New Year's Eve

Sorry for going a couple of days without posting...I was...um...not blogging. I wish I had a better excuse, but really I just never felt the urge and had the moment to sit down and write. In my defense, I have today off from work and have made a point to sit down and check in, so I am not totally negligent of my blogging duties. The Boy is asleep, and I just got off the phone with my adorably little ward, who is enjoying her tropical respite enormously.

I had a really nice, if not terribly eventful weekend. I went out with Smoking Hot Roommate and a couple of our girlfriends for some mischief on Friday and had a really good time but got to bed really, really late. Actually ran into The Boy unplanned, who was out with some of his friends...that was a nice surprise, even if I only saw him for about 12 seconds.

We were out late and didn't get to sleep until maybe 4:00, so I didn't get out of bed until after noon on Saturday. Actually, it was kinda nice, I haven't done that in a while! SHR slept in, too...until like 7:30...weirdo!!! Spent the day taking down the Christmas tree, doing some packing and just generally bumming around. The Boy and I had a dinner date and then went to a party a little later on with some of his friends from graduate school. A little bit of a random assortment of people, but mostly pretty cool.

We stayed at my place for the night, and he made me breakfast because he got up first. Hmm...what on earth could I have done to have earned that? :-D

Sunday afternoon was babysitting day:-) His sister and her wife had a delayed-Christmas party to go to and we went over to their place to watch the little one. Seriously, how hard could that be? She is two months old...we just have to feed her once, change a diaper (and no, I do NOT change diapers), put her down for a nap and enjoy playing house, right? Heck, I was sort of counting on getting laid while the baby was sleeping...

Well, little baby Twin Sister was NOT happy about the whole situation. She was a little bit sick, and very grumpy about her parents leaving her for a little bit (they have left her for little periods of time and she is usually fine, but being sick was not helping.) To be honest, it wasn't really that bad...but the baby wouldn't go down for a nap. She was just sort of cranky and cried a LOT if she wasn't being held. But she was OK if someone held her.

I actually left them for a bit to go to the store and pick a few things up. OK, I admit that the trip was not entirely necessary and I was just a little bit sick of the crying...this is why I shouldn't have children! But when I got back, both The Boy and baby had fallen sound asleep, her resting on his chest and him stretched out on the couch. Just about the cutest thing I have seen in a really long time:-) I actually tiptoed around and sat on the other couch for a while until they woke up so as not to disturb them.

Now it is New Year's Eve, both The Boy and I have the entire day off, and I plan on spending a lot of it in my bed with a minimum of clothing on:-) He should be done with his "rest" about now...hee hee! Pretty good way to send the year out, if you ask me:-)

Happy New Year everyone! May the next one be even better than this one way:-)

Moving

This is the story of two condos. Or more specifically, of two homes.

Condo #1 was my first home in Boston, and it was Munchkin's first home in Boston, too. Smoking Hot Roommate bought it during Spring Break of our senior year and had it renovated before we moved it. It's a 1,600 square foot, 3 bedroom unit on the third floor, right near Boston Common. In addition to being a gorgeous apartment, it is also a place that carries quite a bit of emotional attachment for me.

During the fall of last year (right after I started blogging), we moved to Condo #2. Big Sis actually saw it when she was looking for her house, and while it wasn't quite what she wanted, she thought SHR might like it, so she suggested that she go to see it. SHR loved it, and decided to make an unscheduled move. Condo #2 is much bigger (3,200 square feet, 5 bedrooms) and quite a bit more "stately". We moved in at the end of October.

This coincided with The Rocket Scientist (SHR's fiance) returning from a lengthy trip abroad and needing a place to live, and SHR not quite wanting to move in with him just yet. So, after Munchkin, SHR and I moved into Condo #2, he and one of his college buddies moved into Condo #1. The intention was that after some time, we would swap places...The Rocket Scientist to Condo #2 and me and Munchkin back to Condo #1.

And that is where we are now...during the weekend after next (Jan. 5-6), Munchkin and I are moving. More specifically, I am moving and when Munchkin gets back from her trip, she has a new (old) home to go to. Sometime next summer or fall, The Boy is going to sell his place and move in with us. Eventually, I would love to buy it from SHR, but that is a ways down the road.

In the meantime, I am feeling...well...I am feeling a lot. I am happy and sad and nervous and excited and all kinds of other emotions. I am ecstatic about living alone with Munchkin, I think it is going to be a lot of fun. But I am gonna miss living with SHR. I have lived with her since August of 2002, and it will be a big adjustment to not see her every morning and night now.

When you live with someone that long and go through all of the things we have gone through together, it seems trivial to refer to her as a "friend". She is more than that to me, and she is more than that to Munchkin...she has been a friend, sister, mother and an integral day-to-day part of a very important two years of Munchkin's life.

The truth is that I always liked Condo #1 better anyway, so that part will be easy. #2 is, by all measures, nicer...but I always felt more at home in #1 and am excited to go back. It is also like 200 yards from the other one: we are not talking about a distance at all (it is closer to work and school).

But losing my other half for five years now is going to be tough, and as the day approaches, I am getting more and more emotional about it.

Odd signs of maturity

Aaron is apparently catching up on his blog reading because he left a handful of comments yesterday on posts from the last two weeks. And they were pretty funny, so I had like a constant stream of Aaron-wit coming through my inbox all day...

Munchkin is off safely, and I am supremely jealous. I am going to start planning our now-traditional March getaway to make myself feel better. I wish Tinkerbelle's school vacation matched up with ours so that she could some, but it doesn't:-( Any ideas? Florida? Virgin Islands? Bahamas? Mexico? I care only that it has good beaches, and would rather it be as close as possible...

If you recall, when she went away last year, I spent a whole lot of my free time having sex;-) So much so that, as that post details, I was somewhat injured by all of the acrobatics. This year I feel a little bit less urge to take my clothes off every time I am alone with The Boy...I think because we have gotten into a little better rhythm of finding time for each other regularly. His staying over once a week or so and me staying at his place sometimes obviously helps a lot in that regard.

So, while I will clearly take this opportunity to do some serious, bed-shaking fucking, I don't really feel like it needs to be my major goal for the week. Does this mean I am maturing? Before you answer that, know that we both have Monday off and I plan to make a trip to Coolidge Corner to do a little shopping at this place and fully expect to spend the entire day in my bed rediscovering some of the neglected things in my closet full o' fun...

Which brings us to New Year's... Anyone have anything interesting? Big Sis is having a party, and I think the plan is actually dinner, drinks and then meet a whole bunch of other people back at her place at like 10:00 for the rest of the night. The idea is to get out, but not wrestle with the massive crowds at every bar in the city. We will see how it works, but I like the idea:-)

Still super busy...F this work shit...

This doesn't look like Aruba

Did everyone have a super excellent Christmas (or just plain day off)? I did:-) So much so that I skipped out on the overly-introspective blogging that I often do around Holidays. Somehow, I think the blogosphere will manage to survive without one girl's overly analytical self-assessments for one day...there is plenty of it about!

I got a pretty good present haul... A lot of clothes and some scarves, mittens and hats that I needed. A really beautiful necklace from Smoking Hot Roommate and family (used to be her Mom's, Munchkin got the matching bracelet). Also some other random stuff...nothing terribly exciting. The Boy got me a couple of sorta-little things and an assurance that my "real" gift will be along shortly...hmmm...what, do we suppose, could that be?

His Mom gave me a super secret gift that I am not allowed to tell anyone about:-P But it was incredibly sweet of her.

Munchkin totally cleaned up...I am most excited by the Wii that Big Sis found her. That is going to provide her (ok...me) with loads and loads of good times! I am also excited by her mammoth new wardrobe that I can borrow extensively... Her brother sent her tickets to a Cubs game next summer, which she was happy about.

She is off to Aruba in a couple hours...that bitch. Seriously, this story about her gallivanting the world in a bikini while I sit in the freezing, icy, snowy northeast is total bullshit. Bullshit! I am still gonna go home to see her off in an hour, but that doesn't mean I can't be jealous...

I actually have kind of a lot of work to do this week before the year is up. That is a really harsh reality...coming back from a festive, relaxing long weekend and jumping right into a big old pile of work. I envy all of you with slow weeks; mine is packed.

Which means I better get to work.

Beating the storm

Munchkin and I are back safely from our trip to Chicago, and despite some nasty weather, we had a wonderful time and are none the worse for wear! In the interest of saving time, I am going to use the increasingly popular bullets to cover much of the trip.

• Saw a whole bunch of friends, and even had a pleasant morning coffee date with Sam.
• Spent most of a couple of days with Tinkerbelle...shopping, a museum, some sightseeing, just general hanging out. Fun:-) She has gotten so much bigger this year, it is really amazing how fast kids grow.
• Speaking of that, Munchkin is taller than me. Not "close", not "almost", not "we are about the same height". I can't fudge it anymore, she is like an inch taller.
• My Dad's family had a big Christmas dinner on Friday night so that I could be there (and Munchkin, too...they include her:-))
• Had a little too much to drink on Thursday at the company Christmas party, but that's OK:-) I didn't do anything stupid, at least:-)
• We got out, despite the weather, and got home in plenty of time for Big Sis's super-excellent-awesomely-fabulous birthday dinner:-)
• Happy Birthday!

