this fall, as most of it is a blur of homework and school work. And, as I found out when I checked my grades, I was actually taking 17 credits not 16 like I thought. So I was working extra hard for a class that was 4 credits because it wasn't, it was 5 credits. Anyway, the class was arduous for two reasons, the first being it was a 5 credit history class, which meant massive amounts of reading, and second, it was full of people required to take the class to get endorsed to teach history in Washington state, but the professor taught it to train people to be historiographers. Not the same thing at all. So all the work seemed to be for naught and requiring skills I did not have nor would I use again. But I survived and am only slightly discomfited by the B+ I ended up with.

In other news, I finished Christmas shopping and now only a trip to the post office stands between me and true holiday celebrating. And of course cleaning my room. That should definitely be done before I want to go to bed.

My Disappearing Act

It was pointed out to me the other day that I haven't posted here for a month and a half. Which is completely not like me. Since I started this blog 4 years ago, I haven't been absent for such long periods of time. The first reason is that between graduate school and being the Relief Society President I don't have a lot of time, period. The second reason being that this term is kicking my trash. Despite taking fewer credits and not having a practicum I can barely keep up. I'm taking two history classes for my actual endorsement and they have 100+ pages of reading a week. On top of that are my Assessment and Social Studies Methods classes which require me to create unit and lesson plans, which is by far the most difficult task I have faced so far in the program, especially the part where I have to do it without a set a curriculum to base them on. And on top of all of that are all the various responsibilities of my calling. And the fact that my classes are quite spread out, meaning I don't have large chunks of time to settle into homework, only an hour here or there during the day. Which means I probably won't be back for another month and a half until finals are over and I am free for three weeks. I hope all your lives are less stressful and more fun! See you in December.

What's Been Going On In My Mind

I have been busy moving and nannying the Peanut so I haven't had much time to blog, but I thought I could jot down some thoughts since the Peanut is taking a nap.

Three things I now consider luxuries:

• Taking a shower or going to the loo without a toddler or canine audience.
• Not having to share my food with anyone. Especially with those who refuse to eat their own.
• Living on my own internal schedule, not someone else's.

Three things I will need to consider before I get married and have children:

• Silencing the Martyrdom gene I inherited from my mother that runs rampant in the women on that side of the family and which tells us that we basically have to throw ourselves on the pyre and that if things aren't going well it is because we just aren't doing enough.
• I might be the meanest mother in town. Possibly the world.
• Tantrums and PMS will undoubtedly coincide, but there has to be a way for them to do so non-violently.

Three things I have learned while nannying a 17 month-old:

• If a child decides to throw a tantrum and is not in a position to injure themselves I will just let them throw it. Unless we are in public.
• I hope I have children who are early verbalizers, because I hate guessing and the inevitable tantrums that come from guessing wrong.
• My future husband and I are going to have a long and involved discussion about responsibilities and rules and expectations so that we each know explicitly what the other is thinking about raising a child before the actual wedding.

Three things I will definitely miss when this gig is done:

• The sweet little kiss the Peanut gives when we are singing before bedtime. Usually right before he falls asleep on my shoulder.
• The hugs he requires after a tantrum, even if I'm the reason for the tantrum.
• His total glee at all he sees in the world. He is excited by every car or truck, every dog, every little lizard we see in the yard, every new thing he sees. It makes me excited.

Feeling Smugly Proud of Myself

I successfully replaced the toilet seat in my bathroom today. While it is a very simple procedure, that does not negate the fact that it makes me feel I will one day be able to make it as a homeowner. Now I just need to get a steady income.

Moments of Truth

Ever have those moments in which something random, from a film or song or story hits you with impressive and inordinate force? Maybe it is just me, but I was watching Last Chance Harvey (which is marvelous and should be required watching for anyone who enjoys Emma Thompson or Dustin Hoffman) and Emma's character Kate says "You see, what I think it is, is . . . is I think that I’m more comfortable with being disappointed." This line almost made me cry. I am, especially in matters of men, dating, relationships, etc., very much more comfortable being disappointed. It is much safer than getting one's hopes up. Which seems a very sad way to live one's life, however many times one has previously been disappointed or had one's hopes dashed. It has given me something to ponder. Any thoughts?

End Result

I took the plunge and called my stylist today - she had an appointment open this evening and by 8 o'clock I was walking out of the salon feeling like a million dollars. I LOVE my new hair. It feels wonderful and is fun and youthful and makes my glasses look cooler and makes me feel less dowdy. Behold:

I do apologize for the hasty, camera-timer, poor lighting pictures. I'm a little excited. All I can say is "Yay!"

