how do you live so happily while i am sad and broken down?

Out with the Old...
2010 in Review:

• January: Had a carpal tunnel flare, had to go back to physical therapy, bought a Wii.


• February: Played in my first K-Swiss singles league, K & I took a trip to Charleston.


• March: Went to a Shawn Mullins concert, my Mom had a stroke


• April: Went to Coachella, K & I broke up, I got an iPod Touch.


• May: My team won our ALTA division & went to the playoffs, Mom got out of rehab, I had a tree removed, went to Missouri for my niece's high school graduation.


• June: Took my first business trip of the year, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, my brother had a bike accident and punctured his lung.


• July: Went home to Missouri for the fourth, ran over a kitten in my driveway :(, had my first polo experience.


• August: Took a work trip to Vegas, my parents visited for a weekend, took a work trip to Calgary.


• September: DragonCon, Adam Lambert concert


• October: Trip to Hawaii and Alaska, went to zombie apocalypse for Halloween.


• November: Made the playoffs in K-Swiss, went to Iowa for my cousin's wedding, my parents & sister came to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.


• December: Had jury duty, was eliminated from K-Swiss finals in Round 16, went home for the holidays with the cat in tow.

Summary: So glad this year is over. Ugh.

Last year's resolution: House Plants
"Sounds like a silly resolution, I know, but there are no plants in my house right now. I am bad at remembering to water them, but my goal is to have something growing in every room so that I see them all the time. Also, I need to get a watering can. It's also part of the “save money” goal as well, since I love flowers and buy them often; I'm hoping to replace that with a flowering plant. I will have to learn what flowers seasonally so I can rotate them out, and I have to do all this with the flowers that are not toxic to cats, so it will require some research. There are a LOT of plants that are toxic, according to the ASPCA."

Result: I have four plants currently mostly alive. The herbs were a no go, and I managed to kill a cactus by underwatering it. Surprisingly, the African violet seems to be thriving. I'm going to say B- on this one.


2010 Goals

1. Hang living room curtains that I bought in August.

Result: Done!

2. Continue working on budgeting and saving my money, learning to control how I use my credit cards, etc.

Result: My top 10 expenses were: Mortgage, Home Maintenance, Travel, Dining Out, Automotive Expenses, Utilities, Telphone, Groceries, Electronics, & Gifts. Eh. I did okay this year, but not awesome. I am still working on it though!

3. Finish the college sweatshirt blanket.

Result: Nope. Haven't even touched it.

4. Finish my France sabbatical photo album.

Result: Done!

5. Continue augmenting my fitness routine with walking and working out on the Wii I plan to buy soon. I would like to lose 10 pounds and/or fit back into my clothes better (some of my jeans are now too tight to wear.)

Result: I started out well, but then it all fell apart. This one is solidly in the no go category.

6. Post one non-meme, non-tweet related post to LJ each week, and go back through and tag things better.

Result: I'm going to call this one a win! I don't know that I posted every week, but I have 79 entries tagged "It's not a tweet" and I did go back through my whole journal and retag things.

7. Try out one new recipe a month.

Result: Eh. I did try out some new recipes early on in the year, but I would say that after June I didn't cook much.

8. Mail cards to my family on their birthdays and anniversaries. I used to be really good at this but have been slacking for the last few years.

Result: Completed! It was expensive though. Cards are not cheap!

...In with the New!

2011 Resolution: Procrastinate Less!
I realize this sounds kind of vague, but here is a case in point of what I am talking about: this year I let my packing room get really messy and let the desk in my office pile up with papers that needed to be filed and other stuff. I stressed about both of these areas to the point where I had to keep the doors to both rooms shut at all times. It took me 30 minutes to clean up the packing room, and one workday to clean off my desk. Six months of feeling bad about it could have been so easily avoided! So my plan is this: put stuff away. Unload the dishwasher. Put the laundry away. Just less putting tasks off.

2011 Goals

1. Walk a mile every day. Not to say that I won't walk more than that on occasion, but I am both holding myself to getting on the treadmill every day and at the same time giving myself an out for the days I don't feel like really working out.


