Category: Daily Life

My company has been closed for the holidays since December 21st. Today’s the day that I cast aside my slothful lifestyle of the past week-and-two-days and return to the office.

I meant to accomplish a bit more during my break than I actually did. The half-bath didn’t get painted. My closet didn’t get cleaned out, nor did my office. I think I only did one or two loads of laundry.

However, I did get some good solid rest. I paid all my bills, caught up on a reasonable number of household errands and had a little time to hang out with my husband. I even managed to work in some animal volunteer work followed by a pedicure.

2008 is set to be a year of fun changes for me at work, and I’m eager to get back in and see how things go.

I’ll be heading out the door as soon as I take a shower, clean up the kitchen, and pack my breakfast and lunch. I guess that means I’d better wrap this up. More tomorrow!

Not to get too metaphorical on ya, but you could think of today as the first tracks across the fresh snow of the new year. Too much? Yeah, probably.

I finally got around to putting a bunch of my latest photos on Flickr. Go and have a look, if you’re so inclined.

While I wait for the last of the champagne to wear off, here’s the easiest recipe you’ll get from me all year. It’s simmering away in my crockpot as I type this and it smells so good that I almost wish I could just skip breakfast and proceed directly to:

Zesty Roast Beef Sandwiches

1 chuck roast
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 jar sliced pepperoncini peppers
1 beer
Sliced Italian rolls
Horseradish sauce

Place roast in crockpot, sprinkle with Italian dressing mix and pour in beer and the juice from the pepperoncini peppers. Cover, turn crockpot to "Low" and cook for 8 to 12 hours. Shred beef with a fork when done. Serve on Italian rolls spread with horseradish sauce and garnished with pepperoncini peppers.

Happy New Year to everyone who reads this! I hope your 2008 is everything you wish it will be.

One of these days, I’ll post some photos from my new camera. I’m just too lazy right now.

If you’re a Kansas City area blogger who’s getting as tired of sitting on the couch as I am, come out to a Blogger Meetup tomorrow from 4:30 p.m. to whenever.

75th Street Brewery
520 W. 75th Street
Kansas City, MO

For the rest of you, I promise some sort of semi-legitimate post soon.

I meant to post earlier, but I was too busy treating myself to the laziest day I’ve had in as long as I can remember.

I woke up early and took my car to the dealer for a recall repair. While I was waiting, I started reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I read for more than an hour at the dealership, then returned home and after a brief trip to the bagel shop with my husband to keep him company as he ate breakfast, I settled onto the couch determined to read the rest.

All day long I read for long stretches, stopping occasionally to eat small meals and snacks (leftover minestrone, a pastrami sandwich, an orange, and a ramekin of leftover chocolate pot d’creme from Christmas Eve).

Now and then I’d put the book down and nap for a while with cats piled all over me.

It’s now a little after 7:00 p.m. and I just read the last page. I’d chosen the book for a book club and was pleased to discover that it was really, really good and full of surprises. I can’t wait to discuss it with everyone else, but our meeting has been postponed until the Sunday after next.

As you might gather from my account of today’s activities, Christmas Day was a little more strenuous. I loaded my car with food and gifts around 9:30 a.m. and headed to my sister’s house. We spent the morning preparing snacks and drinking mimosas. The rest of the guests arrived between noon and one, and we spent the afternoon opening gifts, eating dinner and chatting.

This was a year of lavish gifts from friends and family alike. My husband got me a new Pentax digital camera that’s small enough to tuck into my purse. It takes gorgeous photos and I’m really looking forward to having it handy whenever I spot something I’d like to photograph.

I got tons of books: "I Like You" by Amy Sedaris, "Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin, "Baking" by Dorie Greenspan, "Mortification: Writers’ Stories of Their Public Shame" edited by Robin Robertson, "Full Frontal Feminism" by Jessica Valenti, and "How to Write Great Songs" by Michael Heatley and Alan Brown.

I also received a cool checkmark-shaped bookshelf from my sister, which will obviously come in handy.

I got two calendars: a Far Side desk calendar which will be useful for work, and a 2008 George Bush Out of Office Countdown wall calendar. Clearly, my friends can read my mind.

The gift list doesn’t stop there. It also includes a retro rock themed t-shirt, a nice sweater, a beautiful art glass necklace, a gift set of Fresh Lemon Sugar lotion, cologne and shower gel, and some tangerine-scented soap.

I was rather dumbfounded to get so much stuff at the end of a year that’s been so financially rough for most people. To everyone who bought me such thoughtful gifts: I’ll enjoy every one to the fullest.

Now it’s evening and snowing outside, so I imagine I’ll stay parked here on the couch until bedtime. Tomorrow I’ll post some of the photos I’ve taken with the new camera. (Mostly cats and things, but my choice of subjects is a little limited right now.)

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. Have any good stories about yours?

Clockwise from upper left: bourbon balls, marshmallows, pecan butter cookies, jam thumbprint cookies, peppermint bark, peanut brittle and toasted pecans covered in chocolate.