Highly Probably Outcome

So, I am feeling restless and adventurous and like I want to take a risk. My personal life doesn't really afford much in the way of adventure or risk-taking right now. Writing blog posts late on a Tuesday night seems to be about as crazy as it gets. Not that I'm really complaining - stability is a good thing. However, something needs to change. Which means I have been seriously toying with the idea of chopping my hair. It is really only chin length right now, so by chop I mean a few more inches. I have had it very short before, but not for quite some time. So I would like your opinions. Or at least hoping that if it is a really bad idea a voice of sanity will reach through the internets and virtually slap some sense into me. But first I should show you what I am thinking.

Above is the old standby of hair risk I have never quite been brave enough to demand. I have tried once or twice and been convinced by stylists that perhaps I should go with something slightly different, i.e. not so bold, short, or made for a face like Gwyneth Paltrow's. I understand their hesitancy because I obviously have a very different face, but they needn't have feared any retribution on my part if I ended up not liking it. Hair grows, I don't care that much, it is just hair, etc. Then I watched an Audrey Hepburn movie called How to Steal a Million which is worth watching just for a yummy, young Peter O'Toole and Hepburn's Givenchy wardrobe. But it also made me realize I really want to cut my hair.

I am a bit obsessed with her hair right here. I don't have an Audrey Hepburn face either, so I'm sure my stylist would balk, but I really do adore the short, faux-beehiveness of it all. Am I crazy? Here are some other angles:

Any opinions? I won't be able to make an appointment for a few days, so feel free to let me know what you think, dear readers. Although, it is a highly probably outcome. And if you want to see the hair in action, How to Steal a Million is streaming on Netflix.

Edited to Add: This is the current state of my hair. Just thought that might help with the opinion-making.

What A Difference A Week Makes

First of all, thank you to you all for your wonderful thoughts, prayers, cards, calls, good wishes etc.! I was at a personal nadir, and it helped to know there were people out there who care. I did do what ZB suggested and it feels like a load has been taken off of me. I still have a lot of responsibility and a lot of demands on my time, but some of the things that have been haunting me for the past couple of years have diminished. Part of it was just saying it (or rather publishing it) out loud. And I took some time to do things that make me happy. Like turn off my cell phone and read a book that has nothing to do with school or church or anything but my love of mystery novels set in England. I downloaded some music. I played. And I feel better.

Some of the things I enjoyed:

• Reading the incredible Doctor Who recaps in the archives at Television Without Pity. They have some incredible writing and make me want to re-watch the show starting with the Pilot looking for all the things I totally missed.
• The return of the rain and the end of the sunshine. I like that it hasn't gotten over 65 degrees for the past 3 days.
• Showing off the Bellingham area to my awesome family.

• The album 19 by Adele, specifically the song "Hometown Glory."
• Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix.
• Fireworks.

Again, thanks for everyone's care and support - I appreciate it!

Existential Exhaustion

Here is the thing; I am tired.

Like, bone-deep exhaustion tired. I am tired of being dependable.

Tired of being someone who takes on all the responsibility for things, even when other people offer, tired of the accompanying guilt when I falter under the weight of that responsibility, or when I allow people to take one some of that responsibility and they struggle.

I am tired of being seen as dependable and smart and, therefore, intimidating.

I am tired, so existentially tired, of being constrained by other’s conceptions of who I am, of what I am, of who I should be.

I am tired of keeping all my crazy, less-than-dependable, less-than-nice thoughts to myself.

I am tired of being alone, of being the person that people depend on and the dull, endless ache of missing the one person I could always depend on, who would always be there for me.

I am tired of the guilt of feeling I somehow failed her, the stupid, ridiculous guilt of thinking I somehow should have been able to save her or to at least make it not so hard, not so painful, not so ugly and awful.

I am tired of being so consumed with my own pain that I don’t have the energy to get to know all the women I am now responsible for.

I am tired of not knowing how to help myself and thus unable to help them.

I am tired of feeling like every part of my life that truly matters is one epic failure after another.

I am tired of lying in bed not being able to sleep because my brain is full of worry and fear.

I am tired of waking up exhausted, of falling asleep in the middle of the day and having vampire dreams.

I am tired of being intimidated by life, by the unknown, by the idea that I am set up to fail.

