Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?

Volunteered (in however tiny a way) for a presidential campaign.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Here's what my 2008 resolutions were: "This year I would like to do some improvements on my house and re-embrace exercise." I did re-embrace exercise, though not until the second half of the year. I didn't do any home improvements unless you count the new roof due to Gustav. I am pretty psyched to have a new roof but was not so psyched to have water pouring through the ceilings like miniature Niagara Falls in the middle of the night. As for 2009's resolutions ... I need a new hot water heater and AC/heater, but those aren't really proper resolutions. (My new washing machine arrived this very morning, hallelujah!) I'd like to stick with running, be a good friend, sister, pseudo-aunt, and daughter, and continue to travel down life's path attempting to make my dreams come true. Also, my sister and I made a mutual resolution: Clutter-Free in '09!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Several friends had lovely tiny babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

None. I did leave the continental U.S., though, when I went to Hawaii! Which was awesome.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A regular series of full nights of sleep. (Same as every year.)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Election night. Because it was a dream come true. And the days of Gustav, just because. And Snow Day because it was a rare and wonderful event.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Coming to terms with what I want out of this life, however difficult that process has been.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I don't feel I've failed in any significant way this year. I mean, of course I beat myself up and shame spiral over things big and small all the time, but that is just part of life.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just my shins, which were injured when beginning my training for the half-marathon. They seem to be doing better now (knock wood). And I got a RIDICULOUS cold near the end of the year after trouncing around in the snow like a giddy idiot and getting wet feet, but it finally went away, phew.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My plane tickets to D.C. and Hawaii.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My parents, for being generally awesome. My sister and her new husband's for taking the plunge and making the leap ... what a beautiful, brave thing ... I celebrate their partnership and their marriage with my whole heart and am so pleased to now have a wonderful new brother on top of the two super ones I already had.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Oh My Lord, McCain-Palin. All the time, but especially when their heinousness was very visible during their rallies and the debates; I will never forget rolling around on the floor of S.'s house in Hawaii in front of the TV as we actually writhed in agony and mortification over the things coming out of their mouths. And quite frankly all of the people who voted against gay rights in various elections. It sickens and saddens me a whole lot.

14. Where did most of your money go?

To my insurance company. Thanks, Hurricane Deductible!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Obama!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Now & forever, "Yes We Can."

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Both?

b) thinner or fatter? About the same, but a wee bit stronger. Just a wee.

c) richer or poorer? Richer, but not exceedingly more so.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Writing in my paper journal, spending time with girlfriends.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Stressing about classes. I mean, seriously. Life is too short, and I'm supposedly doing this degree for fun!

20. How did you spend Christmas?

I actually woke up and did "Punch, Kick, and Jam!" to start the day off right. Then we went to noon mass at a church other than our own, which my brother disdainfully said was akin to attending a Tulane football game. Then we gathered with my new brother-in-law's family for a giant meal cooked by my mother, which was fantastic. Then I guess we all hung around and digested for a while. Honestly last week in its entirety due to all of the wedding festivities, into which Christmas fell squarely in the middle, is a bit of a blur.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

I continued to be in love with the same person.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Aside from older favorites (Friday Night Lights, Ugly Betty, The Office), I rented and watched Wonderfalls in its entirety and enjoyed it very much. I was also completely obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance and Mad Men.

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

I can't think of anyone.

24. What was the best book you read?

Best novels: True Believer by Virginia Euwer Woolf, My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger, Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George, The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block, The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, and Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Best short story collections: What Gets Into Us by Moira Crone and Pilgrims by Elizabeth Gilbert. Best nonfiction: When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris and The Race to Save the Lord God Bird by Phillip Hoose and of course Schuyler's Monster by my pal Rob Rummel-Hudson. Best graphic novels: see here. I read a lot of damn fine books this year, it turns out!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Far and away, the Avett Brothers. And Brandi Carlile, many years too late. (I actually first heard her at the very tail-end of last year, but my love did not fully blossom until this year.) Best new Broadway musical soundtrack: Billy Elliot. And I am very in love with Ingrid Michaelson's new album. And I had a fantastic time at the Michael Buble concert.