And now it is Christmas Eve, I am home looking out at a beautiful snow-covered scene and Munchkin is chattering away with her friends to catch up on all the important social news she missed while we were gone. Later on we are going out to The Boy's parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner and some present opening (he and his brothers and sister always exchange their gifts on Christmas Eve, so we will swap ours, too. I won't tell you what I got him, though, just in case he reads today:-P)


Tomorrow Munchkin can open all of her stuff (which ended up being like a whole fucking truckload), Papa Bear, Big Sis, The Brain Surgeon and The Rocket Scientist are coming over for breakfast, and then we are all gonna head out to Smoking Hot Roommate's cousin's house for Christmas Day.

I may write a sappy introspective post tomorrow, but I may also not have time, or may not be in the mood. So, if I don't get a chance, here is hoping that you all have a happy, healthy, joyous peaceful Christmas (or day off for my non-Christian readers) and get to spend as much time as possible with the people you love. That is the best wish I can make for you:-)

Getting to know my (other) sister

Claire asked if I had any more stories or interesting things to write about Tinkerbelle, and I got kinda sad because I really don't. The truth is that I really barely know her, and I have never gotten to spend much time with her at all. I have been out there several times this year, and gotten to spend a day here and there with her...(one thing: I did go to school with her one day!)...and she was here to visit with my father's family last summer for a while. I also get to talk with her a lot, but I just haven't spent as much bonding time with her as I wish I could have.

It's hard to get to know someone when she lives 1,000 miles away:-( Fortunately she is getting to where she can have cogent conversations on the phone, and she will be able to email pretty soon, too, I think. And maybe my New Year's resolution will be to see her more often...and to see if she can come with us on our now-annual warm-weather March getaway...

Anywho...I do get to see her this weekend, which I am pretty excited about:-) Munchkin and I are leaving tomorrow morning, and we have a solid four days in Chicago to see family and friends. That's longer than we usually go for, which means it will be a little less hurried and hopefully we can get more stuff in. Unfortunately, The Boy can't skip out of work for those two days, so he isn't coming...it was either two days with him or four without, and we decided to make the trip longer. He'll get over it:-P

First, however, is the company Holiday party tonight, which should be fun. Cocktails and dinner...although people tend to get up and down a lot during dinner, it is pretty informal. I get two dates:-) Actually, I think Munchkin is technically Papa Bear's date, so really I only get one...but close enough. Big Sis and Smoking Hot Roommate are both planning on crashing it after dinner, too, probably with their attached boys.

And that is about it. So, I won't blog tomorrow, and may only check in once over the course of the weekend (or maybe not at all). We are gonna come back sometime Sunday afternoon, just in time for birthday dinner for one of my most especially favorite people:-) (And look at that, I was coming home from Chicago to make it to last year's party, too...)

So, until then, enjoy the season:-D

My favorite Christmas present, revistited

First off, a hearty hug goes out to Desiree for coming through surgery as well as can be expected. Not a great way to spend the holidays, but it sounds like it could have been worse. Let that remind us that, for all we shop for, the best Christmas presents are the ones you can't pay for. Which gets me right into today's post...

Bloggers are all somewhat fond of playing the "One year ago" game, and having this sort of annotated, running diary makes all of that very easy. It makes for good reflection (and also bails you out of the "what do I write?" jam somedays).

I am no exception, and today is one of those days:-) It wasn't actually a year ago today, it was really a year ago last weekend...but I got the best Christmas present I have ever gotten. Ironically, it came from the person who probably disappointed me most over the course of my life as compared to the role he should have played. I guess I never thought about that before...interesting.

Anyway, I miss my little Tinkerbelle:-) The truth is that I barely know her, but I still miss her. I wish I saw her every day. I wish I could drop her off and pick her up at school. I wish I could take her to the movies. I wish I could braid her hair and giggle with her. I wish I could be a full-time big sister.

I know it is generally not really beneficial to play "what ifs" but I thought of another interesting question a little while back...what would I have done if I had always known about her? What if I was around when she was born and was a part of her life as she grew up? The hardest part of my decisions to 1) leave for Arizona, and 2) move to Boston was the thought of being away from Munchkin. Turns out that it was not really relevant to point #2, but I didn't know that at the time:-)

Would I have made the same decisions if I had two little sisters and not just one? Would I have made the decision to move Munchkin here with me rather than stay in Chicago if I was also leaving another little sister? I don't know...there is a good chance that I wouldn't have been nearly as protective of Tinkerbelle as I am of Munchkin. She needs less protecting.

I guess there are no percentages in wondering, but it does get me thinking about all of the unexpected twists and turns that life can take.

You just never know how things are gonna turn out.

Ice, Ice Baby

What a mess it is around here! Last Thursday's snow was followed by a big snowfall early Sunday morning, which was then followed by an enormous mess of rain, sleet and other random water-based things falling from the sky. Since snow clogs all of the sewers, it leads to a whole lot of standing water.

Now it is 18 degrees outside, which means that all of that water has frozen. That leaves us with a lot of snow and a lot of ice. And the ice is in a lot of really bad places. Everyone who drove to work today reports that it is a nightmare trying to get around anywhere. Walking wasn't too bad, and it is all really scenic:-P

Where did I leave off...I got a lot of Christmas shopping done on Friday, but I also realized exactly how much I have left to do...I am kinda fucked. Also, didn't do any Saturday because we went sledding instead and then I was tired:-) I will have to find some time this week.

Dinner was pretty cool on Saturday. The parents of one of Munchkin's friends hosted, partially to show off their new house with a just-completed renovation. I gotta say...it is pretty fucking spectacular. It is a four-story brownstone on Marlborough Street that they bought as a complete shit hole. They had pictures of the day they first got it...holes in the walls and floors, broken windows, wires hanging everywhere. It is hard to imagine how a building falls into disrepair like that in a neighborhood like that...I wonder if maybe someone got foreclosed on and trashed it on their way out.

Whatever happened, they did a very long, very detailed (and I am guessing very expensive) restoration and renovation and it is now really, really gorgeous. Tons of original detail was restored and it has a really grand, turn-of-the-century kind of feel to it. Also, it was good to see a lot of the parents that I haven't seen in a while...I like them all:-)

The Boy and I met up with some of his friends afterwards, but we were kinda beat, so we didn't stay out real late. It started snowing at around midnight, just before we left to walk home. I have to be honest, walking across Boston Common and past the frog pond...it was really kind of neat, and dare I say, romantic:-)

And then Sunday was just a complete mess...cold, windy, rain, sleet, snow and basic ickiness. I went out in the middle of it to walk over to The Boy's place, which is all of about a 7 minute walk...and it was miserable! I was drenched by the time I got there...he was a gentlemen and offered to help me out of my wet clothes though, isn't he nice?

He is painting his bedroom, so he had his mattress on the living room floor in front of the TV, and I spent much of the afternoon buried in blankets, which was really pretty sweet! Kind of a nice place to spend a miserable Sunday afternoon:-)

Today I...

...went sledding. That's right, sledding. The Boy and Munchkin decided this over breakfast while I was in the shower. It was a beautiful, bright sunny day (albeit COLD) and they felt like it really called for some sledding.

I suppose I could have skipped it and let them go by themselves but I sort of thought it sounded fun. And it was:-) I have to admit that climbing up that fucking hill over and over again got old really fast, but it was still a lot of fun. Then, hot cocoa:-)

Munchkin reports that she did not kiss the boy she went on a date with last night, and has no plans to. She says she likes him, but doesn't "like-like" him and doesn't want to be boyfriend and girlfriend. I think the boy has a different idea, but I will let her handle that...she has proven to be a very deft dealer of such situations.

It was really fun to be out with them, though. She was pretty cool the whole time, but the boy was definitely nervous, and I think having all of the old people around during dinner was a bit intimidating for him. The Boy also informed him gently, "Be nice to her or you will have to deal with me," which I found really sweet. I am not sure Munchkin found it as humorous...lol.

That was about it, though...no scandal from the date. And now I have to go and change for dinner with the school parents. The Boy is being a super trooper and coming along with me. He will be handsomely rewarded if he plays his cards right:-P

Big storm tomorrow!

Snow Day!

Boy is the city ever beautiful today! Snow everywhere, and the pretty, soft, fluffy white kind!

I should admit that I am terribly spoiled. I don't drive to work, so I have no problems with the roads. My car resides in a garage, so I don't have to shovel it out or scrape the ice off of it. Some kind of magical snow removal fairy cleans off our sidewalk and steps, so I don't have to do that, either. I am pretty well removed from much of the nonsense that people don't like about snow.

So when it falls like it did yesterday...very fast...and ruins everyone's commute (lots of horror stories today), I feel like I pulled one over on nature. I did miss out on chicken fingers, though:-( Everything is covered in a really beautiful coat of white, today!

Munchkin has no school because of the snow (it turns out that not everyone gets to walk two blocks to school...:-P), so I stayed home with her. Technically I am working from home, but we saw fit to go for a walk in the snow this morning to look at the Common and the Public Garden. It is all just to pretty to stay inside and avoid:-)

As of now, the fabulous triple date is still on...I imagine she has to check in with the boy she is going with to make sure, but I think things will be cleared by this evening. The kid lives in Newton, so he will probably take the T in anyway, which can run in the snow.