2. Paint my office.


3. Finish 2010 scrapbook. So much for 'as you go' scrapbooking! I made it through May.


4. Finish 2005 (I think - now I'm suddenly not sure where I left off) scrapbook.


5. Hang shelves in the bathroom closet.

And I'm using this post to count as TWO of the 30 day meme:
Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Only 1 day left to go in this meme! I will finish it! (see how the less-procrastinating thing works!*g*)

Day 27: This month, in great detail

December 28:
Slept in, had lunch with Mom & Dad. I went to Wal Mart while Dad went to the doctor's - he's come down with a bad sinus infection/bronchitis thing. :( I picked up all the things on their list, and bought the birthday/anniversary cards for tomorrow's dinner, as well as a pastry brush for my mom for her birthday because she mentioned this week that she'd had to throw her old one away but kept forgetting to get a new one. Never say stuff like that around me, it tends to get you that thing, no matter how silly it is. Also, I almost bought a jigsaw puzzle set because for some reason I've been really wanting to put one together over this vacation, but I talked myself out of it because I knew my sister wanted to play cards tonight. Maybe I will look for it on sale at my Walmart when I get home. Anyway, I was wandering around the store, killing time waiting for my dad to get done at the doctor, and I saw the craft aisle so I looked at the yarn for a minute. Then I saw that Electronics was nearby so I thought I'd see how much a small TV would cost as I want one for my office. Then this happened:

My Internal Voice: "Damn, this cart has a wonky wheel."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. Wouldn't it have been wonky the entire 45 minutes you've already been shopping? Why is it just now bad?"
I look down, see the yarn that is quickly winding its way around one of the wheels. "SHIT."
I pull into an aisle and start tugging uselessly at the yarn.
My Internal Voice: "Ugh, it won't come off. Ew, I'm touching wheel grease, this is gross."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. The craft aisle was about 8 aisles back. Have you been trailing yarn this entire time like a dumbass?"

For the record, I had not. I had only been trailing about 15 feet of yarn like a dumbass. I had to get TWO Walmart employees to help me, one of which I asked for assistance and the other who FOLLOWED THE TRAIL OF THE MOVING YARN TO SEE WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON. This is my life.

I managed to not have any more accidents and Dad came and got me, and we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine. We chatted with Emory Melton, one of the few people I recognize in town these days and I helped find batteries for his hearing aid because the pharmacy was packed! Then we came home and I got on the internet for a while, then I helped make soup, and then we played cards. My sister and I won three games in a row - we were unbeatable! So we stopped to buy lottery tickets on the way home in case our good luck continued. We then learned that you cannot buy lottery tickets after 10 PM in Cassville MO. We are not sure if that was a state law or a gas station rule. I kind of lean toward it being a "the lady in the back didn't want to teach the new girl how to do it" rule, but that's just me. So we bought 4 scratch off tickets instead. Then my sister had to teach me how to play because I had never bought one before (still haven't, as she paid for them) and didn't understand. 4 tickets at $2 each, and they were all a bust except one, where we won the $2 back. No free money for us! :(

December 29:
Met my best friend's mother in town for lunch and caught up with her - she seems much happier than she has been any time I've seen her post-divorce. Then I went to Springfield with my parents and went to Best Buy. I am going to get a new radio for my car, because I am tired of messing with FM transmitters. Oddly enough, replacing the radio is not that much more expensive. Okay, it's 2-3 times more expensive, but has less chance of me dying in a fiery crash because the damn thing went staticky. Coming soon: Free to good home, one FM transmitter. Works well if you do not live in a major metropolitan area. Ugh. Anyway, I selected the radio I wanted only to find out that they couldn't install it that day, so I will have to do it on Friday after I'm home so that I don't miss the sale price. Also, may have talked my dad into getting a wireless router by telling him it would make us all want to hang out at their house when we're home. True, and sad, I know. I miss wifi. I miss internet. But I love my family. Speaking of which, we then went to our annual Birthday/Anniversary Extravaganza at Jimm's (first time at this restaurant - I realize that made it sound like we do this annually at Jimm's but I'm too lazy to fix it.) I was not expecting Jimm's to have two M's. But the food was decent and it was good to see everyone one last time before I have to head home in the morning. I came back to my sister's after saying goodbye to my parents (sniff) and packed everything up. I am definitely leaving with more than I came with! My mom gave me a knife tonight because I commented on how sharp it was when I was slicing veggies at her house. So far, I've nearly stabbed myself in the foot with it; perhaps I should not have sharp things.

December 30:
Driving, driving, more driving. I let the cat out to stretch her legs in Conway and she peed on the car seat. :( It wasn't her fault though; she was trying to use the litter box but just missed. After 13 lovely hours, many of which were filled with yowling cat, we are both happy to be home. And in anticipation of my New Year's resolution (more coming soon!) I have unpacked and put away almost everything. Then I stayed up far too late embracing the marvel of wi-fi. Oh, how I have missed it!



Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

December 18:
I got up at 5:30 am and started the trek to Missouri. 13 1/2 hours later, I arrived at my sister's house. Bringing the cat with me tacked on an extra hour and a half to the drive, as I pulled over twice to let her out of her carrier. And once because she let herself out. !!! I am going to buy a bigger carrier before we head home, probably one for a dog so she has room to move around. My sister was over at my parents' house so we had some time to ourselves to settle in.

December 19:
We got up and went to Mom & Dad's for lunch with my aunt, then my cousin and her husband came over and we played cards. My parents got a new TV on Saturday, so that was the big news, and we had to rearrange everything that was hanging near it. My sister and I went on a two mile walk, and then came back in time to have a quick bite of dinner before it was time to head to church to watch my dad sing in the choir for the Christmas show. I am not a fan of their minister - he's nice enough, but they used to have a fantastic one and this one is only so-so. And they changed it from a cantata, where everyone sings together, to a performance with a live nativity, which I find just awkward. Then we came home and played another game of cards and ate peanut butter fudge.

December 20:
Slept in, then ran errands - post office and UPS - then went over to Mom & Dad's. Helped decorate the Christmas tree, something I haven't done in years. Met my sister in Monett and then we all drove up to Springfield to have dinner and go shopping. I have now officially finished my Christmas shopping! I only had my nephew left and I bought him a sweater, and then I got my niece a book although I had something else for her as well but it didn't feel like enough. I got her Behemoth, the second in the Leviathian YA trilogy, because her mom said she wanted it and I have to say, I want to read it too! We saw part of the lunar eclipse, about halfway.

December 21:
We met Mom & Dad in town for lunch at Pizza Hut, then went for a bike ride with my aunt since today is supposed to be the last halfway nice day this week. My rear hurts! I don't really like riding bikes, it's so much more work than walking. My sister enjoys it though. Then we all went to dinner and came back to my parents' and played cards. My dad & I lost miserably, and then we had to carry the world's heaviest chest upstairs for my mom.

December 22:
Today we drove to Joplin because my mom wanted to buy a food processor. Exciting times, I know. We also stopped by my nephew's store and hung out with him for a few minutes, which was nice. My sister and her boyfriend drove up as well. They were going to shop, and I was going to take the parents home, but I wanted to look in one shop, and before you knew it, it was late. Mom was going to cook, but it was late when we got home so we went out for BBQ instead. I always think the local BBQ place is going to be better than it is, which is sad-making. Then I dropped my parents off at home and came back to my sister's and wrapped gifts. I am so excited to give people their presents! I hope they all like them!

December 23:
With all the going, I was determined to take today easy to gear up for the big weekend. So my sister was heading back to Springfield to shop, but I decided to just go to my parents' to wrap gifts and relax. On the drive over, my mom called - she'd forgotten about a funeral of one of her friend's sister, and my dad was out doing some volunteer work with the church so could I please take her. So I sped up, since it was 1:15 and the funeral was at 2. We were about 5 minutes late but we snuck in quietly, signed the guest book and took our programs and sat down in the back as the opening prayers concluded. And then we opened up the program and discovered.... WRONG FUNERAL. This funeral home has two locations and my mom just assumed it would be the one closest to where the family lived, not the one 10 minutes down the road. So we left the complete stranger's funeral (of a 40 year old lady who died of a sudden illness, v sad for her family) hopped back in the car and went to the right one. I may have giggled the whole way about the mix-up. It was very sit-com.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

T minus 1 day until Christmas vacation, yay!

December 15:
Yet another day of sitting around work waiting for someone to fix something out of my control. Ho hum. I did get my annual self-evaluation filled out, so that was a plus. I was supposed to have dinner with friends, but since there was ice in the forecast they cancelled. I decided to drive into Decatur to get dinner since I'd planned to eat out, and yes. Icy. I only spun out once! I was on the phone with my sister and I said "Oh shit oh shit oh shit.... okay, I'm okay." And she said, "I figured if you had time to curse, you were going to be okay." ♥ sister.

So I got Mexican food and came home and watched tv and did laundry and then went to bed and read my library book for a while.

December 16:
Sat around work until 2ish - started watching Greek, am now hooked. Luckily, all three seasons are on hulu. Actually worked from 2:30 to 6pm. Ran into town to pick up The Help from the library as I somehow went from being 33 on the waitlist to 1 in less than a week. I had to return my other library books even though I wasn't done with two of them. I was hoping they'd let me check them out again if no one was waiting for them, but they have a 24 hour waiting period and I'll be on the road to Missouri by then.