26. What did you want and get?

An Obama victory. Back on the fitness wagon, albeit in fits & starts. A Superhero pendant.

27. What did you want and not get?

Rid of my under-eye circles.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

My favorite movies of the ones I saw this year were The Counterfeiters, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, In Bruges, Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Rescuers, Lars and the Real Girl, Gone Baby Gone, The King of Kong, and Stardust. Of those, Lars and the Real Girl was my absolute favorite, with Miss Pettigrew and In Bruges tied for a close second. I am still waiting to see Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. Overall, a good year for movies for me!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 33 and had dinner with B. and then threw myself a karaoke birthday party.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I hate to sound like a broken record, but more sleep.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Jeans? T-shirts? The usual.

32. What kept you sane?

The love of all the great people & pets in my life. Having a good, steady job while the economy went haywire. Chalene & Jillian.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Probably Jon Stewart simply because The Daily Show helped me survive election season without going completely berserk.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The presidential election.

35. Whom did you miss?

B. when he went to France for the summer.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

This is a hard one! I guess maybe I didn't meet anyone new. Is that weird?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Doing what's right can be very hard.

Also, I continue to really love this poem that my friend Grace once posted on her site. (I still haven't really come to a firm position on the giving up God part, but I deeply love and cling to the rest of this poem.)

Instructions

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
throw away some more.
Repeat. Repeat.
Keep this and only this:
what your heart beats loudly for
what feels heavy and full in your gut.
There will only be one or two
things you will keep,
and they will fit lightly
in your pocket.

Sheri Hostetler

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

... We only get so many days ...
Just do your best.
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity.
Maybe I don't have to be good, but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far.

"When I Drink," the Avett Brothers

(The same survey: 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.)

Maid of honoring

It's a good thing I took off this week so I could devote full attention to my duties as my sister's maid of honor! Phew! This might be the most fun job ever, though. It involves accompanying her on errands, lunching, drinking half cafe au lait/half hot chocolate, folding programs, arranging table cards, opining about sash tying methods, searching for toeless panty hose, making playlists, scanning pictures, attending fancy brunches with mimosas and cheese grits, watching parents cry, eating all of the treats people keep dropping by, sharing lovely sisterly gifts, and so forth. Being the maid of honor means you participate in the action without the pressure of getting married. Not that it's pressure! It's a wonderful thing. But you know what I mean. The week is already flying by, and the big day will be here before we know it. I kind of want it to slow down so we can keep accomplishing fun tasks together.

So, it's been a hectic but enjoyable week so far, the freezing weather notwithstanding, which I HATE. It is allegedly warming up later today as God meant it to when placing us in the South.

I've had a little revelation about my running training. After having to take another 9 days off because I could barely breathe without coughing so hard it felt like my lungs were about to fall out onto the floor during the '08 Cough of Doom, I found myself running three miles on Saturday and two miles yesterday and enjoying this concept of shorter runs just for the fun of it. I realize that though I could keep amping up the long runs to train for the half-marathon, maybe I would be a much happier person running what are normal lengths to me (like 3 miles) on a regular basis and still doing my videos, which I miss. Maybe I should just do the 5K instead of the half-marathon and start enjoying running and life again. The whole point in my mind was to force myself back into a regular exercise routine, and I have. So ... I haven't made a definite decision, but that's where I'm leaning right now. It's sort of anti-climactic to train to accomplish a mission I already accomplished two years ago. I'd like to just stick with exercising regularly in whatever form that takes. That would feel like an even greater achievement at this point, frankly!

(Later ...) It has indeed warmed up outside! Thank goodness. Most of today was spent working on a slideshow. In between scanning and selecting pictures and making my mom watch different slideshow versions over and over and eating an awesome grilled cheese sandwich she made for me, I went through my iPhoto albums and deleted 2,000 pictures. I still have 5,000. It is absurd, and I know I need to delete lots more. Most are already backed up on discs, on my external hard drive, on Flickr, and in Kodak Gallery albums ... there is no need for them to just be hanging around cluttering up my hard drive and making my sweet little iBook stall and freeze and sputter all the time. Meanwhile, for the life of us, my dad and I could not figure out how to connect my iBook to his LCD projector so the slideshow would actually play. This caused a near heat stroke because LCD projectors burn at about 1,000,000 degrees. At one point I actually sat underneath the kitchen table to escape its blare and sweltering exhaust. LCD projectors are nothing to trifle with, apparently. While working on this project, I consumed approximately 6 caramel pecan pralines, and I am surprised my teeth are still intact.

