Saturday, December 31, 2005

End of the Year Meme: 2005 redux

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

What resolutions?

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, three friends did this year! Lori had Ben in June, Kim had Emily in June, and Christa had Harrison in September.

Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. My Grandma died from pancreatic cancer on August 8th.

What countries did you visit?

Canada. More specifically, Burlington and Orangeville, Ontario, Canada.

What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?

Materialistically, a new car (this is a carry over from last year).

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Staying employed?

What was your biggest failure?

Not finding a better job.

What was the best thing you bought?

Our new house.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Matt. He has been ultra-supportive through everything that happened with my Grandma's sickness and subsequent death; and with all the bullshit going on for me at work.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

I can't really say who it is because I'd like to stay employed.

Where did most of your money go?

Bills.

What did you get really excited about?

Moving into our new house and the U2 concert we went to on December 9th.

What song will always remind you of 2005?

Gorrilaz - "Feel Good Inc."
Hot Hot Heat - "Middle of Nowhere"

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?

Sadder.

Thinner or fatter?

The same.

Richer or poorer?

Same in some ways. Our savings is somewhat depleted due to the buying of the house, but we have a house and I'm making more per hour than I did a year ago.

What do you wish you'd done more of?

Been able to pay off one of my bills so I could save more. And read more books.

What do you wish you'd done less of?

Watched less tv probably.

How will you be spending Christmas?

We spent it with our families.

Did you fall in love in 2005?

Yes, I fell in love with our second new doggy, Zak.

How many one-night stands?

Well, we have several night-stands in our new house. One in each of the bedrooms in fact!

What was your favorite TV program?

CSI. The original. Still.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Again, can't name those people.

What was the best book you read?

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

What was your greatest musical discovery?

The new album by Franz Ferdinand

What did you want and get?

Our house.

What did you want and not get?

A new, or even new-used, car.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, March of the Penguins, & Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

What did you do on your birthday?

My parents were visiting, so we looked at some shops near Mayville and had dinner at the Nik-L-Inn.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?

Umm. Layers? As in, let's buy more cuddl duds so I don't freeze my arse off at work.

What kept you sane?

My husband.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Jon Stewart. If I wasn't and he wasn't married....

What political issue stirred you the most?

I'm not sure I paid that much attention this year. That's not true either. The county executive race in our county. Unfortunately, our guy lost. Now we wait in quiet anticipation to see what his successor will do.

Who did you miss?

My Grandma.

Who was the best new person you met?

Amy. Our H.R. Manager. She's very smart and very supportive.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:

Spend quality time with those you love.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own


U2- "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Surviving Long Winter Months


Two of the things that help me get through our gray, cold winter months in Western New York are WBFO evening jazz programs and really good hot drinks. I don't care if it's an awesome cup of coffee, hot chocolate, steamed egg nog, or hot cider just as long as it's hot. Locally, Tom & Jerry's are pretty popular, but I can't get into alcoholic hot drinks. The jazz helps mostly because it reminds me of my youth. Java Joe's, yada yada yada. I reflected on the fact that as a teen I couldn't wait to get older so I could hang out in coffee shops every night, enjoying the sweet music performed by Eastman School of Music students. Fill in your favorite cliche about youth being wasted here. That's the past. I think I'll go enjoy the rest of my hot cocoa and wallow in a little Blue Train.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Happy Holidays


I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a happy holidays. I mean that in the broadest of senses since we are knee-deep in the wonderful collage of festivities for various religions and cultures. The Winter Solstice was last Wednesday, Christmas was Sunday, tonight is the second night of Hannukah, Kwanzaa began today, and I'm sure there's so much more I'm forgetting. And then on Saturday night, we will ring out 2005 and celebrate the new beginnings of 2006. Here's hoping that the new year will bring much more happiness than this year.

No Surprises to Report In The End

Cardinal sins aside, I unfortunately don't have any exciting news all said and done. I'll tell you the short hullabaloo that was raised in our house for a couple of days. And that would be that for about a week, Matt and I seriously looked into buying a specialty beer store. I wouldn't say it worked out since we haven't spoken to our bank about getting a loan, and the store owners did have other offers on the table. I would say I'm a little disappointed if not for the fact that running the store involved selling cigarettes. That didn't sit well with me, and when you take into consideration that cigarette sales made up a huge percentage of the profit, it was bound to be uncomfortable.

So that would have been the good news if it had worked out. Maybe another time.

The not so hot news is that things are in flux for me at my job. I'm still employed, but how that all is going could be described as somewhat demoralizing. I do not wish to say more since you never know who reads your blog. Suffice to say, it will become an even tighter financial situation in our household.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Plotting

A lot of underground and if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you-and-myself stuff going on in my life right now. Some of it is not very good and some having me thinking that instant karma is possible. In a good way. So in the spirit of Waking Dreams, I'll leave you hanging until it all shakes out.

To save you some curiosity, I will tell you it's not any of the following:
  1. I'm not pregnant
  2. I haven't won the lottery
  3. Matt hasn't become allergic to anything new
  4. No one has died or is dying. Well, no one new at least.
  5. Again, I'm not pregnant (because I know y'all wish that on me, you haters)

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Rawk

PUNK ROCK: Oh boy, rock with an opinion.
Punk rock is generally known for its loud
proclamations, which are generally critical of
the government and other things that are going
on in the world at the time when the punk rock
band was around. This means that you're an
opinionated individual who stands up for their
beliefs, is very loyal, but can be very
stubborn as well. You're definitely a rebel.
Some punk rock bands: Green Day, the Ramones, &
the Sex Pistols


The Rock and Roll Personality Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Damn Lot of Snow

I'm wrapped up in an afghan while I write this. It's been a fairly busy morning. I've already taken the dogs out, shoveled the walkway to the driveway and our front steps, eaten breakfast, read the Buffalo News, caught up on all my blogs, added some TMBG to my iTunes, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and am now listening to a playlist I created of stuff I actually own that is in WBER's rotation.

I haven't felt a need to move from my spot in front of the computer since I noticed that it's snowing again. The snow caused some problems across our county yesterday. Besides postponing our annual holiday parade, the Living Christmas Tree performance scheduled for 8pm was canceled. I guess they've almost never canceled a performance in the program's 21 year history. We're back on schedule for tonight. Matt and his parents are coming to the 8pm show. I've made Matt promise to take me to Friendly's afterwards for ice cream. I don't care how cold and snowy it is outside, there's something comforting about continuing a tradition as set by my parents when I started playing violin years ago.

Thursday, December 01, 2005






There is a list of the 50 greatest indie films online. Surprisingly, I've only seen 9 of the films. My aversion to violence and gore are probably to blame. However, I have seen Reservoir Dogs.

Sometimes you can never tell.

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...