It's been a while ...

So, it turns out that when I'm busy (and happy, did I mention happy?), I find less time to write. Seems logical, except that the last few months have been full of material -- ridiculous things, exciting things, and possibly life-changing things.

Here's a quick rundown of what you've missed ...

- many fun evenings (and days) out in January, getting to know an especially lovely lady

- so many feet of snow, it's hard to remember now exactly how many there were

- the first glimmers of house-hunting fever

- a crazy trip to Florida for a business meeting, cut short by the threat of *more snow*, and a white-knuckled private jet flight home a day earlier than planned

- bad dogs, including one bad dog who locked himself in the bathroom (turns out, MacGyver I'm not)

- vegetarian Skyline (who knew?)

- my 31st birthday, complete with a drag show, Dar Williams and Amish food

- more house-hunting fever, including the possibility of a decision being made very, very soon

- Easter in Ohio, which was crazy and exhausting, and completely wonderful

Stay tuned for what promises to be a busy and happy spring and summer -- complete with home-ownership (eep!), my 10-year college reunion (double eep!) and celebrating the lovely lady's 28th birthday.

Training for this year's 3-Day is gearing up; as always -- your support is encouraged and appreciated. Click the link on the right to give ...

Wow.

Just wow.

You know, sometimes things work out, even when you're not expecting it.

Cool.

You've got to be kidding me!

I had a lovely evening out last night. Despite the overall wonderfulness, I must say that I was shocked (shocked!) by the general disregard for movie theatre etiquette displayed by movie-goers in White Marsh, MD.

We went to see The Lovely Bones -- Stanley Tucci's turn as a completely disturbing (is there any other kind?) serial killer. The movie was well-made, and I think I would've possibly enjoyed the performances, except for the ridiculous crowd.

Teenagers. Boatloads of teenagers -- the worst of whom were escorted out of the theater before the show started -- who apparently had nothing better to do on a cold Saturday night in January but sit in a movie theater, and demonstrate the fact that they clearly were raised without manners.

It did, to their credit, make a potentially scary movie less scary -- but it also was a generally disappointing commentary on 'kids today' -- and their parents, for that matter. Note to self: maybe the polite people go to matinees ...

Feeling sad.

Sometimes, being a grown-up and a professional means doing things that make you unhappy. Today was one of those days, and since specifics wouldn't be prudent, suffice to say that I'm really not as much of a bitch as people think, and having to make decisions that affect other people's lives is never easy or comfortable.

Two things that made me happy today, though:

- finding out that Virginia does not have an open container law. Just in case you needed to know. (I believe the appropriate response to that is, 'What *don't* you know?')

- eating a Cara Cara orange. They're pink, and really quite delicious.

New Year's resolutions?

To make or not to make ... that is always my question. My training in behavior analysis tells me that New Year's resolutions are about as realistic as winning the lottery -- but my romantic side says, hey: someone's gotta win, right?

So, while I'm sitting here, listening to the wind howl, I've given it a little thought, and come up with a bit of a list. A few are easy, and not even really resolutions, like doing the 3-Day in October again (and praying for sunny skies), and walking another 1000 miles, in preparation for the 3-Day.

Another is silly, and at 30 years old (almost 31, good grief ... ), I should've mastered this by now: I'm resolving to take my thyroid medicine every day. I know, I know -- how hard is that, really? -- but, well, there it is.

But, it's my biggest resolution that's by far the most exciting -- I'm resolving to venture into that very serious and grown-up arena known as home-ownership. Yup, that's right -- I'm going to buy a house. Me, myself. Bring on the ugly wallpaper and bad carpet and retro-tiled bathrooms and cottage-cheese ceilings, I am up for the challenge.

In the meantime, I'm getting my financial ducks in a row, making a list of non-negotiables and nice-to-haves, and hoping that whatever new place I find will be a little better insulated than my current abode. So long, waking up in a 62 degree bedroom! Farewell, frozen toes! (And tomorrow, I'll be hitting the Lowe's for some plastic window insulation sheets ... )

Happy 100th post!

Happy Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, and happy 100th post.

Who knew when I started this little project last year that 100 posts later, I'd be a whole lot happier, stronger and have had some pretty neat adventures along the way?

Stay tuned for what promises to be an equally exciting 2010.

A list ...

In no particular order, this is a list I made on Friday of all of the things that I need to do before Christmas, or more properly, before my mom gets here ...

- clean the bathroom

- scrub the kitchen floor

- clean the oven

- finish (AND PUT AWAY) all of the laundry

- dust

- vacuum

- finish putting up the Christmas decorations

- finish Christmas shopping

- finish the cross-stitch that I 'gave' her for her birthday

- teach the dog to stop barking at *everything*

- buy cat food

- take back the two presents that I bought, not knowing that the gift recipient already had the item in question

- finish sorting out the gift for people at work

- bake something for the treat exchange at work

In no particular order, here's what I accomplished this weekend ...

- checked Facebook about a million times

- answered my work phone about two million times

- watched a ridiculous amount of cheesy television

- waded through a million feet of snow to take Hadley out, who was potentially even less excited about the snow than I was

- spent several hours trolling Realtor.com looking at houses (yay!)

- after buying groceries on Friday evening, managed to cook absolutely nothing except toast.

(Um, that's right ... in case you were keeping track, I did nothing from the list. Absolutely nothing, except for the one load of laundry that's currently in the washer. I did buy dog food, but neglected to buy cat food.)

Ugh. Lots to do this week, apparently.