I was going to get Dairy Queen, but they were randomly closed. I came home and cooked dinner. I put soft paws on the cat, who is now hiding from me, and watched Vampire Diaries. Then I started packing to go home on Saturday, whee!

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

My big accomplishment for the day was cleaning off my desk and working in my office for the whole day. I basically stopped going down there about 9 months ago, after I'd made a big mess planning to paint and redecorate and then having to spend the cash I'd planned for that on other home improvement issues that were more urgent. So 9 months of just piling papers on the desk, and I managed to go through it all while I was waiting on other people to do things.

Then after work, I drove down to East Point and had Christmas with Scott & Jon. We ate at an Irish pub, which was only okay and was sadly very smoky. But it was fun to hang out, and they gave me a really cute piece of artwork that says (basically, I can't remember the exact phrase, and it's downstairs) "I keep trying to be nice but I can't stop wishing I could set people on fire with my mind." It's like they know me. :) It will go into my office when I get it redecorated.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

Ah, this cold has really kicked my a$$. I am tired and all I want to do is sleep and watch tv. So that's... basically what I've been doing.

December 8:
Worked. Watched the end of Season 4 of Friday Night Lights. Talked to my best friend on the phone. Got Chinese food. Watched the Star Trek movie again. Watched the first episode of Heroes. Went to bed.

December 9:
Worked. Caught up on Glee and Castle and last week's Vampire Diaries. Watched this week's Vampire Diaries. My cat is staring at me with disappointed eyes, and I'm not sure why.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

I got up early and got ready to go, then called the doctor's office to see if I could get in to see the doctor or get a prescription called in. He had me come in, and with actually very little waiting, I got a prescription for antibiotics and cough syrup. I love my doctor, he's really nice and he's the only doctor I've ever had where you spend more time with him than the nurses. And he remembers every personal detail I've ever told him about where I've lived, my family, my hobbies, etc. This from a man I see once or twice a year!

It was just before noon when I got out of his office, so I swung by my favorite Mexican restaurant and got take out, then took my prescription to the CVS near my house and dropped it off through the drive-through window. I went home and had my lunch, then I went to Wells Fargo to talk to them about my mortgage and investment accounts. They don't do the mortgage thing there, that's another branch, but he called the lady for me. Oh, maybe I haven't mentioned this? Right before Thanksgiving, Wells Fargo rebranded all the Wachovia banks, so they bank in Georgia now. They called me to see if I was interested in refinancing my mortgage, which I would be if the details were right. Historically low interest rates and all that, plus if there's no catch the paperwork they sent me looks like I could lower both the interest rate and length of my mortgage and save $50,000. (I'm pretty sure there will be a catch.) Then I started the paperwork to move 3 investment accounts I have at 3 different banks to Wells Fargo, in the continuing effort to leave Bank of America.

That took AGES, and really wore me out. I was going to go over to Bank of America afterward and close my account, but I just didn't have the strength. So instead I came home and blanketforted on the couch and watched Hoarders and ate blackberry cobbler. And now I am going to take my cough syrup and go to bed! Good night!

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

Today was all about the tennis. Well, and the hangover, but hey.

*Woke up at 7 am. Had aspirin and water. Tried not to drown in my own mucus - am super over being ill. Went back to bed.
*Drug myself out of bed at 11. Got ready for tennis match. Got into car. Realized food for tennis match was sitting on kitchen counter. Got back out of car.
*Made it to the match with my portion of the food. Had super excellent chili cookout with my team - we are the hostesses with the mostesses.
*Cheered team on.
*Played my match - beat opponents 6-0, 6-1, total Beth Squared victory! (My partner's name is also Beth)
*Cheered on our last line. We won the match 3 lines to 2.
*Went over to a friend's house for match post-mortem and to help her with her new scanner.
*Came home with the best intentions of getting stuff done, sat on couch and watched "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" instead.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 27: This month, in great detail

December 2nd:

I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat and feeling generally icky. Ugh. Apparently I shouldn't have been playing tennis at night in the cold. Who knew? I curled up on the couch with my laptop and went to work. It was a frustrating day of waiting for something to be fixed, but I did get a chance to work on my iPod playlists. Then once we got our problem resolved, it was a race to get as much done as quickly as possible. At the end of the day, I had a possible bright spot - but I don't want to jinx it, so I'll tell you more about that later. (tease, I know!)

