Author: Average Jane

When I was a child, I was always terrified that there might be a monster under my bed. Thus, I spent much of my childhood tucked firmly into the covers lest the monster seize an exposed arm or leg. I don't know what I thought the monster might actually do if it grabbed a limb, but it seemed like a risk I wasn't willing to take.

This morning I was sleeping comfortably with one arm dangling over the edge of the bed when suddenly a creature seized my hand in its claws and began biting my fingers. Because I am a grownup, this caused me to wake up only slightly annoyed rather than terror-stricken.

I took it as a hint that Trillian was ready to get up, so now we're hanging out in my office while I decide what to have for breakfast.

In keeping with my goal of spending more time at home, I have tonight open. Here's a little look at what I'll be doing:

• Burrito Night! – The Price Chopper grocery store near my house makes fresh, delicious tortillas every day. Thus, my husband and I frequently declare Burrito Night! when I know I'll be cooking at home. I mix ground beef with Spanish Gardens taco seasoning (a local brand) and make a batch of Mexican rice to go with it (lately I've been fond of Vigo, although I do have a good recipe for when I'm feeling motivated). If tomatoes are in season, I chop up a quick batch of salsa; otherwise I buy some. A little shredded cheese, some lettuce, and Burrito Night! is on!
• Laundry – I've always wondered if I'd keep up with my laundry better if my washer and dryer weren't down in our dank basement at the foot of a set of narrow, hazardous stairs. Eh, probably not. Regardless, I am facing a situation where nearly every functional garment in the household is now dirty. Some clean towels and sheets might come in handy as well.
• TV – I saw that the DVR had Scrubs from this week. Also, I fell asleep around 9 last night, so I still have yesterday's episode of The Daily Show.
• Knitting – I learned to knit today! I don't know if I'll have time to actually do much knitting tonight, but I need to make myself do a row here and there whenever I get the chance just so I don't forget how. As Cagey predicted, my previous crocheting experience is helping a lot, even though I'm a lousy crocheter.
• Kitteh Snuggling – Because they wouldn't have it any other way.

What are you doing tonight?

I'm usually a pretty live-in-the-moment kind of person, but there are a few things that I'm planning for 2009 that I thought I'd make a note of. They're in no particular order and of random significance.

• Keep a record of all the books I read. I'm always impressed with bloggers' year-end lists of books because I never have any idea how many books I read, which were my favorites, or indeed which books I even read in the last 365 days by the time the year's out. I'm starting a spreadsheet, just for the heck of it.
• Block off days on my calendar. For some reason, I tend to view an unscheduled day as a challenge and I will pack each day with a zillion activities. My pre-holiday vacation and the time I had off between Christmas and New Year's Day showed me that I need more time to be home, hang out with my husband, play with the cats and just do nothing sometimes.
• Do more public speaking. I've done a decent job networking over the past several years and I am proud to know a lot of people in my field all over the country. The next logical step is to participate more actively in conferences and other social media industry events. My first step toward that goal will be later this month when I serve as a panelist for a Kansas City Social Media Club discussion about Twitter.
• Learn to knit. Employees where I work get together each year to knit things and donate them to charity. There are people around to teach those who don't know how to knit (like me!) and the company provides the knitting needles and yarn. I'm looking forward to my first knitting lesson on Thursday. Let's hope I become a better knitter than I am a crocheter. The only things I can crochet are squares and rectangles (hot pad holders and scarves).
• Get back to three yoga classes per week. I don't know how I let myself wander away from yoga, but there's no excuse for missing the two classes a week held at my office. I really have no excuse for not making it to one of the Saturday morning classes each week as well. I always feel much better, physically and mentally, when I'm taking yoga regularly.

That's the short list of plans that I refuse to refer to as "resolutions." Any similar plans of your own

Ah yes, we'd just wrapped up Christmas (no pun intended) in my last update.

After that, I had gigs on Friday and Saturday nights. The bronchitis, it was still a factor. Mostly it sapped my energy, which is not good for the front person of a rock band. I also ended up having to use my inhaler both evenings because it's really helpful to be able to take deep breaths when belting out AC/DC, etc.

I slept until about noon on Sunday and then made a big batch of fried chicken. Thanks for the suggestion, XO! After a gigantic 2:30 p.m. breakfast of fried chicken, french fries and coleslaw, we weren't hungry again until 8:30 at night.

So far today I've taken down the Christmas tree, which process worked the cats into a frenzy. I also took out the trash and recycling, but only as far as the garage because I slept past the pickup time.

On the to-do list for today:

• A few hours of work for my actual job.
• Put up flyers for our New Year's Eve gig.
• Rework our set list for the abovementioned gig to include "Auld Lang Syne" at the appropriate time, among other changes.
• Keep my fingers crossed that my chiropractor can work me in today or tomorrow.
• Drink Dan's beer at 75th Street Brewery.

That should keep me busy, don't you think?