I am tired of not being the girl I remember, the girl who would spin around in her Wonder Woman Underoos thinking she could conquer the world. The girl who could confidently pose in her Teela and She-Ra costumes and mean it. The girl who didn’t yet know that when people told her she was smart and strong and responsible it wasn’t a compliment; it was a sentence to being given more work, more responsibility, more to do. The girl who hadn’t yet realized that Wonder Woman and Teela and She-Ra and all the smart, confident, strong women she loved to pretend to be were alone, left to save their worlds by themselves. That such women were branded ‘intimidating’ and to have any sort of life outside their strong, confident, world-saving selves had to create cover identities in which they pretended to be less-than and that only then would they have friends, but not really because they weren’t who they really were. They were who people wanted them to be.

I am tired of not knowing how to be that girl anymore, of saying yes when I desperately want to say no and saying no when I should say yes.

I am tired of putting off finding how to be that girl.

So I am going to take some time to myself, to figure out things I should have figured out a long time ago. Which means I might not be around for a while and I might not answer phone calls and I might not be the person you are used to.

But I’ll be fine. Because I am always fine.

When I Do Not Want To Do Homework Anymore

I end up wasting time on YouTube when I should be sleeping. This is one I just found, which I very much enjoyed. Be warned, PG-13 thanks to a bit from Northanger Abbey.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I am so very much looking forward to the insanity abounding in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. Check out the article in USA Today.

Blergh

This is the week between terms, which I thought would be relaxing and open and I could just spend it doing whatever I wished. Boy, was I wrong. Between my inability to say no to things that are asked of me and the inexplicable way everyone has chosen Thursday as the night to hold events I feel I should go to and the fact I have yet to hear from the Financial Aid office as to whether I will even be able to afford to go summer term I am exceedingly grumpy. What I really want to do is spend my time hiding out from responsibility and demands alike in my apartment. Alas, that is not to be. To which I say BLERGH!

Guitar Hero

Add it to the list of things that make me curse.

This Is What I Have Time For

I know I have abandoned you, dear readers, these many weeks but I have been very, very busy. I do have a new car, which I should get a picture of, and my citation got deferred. If I can keep my driving record clean for the next year, I will be in the clear. Yay! Since I should really be reading a book I have to discuss tomorrow in a history class, I'm just going to post a few pictures to give you a look at what I have been up to lately. I promise I will be back soon, but this term, despite fewer credits, takes up way more time!

The Experience Music Project in Seattle

The Bug, getting ready to crawl

A poster in the women's restroom at The Science Fiction Museum in Seattle

The ward 50s/60s Sock Hop

The view from Larrabee State Park

One of the bright purple starfish you can find in the tide pools at Larrabee State Park

Flower Child and I enjoying the sun at Larrabee State Park one Friday afternoon

Another view from the park

Did I Really Sign Up For This?

Sometimes I wonder. After a crazy term filled with stress from school and church callings and family drama, I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing break. Thursday was to be the big kick-off to Spring Break. I drove down Thursday morning to spend the day with Mime, Mrs. Mime, and Bug. We went to the Woodland Park Zoo, which was fun. Sadly both Mrs. Mime and I forgot our cameras, which meant we couldn't get pictures of the adorable baby gorilla who was impatiently waiting for her mom to wake up from a nap and play. Then Mime and I went to the opening game of the MLS season, in which the new expansion team the Seattle Sounders took on the New York Red Bulls (any guesses on their main sponsor?). Seattle won 3-0, which was awesome and exciting. Just look at our faces:

Being the sensible person I am, I decided to stay the night at Mime's rather than drive home late at night with possibly a lot of traffic. So Friday at 9 I hit the road. Friday at 9:15 I collided with another car. Not good. Thankfully, no one was injured. BUT my dear little car was damaged beyond repair (at least, beyond being worth repairing). So I am now a bus rider for the foreseeable future. Mime and Mrs. Mime were wonderful and insisted I stay until Saturday, as they didn't think it would be good for me to be left alone in Bellingham after such an event. So we went to the zoo again (in between calls with insurance companies, of course) and this time Mrs. Mime remembered her camera. Yay!

The giraffes were hiding out in their barn, but we caught one on film anyway! Bug was not in a good mood Friday AND the baby gorilla did not make a repeat appearance, which made Mrs. Mime and I doubly sad we forgot our cameras on Thursday! The only pic we could get was of the daddy gorilla's rear end. He was unimpressed with the zoo patrons.

We overheard two zoo employees talking while we were at the hippo pond. Apparently that is the 2nd most dangerous section of the zoo AND they once found some dad dangling his child in a stroller (!) over the guardrail. Why are people like that allowed to procreate? Here we fit all 4 of our hands in a cast of a hippo foot. Crazy!