Then I went off to have dinner with my friend Scott at a restaurant called Everybody's in Virginia-Highlands because they are closing that location this week and it has always been one of our favorite places. We were going to walk around a bit, but all the shops were closed and it was cold (have I mentioned that? It's cold. I disapprove.)

Then I came home to ensconce myself on the couch with my laptop, where I uploaded pictures from Thanksgiving and my cousin's wedding (anyone who wants to friend me on FB is welcome, btw, but it is an entirely NON-FANNISH place for me, so you would need to abide by that - no mention of the slash fiction!) and did some Christmas shopping on Amazon and Sephora. I only bought two things for myself, yay? One was a throw blanket that was only $10 - I thought it would be nice for my car. And then I bought a set of Urban Decay eyeliner pencils that I probably didn't need. Such is life.

Oh, and a friend linked me to this site today: www.ebates.com
It's a website where they give discounts, special deals, and cash back for shopping online. I used it for my Sephora purchase and got a free gift with my purchase and will get 6% cash back on my purchase. I will try to remember to post an update when they actually give me the cash, but my friend said the friend that has been using it for a while has gotten lots of cash back with no issues. They require your name, email, and mailing address, but no credit card info.



Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

No, I haven't given up on this. I will complete it! Even though I've spread it out over 3 months now.

Day 26: Your week, in great detail

Monday, March 1:
Woke up feeling not so great, with a bad headache. Worked all day, nothing too exciting. Then I skipped tennis practice since I was feeling not so good. I ran over to Michaels to buy paper for my photo album, and then went grocery shopping. I was going to get myself dinner at Moe's, but I missed their operating hours by about ten minutes. Came home, fixed myself dinner, worked on my photo album.

Tuesday, March 2:
Woke up feeling feverish and clammy. I took my temperature, and it was at 99. I was actually relieved, because that explains why I'd been in such a bad mood; I'm always rage-y when I'm getting sick. Finished up work early, so I worked on my photo album. Made myself some soup.

Wednesday, March 3:
Still tired, but feeling better. Worked - did some support call work, held my two training sessions for the week. Found out that Bob Bryar really has left MCR, very sad. Worked captions for my photo album. Stayed up far too late faffing about on the internet, re-tagging old journal entries.

Thursday, March 4:
Got up and ran to my physical therapy appointment for my carpal tunnel. Last appointment, yay! Grabbed lunch from Willy's, and came home. Worked on support calls all afternoon. Completed the embellishments on the photo album. Was safety person for my friend Katherine for her first eHarmony date; she was not kidnapped, yay!

Friday, March 5:
Worked on support calls in the morning; annoyingly I have 5 going right now (this is not my actual job, just helping out another department) which are basically resolved but am waiting to hear back from the client to confirm that what I've told them actually worked. Then did my actual job in the afternoon, four hours of conference calls, an hour and a half of paperwork. Took a super quick shower, and ran to tennis drills. Went out to dinner afterward with Katherine, our regular Tennis and Tequila outing at a local Mexican place. Came home after and put the photo album together, finished, yay!

Saturday, March 6:
I took a day for myself. Slept in til noon, didn't really get up at that point. Worked on tagging old LJ entries, read a blog by a woman who gave up her career to move to Hong Kong with her boyfriend, did laundry, cuddled cat. K came down after work, and we went over to my friends' house for an awesome vegetarian dinner (fake chicken cordon bleu, rudabega (sp?), asparagus, and homemade rolls, with pears and caramel ice cream for dessert, plus yummy lemonade cocktails!) and a movie - Girls Will Be Girls - which should totally be a cult classic, it's hilarious. Hint: none of the girls are actually girls. Came home really late.

Sunday, March 7:
K got up to leave for his parents' house in Florida for spring break early. After he left, I went back to bed until noon. Still tired, but not so hungover as I probably should have been (yummy cocktails were yummy) thanks to copious amounts of water ingested throughout the night. Personal computer wouldn't start; took battery out, started up. Had to restore, screen is not working right (flickers, goes dark, etc). Backed up files in case of premature death; will probably take it in to Best Buy sometime this week. Ran to play tennis, sort of won - I won the first set 7-6, and then half way through the second set, when the score was 3-3, my opponent forfeited due to fatigue (she has had a cold this week.) I am happy to have the points, but it was a bit of a let down. One of the girls on my team was playing a match at the same time, so I stuck around to watch the end of her match, and then we went to dinner. I came home, and have planted myself on the couch, and that pretty much brings us up to date.

( Future Days )