That's about it...I really don't have all that much that I have to get done, so this is gonna end up being a three day weekend for me:-) Hopefully after lunch the little one and I can walk around a bit more, do some Christmas shopping and enjoy all of the views. Then date night:-)

I have Christmas dinner with the school parents tomorrow night, which is always fun. And it is nearby here, too, so it will be a short trip and The Boy and I can go out for a bit afterwards if it doesn't run real late.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow:-) Especially those of you who live in Florida:-P

And then the really big storm hits on Sunday.

The Goose is Getting Fat

Short post this morning...I have some things I need to get done pretty quickly.

I need some help with Christmas shopping. I have very few ideas on buying people things. Some people are easy... Smoking Hot Roommate, BFFg, Big Sis, Twin Sister, some other friends... basically I just think of things I like and buy them for those people:-) We are all similar ages and like similar things.

And Munchkin isn't too hard, although I do feel like I need to get her a lot of things (imagine how depressing Christmas morning would be if you didn't have parents to buy you presents and your super awesome big sister didn't spoil you:-). She gives me some ideas, and she always likes clothes.

I think I know what to get The Boy, but I can't write it here (or else it won't be a surprise, duh!). However, I could use some more suggestions for some smaller things for him, too. I also need to get stuff for his parents, The Rocket Scientist, The Brain Surgeon, Papa Bear, Boss Foxy, some assorted Aunts and Uncles...and of course Tinkerbelle:-)

Anyone have any ideas? Either things that you really want, or that people have asked you for. Especially if they might appeal to an 8 year old girl...I know I have some readers with little girls...

So basically, what do you want for Christmas? Or Hanukkah? Or Kwanzaa? Or some kind of pagan end of year, post-harvest gift-giving festival?

Various Dates

I don't get it...who likes Grey's Anatomy? Several people scolded me by email and IM for not liking Sex and the City (I also forgot...how did the people on Friends afford those apartments?) but no one came to the defense of Grey's. So, if no one really likes it, how does it stay on the air? It gets really good ratings, right?

And...I would like to revisit my calling SATC the most overrated show ever. That honor would have to go to Desperate Housewives, which is the same show but has none of the edge and none of the couple of funny parts that SATC always provided ("With his one ball, and my lazy ovary, it's like the Special Olympics of conception," is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen. The show still sucked, though:-)). I like Felicity Huffman, though. Eva Longoria needs to go away...you would think I would be a fan of super-short sex symbols...but no, she is useless.

OK, I got off track pretty quickly there.

I ended up going to a Christmas party with The Boy last night and had maybe one drink too many. A law firm that his company does a lot of work with was having a thing for a lot of their clients and invited him and a couple other people. I wasn't planning on going, but Smoking Hot Roommate was home with Munchkin all night, so I snuck out for a bit. I also didn't think he would end up going, not after the stock market dropped 300 points in like an hour yesterday. But he got out of work by 6:00 and I met him there. Turns out it was a lot of fun:-)

I should start by saying that I looked super hot. I was definitely having a cute day yesterday, and putting on a little strapless number just makes that all the better (that's not the actual dress, but it looks like that...minus the buckle). I also borrowed a completely ridiculous necklace from SHR. I seriously wanted to make out with myself:-) It was a good look!

Anyway, I didn't really do a ton of socializing...we talked to some people, but mostly we just sat by ourselves and enjoyed the time alone:-) Kinda nice! We got back to my place at about 11:00, and it was clear that the little dress accomplished exactly what I had intended it to:-)

In other news, Munchkin has a date on Friday. This is her first real night-time date...she has had a couple of afternoon pizza dates, and has gone to some school dances with "a date", but this is the first real date-date. She told me earlier this week that a boy had asked her to go to the movies on Friday. There was some coordinating, and The Boy and I are gonna take them and go see another movie at the same time.

She did tell him that she didn't want to see The Golden Compass because we already have a date to see that one:-P. She still likes me more than boys, which is a good sign! So, they are gonna see Enchanted and I think The Boy and I are gonna see No Country For Old Men, which is supposed to be really good. I will let you know...

So far I am doing OK with the dating, but if I hear that this little twerp tries anything, I will cut his hands off:-D

Confessions

I am going to make some confessions today. Not the good stuff (:-P), just some things that I feel like I need to apologize for. Culture and society tells us that we need to feel a certain way about certain things, and I have to cop to disagreeing with many of them. So, here is my penance.

1) I hate Grey's Anatomy. I know...I am a girl and I am supposed to love it, but I just can't. They are all annoying and whiny and not as pretty as everyone gives them credit for. Ellen Pompei gets a little bit of a pass for being in Old School, but not much. I kind of like Sandra Oh, but the rest of them are just awful. Katherine Heigl? Not pretty and really annoying. Patrick Dempsey was in Loverboy. The giant girl who looks like a linebacker? Ew. The super-pussy one that Isaiah Washington called a faggot? Well...seriously...what else was he supposed to call him? He sucks. OK, enough of that.

2) While we are on the subject...Sex and the City? Please...most overrated show ever. Every character on that show (save for maybe Miranda) was completely and utterly un-likable. And why does everyone love Sarah Jessica Parker? She is annoying and her "sense of style" usually results in her looking like a clown. And why has no one ever noticed that they all live totally non-believable lives? They are all completely loaded (hello, those apartments are all worth a mint!), but one is a writer and two of them seem to work about 20 hours a week. I do think Kristin Davis is gorgeous, though:-)

3) Shoe shopping. I just don't get orgasmic over it like a lot of girls do. Maybe because there is no pair of heels ever that can make me tall. Well, no pair that anyone other than a stripper would wear.

4) I strongly believe in aggressive girls. I have had a couple of conversations over the past month with girls who don't feel comfortable approaching guys or asking them out. Bollocks...you can be on the Supreme Court but you can't ask a boy out? At least one of them capitulated to my nagging and made a proactive move last night, but I won't rat her out...she can tell you when she pleases:-)

5) I don't get excited by babies. I have been over this before.

6) No one should get as excited about a baseball team as people around here do (This one is gonna get me into some trouble!)

7) Jewish food is totally underrated. I could eat bagels and lox at almost every meal for the rest of my life. Potato latkes, sticky buns, chocolate covered matzo (OK, maybe that is not Moses-approved:-)). I have some Polish and German ancestry in there somewhere...maybe that is where this comes from. Also...I heard a story about why Jewish people in America are traditionally linked with Chinese food...but I don't know if it is true. Does someone else have an explanation? I want to see if it matches up! OK...off topic...

8) French food is generally overrated. Mostly it is the insistence on grossly small portions. I don't eat that much...if I leave a restaurant still hungry, there is something wrong!

9) I wear very little makeup, and I don't spend much effort on my hair, either. Totally not worth the time every morning. I generally shower, dress and get ready for work in less than half an hour.

10) I think we give old people too much. There, I said it. Social Security, Medicare's drug benefit, discounts on everything, property tax waivers...all shameless giveaways to the elderly on the backs of the young. That is what they get because they all vote and we don't. And if anyone tells you "Well, they all paid their share when they were younger," they are lying. For a variety of reasons that is simply not true. But that, my friends, is a longer story;-) And for today, I am done confessing.

And the winner is...

During chicken fingers on Thursday night, we had a very intense discussion about the pros and cons of our proposed weekend getaways and reached the following unanimous decision:

New York it is!!!

We also got Big Sis to bag out of work Friday, cancel her weekend plans and come with us:-) So it ended up being a really fun sisterly-bonding trip (never mind the part about not really be related, we dropped that charade a long time ago). Of course, we didn't bother to get a second hotel room...so we all piled into one huge king bed...lol. That kind of adds to the fun, to be honest. None of us take up that much room, so we fit:-)

New York really is spectacular at this time of year. The city is always kind of overwhelming...it is just so big, and so tall, and so busy and...well, you know...it is just New York. Add in the extra people for holiday events, and all of the lights, and it is really neat.

Mostly we did kind of dumb tourist stuff. We went to Rockefeller center, but we didn't ice skate because it was way too crowded. And we wandered around and did a lot of shopping, although we didn't really buy anything...there was a lot of looking around:-) We also ventured a bit to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and Ground Zero. Munchkin had never been to New York, so she wanted to see all of that stuff.

Can we talk for a bit about the American Girl dolls? The line at the store was HUGE and I pity every parent that got stuck going. What a complete cluster...they hit you up for the doll, and then all of the other outfits, and the hair salon, yada yada yada. What a racket those people have! And the dolls scare me...they are just a little bit too lifelike for me.

Of course, it dawned on me that I should have bought one for Tinkerbelle, but that thought hit me too late. And I wasn't going into that melee anyway. There is a store in Chicago, so maybe I could revisit that idea next week...

Anyway, we walked around a ton, ate way too much and went to bed kind of early both nights Basically, we were tourists:-P And it was really fun:-)

I am sure that Florida was warmer (oh, THREE storms this week? What the fuck is up with that?!?!?) and I could use a tan, but I did have a really, really good time!

And now...back to work...blech.

Mortgages, et al

Final decision to be made on the weekend travel plans over chicken fingers tonight:-) I think I am leaning towards New York right now, but that could change after I walk around outside for a bit.

But before I go, I have promised to continue the discussion I started earlier this week. And it turns out that waiting has its benefits, as the President announced a plan to freeze adjustable rates this afternoon. OK, so he is not that bright, and could be considered somewhere between slightly and wildly incompetent...but isn't he just as cute as a button? The best looking first family we have had in....um...maybe ever?