I think I need to lie down and read Sarah Vowell now. I'll close this one off with some recent pictures o' holiday family fun.

Things Worth Doing, 51-75

51. Standing in the room where Keats died.
52. Holding my grandmother's hand when she died.
53. Eating the mashed up frozen red kool-aid snow-cones my other grandmother would make for us.
54. Riding the gondola across the river at the '84 World's Fair and thinking the gondola shadows on the water were giant turtles.
55. Singing songs in the camp dining hall before a meal.
56. The way Dove dishwashing soap still smells like the bubbles on the camp slide.
57. Walking around Lake Derwentwater in the rain with my sister.
58. Finding the Singing Machine hidden in the closet right before Christmas.
59. Walking along the Chesapeake Bay beach looking for shark's teeth.
60. Going to a concert at Red Rocks.
61. Hearing our voices echo by candlelight at Christmas choral concerts in the cathedral.
62. Sitting around the piano belting out showtunes with the siblings.
63. Standing in the Sistene Chapel first thing in the morning and realizing it's both a lot smaller and a lot more awesome than anticipated.
64. Riding the funiculare up to the overlook over Lake Como.
65. Staring out at the Pacific Ocean from the California cliffs with my family.
66. Staining our fingers with red Jell-o powder at swim meets.
67. Doing my first 5K in Cambridge on a drizzly morning.
68. Finding out that the sellers accepted my offer on the house.
69. That one time I got up on water skis.
70. Visiting Boston's Public Gardens and feeling the presence of Cynthia & Tom Terrific.
71. Ice skating at Rockefeller Center.
72. Hearing my 30-something older brother speak baby talk to his cocker spaniel.
73. Seeing the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter at Chastain Park.
74. Hearing the Avett Brothers sing "Murder in the City" live with my little brother by my side.
75. Falling in love with B.

(1-25, 26-50.)

Week 9, Run 2

Today was SNOW DAY. Pretty awesome. I got off of work early and carved in a little time between frolicking about and cooking for the gym ... I intended to do five miles but only did three. I have a bit of a cough, and my lungs were burning. Otherwise, the run was fine; I watched General Hospital and thought about how much I enjoy when it gets written about over at Serial Drama. There were only a few scenes with Robin, Mac, Patrick, and the baby, but they made the episode worth watching. I used to watch this soap regularly during college and loved it a lot. Now it seems kind of like a parody of itself, as if soaps aren't parodies enough in the first place. If you know what I mean.

I might try to run five tomorrow; I don't know. Right now I'm full of curry and peppermint brownies and hot chocolate and snowy, snowy love. We'll see what happens.

Snow!

I went to bed last night relaxed in a way that only a horrible night's sleep the previous night AND finishing classes for the semester can let a person do. I read a little old school David Sedaris and pulled the covers over my head and prepared for a cold night, one where a "wintry mix" was predicted. I figured this meant cold, miserable rain and braced myself for the coming day of grayness and grossness. I heard precipitation falling outside when I woke up about 6:45, and as I reached over to turn off the alarm clock on my iPhone, I checked my e-mail while still under the covers with my head on the pillow, and there was an e-mail from my mother from mere moments before: "IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shot out of bed and looked out the window and not only was it snowing, it was SNOWING. All I could see outside was whiteness: the street, the sidewalk, the yard, the neighbor's roof across the way. I threw on some sweatpants, boots, and a coat and grabbed my Dunder Mifflin umbrella and went to the backdoor to let the dogs out to explore the backyard. They weren't all that excited about the snow, but I sure was.

