pity party

I was feeling a little blue recently (okay, last night) which made me wonder: what do most people do to cheer themselves up? Or do they wallow for awhile and it goes away? So, if anyone reads this, what do you do?

And for the record, if you need a pick me up, ask your FB friends to cheer you up. It works :)

bad poetry

I wrote a poem while walking to the train today, and I don't remember it completely, but here is the not-as-okay-as-the-original gist of it:

Ode to Indigo

Falling off the edge of the rainbow
Neither purple nor blue
Fading into black
Blending into white
It has a mood of its own.
Falling off the edge of the rainbow

Hello 2011

I'm starting off 2011 right. I think. With The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. So far, so fantastic. I spent most of December reading the Morganville Vampire series. Really good for what it was; the main characters were engaging and flawed but likable. And the action was unending and still managed to be believable and not get old. I also read The Freak Observer. Although it too is YA, it was a bit of a head spinner after reading the Morganville books. There was a lot of depth and psychology in it. Dense I would say; I will need to read it again to make a final judgment.

I'm also in the midst of both season 3 of Friday Night Lights and season 2 of Fringe. Great TV (on DVD)! And I'm excited for new TV to start airing this week.

I also watched The Town and Letters to Juliet this past week, which is more of an ending to 2010, but a worthwhile run up for 2011. The Town was well done, gritty. I enjoyed the accents. And Jeremy Renner's character...yikes. Letters to Juliet had a lot going for it...but the producers should have gone for a less cheesy ending. I still liked it, but a balcony scene wasn't actually necessary even though the name Juliet was in the title. (And I listened/watched to The Untouchables on TV this weekend. Chicago was scary.)

I also recently bought some tunes (Christmas shopping is dangerous!) and now can listen to some classic Nirvana, old Hawk Nelson, and new NeedtoBreath. And I thoroughly enjoyed a Christmas CD that I got as a gift last Christmas of Straight No Chaser. A Capella = awesome.

Also, as a final word on 2010, I just have to say that having an extended family all in one place is a truly awesome thing. My grandmother remarried this fall and decided to gather her family and reaffirm her vows over Christmas--and everyone made it. All of her children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, and greatgrandchildren made it from all over the country. It was a special event to be a part of.

goodbye 2010

I like to send out Christmas cards, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet this year. (I give myself the twelve days of Christmas to get it done :) I think the problem is that my year wasn't eventful in any sharable way. In fact, it was one of my least favorite years so far. Not bad--I am certainly thankful for many things, but in a really blessed life, it was icky by comparison.

So I'm ready to say goodbye to 2010 and embark on 2011. I have no expectations of a riveting year for next year's letter, but here's at least to a better 2011. And since I finally have wine glasses at my house (a wonderful Christmas present) I think I will drink a toast!

And a happy new year to anyone who stops on by!

50 thanks

1. forgiveness
2. parents who love me
3. a Dad who will go to Menards for me
4. a Mom who always is ready to answer my cooking phone calls
5. brothers
6. a sister-in-law
7. brothers who use power tools
8. brothers who will spend time making my computer faster
9. nephews
10. a happy, newly-married grandmother
11. a church family
12. friends who don't mind me dropping in
13. Saturdays of food and film with JG
14. health
15. prayer
16. a place to call my own
17. a friend who will cut my hair on short notice--and do a fabulous job
18. wealth
19. feast
20. dessert
21. staying in touch via FB
22. a job with potential
23. art
24. new floors
25. Christmas in my family
26. a family reunion to look forward to
27. novels
28. a local coffee shop
29. the smell of muffins baking
30. music--even the stuff I'm embarrassed to say I like
31. gripping television drama
32. lists
33. the color orange
34. basketball with the guys
35. friends who organize volleyball
36. a study of wisdom
37. safety
38. coworkers who commiserate
39. people to push me to be better
40. new learning opportunities
41. spiked hot chocolate
42. new experiences
43. projects
44. a car that runs and is paid off
45. new boots
45. new jeans
46. flexibility
47. potential
48. making up new recipes
49. refrigeration
50. book club

*these are not in order of gratitude :)

practice really does make you better, but not necessarily good

This weekend I once again ventured into the territory of home improvement. I am not good at taping, painting, removing carpet, prying up tack board, removing nails and extraneous materials from trim, cutting underlayment, laying laminate flooring, or renailing trim, but I'm better at it then I was on Thursday.

And yes, I'm sore. But all for a great and great-looking cause.

Oh, and shout out to my brother J. Because of him I did not come into any more contact with power tools than moving them, which is a good thing. And I also was not in charge of measuring, which is good too.

I even managed to snap a few pics of the before and after:

Better in different ways

I tried to better myself yesterday. I attended KitLitCon 2010. I don't actually blog about kit lit very often (who am I kidding, at this point I don't blog very much at all) but I do like kit lit, and more importantly I work in the kit lit biz. And since the convention was nearby, I decided to go. I did learn a lot. But I came up with a few questions too:

*audience? who is the audience? are we speaking to the choir?
*do I want to be a "blogger" or do I blog just for me...and should I then be journalling instead?
*what's with the homogeny in kitlit blogging?
*who has time to follow so many great blogs (and Twitter and Facebook)?

and in completely unrelated news

The Vampire Diaries is better than it has any right to be. My friend Jen told me this; I was skeptical (although I knew it would be good if she said so.) She was absolutely correct about this one. It's based on books that I hear aren't that great. It's on the CW. It's a teen drama. But it is totally gripping and entertaining. Relationships are key, and this show is doing those right. Surprise keeps the plot moving; and this show has no fear. I might be embarrassed to say I was watching this...except it's so good. (Side note: thank goodness they did away with the annoying diary voice overs; but kudos for having a quick shot of the main female character at least writing in hers on disc 3.)