Anyway...my response to this plan, and other ideas that have been floated is...What the fuck?!?! How do I sign up? Since when do you buy a house you can't afford with a loan that you know you can't pay back, and then get the rules changed to make it so that you can afford it? How does that make any sense?

First, I take issue with the idea that this is a "crisis" at all. At least not nationally. There are some areas (more on that in a bit) where foreclosure rates are truly alarming, but in the majority of the country, prices are soft but stable and foreclosures are not way out of the norm. The overall numbers of foreclosures are up, but the acute pain is restricted mostly to places with either deep economic problems (Ohio, Michigan) or massive speculative bubbles (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Florida, Southern California). [This is why I was glad to get comments from Michigan and Florida the other day]

Second, the downside is that home prices fall as foreclosures are worked out. Is that such a bad thing? How many people do you know that want to buy a house but can't afford to pay the recently-run up prices for one? Well, now it turns out that the price run up was fueled by rampant speculation of people who couldn't afford to keep the homes. So, if the prices fall, all of a sudden, many of the people that were priced out two years ago (maybe because they were unwilling to take on a loan they couldn't pay back, duh!) will find that they can afford to buy a home. Why would the government be interested in freezing them out in favor of the people who ran recklessly into homes in the first place?

Third, let's think about who the government is really bailing out? Sure, on the surface, they are allowing people to keep their homes. However, by definition, the people who need bailing out have limited or no (often negative) equity in their homes. Is losing a home traumatic? Of course it is...and this is not an entirely a financial issue, there are huge social issues around housing. But taking a home from someone who has no equity (often because they put no money down, had an interest only mortgage, etc.) doesn't actually cost the homeowner. There are some moving costs, and a stigma...but the homes that get taken generally aren't worth any money to the person losing the home.

Mostly, this is a borderline-collusive effort to keep the mortgage holders from having to sell off a whole bunch of foreclosures at once, which would drive down the prices they sell at and force them to take large losses. And force them to acknowledge exactly how big those losses are instead of hiding them in some "estimates". So the benefits go not to innocent homeowners, but to sophisticated buyers of Collateralized debt who are supposed to know, value, and absorb the risks they take. That is the thing about risk...it means that sometimes you lose!

Fourth, this is so clearly politically motivated, it must almost certainly be a bad idea. Take a look at the places that will be helped by this, and it reads almost exactly like a list of all the key electoral swing states. Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, Nevada. Why has the government taken a keen interest in what is a pretty normal economic event (an asset bubble of sorts)? Because it allows them to directly buy a lot of really key votes. What the President offered today is pretty similar to what Hillary Clinton (and some others) were touting last week. But you can be sure that, by tomorrow, she will rant about how wrong he is today...she can't agree with him, after all. Who cares about what is good when there are soundbites to be had!

Last, how does this solve the problem? Housing clearly costs more than it reasonably should in many places, and this will serve to artificially prop those prices up for a while longer. So non-owners will remain priced out until this band-aid passes, at which time we can go through the same exact problem again. Actually, maybe worse since many parties will assume another bailout will save them from anything too catastrophic. You either have to let a market function, or regulate it centrally...but it is really hard to do both with any positive results.

OK, that is a lengthy rant, complete with long sentences...please chime in with any thoughts. I am not pretending to be a complete expert on this, so I could have some facts wrong. And it is kind of a brain dump, too...so let me have it! I will approve comments as best I can all weekend.

Where will you be this weekend?

I think I am going to post again this afternoon with my thoughts on the mortgage issue. Why this afternoon? Well...because I am not going to be here tomorrow.

Where, you ask, will I be? Good question! And I could use some input on that...

Background: For a couple of years now, I have wanted to take Munchkin to New York City sometime during the Christmas season. There is really no place quite like New York at Christmas (or really any other time, I suppose, but especially this time of year.) All of the lights, the, people, etc. A couple weeks ago, Smoking Hot Roommate, knowing about this, said that she wanted to take the two of us as an early Christmas present.

The plan was for a pretty basic girls-trip. Get down there tomorrow morning, stay until Sunday, do a bunch of tourist things, shop, eat, and just basically hang out. This was all set and ready to go until...well, it got really, really cold!

Once the cold snap moved in, and the forecast called for a frigid weekend in Manhattan, we started to think that maybe our little weekend trip should go a little bit further south. Like Florida. The forecast for the weekend has improved a bit (they are now saying highs of 40-45 each day in the city) but this beach idea is still pretty appealing.

Let me outline the pros and cons of each. The pros of going to New York are that it is a little closer, and will be much more festive and Christmasy. As mentioned, it is a unique time of year and I would like to take Munchkin to see it. On the downside, it will be cold and really hectic. In addition, while New York is beautiful at Christmas, Boston is pretty nice, and Chicago does it up well, too, and we will be there in two weeks.

Florida has the giant benefit of being warm! SHR and family have a house there, which also means it would be really laid-back and much more relaxing. The cons include the slightly longer trip and the lack of "specialness". It will still be warm there next month when it is still cold here, but NY will not be nearly as festive as it is now. Munchkin is going to Aruba after Christmas, and SHR and I (and the boys) could do the beach thing in Florida then if we wanted to.

So, there you have it. Yes, tomorrow morning I am leaving to go somewhere, and I don't know where yet. What do we think? Big city Christmas or warm beach getaway?

On Textile Enhancement Techniques

There are still random thoughts on the mortgage mess trickling in, so I will postpone my rant for at least one more day to let anyone else chime in that cares to. I am not sure I have a ton to add beyond what some others have said, but I will flesh it out a bit more. For reasons that will be more deeply detailed when I get to it, I was glad that Anne commented yesterday and anonymous did two days ago.

In my minor pregnancy scare post, I left out an important part. I was reminded of this in an IM chat with Ally yesterday. There was one major difference between this time and the couple of other minor (or major) pregnancy scares I have had over the years.

The first time I thought I was pregnant (I was 18) would qualify as the only "major" scare I have ever had...the others have all been for a couple of days, at most. I detailed that at length here and here. I never got to the point of telling anyone, but I decided on my own, pretty quickly, that I wasn't going to have the baby. Would I have actually gone through with having an abortion? I don't know...just because I had decided to doesn't mean I would have been able to actually do it. I am not sure I could get past the moral issues when it really got down to it.

Since then, there have been a couple of times when I had sort of minor scares, like the one earlier this week. In each of those cases, there was some part of me that stopped and wondered "Would I really have the baby?". Again, I imagine I would have, but there was certainly a part of me that would have wanted not to.

But this time, the thought never really crossed my mind. I guess that is no mystery...I am older and in a much more stable place to take care of a baby. There is also pretty clearly some selfishness involved which I guess I have grown out of. Either way, it was never something that entered into my mental dialogue: a sign of the times, I guess.

Anyway, that is enough for the serious talk. And let us never speak of me being pregnant again, until I decide I am darn good and ready!

Now, to the totally frivolous:-) Anyone watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show? I saw some of it, and it was kind of disappointing. First, despite my girl-crush on Heidi Klum, I really don't want to hear her singing...that was oddly uncomfortable. And second, it was too "fashiony". The point is supposed to be lining up a bunch of impossibly hot women to stomp around in their underwear.

The rest of us are supposed to watch and think "The only difference between me and Alessandra Ambrosio is that she has better underwear. If I buy some, I will look like her when I wear it." Putting weird, avante-garde things with sleeves and straps that look like guitars is a total waist of time. I don't want Vicky to be forward-thinking and innovative, I want her to make me my boobs look bigger and my ass rounder! (That, by the way, is no small task...)

And that is even before we get to the Spice Girls reunion. Is this really something the world needs? I thought Posh was funny and human on the show about her moving here...but she is way too botoxed and stiff when she sings.

Funny...I started this week on a real issue, and by Wednesday I am ranting about Sporty Spice's pants...

Welcoming the Unpleasant

I got two emails and a comment on the mortgage thing, so I will let it sit for another day before I go on a rant...chime in with any thoughts.

Much more pressing issues to take care of, which I have not mentioned to anyone (other than Smoking Hot Roommate and The Boy) for two weeks. The day after Thanksgiving...a full day before I got the flu...I woke up sick. Upset stomach, threw up, felt much better. Hmm...

Then I was sick for a couple of days. By Friday I was better, but I got randomly sick to my stomach on Friday afternoon and threw up again. Immediately felt better afterwards. At that point, obviously, the thought crossed my mind that there was a chance I was pregnant. The little pills are supposed to keep that from happening, but you never know. But I was like 99% sure it was just a little bug.

Sunday morning, same thing...woke up sick to my stomach, threw up, felt better. Now I was only maybe 90% sure that I wasn't pregnant, which is just enough to start worrying. And you know what? I don't want a baby...not right now, and no time soon. But it really wouldn't be the end of the world. It would dramatically crimp my social life, but I don't feel like it is something I couldn't handle.

The Boy was not terribly upset by the prospect, either. He doesn't exactly want a kid this minute, either...but he would most definitely greet it as a purely joyous event (more so than I would.) If I told him I wanted to get married tomorrow and have kids right away, he would be incredibly excited...so the idea doesn't bother him at all.

[Soft-stomached men who don't like discussion of "Lady Issues" should skip the next paragraph]

Now, any female readers I have know that if you live with another woman, your cycles tend to line up. Something about hormones. I have lived with Smoking Hot Roommate for nearly five years now, and at this point we are as coordinated as synchronized swimmers. With the exception of a couple times I had to come off of the pill because I was taking antibiotics for one thing or another, we have gotten our periods on the same day every month for like four years.

