Happy New Year 2008

Wow, another year has come and gone! I wish you all many blessings this year. I'm glad to have 2007 behind us, and looking for better things in '08. That's not to say last year totally sucked, but we are ready for some good things to start happening. Soon, I hope. Very soon.

Meanwhile, I was trying to put together a little slide show of the year in review, and my camera/Vista/time issues have evidently continued to plague me. I'm going to give it one more shot, and if it doesn't happen, then the pictures from 2007 will stay where they belong, in the past! LOL.

We've had a very delightful holiday--quiet and uncomplicated, and that's nice every once in a while. Last night we went over to RA/SQPN central for a while and got to participate in the historic marathon. Unbelievable what a nice couple and a dutch priest have been able to create. Together, with a small group of supporting players and outstanding podcasters in their own right, these folks managed to collect an astronomical amount of money. I say astronomical because it's in my little perspective, but actually, the organizations' budgets could easily be 3 0r 4 times that, and still be growing. Anyway, it's a joy to be able to play a small role in the gigantic game.

We made it home in time for the traditional gulping of the grapes (this year without champagne) and enjoyed a midnight movie: To Catch a Thief (Grace Kelly was so beautiful) and then slept in this morning. A little trip to the park with the poochie rounded out our afternoon, and then we settled in for a tasty dinner of pork chops, and Vicky's stories from the Humanitarian Bowl. Generally, no one was there for football, but a great time was had by all.

And now, we are enjoying more movies...and eating oatmeal cookies made by Jonathan. Nice.

I hate scary movies

I really hate scary movies.

I'll watch Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, any number of science fiction flicks, and even mysteries, but I really really hate scary movies.

So I watched SIGNS.

Did I say I hate scary movies? Yes, I did. And I watched it with Christy, who has never seen a scary movie that she didn't giggle through. What was I thinking? It scared me. And now I'm going to have scary dreams. It's Christy's fault. She knows I don't like scary movies and SHE LET ME WATCH IT.

Daughters don't let their mothers watch scary movies. What was she thinking?

Tomorrow, when I am no longer traumatized, I'll reflect on how meaningful the story is (I saw that cross he removed from the wall, and how even though the cross was physically gone the mark remained--I pay attention). In the meantime, I'm going to pout because it's after 11 pm and I'm not going to go to bed. Ever.

throw us a bone

With 200 points for the win, Jonathan decided to open a Gizmo. Needless to say, he was unable to close it and Christy and I were able to come back and win the Hand and Foot match.

BAHAHAHAHAHA.

John almost had a stroke. That was even funnier.

We generally lose, so its nice to be able to "stay in the game" with a random win.

Merry Christmas

Here are some pictures documenting our celebration. Pay close attention to the food. Yeah, John did most of the cooking. Check out the breakfast leftovers--he tackled making cuban bread, which was pretty OK out of the oven, and his coup, pastelitos. Incredible! Tummy yummy yummy. As I write this he is at the grocery store with Christy in search of more ingredients for the next project: croquetas from scratch. Suki is amazed by the all the decorations and especially the tree (that never has enough water--I wonder why?)
We had to keep the presents isolated this year, and only took them out of hiding after mass. Check out the broomstick in front of the sofa. we have discovered that the dog is terrified of brooms and vacuum cleaners--so we have brujerias all over the house with brooms set out strategically. Ha!

Like a kid, she would ratehr play with the packaging...

And finally, Fact or Crap. Interesting. It's second only to Bongo, "the game that is sweeping the nation!"Merry Christmas!

Mistaken for Someone Who Cares

I love that people think I like animals just because I happen to be holding on to the end of a leash with one attached to the other end. It's like little kids.

I don't like little kids, either. Except, of course, that I adore my not-so-little kids, and could eat up the collection of other little kids in the family, namely, the precious nieces and nephews. And a select few other precocious wonders.

And I like my fish.

And I find Suki tolerable.

I know what you're thinking, with so many exceptions to my rule, time to re-evaluate the rule. Not. Nope. No way, Jose.

Anyway, it's Saturday morning. I'm up. The dog is up. The coffee is brewed. I decide to take me, the coffee, and the dog outside. There's something refreshing about the early morning in winter.