Finally, we saw the orangutans, who were happily munching away, completely unaffected by the rows of curious faces. Bug was intrigued by the orangutan statues.

All-in-all it was an eventful weekend and even though there were some really un-fun moments, how could I not be okay when I got to snuggle with this cutie. When she would let me, that is. 

Because My Life Revolves Around Homework

I should be doing the mountain of assignments that need to be done at various points between this Monday and next Monday. And if not doing that, I should be taking care of the hill of Church stuff that always needs to be done. But I'm not because just thinking about it makes me want to take a nap. So I am going to give you adorable pictures to look at. 

Bug (formerly known as The Gummi Bear)

My brother began calling his daughter Bug, and it has stuck, so I thought I would make the change too. I don't really know where 'Bug' came from, but she is as cute as one (cuter, actually) so it works. She is doing all sorts of adorable things these days and is on the brink of crawling. Which means I really should start baby-proofing my apartment. I'm trying to convince Mime and Mrs. Mime to let me take her for a night at the end of April so they can have some time away to celebrate their anniversary. Also, her hair makes the most adorable curly faux-hawk you have ever seen!

The Peanut

The Peanut is growing by leaps and bounds. He likes to chatter loudly in the background when his mom and I are on the phone, just to make sure we both know he is there. He also enjoys grabbing their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Clarence, whenever he gets close. Thankfully, Clarence is very patient! I might be biased, but I think the Peanut is very handsome. I am planning on going down in September to nanny for a week while his mom goes on a trip to Scotland - how awesome is that? I say very!

NOT. A. FAN.

I attended a wedding reception this evening for two lovely and wonderful people who really love each other and are adorable and I wish them all the best because of all of the above. They really have nothing to do with this post other than their wedding reception was the setting for the subsequent stuff that sucks massively. So, I sat at a table with several friends, most of whom are single. One poor gentleman happens to be over 25 so everyone is on RED ALERT to get him married ASAP because obviously his singleton status is untenable to people only tangentially involved in his life. Pretty much every single person who stopped at our table to chat brought up the fact that a) he wasn't married and b) he needed to get on that STAT. Because apparently he wasn't aware of that fact already. It drives me insane when people cannot mind their own business and let people live their own lives. It finally annoyed me so that I politely (and loudly) thanked him for taking all the crap I usually get at weddings. It didn't help with the annoying people passing our table, but it did shut a few of the people up who were sitting at our table. Which was something.

Besides the fact that it is just rude to be so intrusive into an individual's personal life, is there any other situation in which people say such obnoxious things? I know people ask recently and not-so-recently married folks when they are planning to have children or if they are trying to have children (which is awful in and of itself) but the behavior I witnessed tonight was akin to people accosting a couple who are unable to have children and telling them that they needed to get themselves a child right away and implying that they should just walk down the street and pick-up the first one they see. THIS IS NOT OKAY! It isn't appropriate to say to a childless couple and it isn't okay to say to a single person. How have we become a society or culture that allows such intrusive, rude, and hurtful behavior? Why are extremely personal aspects of individual lives the fodder of public speculation and even mockery. And why, oh why, is it considered rude for said individual to do anything but sit there and take it or joke about it themselves? HAVE WE NO DECENCY?

So, Yeah II

Remember this post from last year? About how I realized my dad would probably get remarried before I get a date? Well, I apparently have excellent intuition. My dad got engaged this weekend to a lovely woman who shall be known, until I can come up with a better alias, as Future StepMother or FSM for short. I'm sure this is coming as a shock to a few of you, as I haven't mentioned anything about it because I wasn't sure how much my dad wanted people to know, but as they have announced it on Facebook, I figure I can mention it here. It happened quickly and the wedding will be sometime this summer. 

In other news I was sick this weekend and spent lots of time watching movies on Netflix. If you are a fan of Cary Grant I would suggest checking out The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer. I also watched Bella and have a new fantasy boyfriend, because the lead actor's eyes were simply hypnotic. Also, the movie is fantastic and I highly recommend it. To say much about it would kind of ruin it. So go experience it yourself and get back to me.

Recipe For A Perfect Single Valentine's Day

• A good night's sleep.
• A service project that gets you out in the spring sunshine for a couple of hours.
• Doing your taxes and finding out you are getting $1100 back this year.
• A convert baptism into the ward.
• A fantastic dinner made by Flower Child consisting of wild rice, mahi mahi, and steamed broccoli.
• A pan of brownies made from the Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate mix you get at Costco.
• Watching delightful romantic comedies that contain musical gems that induce giggles and inspire awesome dance moves like this:

I Should Be Paying Attention In Class But

I had to share this awesome link from Romancing the Tome. Gave me a giggle!

