Mishaps and other haps

This will be my first year spending Christmas in Wisconsin. I usually fly out to visit my family in Florida, but for several reasons, I thought it would be better to stay put this holiday season. So I will be in town.

I was starting to feel a little anxious/mopey earlier because I won’t be spending this weekend with my family.

But then there was some really good news today and I baked more cookies this evening and spent time with people. So I am feeling pretty hopeful about things in general.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Last night my roommate reported that someone in my old grad program graduated this month and had just had her graduation party.

When I entered the program, this person was in her third or fourth year, so that means it only took her … a DECADE … to finish her Ph.D.

(And people wonder why I left that program …)

So when potential employers see that on a resume, I wonder if they ask “So, why did it take you ten years to complete grad school?”

I always assumed that they do because if I were hiring someone for a university teaching position, I’d be curious!

Well, the plan was to shop for some Christmas gifts today and I totally failed, but I will have some time after work this week, so things will work out …

I went out with Inle and Mlitiagrl to see the first Narnia movie this afternoon. We went to dinner afterwards and spent some time at the bookstore. I did earnestly peek around for presents at the bookstore, but nothing caught my eye.

I enjoyed the day, though, and the entire weekend has been fun and social.

Now must finish unloading dishwasher before I crash. I am strangely tired for someone who slept in this morning.

Yays, I had a good birthday party yesterday!

Thanks to everybody who showed up and spent time with me! I enjoyed having your company!

There are also plans in the work for dinner with people on the actual date of my birth (December 27th, which is a Tuesday night). Let me know if you are interested and I will add you to the e-mail chain that has been started about this. I have a place in mind, but the time is TBA.

W00t! Hope everybody is having a great weekend!

OK, I am going shopping for party food after work, so if there is anything anyone wants to request, let me know before 4 PM. I am planning on doing some baking (a couple of kinds of cookies, pound cake), trying a recipe for Spinach Artichoke dip, and having other things around to snack on.

If you haven’t played WoW recently, there is a Winter Festival going on right now. So make sure you take your characters for a run around sometime in the next week or so. Make sure you kiss some winter revelers. It gives you something special …

(Yes, Mono.)

coin operated boy

coin operated boy
sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
but i turn him on and he comes to life
automatic joy
that is why i want a coin operated boy

made of plastic and elastic
he is rugged and long-lasting
who could ever ever ask for more
love without complications galore
many shapes and weights to choose from
i will never leave my bedroom
i will never cry at night again
wrap my arms around him and pretend….

coin operated boy
all the other real ones that i destroy
cannot hold a candle to my new boy and i’ll
never let him go and i’ll never be alone
not with my coin operated boy……

this bridge was written to make you feel smittener
with my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
i didnt think so but im still convinceable
will you persist even after i bet you
a billion dollars that i’ll never love you
will you persist even after i kiss you
goodbye for the last time
will you keep on trying to prove it?
i’m dying to lose it…
i want it
i want you
i want a coin operated boy.

and if i had a star to wish on
for my life i cant imagine
any flesh and blood could be his match
i can even take him in the bath

coin operated boy
he may not be real experienced with girls
but i know he feels like a boy should feel
isnt that the point that is why i want a
coin operated boy
with his pretty coin operated voice
saying that he loves me that hes thinking of me
straight and to the point
that is why i want
a coin operated boy.

Wow! I avoided making a really snarky post by writing out exactly what I wanted to rant about, thereby getting it out of my system and reducing its noise in my brain, and then ERASING it.

Yays! I like the Backspace key!

As they say, sometimes less is more.

This year I am going to skip the three days of snacking that my co-workers have planned for the week before Christmas.

I am making party treats for this weekend and I am looking forward to spending that time in the kitchen doing stuff for myself and friends, but I think the constant holiday snacking that is promoted from Thanksgiving through New Year’s is just a bit much.

So I’m drawing the line for me. No work treats. I usually make fudge or homemade cookies or something, but I have noticed that other people bring in convenience foods. If everyone brought in some kind of special homemade cookie or treat to share, it might be worth having a one-day treat day. But three days of eating chips and onion dip?

Nah, think I’ll pass.

I guess this is characteristic of the feelings I have had about Christmas in recent years.

Although we received tons of presents and huge piles of cash were spent on my sister and me when we were kids, my favorite memories of Christmas from when I was small were the days leading up to Christmas, preparing for the holiday and spending time with my family at home. Specifically, I remember the different kinds of homemade Christmas cookies and other treats my mom used to make when we were still very young. I can’t even find recipes for some of those cookies (Santa’s Whiskers, Thumbprint cookies anyone?), although I’ll bet she has them somewhere.

I guess when you’re older and you’ve been bombarded for years with social expectations for how much you will buy/spend, when you will bring treats, how you will greet people (see the seasons greetings discussion in Cibman’s blog, for example), and who you will spend time with … well, it is a bit much.

So hopefully you start thinking of what made you feel special as a kid and what makes you feel happy now. What do you really need? Should you really feel stressed (and even angry) about a celebration? Is anyone really forcing you to do things against your will?

No, you have the right to choose the things that are important to you and let the rest go. If the season is about love, express that in the ways that bring you joy.

Feel free to turn your television (and other connections to mass media) OFF, if it helps you achieve a better perspective on what is important to you, versus propaganda about what the holiday “should” be.

I’m just very picky about what’s worth my discussion time.

Seems fair enough.

Two reasons to be happy today:

1) My boy lives downstairs! I can visit him for five minutes or for five hours and take things to him!

2) I have a slidey card for Caribou Coffee (thank you, Gruntac!). I can refill it with moneys from time to time and slide it at them and they give me coffee! I have been there twice in the past two days and one of the employees has already imprinted me in his brain as a regular.