I sat on the flowerbed wall and watched the dog sniff at every leaf and perk her ears at the crackle of the pine trees. It's cold, but not so cold that I'm uncomfortable, so I enjoy the relative silence from humanity, and through the dog, hear every snap, every rustle in surrounding yards. Sound all poetic yet? Don't worry, my communing with nature ended abruptly when some neighbors from across the lake, about 90 years old, inch up the street in their hiuker-mobile moving at maybe 5 miles an hour.

My mood is dampened, as Suki instantly becomes fascinated by this new distraction. The hiukers finally pulled into the inconsiderate neighbors' house, the ones who own the gigantic dogs that are not on leashes even though there is a leash law so consequently they come into our yard and leave gigantic turds. Hmm. Sorry about the run-on. Anyway, they get out of the car and shatter the morning silence by calling for the dogs, who have clearly taken off to who-knows-where. They call loudly, setting off a barking fest of every dog in the area, except theirs. Nice call chief. Meanwhile, Suki is aquiver and forgets that she's out there to do her business, and who should be coming up the road but Reflector Man.

Jackpot. Just then, the hiukers find the dogs, load them up in their car, and take off at the blinding speed of 5 mph again. They pulled up on the side of the road to tell me that they are not stealing the dogs.

Do I care? Did I even notice there was a dog-napping in progress? Nope. Instead, I have to listen politely as they explain their connection to the dog. By then, Reflector Man arrives and continues to make inane small talk. When the hiukers leave, he proceeds to clarify their relationship to the dogs, in case I thought they were stealing them.

I didn't know dog-napping was such a crisis in our neighborhood. Maybe, if they kept the animals on leashes it would stave off the problem. Suki punctuated my thoughts by pooping.

I like that dog. Just don't tell anyone.

Peek-a-Boo

Well, so I disappeared off the face of the earth. Ok. Well, I'm back, sort of, until I disappear again.

Had a bit of a crazy end of the term. Definitely crazier than usual. In the midst of all the final exams and getting the grades ready, and the compulsory holiday cheer, we also had to move into a new building. Oh yeah, that was great fun. Essentially, we were on standby for the move. Those of us with any sense packed early and then just had to move some boxes.

Please don't ever think that in my personal life I have ever achieved that kind of order, but at work I'm pretty compulsive about records. Nothing would irritate me more than having a student question one of my practices and I couldn't pull out the documentation instantly, so I guess I use up all that energy at work.

Please don't bring up the laundry, 'mkay? I noticed last night that about a month ago I washed all the white socks in bleach and got them all white and shiny, and then dumped them into a hamper to sort later. Meanwhile, John and the kids complaining about never having enough socks. Oops. Now I know why.

So you see, a bit scatter-brained. Anyway, the good news is that I was able to get into my office and move quickly. I've managed to put everything away, and get some serious filing done, and my colleagues are still somewhat running around with an impending deadline that threatens to dump their stuff. The problem with this move is that it had to be quick because there were offices waiting to move into the area we left. Alas.

Well, this doesn't make up for my prolonged absence, but now that I have internet up and relative calm again, I should go back to my old schedule of posting silly things -- peppered, I hope, with the profound.

Unfortunately, I only have the camera on my phone, but this should give you an idea of my work this afternoon. The office is actually much bigger than it looks, but the angle of the shot was rather awkward.

You can see that I have a window! A pathetic little thing to make me happy, but after being in a tomb with the server humming all the time, it's a rather welcome sight to look outside and see the cemetary across the street. It helps me ponder the meaning of my own mortality, especially when the men in blue race by with the sirens blaring. Oh, am I sounding cynical and whiny? Didn't mean it it all. I rather enjoyed the beautiful Atlanta winter today, with its gray overcast and drizzly demeanor. That was not sarcasm. I actually hope to have a raging thunderstorm soon so that I can really enjoy the window.

And, if you're wondering what else has occupied my time, you can maybe make-out some papers by the computer where I was doing some research for my latest crazy endeavor, courtesy of the phenomenal Fr. Roderick of SQPN. Check it out, I am actually co-hosting a talk-show with him. Yeah! It consists of him saying all kinds of brilliant things, and me being totally enthralled and then adding something goofy. I hope you check us out!

