Busy, and cranky, and picking up the pieces. I'm trying to get it done, ok? I don't have that answer, and no I'm not sure why it's like that. Cleaning it up, putting it away, stop doing that and do more of this!
Ugh.
Blarg.
In the end, though, -6 and snow she has no where to go. And I've got flannel, and fluffy, and soft, and warm.
Perspective.
On grilled cheese for dinner:
Crispy and golden,
Cheesy goodness in my tum,
Damn. Burnt it again.
On phone stocking my sister:
One ring, two ring, three.
Gasp! My TV talk bores her?!
Pfft. Hang up, redial.
On running in the cold and wet:
My nose is snotty.
No Kleenex? One last option...
Snot rockets, engaged!
On post holiday season radio music:
Bieber makes me scream.
Please, no more 'baby baby!"
My ears can't take it.
On flannel sheets:
Getting cosy, yay!
Pull the covers up and snug,
Warm and comfy bed.
On Bert's weight gain:
Belly round and full,
You're shaped like a plump pear.
I love my Berty.
I really do love him.
A few weeks back, Fingers tracked down an amazing deal at COSTCO. What isn't an amazing deal at COSTCO, you ask? Lots of stuff. Four dozen chiabata buns, for example, are only an amazing deal if your house doubles as a panini shop (or if you're Big Guy...) But a Philips Sonicare HealthyWhite toothbrush set with sanitizer is always an amazing deal.
Ever energized by the prospect of improving his oral hygiene, Orange set off this week to buy us our very own Philips Sonicare. Thank you, Orange. While there, however, he was seduced by the allure of aisle two and ended up purchasing our toothbrush alongside a barrel of jumbo sized sour keys. And apparently he received some sideways glances at the juxtaposition between the two items.
The (unsolicited) email I received with the subject line "Windsor, always be hatin'" is as follows:
"I have never received so many shifty/judging eyes... Why do they care I purchased some industrial toothbrushes with a vat of sour soothers? They don't know me." --an enraged Orange
... Me and my ukulele and our felt tipped picks learned to strum an A, B, C, B flat, and a C sharp today, and then worked 'em into a few melodies.
And now I can't feel my finger tips.
Bert hates my ukulele. I, on the other hand, love it!
It's the end of the world so I gotta make this one count, right? I mean, how can I go contently into our impending rapture on December 21st with unresolved resolutions? This would be a problem, I would think. Do you think I could sleep for eternity with badly flossed teeth?
*sigh*
On that note, let's look at what I did and didn't accomplish in 2011:
1. Put more into investments and get more financially minded. I think I can cross this off the list as "successfully accomplished", at least to some extent. In another month I will have payed off my car (*knock on wood*) which will add to the wad stuffed under my mattress.
2. Take a risk. A big one. Totally. First, I ran Around the Bay which was a pretty significant check in the danger box, what with my getting so sick after the Ottawa half. I also took a scary new job with scary new responsibilities which actually turned out to be awesome bananas.
3. Learn something new. See #2. Lots of learning this year... Also took up hot yoga, which is disgustingly yummy. And Beef and I took a cooking course. Wow. So yeah, in retrospect I learned a lot!
4. Travel somewhere. Cuba! Or "Cubis" as Lil C' would say. Orange and I also did a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants trip to New Jersey which was amazing-doodles. And lots of cottage-ing, of course.
5. Be more empathetic. The new job has helped with this but I'm definitely still working on it...
6. Run Around the Bay in less than 3 hours. Ha! Oh how naive we are... But I'm still pretty pumped about 3:06.
7. Get a better deal on car insurance (!!!) A never ending thorn in my side. As an aside, I was chatting with Orange about this just the other day and wondered out loud if my insurance would drop a bit once I was no longer financing my car (stupid thought, I know) to which he replied, "No, but when we get married we'll combine our insurance with the house and it'll drop substantially." To which I said, "yes, but I'll also be 65 by then, so I should already be expecting a major savings..." *drum roll* Thank you, thank you... I'll be here all night.
8. Start taking vitamins daily. Tried this, and got a rash. Turns out I'm allergic to Niacinamide. Who knew? But Orange has me hoped up on Vitamin B and C.
9. Lose the muffin top... Still working on it, but yoga is helping.
10. Get out of my reading comfort zone. For sure. The job has helped. Now that I select all of the adult fiction for the system I'm hit with the "Oo, that looks good" stick quite a bit. I'm also reading to facilitate the book clubs which is 8 books a year I ordinarily wouldn't go near, as well as a disgusting amount of Canadian fiction for our One Book One City program which I also organize. I rarely have fewer than two books on the go, and one book on CD in the car. But I love it.
11. Eat more locally. Meh.
For 2012, let's go big or go home, shall we?
1. Get better at saying 'no'.
2. Get financially organized and on track towards one day owning my own cottage. Armageddon aside, of course.
3. Learn to play the ukulele (baby steps towards the banjo...)
4. Get greener. *sigh* If the end of the world can't push me into recycling my empty toilet paper rolls, what will?
5. Do something professionally that I'm really, truly proud of.
6. Beat last year's ATB time.
7. Give more.
8. Hit my goal weight.
9. Get engaged. Boom. Yeah, that's right... I just said that... (p.s. for the record, #1 and #9 are totally unrelated.)
When he's in comfy-mode, Orange likes to lay on the couch and listen to the TV, rather than watch it. As in, he lays with his back to the big screen.
Upon walking into the living room to find Bert 'listening' to a movie (read: laying on the couch): "like father like son, I guess, eh buddy?"
It's official: improbable life goals are no longer improbable. Mama LL/Santy Clause spoiled me this year, literally making all of my (improbable) dreams come true.
1. While I'm not actually keeping bees, I'm keeping the benefits of the bees. Dearest Fingers delivered pots of homemade creamed honey, spicy honey mustard, red pepper jelly, and beeswax lip balm. The mustard is aces on turkey sandwiches and my lips have been softer.
2. I am now the proud owner of a donkey. Well, sort of. I am the proud sponsor of a donkey from the Donkey Sanctuary. His name is Eeyore (of course) and he is busy in the UK providing companionship to children with special needs and disabilities as well as visiting residential homes, hospices and schools. Needless to say I'm a proud mama. I never thought I'd own a donkey (many donkey... donki?) let alone a philanthropic ass. Who wants a donkey who sits around eating grass and scaring off coyotes (they do that, you know...) when you can have a donkey with a job? He's the gift that keeps on giving, and one I hope to continue receiving for years to come!
3. While I don't yet know how to play it, I now posses a banjo. Yes, a banjo. To quote Clark Griswald, "if I woke up tomorrow with my face sewn to the carpet I couldn't be more surprised than I am now..." And it's not just any banjo, either. It's a vintage banjo in a vintage case with vintage sheet music. The best part? The story of how Mama LL tracked it down. She searched Kajiji high and low and drove into the city with a pocket full of cash. Walking into a stranger's house with no clue of what to look for or ask about with regards to stringed instruments, she bargained her little scrupulous heart out and walked away with a total gem at less than asking price. Papa would be proud.
I love my banjo. I take it out every night, open the case, and look at it. I plunk the strings. I turn the knobs. And yes, I know they're not actually called 'knobs'. One of the many things I have to learn about banjos I suppose...
First stop ukulele lessons (to commence the end of January), next stop banjo profesh!
Is it too presumptuous to start introducing myself to people as "Library Lady, bluegrass musician"? No? Yes? I guess I should return the 8x10 glossies of me and my banjo then, huh?