It is also really predictable...and yesterday was the day. So what happened? Well...right on schedule, she got hers. And me? Not so much...

[OK...safe to read again, boys]

So yesterday I was pretty horribly tied in knots all day. I still didn't think I was pregnant, but I was becoming much less sure of that as time went along. Now I think I was starting to think of the practical issues...

In the course of a girl's life, the menstrual cycle is almost always a giant pain in the ass. You get bloated and irritable, nothing fits, its hard to sleep and life is generally worse than usual. And there is the oh-so-pleasant discharging. Every month, there are several really horrible days of dealing with it, and no one looks forward to it.

On some rare occasions, however, this all comes as a giant relief...a reminder by nature that everything is in order and your reproductive capacity is in status quo.

Today, ladies and gentlemen, is one of those days:-) I am not sure I am quite in "shout from the rooftops" mode just yet, but I sure am not at all annoyed to get my period...

Whoo hoo! No babies for me!

Pass the Grey Goose.

Real Issues on Mondays!

(Late addition to this post)

Sometime last week I went over 20,000 visitors, and I regret to say that I didn't even notice. I am actually kind of sad that I wasn't paying attention...one of the things I like most about blogging is the idea that all kinds of random people stop in to see what's up. Therefore, I really like keeping track of the sitemeter stuff. But I missed this one, and for that I am sorry.

However, more hearty thanks to all of you that stop in and read, and especially those of you that comment. Because that is what really makes my day brighter:-)

(Now back to the original entire post)

We got our first snow fall, although it was only a little bit. It still made everything look pretty this morning out the window:-) Of course now it is just raining and sleeting a little bit, which is not fun at all. Stupid weather.

Very nice birthday dinner for Papa Bear last night, weather and all. We went to his favorite restaurant (which is really nice, and is therefore a-OK by me!). I know it is kind of weird...he is not my Dad, but in a way I sort of feel like he is, and he very much likes having all of "his kids" around him. He is also an incredibly important part of Munchkin's life, and for that I will always be eternally grateful.

So we had a very nice dinner...Big Sis and The Brain Surgeon, Smoking Hot Roommate and The Rocket Scientist, Me, Munchkin and The Boy. And I ate too much, but that is kind of to be expected:-)

Totally random subject, and not really typical blog stuff...but is anyone paying attention to the impending government action to intervene in the housing and mortgage markets? Since this is very much a geographic issue, and I have a bunch of readers from different corners or the country, I wanted to see if anyone had any strong thoughts. I do (surprise:-)) but I will keep them quiet for a day in case anyone wants to chime in. I know, kind of boring for a Monday, but I don't have anything else...:-) Respond via email or comment or IM if you'd like...

Frigid Sunday

I forgot to mention yesterday that it got COOOLLLDDD all of a sudden. And not just a little bit...20's, complete with a really stiff, biting wind. Now they are calling for some snow and other gunk later on today. Sounds like a nice afternoon for me and The Boy to lock ourselves in his apartment and keep ourselves warm:-)

We never did do any shopping yesterday. We intended to, but we walked out the front door, made it one block to Dunkin Donuts and remembered how grossly cold it was. Munchkin thinks like me, so we turned around and came right back here. And then we did nothing:-P Bummed around the house in our jammies all afternoon. Oh, we baked cookies...that's something.

She came to the Christmas party last night with us, which was fun. I like (obviously) that The Boy enjoys having her tag along. And she makes friends fast everywhere, so she is no trouble at all. She knew a couple of his friends already, but was buddies with the rest of them really quickly. We can't stay out as late with her, but that's OK...I was out late Friday, so I was fine leaving a little on the early side.

Not much on the docket today. The Boy just went home, and I will head over there a little later on when Munchkin settles in to watch football. Not sure whether they are staying here or going somewhere, but Sunday afternoons are designated "SHR-Munchkin" times. That sounds much nicer than the other purpose of a Sunday afternoon...:-D.

Then dinner tonight for Papa Bear's birthday:-) Everyone send him super nice birthday wishes:-) And that's about all. Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing Sunday.

Picking up the slack while the rest of you take breaks

Some Saturday goodness fore everyone. Since so many NaBloPoMo's are vowing to take today off, I feel like it is important that someone pick up the slack, and I will volunteer. Aren't I a team player?

Went to a great, super fun party last night. Munchkin ended up staying over at a friend's house (she does that a lot now...should I take the hint? Maybe I am not that much fun anymore:-P) so I was out kind of late. Not too bad, though. The party was at the apartment of a girl that Smoking Hot Roommate went to high school with, and loads of her old friends were there. At this point, I know them all really well, so I guess they are my friends, too.

Nothing really special, just a bunch of people hanging out talking and eating and drinking. There was an incredibly adorable boy I had never met before who was noticeably disappointed when I told him I had a boyfriend... I still got it:-) The Boy was kind of not feeling 100%, and had a long week, so he begged out and stayed home.

We probably left at about 1:00 or so, and I went over to The Boy's place. He had long since fallen into a really sound sleep, and never really woke up, so I snuck in quietly and found a warm spot in the bed next to him:-) We woke up a couple hours later for some really slow, gentle, oh-so-sweet sex. Not generally my style, but its really hot when it happens! Then fell immediately back to sleep.

Because he went to bed early, he got up really early, and then made me breakfast...isn't he just too cute? You can be sure I paid him back for that, and there was nothing "oh-so-sweet" about it:-P

Munchkin was only a couple of blocks away, so she came over and met me at his place before we went home. I am hoping to get some shopping done today, but at the moment I am feeling not very motivated...maybe I will rally after lunch. The Boy and I are going to a Christmas Party with some of his friends tonight, which should be fun. Munchkin may tag along, I am not really sure yet...I will have to figure that out today.

So let's recap...good party, cozy bed, middle-of-the-night sex, breakfast in bed, more sex, shopping...that is a pretty good stretch!

Raises, Orgasms and Chicken Fingers, all in one day

I have a little more time today, so I can tell you all about my new favorite subject... my new, larger salary! It is review time around here, which means we all had to write our 360 reviews over the last couple of weeks (yes, I wrote 25 reviews, every one of which was for someone senior to me.) Then yesterday at 9:30 I had to appear before the partners to discuss my review.

I think I wrote this last year, but it is kind of intimidating. The conference room they do these in is intended to be kind of intimidating...big heavy granite table, dark wood, it really says "power". And the partners all sit on one side of the table, and the victim...er employee...sits across from them. They have a binder for each person with all of their reviews, along with a summary page, and that is the first time that you get to see your reviews.

It could be worse...I am fortunate that Papa Bear and Boss Foxy make up 40% of the partners (really more...he counts extra:-P) and they would clearly let me know if anything bad was gonna happen. Plus, they just basically like me:-)

So anyway, the reviews were all basically good (even the guy that hates me was nicer this year, although I could still tell which one was his:-P). We have a very, very thorough process with all kinds of back and forth, and I will spare you the ugly details. But basically they have some suggestions on specific things to do and learn. But this year, they also asked that I write something about "interviewing techniques" for our giant library, which is good. It is nice to be thought of as good at something:-) (Well, other than not being yelled at by the boss:-P).

And then they gave me a big fat raise that they said "reflects my growing ability to add value to a variety of initiatives". Shwing! I got a big raise last year, so I wasn't quite expecting another one, but I am certainly not going to give it back:-P This will go a long way towards helping me to flesh out my still-small "house fund". Yay for me!

To celebrate: chicken fingers:-) It was kind of weird, we sort of got kicked out. I guess there was a big football game last night that was only on TV in some places...? So the place (which is kind of a sports bar) was expecting a big crowd, and they were going 21+ almost all night. We go there enough and know the people well enough that they let Munchkin in, but told us that we would have to leave before it got too late. That was fine...we weren't gonna stay long past 7:30 anyway, so it wasn't really an issue.

Smoking Hot Roommate, The Boy, The Rocket Scientist and Big Sis all joined us, which made it all the better:-) The Boy came back and stayed over, which was good...I hadn't gotten any since last Friday, damnit, and I have needs! Between his being away a bit, me being sick and some work things, I had gone WAY too long without getting some quality naked time. He sufficiently filled his boyfriendly duties, though, so I am better:-P (Seriously, his sister reads this...lol...who do you suppose I embarrass most?)

Should be a sort of busy weekend. Party tonight with SHR and some friends, and then the first of like a trillion Christmas parties tomorrow night. Munchkin probably has friend things to do, but she could come to either party if she wants:-) Mix in some Christmas shopping tomorrow and maybe Sunday, and my regular Sunday afternoon date and it is a pretty full slate. Anyone else have anything? This time of year gets really busy...

What goes up?

I have been super busy all day, and therefore didn't post this morning. But I had my annual salary review and I got a big fat raise:-) So I don't mind being busy!!! I didn't get promoted like last year (I didn't expect to) but the raise was actually a little bigger in dollars, and just a little smaller in percentage terms (like 14%!).

That is actually about it...sorry for the super short post. But I really wanted to shout it to the blogosphere:-D Yippee for me!

Chicken fingers tonight, looking very forward to it! That is the last medicine I need to feel all the way better, I think.