That was the beginning of a wonderful day. I went into work for a few hours as one of the few who showed up -- some had other meetings and some have little kids and some live far away, and school was canceled. That's right. School canceled, bridges shut down, you name it. I know this will make those in colder climates roll their eyes but you have to understand that this sort of thing only happens about every 20 or 30 years down here. It snowed briefly in 2002, enough to cover the ground, but that was about it. I don't remember it lasting very long, though it was very exciting because my brothers did something cool in my parents' yard that I can't seem to find a picture of at the moment.

The last time it snowed this much (like, 2 or 3 inches that hung around for a good part of a day or two) was in 1988. I was in the 7th grade. We had free dress day that day, I remember, and it was some sort of Spirit Day at school. Somehow we ended up pouring into the parking lot, scraping snow off of our teachers' cars, and throwing snowballs at each other before being sent home early. It was delirious happiness for us, who had never before seen snow like that in our lifetimes unless our families went skiing for Christmas, which not many of our families did. I still have happy memories of that day and that weekend, how it felt to have our hair wet with falling snow and pink cheeks and that sense of celebration. My little brother and Shelley's little brother built a snowman in our front yard -- they were about four years old. All I'm saying is that it was a great time. And it's been more than 20 years since.

So seeing the streets of town covered in whiteness created a lot of joy today. I loved looking out the windows at work (before being sent home early, of course) and seeing how different the same boring sights I see every day looked when covered in snow. I loved driving around my neighborhood and past my old high school. I loved laughing at the dogs as they freaked out. I loved taking a stick and writing a message in the snow in my front yard. I even loved bundling up and heading to the gym to run three miles. I just pretty much loved every minute of it.

Right now I'm making my favorite chicken curry in the crock pot and peppermint brownies. I'm about to have some dark chocolate truffle hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. B. and I are going to watch the new Christmas episode of "The Office."

I would not want to live in a place where it snows for months on end and it has to be shoveled and sloshed through to and from work every day. I don't like cold weather, and I know I would hate dealing with snow in that capacity. But having it snow for one single morning in December was a beautiful surprise and a gift. I will not soon forget it.

Updating on a cold, rainy night.

I'm going to go ahead and shoot straight with you. The weather is heinous. It's 42 degrees outside and raining but it feels like -42 and is so vile it could potentially make my mood vile as well, but I am newly resolved not to be in a vile mood anymore!

I have been in a vile mood for several days. I have been very ants in my pants about the contractor coming and finally replacing my Gustav-damaged ceilings. I feared sheetrock dust exploding into every corner of the house, totally disrupting the pets' lives, and not being able to shower because the bathtub would be full of fallen insulation. After tossing and turning all night, I finally threw myself out of bed pre-dawn and covered beds and shower heads and counters with plastic and moved rugs and hauled crap around trying to move as much as I could out of the way of the onslaught of mess and pain. Only to have the contractor's dudes arrive, take one look at the ceiling and make one quick crawl around the attic and declare that I don't even need new ceilings! What? Yes. No. I should just treat them with something and repaint them. Oooookay. I know this is good news, but it is not what I was told before and it kind of made my head spin after preparing mentally all these months to spend the money and face the mess. They said if the mold didn't grow back after I cleaned it up then it wasn't moldy and all the brown spots are just stains. They said everything in the attic is dry. Well, eff me! Okay. I am going to treat this all as a good thing and count myself blessed.

Right now I am sitting on the couch in sweats eating wheat thins, baby carrots dipped in zesty lemon hummos, and scrambled eggs and cheese. This is a very comforting dinner. I am listening to Sufjan Stevens' Christmas music which for some reason I am only listening to for the first time this year, and I could not possibly love it more. My absolute favorite is "Holy, Holy, Holy," which is a hymn, not a Christmas carol, as far as I'm concerned, but I still love it. I have now listened to it approximately fifty times in the past 2 days. I made copies for my sister, a girlfriend, and both of my parents. It is making me really happy. I don't know the first fat thing about Sufjan Stevens, but apparently I love him. I am trying to figure out who sings the backup harmonies on this song, but I have no idea. Anyone?