Happy, Merry, Happy and Happy to you! Gotta cover all the holiday bases.

My husband and I had Christmas Eve dinner at my dad and stepmother's house. Aside from a veal marsala-related cooking burn, it all went well.

I brought with me a bottle of Boulevard Brewery Smokestack Series Bourbon Barrel Quad Ale that I'd spotted at the liquor store while buying wine for the holiday social whirlwind. If I'd had any idea how absolutely delicious it was going to be, I'd have bought the store's remaining stock (7 hard-to-find bottles). It's a pale ale aged in bourbon barrels with cherries that comes in a pint bottle, corked like champagne. I think I'm going to spend all my free time this weekend on a quest to buy as many more bottles as I can find.

Trillian says, "Oh hai!"

I spent Christmas Day at my sister's house eating and eating and eating and cooking and eating some more. I also seem to remember some gifts being exchanged.

My aunt gave me a board game called Smart Ass, which we played more or less immediately. I lost. Twice.

My niece and nephew were pretty meh about the gifts I gave them, but it was stuff that they'll probably come to enjoy more once the avalanche of new toys has been cleared away.

My college-age cousin seemed to really enjoy the poster and book I gave  him. Plus, I think I gained some major cool points with him by recognizing that he was wearing an XKCD t-shirt. In fact, I almost bought him that very shirt.

My husband and I exchanged gifts way in advance. I got him a gift certificate to get his hair highlighted and cut. He got me a GPS so I wouldn't have to keep littering the floor of my car with Google Maps printouts.

I don't go back to the office until January 2nd, but I'll be working a little each day to stay caught up on my social media monitoring for clients.

My band is playing tonight, tomorrow night and New Year's Eve, so that'll keep me busy.

How was your holiday? Are you looking forward to 2009?

Oh, hi there. Were you looking for me? Let me peel myself out of my cocoon of blankets and provide a little update then.

So we had gigs last Friday and Saturday. That would have been all well and good except that I was head-down-on-your-desk exhausted both days. I'd had a cold since Tuesday, but a lot of the symptoms had been Zicammed away so I didn't realize just how under the weather I was until I had to sing and move around on stage for an entire evening.

Despite screwing up song after song, I managed to make it through Friday's gig. Since we didn't have to tear down our stuff, I made a beeline for the car and waited for my husband to get a bar employee to open the back gate so we could get out. He was gone a really long time and eventually I opened the door with the idea of going back in to see what was going on. I didn't need to go in: the yelling, screaming and cursing I could hear from the back parking lot told me there was a full-on bar brawl taking place inside.

I did the only thing that made sense: sat back down and closed my eyes until the bar management had thrown everyone out and we finally got the gate open.

The next night was somewhat better, but only because I'd had a minor amount of sleep and some caffeine. I messed up fewer songs anyway.

On Sunday, I went to my sister's house to make holiday candy and cookies. Then my husband and I went out for dinner and a movie and I turned in early.

I was supposed to be at work at 8:00 a.m. on Monday for a meeting, but that's about the time I woke up. Yes, I was sicker than ever. I'd coughed most of the night and then massively overslept. I slunk into the meeting around 9:30 and stayed until it was over at noon, then made a doctor's appointment for later in the afternoon.

So now I have two kinds of pills, a new inhaler and renewed hope that I'll be okay to sing both nights this weekend and New Year's Eve. I'm still rather tired, but I don't have to be anywhere early on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so I should be able to get plenty of sleep.

Tonight I'm planning on wrapping presents, cleaning up our messy house a bit, and chilling with the kitties until bedtime.

So what are you up to?

In case I haven't already notified you by e-mail, Facebook, my company e-newsletter, or by knocking on your door at 6:00 a.m., my band is playing this weekend, next weekend and New Year's Eve.

If you're interested, here are the details. The links in the dates are to the Facebook event pages, in case you'd like to RSVP.

Friday, December 19th and Saturday, December 20th
9:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Doc Holliday's
14816 E US Highway 40
Kansas City, Missouri
No cover charge

Friday, December 26th and Saturday, December 27th
9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Michael's Lakewood Pub
811 NE Lakewood Blvd.
Lee's Summit, Missouri
No cover charge

New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31st
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Aftershock Bar & Grill
5240 Merriam Dr.
Merriam, Kansas
$5.00 cover charge

So now you know what I'll be doing with much of my free time over the holidays. How about you?

Now that it's snowy outside, I decided it was time to clean off these boots and wear them again.

I got most of the mud off, but they were in serious need of polishing.

When I opened my ancient tin of Kiwi black shoe polish, it was all dried up and broken into chunks. For a moment, I considered whether it might be possible to put the remaining polish in a microwave-safe container, melt it, and pour it back into the tin.

Then I came to my senses and realized that it couldn't possibly cost more than a few dollars to just buy some more. After all, I'd probably had my current supply for more than a decade.

In the meantime, I did the best I could with what was left in the old tin.