So, Yeah.

Heather guessed correctly on my last post. I am now the Relief Society President of my ward. Which is a full-time calling on top of a full class load and I'm a little freaked out about doing it all. But I do know the Lord will bless me and that this calling was inspired. I have been really blessed these past few years, even though they were the hardest years of my life and  I know that He watches out for me and that He will provide a way for me to accomplish everything. However, it does mean I will have to dedicate my time to my calling and that I might not have a lot of time for my own personal pursuits. I might not be here as often as I would like, but I do plan on keeping this up as much as possible. I have several more crazy things going on in my life right now, but those stories will have to wait for a bit.

Radio Silence

I apologize for being MIA. Some of it is school, some of it is other stuff that I'm not really in a position to talk about right now. None of it is bad, just stuff to do and deal with and figure out etc. So, yeah, I probably will be radio silent for at least another week.

How Did I Become The Conservative In The Room?

Since I live in the heart of liberal Washington, most classes were cancelled so everyone could watch the inauguration. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend you follow this link to watch it at hulu.com. I was on campus at the Center for Education, Equity, and Diversity watching it with quite a few people from the Education department. After President Obama took the Oath of Office, half the people in the room breathed an audible sigh of relief and someone even said "We got our country back." This made me a little angry. We never 'lost' our country. We weren't invaded; our government wasn't overthrown. Yes, we had a government that overstepped its bounds, that pushed, if not exceeded, the limits of their power and mandate, that took a lot of actions with which a lot of people disagreed. It wasn't the place or time, but I was tempted to ask what exactly this person did to express their displeasure with the decision-making over the past 8 years. Did they contact their Congressional representatives? Did they write to the White House to make themselves heard? Did they get involved with movements or organizations to join their voices with others? I am guessing that they, like me, did nothing more than complain to like-minded individuals. I was against going into Iraq from the beginning, but all I did was complain loudly to people who would listen about why I thought it was a bad idea. I didn't write to my Congressional representatives, I didn't get involved with any movements or groups, I just sat around complaining. Which means I am just as culpable for the mess that we are in as those who supported the invasion. We didn't 'lose' our country to some enemy, we sat by and let a few people mold the country to fit their idea of what it should be. We haven't 'got our country back' either. We simply have an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and become actively involved in the shaping of our nation's future. I think that was what President Obama was saying today - we have to work to realize America's potential. We can't afford not to be actively involved in building the future of our nation. We are already paying the price of too many years of inactivity, self-involvement, and insularity. We can't sit back and expect anything to change if we aren't willing to work to make that change. President Obama can't change anything if we aren't willing to make our wishes, our ideas, our opinions known and aren't willing to work hard to make sure the best ideas and plans come to fruition. We have a willing President, now we need to be willing.

In Which I Weep For The Future

I was grumpy Friday afternoon and in general not enjoying being back in school. So I succumbed to the months-long temptation to buy the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary DVD whilst picking up necessities at Costco. While watching it with my friend, Flower Child, we happened upon an extra that rendered us speechless and not in a good way. I could write a rambling diatribe about why this makes me weep for the future, but I'm tired and still have many things to do this evening. Instead I will let you, dear readers, draw your own conclusions.

You Know You Are Old When

. . . the actor chosen to be the 11th Doctor for Doctor Who is younger than you are. The Doctor should never be younger than I am! I'm sure the new actor will be great, but I think David Tennant will always be MY Doctor. Those obsessed with the show like I now am (Hi Saxon!) will surely understand this response to the passing of the torch. The rest of you probably have little to no idea what I am talking about.

Winter Can Bite Me

Today I was supposed to fly back to Bellingham and start getting everything ready to start school on Tuesday. Unfortunately my second flight in a week was cancelled. NOT. A. FAN. Now my dad and I have drive back to the airport and try again tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be snowing in Seattle again and I can get home to my car, apartment and wonderful bed.

How I Would Recommend Spending New Year's Eve

For Christmas I received a set that included Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen. My dad and I opted to have an Ocean's marathon for New Year's Eve. We took a quick break before midnight to watch the ball drop in Time's Square. I must say that being curled up in a warm blanket watching these movies, regardless of whether you prefer Brad Pitt, George Clooney, or Matt Damon, it is a great way to spend 6 hours on a cold winter's night. Hope you all had lovely evenings yourselves and are not too worn out by last night's festivities!