All the gifts have been wrapped, I’ve made multiple pounds of candy and cookies, and today I’m prepared to make rolls for tomorrow’s feast. Since everything is under control, I’ll finally do the holiday meme that I’ve been seeing around for the past week or so.

1. Wrapping or gift bags?
   I prefer wrapping.
2. Real or artificial tree?
   I love real trees, but we’ve had an artificial tree for the past five or six years that’s tall, narrow and fits perfectly into the corner of our small living room.
3. When do you put up the tree?
   Ordinarily it would be Thanksgiving weekend or perhaps the weekend after. However, this year I didn’t put it up at all.
4. When do you take the tree down?
   New Year’s Day.
5. Do you like eggnog?
   Ugh. No way. My dad used to make eggnog pancakes at Christmastime when we were kids and I didn’t even like it that way.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
   I still remember my first Malibu Barbie. I thought she was pretty cool.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
   No, but my sister has the ceramic one we made when we were kids.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
   I really can’t discuss the all-time worst, but there have been some notably bad Christmas sweatshirts and other crafty items over the years.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
   I fully intend to mail some Christmas cards between now and the beginning of 2008.
10. Favorite Christmas Movie?
    I listed my top five on Lazy Eye Theatre earlier this week: A Christmas Story, Elf, Bad Santa, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Gremlins.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
    Around Thanksgiving or sometimes slightly before that.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
    Peppermint bark
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
    Either one.
14. Favorite Christmas song?
    It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
    All of the rellies live within 30 minutes of me, so it’s more of a commute than travel.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer.
    Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph.
     
17. Angel on the tree top or a star?
    I prefer a star, but as I’ve mentioned before, I happen to have an angel that reminds me of Celine Dion.
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
    My husband and I almost never wait until Christmas Day to open our gifts to each other. However, all of the rest are opened on Christmas Day.
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
    The way people drive – it’s even worse than usual right now.
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
    No, it’s a mishmash of ornaments that have been given to me or caught my eye over the years.
21. What do you leave for Santa?
    Santa doesn’t stop by our house; we’re too old and he doesn’t think our cats count as kids.
22. Least favorite holiday song?
    Oh, how can I choose just one? "Santa Baby" is definitely on the list, as is "Do They Know It’s Christmas," which I’ve found annoying and patronizing since it debuted. I could go on and on.
23. Favorite ornament?
    I have a lot of favorites: a pirate ship, a robot, a martini glass, the die-shaped one from Vegas that I bought when we renewed our vows…there are probably lots more that I won’t remember until I get the ornaments out again (next year, if all goes well).

Have a lovely holiday! I’m giving myself a day off from posting tomorrow, but I’ll be back on Wednesday with my Loot Report.

Dear Toys-R-Us,

Thanks for reminding me every single day that I can still get gifts from you before Christmas. I hate to hold a grudge, but I just can’t get past that Christmas in 1998 – you know, during the height of the first dotcom boom, when I ordered a whole bunch of gifts from you and they never arrived. Yes, you gave me $100 in gift certificates, which was the right thing to do. But you know what they say: once bitten, twice shy.

Sincerely,

Average Jane

Dear World Market,

You’re a shining example of why online and offline retailing need some database convergence. Your daily e-mails hint at some desperation at my failure to buy from you this holiday season. However, I actually dropped a significant amount of money at one of your retail stores a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for checking in, though!

Your customer,

Average Jane

Dear Amazon,

I know you’re perfectly well aware of how much I’ve spent with you this holiday season. Yet the e-mails continue daily, even though we both know it’s too late for me to order anything else and get it on time. C’mon, don’t be greedy. You don’t want to end up like VistaPrint, from whose e-mail list I finally unsubscribed because they had no boundaries whatsoever. Just a friendly warning.

Yours truly,

Average Jane

With the exception of one last gift that I need to purchase for our guitarist, who won’t be coming over until Thursday, I’m finished with all of my holiday shopping. I finked out a little with a big group of friends and got a lot of them the same thing, but I think it’s better to get any gift than not get a gift, isn’t it?

Tonight I need to wrap all of the friend gifts because I’ll be dropping them off Wednesday evening on my way from the airport to band practice. That’s right, I can’t even go to the party and watch people open their gifts because I’m too busy. Bah humbug.

Then I just need to wrap the family gifts, but I’m holding off as long as possible because Xena has already stolen one bow and riddled it with tooth holes.

I decided to call a halt to my shopping because I was starting to get to the "just one more" stage with a couple of people. Of course, as my sister pointed out, it’s not a contest. There’s no real point in piling yet another gift on the stack for someone – particularly when there are regular bills to be paid this month, too.

If you do the Christmas thing, are you finished shopping yet?

It snowed all day Friday and Saturday, so I ended up clomping around in my heavy combat boots all weekend long. I have a pair of Skechers that have lasted me so many seasons that I just replaced the laces for the second time.

On Friday evening, my husband and I picked up my niece and took her to Red Robin for dinner. When we got home, we baked brownies (minus the coconut because my niece doesn’t like it, and the chocolate chips because I didn’t have any).