I'm not sure what else has been going on. Work is kind of zany for me this time of year because of a holiday project. I got a little overwhelmed with my last week of school work but at this point I am over that. I finished When You Are Engulfed in Flames yesterday, and I am already nostalgic for it. I can't stop baking mint chocolate cookies. I took 9 days off of running and started it up again last week. So far, I have not died, though I have on occasion felt like I might. I am very excited to see Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. I put up Christmas lights! They are very pretty. I am afraid of both fire and electrocution, so this was a big step for me. I blithely hung them up many years ago when I first moved in, but I've avoided it in recent years because I am a big fraidy cat, but I just went ahead and did it, and they look beautiful and nothing catastrophic has happened yet. I am going to take this as a good sign for the holidays ahead.

Week 9, Run 1

And so it begins ... the rest of the training (except for the last week) is 5 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles, and then the long run each week. 5 miles still feels a bit steep, but I'm going to forge onward.

My calves have been a bit sore since Sunday's 7-miler. But I've been trying my best to stretch them over the past two days. They were definitely sore when I ran on the treadmill this afternoon, but not so much so that I had to stop. I was totally wiped out and assumed it must be almost over, and when I peeked at the distance, I'd only gone 2.7 miles and wanted to cry. But I told myself I could do it and kept going.

Somehow I made it through to the end. I caught part of an OCD episode of Oprah that literally almost made me ill all over the treadmill. I can't say I buy into therapy for germophobes that involves them sticking their hands into public garbage hands, touching a stranger's vomit, and then putting their hands in their mouths. WTF kind of psychiatrist WAS that? I understand that we have to confront our fears, but isn't that a serious biohazard? Licking your fingers after they've touched someone else's fly-covered vomit? It was truly disgusting. I think even Dr. Oz thought it was off the wall, but of course he was a good sport and did it, too! For the love of God.

Today's best running song was the theme song to The Greatest American Hero.

(This entry was moved over from a separate running blog.)

Week 8, Run 3

Today's long run was last week's skipped 7-miler. (Next week's is a 10K, so instead of that, I'll run this week's 8-miler. All of this makes sense in my head, don't worry.)

I'd been planning all week to run at the gym, but I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to attempt it outside. I hadn't tried to run outside since the shin splint debacle of several weeks ago. I have been really concerned with re-injuring myself in whatever way caused that hein pain. But it was such a beautiful day outside that I decided what the hell.

I plotted out my course on the online pedometer and hit the road. It was chilly but sunny and pleasant. I felt pretty good but started to get pretty tired around mile 5. But I charged through it. It was great to see so many people out on the streets, to see the birds around the lakes, to just be outside alone with the sounds of my music rather than the loud whir of a dozen treadmills and all of the feet hitting them around me and all of the gym sweat pouring down my face. I made it through until the end, and I am tired and it was hard and my legs hurt and I'm not sure I will ever enjoy running 7 miles in a row, but my shins feel okay so far. Phew. It was a beautiful day to run outside, and I'm glad I got to do it. My boyfriend ran 18 today (!!!), which makes 7 sound like small potatoes. It sure didn't feel like small potatoes, though.

Best song of the day: "Holiday" by Green Day. One of my favorite running songs, definitely. I hope to run next week's long run outside also, barring any kind of shin catastrophe.

(This entry was moved over from a separate running blog.)

Week 8, Run 2

I decided to skip the short run of the week since I took a week off last week and am trying to phase back into training with three runs this week instead of four in the effort to prevent the splintering of the shins. So I ran 4.5 miles on Tuesday and 4.5 miles today and will attempt the long run tomorrow, God help me.

Today's run felt like it lasted 4.5 hours. I watched the embarrassing episode of Inside the Actors Studio when James Lipton had Dave Chappelle interview him for two hours. Usually (not always, but usually) only the greats of acting or directing or whatever get two hours. I don't really want to hear James Lipton talk about how "ravenous" he was for women as a dance student compared to the gay men he studied with or how he was a pimp in Paris or how he wrote epic poetry at the age of three. That is unnecessary. Dave Chappelle tried his hardest and did a good job. The whole thing just made me uncomfortable. Best Inside the Actors Studio of late -- Daniel Radcliffe. I know. I couldn't believe it either. But he was shockingly funny & charming (Radcliffe, not Lipton, obviously), and you should check it out if you can.