A very late Thanksgiving Recap

I am feeling moderately better today...at least semi-functional. Still kind of fuzzy and tired, but I feel like I have turned the corner. I know some people believe in taking as little medication as possible...I however, am not one of them. At least not when I am really sick. When I am sick, I believe in taking full advantage of the advances made by modern medicine. And so, after lots and lots and lots of Tylenol cold and flu, I am feeling a little better. Big pharma gets a bad name...

This means I am WAY behind on my blog reading and commenting. I actually read about 100 blogs last night when I woke up from my (five hour) afternoon nap. I commented on very few however, because some were a couple days old already and I wanted to read as many as I could. Sounds like most people had pleasant Thanksgiving weekends, although a couple of people seem a little bit down these days for various reasons (like OC, Still Just Me and Kristin).

My Thanksgiving was really nice, complete with lots and lots of eating:-) The Boy's brother and sister and families were up for the weekend, so Munchkin and I went to his parents' house on Thursday to see all of them and some other assorted aunts and uncles and cousins. Twin Sister has like the nicest, least difficult baby in history. Seriously, if they were all that easy, I would have several (so basically, before I have a baby, I want some guarantee that it will sleep all the time, never cry and that I will look like Heidi Klum a month later. Never mind that I don't look a thing like Heidi Klum now... Am I being unrealistic?)

We left The Boy there so he could leave early on Friday with his father and brother and brother-in law and headed to meet Smoking Hot Roommate and family. They were at her cousin's house, which actually used to be theirs. They lived in a big old farmhouse in Brookline until Papa Bear moved into the city a couple of years ago (actually, it was a deal...when Big Sis got back from London, she originally intended to move to New York, but agreed to stay in Boston if he agreed to sell the big old house and move in town. The house has a lot of memories, but one person does not need 8 bedrooms...)

Anyway, that is where they lived when I spent the summer here before senior year and I still love the house. It is old, big and has tons of character. Some member of their family has lived there for like 100 years, and I know Papa Bear was really glad to keep it in the family. And I am glad that we get to go visit:-) Munchkin actually spends a lot of time there, as that cousin has a daughter in her class that is one of her best friends.

So, that was way off subject...lol. Whatever, I am still sick, I can't be expected to make sense all the time:-P

Kill me now, it will ache less

Still sick, still can't concentrate. I slept forever last night, but I still feel exhausted. It is kind of warm out, but I am freezing. It hurts to talk, I have a huge fever and a my head feels like there is a brick in it.

My diet of chicken noodle soup, ice cream, vitamin C and Tylenol Flu doesn't seem to be doing it. Maybe I should up the Tylenol...

Many thanks to the wonderful Smoking Hot Roommate for taking care of Munchkin for dinner last night:-) And for offering to get her after her music lesson tonight so I can sleep. Seriously, how do single parents do this shit?

Luckily, I have something I have to do this morning and then I can go home for the day.

Fuck this.

Ick

Sorry to have been non-blogging for a couple days...I know how important my daily rambling are to your lives:-P I also opened my Reader this morning to 111 new posts. So symmetrical. Apologies in advance for not commenting on them.

I'm sick, and have been since Friday. And not just a little bit "oh, I will curl up and eat soup" sick...like really sick. I mean like fever, sleep all the time, throw up a lot, can barely eat sick. I am actually a little better today, but I still feel really week and kind of light-headed. So, I am at work, but I don't know how long. I can't imagine I will be too productive.

Thanksgiving was really nice:-) We had a great meal at The Boy's parents' house, which, it dawns on me, is likely to be my standard go-to Holiday location from here on out. Kind of a daunting thought... Then Munchkin and I left The Boy there and went to meet up with our pretend family, and that was awesome as well.

Friday started out fine. We went for a walk, avoided all stores of any kind, and then I dropped Munchkin at her friends' house and went home. It all went downhill pretty quickly from there. I think the sore throat came on first, and then the congestion. And then lunch made its reappearance...

From about 2:00 on Friday afternoon until this morning, I didn't leave the house. Not once. And I slept. A lot. Munchkin and The Boy and Smoking Hot Roommate all played nurse, and it was much appreciated:-) Munchkin was like an old Italian mother...convinced that all of my problems could be solved by eating more (that is not totally unfounded, my weight borders on dangerously low, so a couple days without eating right can be an issue. Thankfully, she made me eat a lot of ice cream:-))

And really, that is about it. My head is so scattered that these three paragraphs took about two hours to write...and I don't see it getting much better. So, tomorrow I will try and get back to the stuff I missed. Until then...

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for so much, and not just today. But today is a good day to say it without seeming too cheesy.

Mostly, I am thankful for the people I love. For a beautiful, brilliant little sister who makes me smile everyday. The truth is that she has made my life much more fulfilling, not harder. And for another one that is still the best Christmas present I have ever gotten.

For a best friend who is a friend, a role model, a supporter and so very much more. For a "father" and a "sister" who give all the love and support of even the best families. For the immense love and support that they all provide to Munchkin...so much of her is a reflection of all of the time, the love and the support that they give her. They write checks on her behalf, but much more than that, they spend time with her and shower her with the attention and love and support and guidance that she has lost.

For a boyfriend who makes me feel beautiful and special and still makes me tingle when I hear his voice. For his being selfless and patient and for being more than I could ever expect him to be. And for being the luckiest girl in the world because I make him happy. For the chance to make him happy for many more years.

For my family. As much as I beat them up here sometimes, they are still my family, and there are some of them that owe enormous debts of gratitude to. I wish I met my father's family sooner, but I am very grateful to know them now.

For a great job that keeps me interested and challenged and teaches me something new ever single day (oh, and dramatically overpays me:-)). For my work-mom, who advises and comforts both professionally and personally. For my wonderful colleagues who tolerate my inexperience and teach and coach and guide. And occasionally give me great clothes.

For my friends, both near and far. For our tragedies. For our memories. For the love. For the laughter. For the history and for the future. For your sacrifices and mine and the wonderful, wonderful things that have come from knowing you all.

I have kind of an odd life, I am aware of that. It hasn't always been easy. But I think it is looking pretty good from here on out. And for that, and for all of the people that make that true, I am extraordinarily thankful.

Uh, oh...look who is feeling sappy again

The weather is really weird around here. It was really cold, and yesterday it snowed a little bit, and now today is a little warmer and tomorrow is supposed to be like 60. This is why everyone gets sick at this time of year...the constant temperature change!

I assume that everyone has their Thanksgiving plans all ironed out. This is my favorite holiday, and I also think it is really kind of a quintessentially American day. It is my favorite holiday because it is all about family and being together and being grateful, and it doesn't include any of the pressures of Christmas...there is no three week buildup. It is just a reason to get together, eat and enjoy each other.

I guess there is a part of me that always wished I could spend Thanksgiving with my own healthy and functional family, but that was just never to be. But that's OK...there are people I love that treat me better than my own family ever did, and I get to spend time with them, thinking about how fortunate I am. And I am not totally without family, either...I am incredibly lucky to be able to spend the day with my little sister, who really is my most favorite person:-) I am lucky to spend every day with her!

OK, that is a little bit sappy, I know. And if I write tomorrow morning, it will be much sappier! I am leaving work early today...one of the teachers at Munchkin's school is taking some of the kids to a homeless shelter to help serve Thanksgiving dinner, and I offered to help. I think it is a really neat thing for the kids to do, and I am glad that Munchkin is excited to participate. To be really honest, the kids she goes to school with can probably benefit from seeing the other end of the social spectrum. Not that most of them are really snotty or entitled, but they definitely live in a very abnormal slice of the social universe...it is good for them to know what else is out there.

So we are gonna do that this afternoon, and then maybe we will move chicken fingers up a day and do that tonight:-)

A very, very Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Total Score!

I got a really early start this morning, and I have no idea why. Normally I get out of bed at about 7:00, shower, look at the paper and eat something and leave at about 7:45. Munchkin gets to school at about 7:50 and I get to work at 7:55 (I told you it was a short walk!). Then I spend an hour or so checking some emails and maybe following up on stuff from yesterday.

At 9:00 or so, I take a quick break to blog and to read everyone else's blogs:-) When I am done with that, I start in on the real work for the day.

But today, I was awake at about 6:00, so I did all the email checking and whatnot from home before I came to work. Which means I have now already read everyone's blogs for the day, left a few comments and am writing this one. Could this lead to a tremendously productive day? Or maybe it will just mean that I have lots of time I feel like wasting...we shall see!

I also scored a killer new coat, which I am pretty happy about. It used to belong to the 15 year old daughter of a guy I work with...I apparently told her at a work-thing last winter that I really liked it (I don't remember this, but it probably happened...lol) so since she outgrew it, she told her dad to bring it in and see if I wanted it. Never mind that I am getting hand-me-downs that teenagers have outgrown...it is a gorgeous cashmere topcoat that she didn't wear much and that I intend to thoroughly enjoy! Total score.

So that was a pretty good start to the day:-) One more reason to love the people I work with:-)

Speaking of that...I need to go through all of Munchkin's (and my) stuff and send a lot of it to Goodwill. She outgrows stuff really fast, and with the move coming up, I would like to get rid of the stuff she doesn't need any more. Of course, that is just going to highlight more stuff she does need...ahh well, no one ever said kids were free...

Psycho-analyzing The Boy

I forgot to mention in my last post that Chatham is a town on Cape Cod, and I think that is where the name comes from. It is sort of a snooty place, hence my feelings on the pretentiousness of the name.