I went ahead and gave her the "My Neighbor Totoro" DVD and we both enjoyed it a great deal. It’s nothing like most American animated movies: moody, atmospheric, villain-free and quite realistic in the way the characters interacted with one another. The totoros and the cat bus were an awesome combination of cool and a little bit scary. We ended up watching it again the next morning and I could tell that my niece was casting about for someone to watch it with her one more time when she got home on Saturday evening.

Even though it continued snowing all day Saturday, my niece and I still drove all over town and got our holiday shopping done. (Well, I’m almost done, but we got hers taken care of.) I did a big bunch of my shopping at World Market and she got presents for my sister, brother-in-law and nephew at Target.

We went back to my house and wrapped everything in the only wrapping paper I could find: two rolls of robot-print paper from Old Navy, and one leftover roll of more traditional paper that I’ve been working on for a couple of years now. I’m pretty sure I have two more rolls somewhere else, but I couldn’t find them. I’m hoping I can make these stretch so that I don’t have to buy any more this season.

On Sunday, I volunteered at the low cost spay/neuter clinic all day. It went pretty well until my last cat, a pretty long-haired young tabby female. She took her time waking up from the anesthetic, so once I was down to just her, I decided to hold her in my arms for a while. Big mistake. While I was walking around with her, she ended up peeing all over me. By the time I noticed, I had a big trail of cat pee down my side starting at my shirttail, going down the seam of my jeans and pooling on my boot. Lovely.

I cleaned off as well as I could and the cat still didn’t wake up for another 45 minutes. After I finally put her back in her carrier, cleaned off the table and left the clinic, I had to stop at Costco for some groceries. I considered skipping it, but I needed a bunch of stuff, so I went ahead and did my shopping, hoping fervently that I didn’t reek of cat. If it had been a male cat, I probably would have had no choice but to head home.

When I got home, my cats were very interested in my boots, even though I’d swabbed them down with alcohol. I took the rest of my clothes and threw them straight into the washer. OxiClean took care of both the cat pee and the blood I’d gotten on my shirt from another cat. Just a little consumer tip for you in case you ever happen to have blood stains you need to remove from your laundry.

So that was my weekend. What did you do?

Even though I’m not anywhere near finished Christmas shopping, I’ve been buying things and giving them well in advance. I’m starting to turn into my husband.

It actually started with my husband’s gift. I enrolled him in an online Audio Masterclass Course and it didn’t make sense to withhold that information when he could be spending the whole month studying. As it turns out, he’s been busy in the studio with clients, but he still has time to work on the course at night.

The cats also received a gift. My sister made a pilgrimage to Ikea in Minnesota last weekend and I had her pick this up for me while she was there. So far Xena is enjoying hiding underneath it, but nobody’s willing to sit in the top part. If they don’t take a shine to the bed on top soon, I’m going to move it away from the window and rearrange the living room.

My niece is spending the night here on Friday and we’ll go shopping on Saturday. I’m hoping to finish my shopping then, in between gingerbread house construction and  cookie baking. I’m also considering giving her one of her gifts in advance: a DVD of "My Neighbor Totoro." It would save me from having to watch Bratz or Barbie with her while she’s here.

Speaking of shopping, my company’s online holiday effort this year is the Bad Gift Emporium. It’s a collection of awful gifts we’ve all received over the years. I’ve put three items in there so far, and visitors are also encouraged to upload photos and descriptions of bad gifts. Here’s a video about the site.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Have a lovely Thursday.

Well, the weather held out just fine so that my husband and I could go see Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie at the new Sprint Center. We paid a fortune for a parking spot about two blocks away, even though we could have parked in the garage next to my office building for free. My husband had been fussing about the five-block walk for days and I figured we could park wherever he wanted as long as he was willing to be the one to pay.

The opening act was a band I’d never heard of called In This Moment. I’m not a big metalcore fan, but it was cool to see a heavy band with a female lead singer. Their set was only 20 minutes long, but you could tell that they were overjoyed to be on the tour at all.

Rob Zombie played all of his solo and White Zombie hits with a generous sprinkling of songs and video from his various movies. He’s very fond of cheesy sci-fi and horror films of the ’60s mingled with scenes from stag films of the same era, and the mishmash of images played on video screens all around the stage throughout the performance.

Ozzy also stuck mainly to his hit songs, playing only about three or four songs from the latest album. His interaction with the crowd ping-ponged between, "I can’t fuckin’ hear you!" and "I fuckin’ love you guys!" all evening long. Zakk Wylde is looking more and more like a Viking with every passing year. I think touring bands must spend all their spare time working out these days.

Another thing of interest to me about Ozzy’s band: his keyboard player is Adam Wakeman, son of famed Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

The crowd wasn’t exactly boiling over with enthusiasm for any of the bands. I think the Tuesday evening date and the unfamiliar venue may have contributed to that. Plus, the average age of the concert-goers had to have been hovering around 40. Forty-year-olds who have to go to work the next day just don’t rock out like teenagers.

Still, it was fun and we were glad we went. These days, we don’t go to concerts as much as we used to. It’s nice to get out from in front of the TV and see a band live now and then, no matter how good  concert DVDs can be.