I WILL: dress better. I'm sick of t-shirts and jeans all the time! It's lazy, it's sloppy, and it's not my best. I can do better than that. I have plenty of cute clothes in my closet. So in January, I'm going to wear them. My boring comfort zone of t-shirt/ jeans/ sneakers will only happen twice a week. Other than that, I'll show off my style! Starting things off right today with a very cute oversized houndstooth check skirt. Whee!

FOR THE ROOM: my closets are a disgrace. I've started clearing my clothes closet with a preliminary sweep of everything I knew I didn't wear anymore and shouldn't have in there. That included getting rid of my lovely long brown dress, the first thing I ever spent quite a bit of money on when I was 16. I've actually never spent that much on a single piece since. I loved it, I felt beautiful in it, I knew I'd never wear it again. I have pictures of myself very happy in it, I don't need it hanging uselessly in my closet. Besides, it went to a good home where it will be appreciated all over again. I'm clearing those closets, taking care of what I keep, and passing the rest on to those who can use it.

New Year's Resolutions never get kept, do they? Oh well. Still making them.

1. An "I will" every month in 2008. I took a couple months off in 2007, but I think I can set a goal every month this year. And hopefully acheive a couple of them.

2. I will go to Ireland to visit Marie in October. This means lots of money saving and sacrificing throughout the year, so I don't think further money goals are necessary. It does mean I will not be getting a new Disneyland pass after this one expires May 13th. I either better get a job that includes a silver pass or deal with it after that. Since the trip includes a day at Disneyland Paris, I think I'll survive.

3. An organized life. And room. Thinking I'll get it done in a month is a bit like trying to build Rome in a day, so I'll take it slow with small goals each month IN ADDITION TO that month's "I will."

4. Gratitude posts every week. I feel like I'm doing really well right now and I'm so looking forward to 2008! I want to keep that feeling and energy in my life and focusing on the good instead of the not-so-good seems like a great way to do that.

5. I want to recognize the goodness of the people in my life more. I have such wonderful friends and family and I don't think I tell them how much they mean and what happiness they bring to my life enough. So I'll try to be better about that, in whatever small ways I can throughout the year.

Doesn't 2008 look good from here? I wonder what the year will bring to all of us.

A little late on posting altogether. Have we really not talked since the 12th? Goodness.

Happy Christmas!
(Or happy irrelevant day off for those who don't celebrate it :))

1. How much money did gift giving cost you this season? Magical movie moment: think of that bit towards the end of "Bridget Jones' Diary" where she's recounting Christmas Day and under cigarettes smoked (or is it calories consumed?) she sighs "Oh, thousands." That keeps going through my head in response to this question. Probably not a good sign.

2. Was getting ready for the holidays more fun, or more stressful this year? More fun and more stressful. Still haven't mailed anything, spent a bit more than I wanted, and never found what I really wanted to get for a couple awesome people who I just haven't given anything to yet cause I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. But my home looks great, there's tons of yummy Christmas goodies in my kitchen, and my holiday party and big dinner went beautifully, so I'm filled with Christmas love, dammit!

3. Were there any gifts that you were particularly proud to have put together this year? Which was your favourite? Disneyland ears I got personalized with a nickname for someone. They don't do that. Really, it's a big thing, they don't. But I have my ways.

4. What's your favourite holiday food? Roast beast! No, peppermint hot cocoa! No, my mom's cookies! No, yorkshire pudding! No, buche de noel! No, Mrs. B.'s mashed potatoes! No, green beans with shallots and bacon! No, Christmas morning casserole! No, Mrs. Houghton's haystacks! Argh. Why must these questions be so difficult?

5. If you were to be magically morphed into Santa's tenth reindeer, what would you want your reindeer name to be? Would you have any notable or quirky reindeer characteristics? If I were a reindeer I'd be called Sparkly and with just a wiggle of my cute fluffy tail every house I flew over would be magically bedecked and bejewelled with Christmas lights and buntings and decorations galore. Why one of the reindeers doesn't already have this power I do not understand.

Ah, November. Month of NaNoWriMo, NaBloPoMo, NaNoReMo, and even NaNoKniMo or NaNoSweMo. AUGH. So many monthly goals, none of which I am participating in.

What am I doing for November? Even I'm not that sure. Well, I'm sure, but I'm scared. I have an idea, but it's going to be hard. I haven't liked how I've felt lately. And I have (actually, shockingly,) started to notice what I'm eating and how it makes me feel. Not always great on both counts. I know I can do something about this. I am an adult. I control what I eat and what I don't eat.

I've noticed lately that treats have become commonplace. Too commonplace in my diet (diet meaning usual food intake of a person, not a restricted set of foods with intended health results.) The yummy things I've treated myself to in the past, well, lately I've indulged myself too much. I can't justify anything by saying "oh, it's only once in a while," cause I let myself get away with way too much when I go down that road.

So. For November.

Deep breath. This is hard, yo.

For November, NO FRIED FOODS.

You heard me. You were sitting down, right? I probably should have warned you.

What's really crazy about this is that I'm going to Texas for a week and a half. Texas, the land of chicken biscuits and Chuychangas and Shipleys and deep fried turkey and Ren Fest foods and OMG CHIPS AND QUESO.

Could I have picked a worse/better time for this? Probably not.

So this is it for the month. I don't want to say I'll try, cause "trying" is just giving yourself an automatic out and that's bad. I don't want to make excuses for myself or any "just this onces" or any of that crap. Cause I should do this. Ultimately it's better for myself. And really, it's bad that I spoil myself this much. I can't stand spoiled children, and yet I spoil myself horribly with what I let myself get away with. No. Nope. No more. So I'm not going on a dreaded "diet" or restricting calories or doing anything drastic that I would undoubtably buck against and ruin quickly. Just making a little change that needs to be made. Putting treats back in their place and hopefully breaking myself of a bad habit.

Let's do this thing.

Good to know I've been backing the right candidate for me. :)

From king_duncan:

	Hillary Clinton Score: 43	Agree Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Energy Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Iraq Line-Item Veto
	Barack Obama Score: 43	Agree Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Energy Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Iraq Line-Item Veto
-- Take the Quiz! --

The end of summer used to suck. It was the kid version of realizing your own mortality when that day would come in the summer when back to school clothes commercials would show up on TV and aisles in the grocery store would suddenly be full of pencils, folders, and loose-leaf paper. The only thing that made it bearable was getting to pick out my favorites from those grocery store aisles.

Yes. I loved to go school supply shopping.

All those brand new pens and pencils that weren't lost yet. The packs of markers that still had all their caps and every color. The erasers that weren't all marked and ugly from erasing all the time. The cool new folders with cool new designs that didn't have those white fold marks ruining them. The trapper keepers. Oh, the trapper keepers! Lisa Frank! Fred Savage! Chad Allen!

I'm sorry. This child of the 80s needs a minute.

One thing I really miss about going back to school is the going back to school shopping. But Disney, who really does think of everything, has even found a way to fix that for me. There's this awesome thing at work where you request however many backpacks you want, they deliver them to your mailbox, and you fill them with school supplies. Pencils, pens, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, folders, paper reinforcing stickers, colored pencils, little zip top plastic bags, all of it, I can look through those aisles for all of it again! And this time, I can get whatever I want.

I'm hitting Target tonight after work. This kid's gonna have the coolest school supplies in class. Forget generic. Crayola all the way, baby.

Despite a farmer's market full of cute tops, dresses, and purses Friday night, a trip to Chinatown Saturday, and being on the 3rd Street Promenade yesterday, I was very good all weekend and bought nothing! But now I'm in a bit of a pickle. Because there's a very special darling girl's first birthday this month and toddlers just don't get the whole "A donation has been made in your name" or "College fund fun!" thing. Also, other babies are on the way. Babies who need cute socks. And itty bitty shoes. And obnoxious noisemakers. So. Would it really be buying something and breaking my vow if that something is for a tiny someone else? Hmmm...

Woo-hoo! I should get motivated like this more often.

I wrote eight pages last night, then wandered around the internet for a while, watched a couple more episode of Friday Night Lights. Up bright and early at 8am today (what is wrong with me?) and at the coffee shop a few minutes before the 9am Script Frenzy Write-In. No one's there... No one's there at 9... No one's there at 9.10... No one's there at 9.15. The coffee shop isn't even open. I took off, a bit miffed (later finding out that next week starts at 9, today was 11. D'oh!), and ended up at a Peet's down the street. One blueberry scone, pot of earl grey, and hour later, I was on page twelve with a word count of 2,818! For some weird reason the challenge is going by word count instead of page count, which is not how screenplays are measured at all, but I think it's being run by NaNoWriMo people, so that would explain it. Heh.

I went grocery shopping, came home, made the world's best pasta salad for the cook-out tonight (seriously, I have no idea how it happened and I doubt I can ever duplicate it. There's not even any meat. It may have something to do with the large shallot and nine cloves of garlic I sweated in three tablespoons of butter for a long time. Yum.) I boiled way too much pasta, so I made the leftovers into a week's worth of dinners with beef, onions, garlic, black olives, peas, and lots of sauce and tomato paste. I'm baking some in a 9x9 dish right now covered in cheese (oh the crusties!) and keep dipping into what didn't fit in that with a spoon. You ever have one of those days where you just know you're going to be alright? Because you can do this? Those days when you just love you? Good day. I love today.

- If all goes well, I will hug my Mom at 5.15pm today.

- Grandma is making fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and biscuits for dinner tonight.

- I will hang out with my cousins tonight, who are increasingly cool and who I miss terribly.

- I'll see my oldest friend (known her since we were 2) tomorrow, and hopefully her kids if she brings them to lunch.

- I'll get to see most of Dad's family tomorrow night at my aunt's birthday party, for which I have a supercute new dress I can't wait to wear all summer.

- Easter egg hunt with my cousins Sunday morning, alcoholic drinks of choice firmly in hand.

- Easter dinner. 'Nuff said.

- I am in love with Passover. This is my new favorite time of year. There is no one on the road and my drives to work in the morning have been gloriously short all week. Seriously. In love with Passover.

- I got my warehouse wildcard package from Fred Flare today and I love them! Little heart earrings with arrows hanging from the fasteners, a measuring tape (random much?,) a deck of heart shaped cards, two pretty flowery blank cards to send, an interesting iron-on transfer, a butterfly pink camo patch I might give to my little cousin, a cute felt musical notes patch, and a long sleeved supersoft tunic/dress that I really hope fits. And a coupon for free shipping on my next order! These guys rock.

- I just had a cream filled donut for lunch.

K. It's 2pm and we're finally free. Off to the airport. Have a great weekend, y'all.