And so, after getting back into this blogging thing, I leave you with:

Look who's 40!

Happy birthday, Tia Melly!

Lies, Lies, and More Lies

So Chavez lost and claims it is the will of the people.

Yeah, and I have some land to sell in the Everglades. You heard it here folks, this isn't the end of the Chavez-I-Am-A-Communist Show.

How do you spell military coup? Oh yeah, C-A-S-T-R-O.

this is me, enjoying harping about communists because it reminds me of a dear family friend out of control.

Evel Knievel dead!

He was like an icon from my childhood. Don't misunderstand, in the world of all the things that comprised my childhood, Knievel doesn't make it into the top ten, maybe not even the top 100, but he was a big part of Saturday afternoons in those Dark Ages--you know--BC--Before Cable.

Back in the days when there was only network TV and the randomly available VHF channel, ABC Sports ruled Saturday afternoons. There was college football, which bored me to tears in the fall, and then there was the ubiquitous car race, but other times there were all kinds of awesome things going on. The Wide World of Sports rocked! I enjoyed ice skating, and skiing, and tennis, and basketball, and if there were Olympic trials going on, we had a ton of cool sports. There was swimming, and synchronized swimming ( a little nod to Anna, wink) and just all kinds of things that I truly enjoyed.

And then, there was Evel Knieval.

That guy was a psycho. Whenever he was on I couldn't decide if I wanted him to be successful or wipe out. They were both amazing. Well, actually, the crashes were pretty spectacular. I remember when he tried to jump the Snake River. What an idiot. Or, what a brilliant guy. Either way, it was incredible entertainment.

Who could figure out what drove him? I know what fascinated me was "the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." He sure shared in both.

In retrospect, the outfits were a bit Elvis-y over the top, but hey, it was the 70's.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Who's the most beautiful mother in the universe? Mine, of course.

the old guy next to her is pretty okay, too. she seems to like him.

Al Gore would be so proud

It turns out that getting a locally grown tree is better for the environment. You can read the yahoo article about it here.

We've been going to a Christmas tree farm and getting our tree every year since we moved up here. To think all this time we've been doing right by the environment.

Almost makes me want to get a plastic tree just to be contrary.

Not.

The Parade of Ugly Light Displays

It's that time of year again, when I charge up the camera and go on a pilgrimage through the streets of our fair burg in search of horrendous Christmas displays. We've spied a few tacky ones already, and the house with the usual odd assortment has already loaded up and assaulted the neighborhood with it's brand of holiday cheer.

We also spotted the first nativity set in a wonderland of candy canes and snowmen. I'm waiting for the family that always decorates their RV in chasing lights, so in the meantime I'm just preparing the route.

Truly a scandalous tradition, and not a very nice thing to pass on to the kids, but I figure a little more cynicism in the world isn't going to break anything.

Meanwhile, I'm dredging up the purple candles, which incidentally, is the appropriate decoration for the moment.

See you soon with some silly pictures!

not the typical after turkey day meal

...but I was hungry, and it was tasty. You got a problem with that?

I thought so.

aaaaah. I love my recliner.

Just sat down after a long day of cooking and cleaning and chilling. We had a weird and random Turkey Day feast of ham, black beans and rice, sweet potato casserole, corn, Italian sweet bread (think pan de media noche), and a bunch of experimental desserts that turned out pretty good. I made tocino del cielo, which I'm not a fan of, but John likes, and I made capuchinos, which were a hit and surprisingly easy to make. Christy made key lime pie, and there's a huge piece waiting for me tomorrow.

Dinner was late because Vic's friends joined us after they had hit several homes for a cultural variety. It was a delightful meal, and Nigel smiled for a picture, and poor David had to suck down a shot of Limoncello (and Effy got into the action with a taste). Even Susan K. joined us for a round of mockery and incoherence.

All in all, a pleasant evening. Even Suki participated.

And afer a turbo kitchen cleaning, me in the sink and Jonathan drying and putting away, I am relaxing in the recliner watching a movie with Vic and updating the blog.