Anywho, I have all of my peeps back, so I don't need to worry about scary monsters and boogeymen anymore (Ella points out that we have a doorman, but not all night!). Smoking Hot Roommate is finally back for a bit from the various work and leisure travels that have kept her away from us for what seems like forever.

The Boy survived his day of playing "Flip That House" with only some minor damage (a couple of bruises and some scrapes). Not that I don't totally trust him, his father and his brother with lots of power tools, but...well, they all have a lot of little boy in them. If they could renovate with dynamite, they probably would. They are likely going back for at least one more day next weekend, and maybe more...pray for him.

On a more serious, amateur-psychologist note, I think he wishes he was closer with his brother and likes the chance to do stuff with him. Not that there is any tension...in fact they get along very well. But his brother is older and I think for a lot of their lives they had different priorities and just never had a whole lot in common. I wouldn't say that he wishes that they had the relationship that their sisters have had (which has been much rockier) but I think maybe he envies the intensity of that just a little bit.

But now maybe they are a little more alike, The Boy has sort of caught up to the life stages...I dunno, I am hypothesizing. His brother is a really good guy, I like him a lot. They are both a lot like their father, but in very different ways.

Anyway, short week, and hopefully a Happy Thanksgiving for all! Munchkin and I are going up to The Boy's parents' house for dinner on Thursday, and then back to meet up with SHR and family (I have to get back to calling them The Rocks, it is easier) later on. Not sure if The Boy will come with us, or if he will stay with his parents and then go with his father and brother the next day...depends on what day they want to do it.

Their brother-in-law is going with them this time, too, which is just one more ingredient for a total disaster...lol. And in a sign of BLATANT sexism, not one single woman has been invited to help. Not Mom, nor either sister, nor either daughter-in-law nor me. Not that any of us would go...but still.

Not a terribly exciting week. Bonuses are gonna be announced in the next couple of weeks, so the speculation and excitement is starting to build:-) Despite it not being a great year for most people who do what we do, it has been pretty good here. But next year likely won't be as good, so they may go easy on the bonuses in anticipation of that...we will have to see. Wish me luck!

Lonely. So Lonely.

OK, I am a big baby...I'm not gonna lie. I have sort of admitted this before, but I should really just get it out on the table. I also need a dog, but that is another story:-D

Munchkin went over to her friend's house after dinner, and then called to ask if she could sleep over. This, theoretically, should mean that I get myself a lot of alone time with The Boy, which I really tend to enjoy. (Side note, her friend's name is Chatham, which I go back and forth on...at times I think it is incredibly cute, and at others I think it is way overly-pretentious...thoughts?)

Anyway...that plan was foiled. The Boy's brother just bought a house on a lake in New Hampshire and is doing some work on it. The Boy, his father and his uncle were all planning to head up to help him out all day Sunday, and were leaving at like 5:00am. Which means he stayed at his parents' house last night.

Smoking Hot Roommate is away (she should be back in a couple hours), which means that I was all alone in the apartment last night. And yes, I am a super big baby that gets scared by being alone:-P

But first, I went out with some friends, which was really fun. I don't do that nearly enough! I can't say that I am jealous of the idea of trying to meet people in that environment, but it is fun to get all dressed, have a couple drinks and let loose a bit. I also have some super-hot friends, so we tend to get hit on a lot:-P That sometimes gets annoying, but I am not gonna argue with not having to buy drinks!

I actually met a hilarious girl who was out with four guy friends playing wing-woman. She was the girlfriend of one of the guys' friends (that guy was not with them) and had sort of completed her work for the evening...lol. So we stole her for the rest of the night:-) Her boyfriend lived really near one of my friends (in Southie, for the locals), so she came with us to the last bar of the night, and then she and my friend took a cab home. I don't know what it is, but I tend to make friends whenever I am out...lol. Now I know where Munchkin gets it from:-D

So I got home on the late side (and of course answered texts from both The Boy and Munchkin demanding that I let them know I was home safely). Then I checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, checked under the bed and in the closets for monsters and boogeymen and put a baseball bat in my room...you know, just in case:-D Thankfully, I didn't need to use it...

That's about it. It's a really beautiful Sunday, so we will likely go for a walk and maybe some Open House visiting. I have to go get Munchkin in a bit, and SHR will be home around lunchtime. Since The Boy is gone all day, I may join the girls for their Sunday afternoon football watching. Not usually my first choice, but a pretty nice afternoon anyway:-)

Very little to say:-)

I have very little to say today:-) The Boy and I had a date last night, which was nice...I am happy to report that he is back to feeling 100%. We met up with a couple of my friends, who were hanging at one of their apartments, which happened to be not too far from where I had to pick up Munchkin from. She was at a friend's house, hopefully not working on the corresponding list to Fridays;-)

By the way, I have noticed that I use the phrase "pick up" Munchkin a lot, which implies that I drive somewhere and get here. In reality, 90% of the time, I am "picking her up" simply by walking to meet her somewhere. I love being able to walk everywhere, and I like that she walks most places, too. Walking is good for you:-D An enormous part of our lives takes place in a relatively small radius (for the locals, basically Beacon Hill and The Back Bay). That's where we live, where her school is and where many of her friends live. Not sure why that is relevant, but I felt like saying it.

Anyway, we had a really nice dinner and hung with my friends for a bit, and then were home by like 11:00. Munchkin went straight to bed, and so did we (I had to have him make up for his illness-related inability to put out last weekend:-P).

And now we are just hanging out at home. Munchkin has a project to do that I would like her to get done this morning so she doesn't have to worry about it tomorrow. The Boy has gone home and I am gonna do a little work, too. Not real sure beyond that:-) We will probably go out for a bit this afternoon, although not for any reason other than to just get out and wander around a bit.

And...um...that's it, I guess. Kind of a boring Saturday:-)

You should have known by now, you were on my list

The Boy was supposed to join us for chicken fingers last night, but I had to un-invite him at the last minute. Munchkin was kind of upset and we had some girl-talk issues to cover. He was OK with it...he understands:-) In his stead, Big Sis made an unscheduled appearance to lend support. Because she is just that awesome:-D

The issue is kind of a sixth-grade thing, but I can also understand why it had her really upset. It turns out that the boys in her class made a "list" whereby they ranked all of the girls in the class in order of hotness. (Ironically, almost the same thing happened on a South Park episode last night...not sure if maybe that was the impetus for the idea. If the episode wasn't new, that would make sense.) It started at a sleepover at someone's house last weekend between like four or five of them, and then expanded to all of the boys voting and all of their votes being compiled into a master list.

Kids that age don't keep secrets really well, so word got out to the girls and the teachers. And some drama ensued...they told me about it when I went to get her. Part of the problem was that I couldn't quite put my finger on what upset her about it most, and she couldn't quite articulate it.

I think the basic issue was that she just felt like it was kind of demeaning, and that it was insulting that the boys kept saying that it should be flattering. After all, she said, if it was really intended to be flattering, there would have been funniest, smartest and nicest lists, too. But she also felt like it was really mean to some girls. It wasn't like they just had a "three hottest" list, but that they had a score for all of the girls in the class, and one of two of the girls got really, really low scores that were quite mean.

I think she just felt like a bunch of boys that she considered good friends had felt the need to judge them all purely on their physical appearance, and to essentially treat them as simply pretty things. I think she just felt a little betrayed by that, and she was just really kind of down about it all. She can be really sensitive, and this bothered her a lot.

So she needed to talk about it, and needed to have some chicken fingers with her big sister:-) I am prety sure that there are people that are better parents than me, but I am pretty good at this kind of stuff...I can read her pretty well and she feels good about talking with me about stuff. Big Sis helped a lot, too...Munchkin idolizes her, and she really cheered her up. Her first suggestion was that the girls create a list of their own, but give much more critical scores. Maybe not the best advice...lol.

The other thing that helped was a phone call she got when we got home. The boy in her class that is probably her best boy friend (and who I secretly keep wishing she will announce as her boyfriend some day...he is adorable and super nice!) called her to apologize for being a part of it. I don't know if his parents made him or if he did it on his own, but Munchkin appreciated the gesture.

So, I think she is OK today. She is definitely hurt by the whole thing, and the other girls in the class that she talked to last night are as well. Sure, they may be over-reacting a bit (this is hardly the greatest insult in world history) but I do think they have a right to be disappointed. Hopefully the whole thing sort of blows over and they all earn their lessons and whatnot.

Other than that, a pretty normal weekend with some Boy time, some Munchkin time, some SHR time and some Fantasy Football:-D

Papa Bear on a rampage

Yesterday was kind of a funny day at work...Papa Bear was in really rare form, and he was NOT happy.

Some background for the newbies...Papa Bear is the big boss here. There are five partners (Boss Foxy is one of the others) who are mutually in charge, but he is the Managing Partner, so he is technically the #1 person at the firm. He is unquestionably brilliant, and everyone here loves working for him, and loves whatever chance we get to work with him.

However, he sometimes has a bit of a temper, and when he is irritated by something, he can be very, very sharp-tongued, and somewhat frightening (in the professional sense). So much so that, when he is in a state, word passes pretty quickly that we should all do our best to avoid him for a while. Except for me...who he never yells at. This is, in a nutshell, the actual value that I bring to the workplace: the ability to deal with Papa Bear when no one else can. I am not sure what else I really do that well...lol.

