It came, it went, it conquered.

Why does Christmas have to end? Each year, I feel such a post-Christmas let down that I have to spend the rest of my break moping around watching past TV series on DVD. Some days I can't even leave the house for fear that Christmas will slip that much farther away. Because outside my house, I'm sure the world has moved on. But inside my house, wearing my Christmas pjs around the clock* and propped up on either side by Christmas goodies from friends and family, Christmas lives on.

I'm thinking about posting a few pictures, but I'm trying to discipline myself to write all I have to say before I start uploading, because that long process always puts end to my typing hands. This Christmas was lovely, I mean-- is lovely. It snowed and snowed and snowed which is exactly what I asked for. I also discovered the hobby in my future which will make me socially indispensable: yodeling. (Thanks Uncle Mike.) Believe me when I tell you I will be practicing. During my sophomore year of college I decided I needed to learn to roll my Rs, and I drove my roommates nuts with my incessant talking to myself, and only ever one word--correo. Roommates, consider this a late Christmas gift. We'll all benefit, I promise. All good things take time.

I'm done. Enjoy some pictures.

Skiing makes us all happy.


David's request for Christmas morning wrestling didn't end so well for him.

Love this creche.


Girls' outing to The Nutcracker.



*I actually don't have any Christmas pjs. But that hasn't stopped me from wearing my regular pjs around the clock.

A quickie

To all automatically flushing toliets:

I appreciate your efforts (especially when wearing skirts or very tight jeans cause my momma done taught me right--only flush with your foot) but could you at least wait until I'm done?

I'm speaking for my niece too, who jumped off the toliet at the bowling alley mid-go if you know what I mean because the flushing scared her so bad. Sheesh. There are some places where a person deserves a little leisure time, even in today's fast-paced world.

P.S. I took the above picture from a ny times article about kids who fear automatic toliets. I'm including some of my favorite lines:

"Even some adults confess that the machines make them nervous. But to many toddlers, they are the stuff of nightmares."

"Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, said that a fear of automatic toilets did not, in itself, meet the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis."

" For children who panic about automatic flushing, she said, “You can say, ‘Ooh, look what happened, it flushed without you.’ That really helps a lot.”"

Read the whole article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/nyregion/12flush.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

So, this is Christmas

I'm not listening to Christmas music, but it's not snowing, so I feel like the universe and I are square. Music vs. Snow--that may be my ultimate life "would you rather" dilemma. I've gotta have them both.
So right now I'm emotionally, geographically, and temporally (and grammatically and ecumenically) in the middle of finals--but the end is in sight. And actually, finals week has always been my favorite time of the semester because I get to do or not do whatever I want whenever I want. No class. No teaching. No office hours. The days are mine to fill as I please, start to finish.

I really love making choices. (Note: at least once during every blog post, I see what I'm typing and think "Anne Shirley, what in the heck are you doing here?"..."Fishing for lake trout." no, what I really think is "why would anyone else care how much I really love making choices?" But those moments are brief, my egotism kicks in, and I get back on blog track.) I really really love making choices where I get to do what I want in exchange for a consequence--or in other words, where I get to weigh my own priorities and opportunity costs. Example: I can choose to study for my test and get a good grade or I can choose to sleep in and make hashbrowns and not get a good grade. I get something sweet in either case. Which is what this blog is all about--me and the sweet things I get.

Can't wait for Christmas break and the reunition of the fam-dam. But if you know me, you know that my Christmas ends about three weeks before midnight of the 25th, when the long wait till next year begins. Christmas '09--I'm already counting down.

Holiday cheer and non-Christmas music to you all.

on second thought

I don't understand my last post. How can there being nothing worse than all of those things? I should probably have only put one. "I sell cheap books. So sue me."

Nothing worse than...

Saying something you think is funny and no one laughing.

Hearing someone else say something they think is funny and hearing the silence of no one laughing (I have this problem with sympathy embarrassment; it makes going to the theatah a painful experience.)

Being disliked. For no apparent reason. Maybe the reasons are apparent to you--I find myself kind of likeable. If I didn't, I would probably change.

Waking up over and over to blue skies and no snow. Sheesh.

Waking up from really good dreams.

Waking up and remembering all the stuff you didn't do yesterday cause you said you'd do it today.

Waking up in general.

A nose raw from sneezing, with dry skin that looks like perma-boogers.

Being stupid.

Chewing gum till it disintegrates in your mouth...when it loses its holistic sense and turns mutinous.

Feeling like you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hurting people's feelings.

The end of the movie (Cait, Jane, you know what I'm talking about.)

That one time I spilled my tomato sauce on my shoes.


So all in all (minus sixth and third from bottom), my life is pretty darn good.