Contentment is the word for the moment. Satisfaction. I have no longing for anything other than my family, our quiet lives, and maybe a little foot massage. That would be nice.

it's fall!

I so enjoy this weather. The leaves are already red and yellow, and every once in a while I can get a wiff of somebody's wood-burning fireplace. Our fireplace is gas, so that makes it clean and easy (which I like!). It loses a bit of authenticity, but I'll take it. I still get flames and I still get warmth. Only, no soot.

The temperature, as usual, is a bit wiggy. Some days coldish, some days warmish. Still, not HOT which is great.

Anyway, took a little walk with the poochie while everyone was asleep, and enjoyed the crisp early morning, and really paid attention to the squirrels and pine cones falling.* Ah, nature.

*This hippie moment brought to you by me, in a pensive, caffeine-free state. I'm off to make some cuban coffee to rectify that.

Leaf Blowers and Other Complaints

So I don't care what the vet said, the dog is in fact blowing her coat. One of us needs relief, as the Jerry Clower jokes goes. She's scratching like the beast that she is, and I am looking for sharp objects to poke in my ears. I win, becauseI discovered the merits of lathering my ears with Vick's VaPoRub, the Cuban cure-all. The pooch just has to wait for someone other than me to brush her coat. In the leaf-blowing department, there will be no bright ideas to bring the yard tool into the house to take care of the hair problem.

Which of course leads me to the real rant about leaf blowers. I saw a lawn company blowing a GIGANTIC amount of leaves off the property that they were evidently hired to clean. The house and very big yard were absolutely PRISTINE. It's one of those homes that appears in magazines, and is so beautifully manicured that it looks pretend. A CGI house.

And then, I got really pissed off. Those landscapers were blowing the mountain of leaves across the street into someone else's property. Let's just say, that house looks a little bit more natural, a little bit less manicured, and now, it looks a GREAT DEAL more VANDALIZED.

Is there such a thing as leaf vandalism? If there isn't, there should be. I was truly offended by what I saw. Of course, all I'm doing is ranting about it here, but still.

Are you still there?

Even I feel like I've disappeared off the face of the earth.

Only. Not.

I haven't posted a real entry in a while. Instead, I cleaned the office. Thoroughly. Many sneezes later, I find it relatively inhabitable. Mostly. There's still a lot to throw away.

And then there's a small matter of being hyper allergic to the new dog, and a sudden and violent reaction to cigarette smoke.

So, lot's has been going on and most of it very exciting! A small recap:

***
John chaperoned an overnight high school trip to Valdosta. Somehow, and to my extreme amusement, he has cemented his reputation as scary and unapproachable. He brilliantly thwarted a multitude of sneak expeditions, and now he has been recruited to repeat the performance in Savannah. At some point, kids with sense pulled out chairs to watch the fools try to escape his watch. Morons (the sneaks, not the good kids getting entertained).

The One-Act Play State Competition went well, and our troup placed third in the state. Not bad for their first time! I'm proud of them!

I got my first royalty check for the books, and let me tell you, it's very nice to see some cash flowing in from all that work. Hopefully, the Composition Companion will be a nice little cash cow that will allow me to do other, more creative stuff. Who knows?

The dog has tested me at every turn, and besides a forgiveable tendency to sit on the sofa in the living room (she watches the back yard all day and gets agitated if I close the blinds), she pulled a little trick that wasn't all that funny to me. In retrospect, any neighbors watching got their fill of entertainment. I made the mistake of walking her without the choker, and she refused to come back inside the house. Instead, she threw herself on the grass and stretched in the afternoon sun. I was stuck outside for 40 minutes, trying to get her back in the house. The more I pulled, the slacker she got. It was a real battle of wills. Finally, I threw myself on the grass, too, and decided to soak some rays. That's when she decided that it would be better to go inside. What a little wench.

Back to the trenches writing for That Catholic Show, and I have a couple of creative projects that I'm working on.

And NaNoWriMo? Totally abandoned, but I got a really good 10k bunch of words for me to continue with as I can.

That is all. Maybe this broke the ice and I'll get back into daily updates.

Irony, part II

Paris Hilton is helping drunk elephants.

I swear, I thought the WGA strike was still unresolved.

November 12 of 12

Pre-empted