Yesterday was one of those days. There is a pretty big deal that we have been working on (for those that technically understand what we do, it wasn't our deal, but we have been consulting...the target has a pretty big government business, which makes things tricky, and required a little bit of outside help to get it done). Well, it fell apart yesterday, mostly because the buyer (that is who we were working for) just basically changed its mind on how much the target was worth. Things have changed since the deal was first put together, and they just don't wanna do it any more.

Now, this really doesn't have any effect on us. Our fees in this were all simply hourly-billed consulting fees (actually probably just a fixed fee, I am not privy to that stuff) and don't change based on the deal falling apart. We probably would have done some additional implementation consulting if it went through, but that is not really a huge deal. Mostly, he just doesn't like to get involved in things and have them fall apart. He takes great pride in being able to put together even the trickiest of deals, no matter the obstacles.

Which means that the news yesterday that the deal was being killed really set him off. I am not really sure who he was mad at, to be honest...I don't think he really blamed the buyer for changing its mind. He was just kinda ticked at the whole thing, and was just on a rampage all day. Usually that is OK...he has a big office with a heavy door and privacy glass, so he can shutter himself away and we can all avoid him.

However, there was something else he really needed to do yesterday. There was a proposal on a totally separate deal that needed a good solid hour or two of his time to review. So at about 1:00, the two people who put most of this together came by my desk and said "AM, we really need you to bring this to Papa Bear and get him to review it, we promised it by 4:00 pm today." This wasn't really what I wanted to do, but I understand the issue, so I took it in, which lead to this conversation.

Papa Bear: What?
Me: You need to review this so we can send it to XYZ, we promised it by 4:00.
PB: You have been working on this?
Me: Well, no, but they wanted you to review it more than they wanted to sit here for an hour while you yelled.
PB: You mean they sent you in because they are scared of me?
Me: Kind of.

(His mood lightened at this point as he found it kind of funny. So he called Boss Foxy in her office)

Boss Foxy: Yes?
PB: VP1 and VP2 just sent AM in here with the XYZ proposal. Because they are scared of me.
BF: I probably would have done the same thing.
PB: What?
BF: Yea, we do that all the time, you never realized this? She is our go between when you are in a rage.
PB: Um, no, I guess I didn't know that.
BF: Well, yes. Now you know.

So there you go...an example of the value that I bring to the firm...

Holiday Plans '07

Project Runway tonight...and I am giddy!!! Does anyone know of a good website where they do Runway games, like where you pick winners and losers and get points for it and can compete against friends? That's right...I am looking for a Fantasy Runway League...

My sick patients are all back to 100%, and I seem to have avoided catching anything, so that's good. I really don't feel like getting the flu right now, it just doesn't fit into my schedule at all!

The time has come, once again, to go through what has become a new holiday tradition for me ... scheduling. The number of families with which I either want, or feel obligated, to spend time with or to arrange for Munchkin to spend time with during the holidays, has ballooned to somewhere near 7. That's right, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I would like to somehow manage to see (or get Munchkin to see) our mother's family, my father's family, Munchkin's father's family, my two pretend families (Smoking Hot Roommate's mother's and father's families) and now The Boy's two families (mother's and father's).

That equals an enormous amount of Turkey and other assorted holiday goodness...

I think I will do the same thing I did last year, which is to stick around here for Thanksgiving, and then try and get to Chicago for a long weekend sometime right before Christmas to see all of them. Christmas is kind of a four day weekend this year, so maybe we could go like Friday-Sunday out there, and be back here for the next couple of days. Or, I suppose we could do it the other way around and go there like Sunday-Tuesday. (It is also not quite as important that she see her father's family a ton, since we will have a whole long weekend with them after the New Year for her brother's wedding...everyone follow this?)

The downside to that is that, if we are out there on Christmas, I doubt that The Boy would come...I imagine he would want to see him parents and sisters and brother. Also, Munchkin is leaving the day after Christmas again, and I would rather she not be on that many planes in that short a time...it tends to make people sick.

I am sure I will get some shit from my Aunts (mother's sisters and sisters-in-law) over this. They are gonna yell at me for not wanting to be around my real family and keeping Munchkin away, too. And I guess in some sense, they are right. But in another sense, they can blow it out their collective ass;-) I dunno...I could change my mind.

Or, I could have a couple of them come out to visit us...that might really be nice:-)

Personal chefs

I'm late in posting today, stupid meetings all morning...blech.

The sick ward is finally getting a little better. The Boy is back at work today and feeling at least moderately better. The good thing about having him home yesterday was that he was able to go over and get Munchkin at school at lunchtime and save me the trip. Then they had some quality time on the couches watching Days of Our Lives, Tyra, Oprah and whatever other junk was on TV in the afternoon.

They are actually really cute together...totally buddies. To be honest, Munchkin is kind of buddies with everyone, but she and The Boy get along really well, and make each other laugh a lot. Obviously that is pretty important to me...she and I are a package deal. If you want me, you get her, too, and I would never be with someone she didn't like. She gets veto power (which she exercised once, much to the dismay of the guy who had a date cancelled with "Sorry, my little sister says I can't go.")

They made dinner and baked a cake yesterday, which was very nice of them. Kind of a baked ziti with zucchini, sausage, tomatoes and cheese. Not sure where the recipe came from (I think he probably called his mother, but he is trying to pass it off as his own) but it was pretty fucking good! I have some leftovers for lunch...:-)

Since this is kind of a short post, I am going to cheat and pose the following question for everyone to discuss. It's not really a question, so much as a subject...and the subject is:

Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Ikea, or other...please discuss.

This is gonna make you cry;-)

Happy Monday everyone:-) That is a total oxymoron, no one likes Mondays, and if they do, then there is something wrong with them. I don't trust anyone who likes Mondays.

The weekend was fun, and include a lot of being Nurse. The Boy is really sick...so much so that he is taking today off, which he never does. He stayed at our place all weekend, and has basically been asleep and/or watching football in my bed since Friday night...I had to go to his apartment to get him some stuff yesterday:-( Normally I encourage him to spend as much time as possible in my bed, but I am also kind of paranoid about getting sick, so I haven't spend much time in that bed. What a buzzkil!

I slept in Munchkin's room both Saturday and Sunday, and of course she woke up kind of sick this morning, so I may need to revisit that now, too. She is at school, but I told her she can come home at lunch if she doesn't feel well. They have a science class outside this afternoon, and I would rather she skip being outside all day if she doesn't feel well.

I wanted to write a bit about Saturday night, which was awesome. I guess some of you never got the original story, but every once in a while, Smoking Hot Roommate takes a handful of girls who are being treated at the Dana Farber Cancer hospital out for a "Girls Night Out." It stems from a teenage leukemia patient telling her a couple years back that what she really missed out on most was the regular stuff that teenagers do...the really normal, everyday girly stuff.

So SHR talked to a couple of doctors that she has met during her various charitable endeavors who identify the girls that they think would really benefit. And then she hit up a bunch of businesses to donate things to these girls. Usually a limo or two comes to pick up the girls and drive them to a spa for some pampering...mani's and pedi's and facials and the girls that have hair can get their hair done. Again, just silly girly stuff.

The girls also can bring a friend if they want...and the girls that live around here almost always do. The friends either pay their own way, or the sick girl's parents sometimes pay, or SHR will pay for her if need be...but she doesn't usually want to ask for donations for the friends. Either way, the overall cost is not that steep considering how much good it can do.

Then they go shopping, either somewhere on Newbury St. or at the Copley mall or someplace like that. Ella W asked yesterday who picks up the tab for the shopping, and the answer is that kind of a couple different parties do. Generally stores are pretty willing to give like a $50 gift card to a teenage girl with cancer, especially if it is part of a larger group. Some other donations go to help pay for some of it, too.

And finally they have a fancy dinner somewhere downtown. Again, SHR usually asks that the restaurant pick up the tab for the sick girls and she or someone else pays for the friends and anyone else that is there. Generally the restaurants are more than willing, especially if you have an early reservation (they don't care about donating the food so much as tying up a really big table...but if you sit at 6:00 and they can still book the table at 8:00, that is just fine).

I have gone a couple of times, and it amazes me how positive these girls can remain despite being very ill. It can also be a little depressing...they usually get extremely tired towards the end just because they don't have the strength. And one girl that went on the earliest ventures has since died:-( Another left the hospital, but is back two years later because she has relapsed:-(

I have just always thought it was a really, really nice thing to do. It doesn't make these girls cancer any less serious, and it doesn't do anything to cure the disease. But for these girls, for at least one day, they get to do some of the things that the rest of us take for granted but that they get completely deprived of.

I am gonna finish with one quick note that made me cry...one of the girls this weekend is from Pennsylvania. She is 15, she is a sophomore in High School and she has a rare kind of lymphoma that required her to come to Boston for treatment. Her mother gets here as much as she can, but she has no father and three younger siblings, so her mother can't be here all the time. So, for a large chunk of the month and a half that she has been here, she has been kind of alone.

She was a pretty natural fit to come on this outing, and they had arranged for her best friend to come up to spend the weekend visiting and come out with everyone. Her friend made an appointment to get her hair done while we were at the salon, and then asked the hairdresser to shave her head completely bald so she could look like her friend:-) I think that is a pretty ballsy thing for a 15 year old cheerleader, who is clearly one of the "pretty girls" to do...

Yes, I am crying again...