The good news is that my shins didn't bother me during the run, and they feel okay now. Hallelujah! I was so empowered by running 4.5 miles that I came home and took down all the Christmas lights I strung earlier this week because I strung them up backwards like an idiot and there was no way to plug them in. Now they are twinkling outside and are making me very happy.

Best running songs of the day -- it's a tie between "Old Fashioned Wedding" from Annie Get Your Gun and "What Would Brian Boitano Do?"

(This entry was moved over from a separate running blog.)

Week "8," Run 1

Technically, this is only week 7 for me because I entirely skipped last week. But it's week 8 on the schedule, and to minimize confusion, I'm going to go ahead and call it week 8.

I did not run for 9 consecutive days. I threw in the towel and decided to sit out all of Thanksgiving week because my shins were killing me. As in, I'd be sitting perfectly still, and shooting pains would flame through them. It was not good. It was wonderful to skip the week of training but also horrible. I slept miserably. I felt gross. I stretched every day, but I didn't ice. I ate my way through the week: Thanksgiving food and sweets and movie popcorn (twice) and Milk Duds and bleargh. I was ready to try again today even though I was very, very nervous.

I ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill today, and while it was slow and felt eternal, as usual, it wasn't too terribly painful. My shins feel okay right now. I am not sure if they are "healed," but I guess I won't know until they start killing me again. The long run of my skipped week was 7 miles, and this week it amps up to 8, which I'm going to try to do this weekend.

What I learned after six straight weeks of training and then skipping a week is that I need to do this for my mental health as much as my physical health. I hope that the week off helped my shins, but I'm glad I did it also because it reminded me of how much better I feel when exercising and how this is something I really want to stick with.

Today's best running song was "Don't Know Why You Stay" by the Essex Green, which I first discovered via Sweet Juniper a few years ago, and my life has been all the better for it since.

(This entry was moved over from a separate running blog.)

Catching Up

It hasn't been the healthiest week in the history of my life. Last night, I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and was wide awake. I think this insomnia resulted from a week of no running (resting the shins), which resulted in major restlessness, along with the consumption of a steady diet of chocolate mint brownies, Thanksgiving leftovers for about a dozen meals in a row, and Fa La La La Lifetime. I decided to turn on the light and read Coraline, which I did in its entirety. I'm not sure if this book is normally terrifying, but it definitely is in the middle of the night. Terrifying and AWESOME. I can't wait to read the graphic novel version of the book and to see the movie.

I haven't written in so long that I'm not sure where to start. The past few weeks have been filled with running, then abruptly not running. Worked a Habitat day one Saturday. Got to help build and raise walls, which was pretty great. Thanksgiving was small but very nice. I saw Atonement, which was both very lovely and very annoying in ways. Today I took my favorite almost five-year-old to see Bolt 3D, which was fun, especially when she did cute child things like reach her hands out try and touch the 3D-ness. I've been spending the past few days working on homework, which has been a drag but a necessary one. I'm in the middle of reading Watchmen, which I only understand about every other page of, but I'm sticking with it.

My little brother and I did year two of our pre-Thanksgiving afternoon movie tradition ... this year was Role Models, and it made us laugh and laugh and laugh. Mostly because of McLovin, who has to be one of the most endearing kids every to be on screen. I don't remember his name in this movie, but he was adorable, and the movie, though stupid at times, actually had a sweet gooey center, largely to due to long, ridiculous scenes of role-playing wars and kings and knights and whatnot.

Today is December 1. I hope to start the week and month off on a healthier note and hope my shins don't break when I try to run on them tomorrow. I need to get my school shit together. I need to not freak out at the monster work holiday project because it always works out somehow year after year. I need to not kill my dog when he wakes up in the middle of the night two nights in a row to go out and potty but refuses to actually potty but rather stands there and looks at me like, "Who, me?" while I stand shivering in my pajamas. I need to get into the holiday spirit and get pumped for all of the fun events of the coming month, mainly my sister's wedding which should be grand. I guess that's about it for now. I'm gonna shut this down because I have a date with a David Sedaris book. But first, a few recent pics: