First Blog Post of the New Year

Do you ever do that thing where you wake up on the first day of the first month of a new year in a new decade where you think, "Oh, the first text message of the new year"..."Ah, the first cup of coffee of the new year"....like that?

It occurred to me this morning, when I received aforementioned text (at 7am...but from someone in another time zone so I forgive her), that my kid self did it a lot. Almost obsessively compulsively a lot. I have no idea why I was so struck by the occasion of things being a first; particularly given that we're not talking here about significant firsts (like cars or kisses). It was all of the ordinary and mundane: "this is my first breakfast of the new year"... "this is the first time I'm making my bed in the new year"..."I am not going to yell at my sister Martha Stewart for that stupid thing she just did because if I did then it would be my first yelling in the new year and I don't want to start out the new year like that"...

Maybe it was (is) my latent Celtic DNA, something that makes me predisposed to embrace turnings, shifts and tilts and to look for some personal meaning therein. I will, very shortly, cease the running "this is the first time..." commentary because my brain will refill with other noises. But it is a reminder of the importance not so much of firsts but of mindfulness. It's easy to be mindful on New Years Day. Because all is quiet on New Years Day. It's a day for lying around, for recovering from the night before. And in the quiet and the not-doing of New Years Day it is much easier to be aware. And that's still a quality I'd like to better cultivate in myself.

You know what I just realized? I've been very mindful so far in the new year. Yay me!

Happy felicitated new year!

The Obligatory Year-End Reflection

Best Trips:
Omaha, NB
Forks, WA

(Yeah, not exactly Paris or Rome but those were very, very fun weekends with my bestie Poodle and loin fruit, respectively).

Best Purchase:
Toss up between the French door fridge with two drawers OR the superfantastic hat Tanya designed for me.

Best Answer to Prayer:
Getting my job on a more permanent level.

Best All Around Thing to Be Grateful For:
The fact that while 2009 was a year of real struggle for so many we were gainfully employed, out of debt, not upside down in our mortgage and no one got swine flu. That's some serious blessing going on right there, my friends.

Best Songs of the Year (meaning, of course, my personal soundtrack):
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
"Sneaker Night" - Vanessa Hudgens
"Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse

Best Thing I Ate:
Gotta go with the osso bucco at Peter and Suzanne's anniversary dinner. Glorious.

Best Movie of the Year (meaning, of course, the one I liked the best for extremely personal reasons):
"Julie & Julia"

Best Outfit of 2009:
Has to be the little polka dot number with the boiled wool ruffled jacket that I got at Anthropologie for Ree and Jerry's wedding. Killer.

Greatest Accomplishment:
This is a three way tie between finding a great stylist which allows me to finally truly love my hair every day, beginning a fitness plan and sticking with it BEFORE the new year started and not murdering my teenage daughter. In fact, while I have ruled out murder altogether on moral and religious grounds, boarding school is still very much on the table.



A very happy new year to all of you in Blogopia! May 2010 be kind.

I Hope the 21st Century's Teen Years Go Better than Mine Did

Stina and I were talking on Christmas Eve about how we both have to have certain things done by New Year's Eve....things like the bills paid, the house swept and dusted, beds made, laundry done. We both have this notion that if we sit down to our caviar and champagne with these tasks accomplished it somehow sets the tone for the coming year. Not, mind you, that nothing will go wrong or that (I laugh) the housekeeping will always be done. It's more to do with the symbolic nature of Things Accomplished and of Setting the Stage for the coming year.

Also on my short list of things to do before New Year's Eve:

Reflect. (It doesn't feel like I've done much of that lately).

Buy aforementioned caviar and champagne (one of the best shopping trips of the year).

Set a goal or two. Nothing monumental. Nothing "resolution-y". Just setting some guideposts.

(Speaking of which, last night my little Wii thing-y told me that I had lost .2 pounds since I started my new fitness program. Must make room for the latkes and caviar, mustn't we?)

Do you have any end-o-the-year-start-o-the-new rituals?

Scrambled Goose Eggs

First of all, let's hear it for the boy! Specifically, The Spouse, who successfully reformatted and tidied up my computer in defiance of the malicious malware. Huzzah, huzzah.

Second, the great Mug Mystery of '08 has been solved. It's amazing what a sleuth can turn up with an invoice and an 800 number. (The mug came from my friend Alameda Fats. Wasn't that nice?)

Moving on, did you realize that today is New Year's Eve? Because I just realized that. Yes, I knew it was coming etc etc etc but all a sudden it is the middle of the week and the end of the year and nearly the beginning of the new year and I all, "What?"

Suffice to say, I haven't taken much time to reflect upon resolutions for the New Year. Not that I necessarily make extensive lists of resolutions; mostly because New Year's is only one of several "new starts" in my year. I always consider my birthday a new year. There's a "new year" ish feeling to the start of any fresh month. The first day of school, even though I'm not the one going, typically calls me to reflect and remember and envision. And it even includes a traditional imbibing.

Point is, I feel like this post should be somewhat profound but all I can think about is the following 3 things:

1) In my dream last night The Spouse gave me a mountain ash tree that was just putting out new leaves. Given the nature of mountain ash trees in springtime mode, this gave the tree the overall appearance of soft, lacy fuzziness and I kept being taken by its beauty while he struggled to plant it just so in front of the new townhouse we'd bought (in the dream). And it wasn't a bad place to live except it was full of someone else's furniture, the bathroom didn't work and the phone was bad because I couldn't hear the buyer at Christie's who was going to make telephone bids on an 18th century console that I really wanted for the house and then we got disconnected.

2) MAB is out of town as of last night and could be gone through the 18th. I'm not nervous about having the whole responsibility of managing the house on my shoulders. I am very sad to think that I might not have occasion for hysterical laughter until the middle of the month. We share an office. Practically speaking it's a demmed good thing that we get along as well as we do. But it is a gift, too. We're starting to finish each other's sentences. I'm really going to miss her. I'm also going to be really busy. I hope nothing major happens while she's gone but if it does it'll look good on my resume. Assuming, you know, that I correctly solve whatever it is.

3) I must go on line and make sure that caviar store hasn't fallen victim to the economy because I gotta get over there today.

New Year's Eve

Here's an amusing thing you may not have heard. Every New Year's Eve there is a big fireworks display at the Space Needle; actually, on the Space Needle. The Child was very excited to actually attend this event with The Boy. The Spouse and I were, as always, perfectly content to watch it on TV from the warmth of our family room.

Prior to the show a news guy was talking to the designer of the fireworks show, who was going on and on about how this year was going to be bigger and better than ever. As the countdown began, fireworks started shooting out from the base of the Needle and all the way to the top, with a big display due to bust out on the stroke of midnight. 4-3-2-1....nothing. Nothing for like, at least a minute. Then some fireworks shot off, but they weren't as impressive as we'd been led to believe. And then, more nothing for a sustained period of time. Then they started again but it was really obvious that something was wrong because they seemed sort of random and not at all balanced. Fireworks would shoot off from one side of the Needle, then others would spurt from the opposite side, further up the structure. Really weird.

Turns out there was a computer malfunction so they had to be set off manually. But one can only assume that since they were relying on computers, the crew was too small to cover the 605 foot building, hence the randomness of the display. It was pretty funny. Not, I'm sure, to the people running the show, but to me.

And despite it all, The Child had a fab time and came home smelling like gunpowder.

Meanwhile, The Spouse and I enjoyed our little repast:


The Dog looked fetching in my tiara but he was not amused.

Wow. Wednesday Already?

The holidays sure play hell with blogging.

Yesterday I was supposed to be at the new coffee shop JP and I just opened. Was I? Nope. I was in my jammies playing Sims2 (hi, new addiction) and then torn away from that to watch all the Harry Potter movies and eat cold cuts with the family. (And when I say "all", I mean all but "Prisoner of Azkaban" because we have the jewel box for it but the disk is no where to be found).

I didn't even make it over to the opening of Hat's new blog and by the time I did get over there, there were already 27 comments and I was all "Meh". Not "meh" about her blog, of course, just "meh" about commenting. Which I could excuse on the grounds that I talk to her nearly every day so she knows I love her.

The holidays also play hell with housekeeping. Other than stopping to mop up spilled things that might turn sticky and throwing in the occasional load of laundry just so the lid would actually close on the laundry basket, I didn't do much. Too busy reveling and eating and all that.

Which reminds me that the holidays also play hell with the waistline. Only thing that's saving me there is the new Wii that came on Christmas day. I'm a pro at bowling. My tennis game sux, though. Still, at least it gets me off my butt once in a while.

But the holidays are winding down. It's the 8th day of Christmas and all the parties are done with, save for the Epiphany feast on the 6th which, because it's on a Sunday, will likely be a small affair. As in us and The Neighbor. Point is, things are getting back to what passes for normal around here. The Spouse is back at work. I can now see the tops of my kitchen counters. Oh, and did I mention? I'm working. Working as in "I finally got a paying customer for my organizing business" working. Whoo to the hoo! I meet with the client at noon. "Client". I love that word.

And as much as I love Christmastide, I am pretty psyched about the possibilities for the new year. 2008, people. Love me some fresh starts, however arbitrary the whole notion of "fresh start" may be.

I do have a couple of resolutions for the new year. 'Course I do.

* Listen to more new music.

* Read at least a book a month. (Seems I'm reading all the time and I happen to think that some of what I read in Blogtopia is every bit as grand and meaningful as an actual book but still. 12 actual books doesn't seem like much but it's more than I managed in '07).

* Bake more often. I say all the time that I don't really enjoy baking. But over the holidays I made 24 egg nog cakes, ham and cheese brioche, French bread and Caribbean sesame bread. And it was all really good. I don't think it's that I don't enjoy baking. I just forgot how satisfying it really is.

I have some other intentions for the new year but they pretty much all boil down to being more careful. As in, giving more care to those things I value. I got in my head a lot in '07 and the only problem with that is that it makes me tend to "phone it in" when it comes to the things that really matter. I'm going to try not to do that this year.

I'm also resolved to find "Prisoner of Azkaban".

Auld Lang Syne

Looky what I got:



pretty little mother o' pearl spoon for the proper enjoyment of caviar. I started my day in the mellow and lovely Seattle Caviar shop, purchasing, what else?, caviar for tonight's latkes (paddlefish...like osetra but way less expensive) and some pate de fois gras. We'll enjoy that with a bottle of the Orange Widow and I. can't. wait.

The Spouse and I will be ringing in the New Year alone this year. The Child is off with The Boy. Rumor has it they will be at the Space Needle watching it light up at midnight. She's pretty excited.

As I was on my way to the caviar shop the local NPR station was doing a program, asking about individuals song for 2007...the song that meant the most or was most reflective of the year past. It was fun and started me thinking about what song summed up this year for me. It's harder than it sounds.There were some 80s songs that came to mind, what with all the time JP and I spent at the club this year. But then, 80s music is pretty much always my soundtrack and nothing really stood out. I considered "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, which is my theme song for these emerging days of parenting a teenager. But that's only one part of my life. I thought of "Chicago", given our stellar visit there this year and all our peeps there (shout out, y'all). But again, just part of the overall experience.

I ended up being forced to look a little more deeply at what 2007 has meant for me. You well know it's been a year of challenge regarding the whole "what am I going to be when I grow up" thing. I expect there will be actual movement on that front in '08, so long as I apply myself. Which is sometimes hard for me. There have been ups and downs with the family, but more ups than not and our current state of bliss is a reminder that you have to hang on in the valleys if you want to regain the peaks. This has been a year, fundamentally, about believing in myself and what I want, about how the most valuable things don't come without effort. Kind of a funny thing, really, when you think about this being my jubilee year. I mean, really, oughtn't a person to have figured that out by the time she's 50? It's pretty basic, after all.

But better late than never.

I'm blessed. I love my husband. My kid shows signs of turning into a reasonable human being. I've got awesome friends. I've got you. There's money enough to buy caviar and champagne. There are only 386 days left of the Bush presidency. I've got a lot to do in '08 and that's a good thing, even if some of it scares me a little.

So here's to growing up, to hanging in there, to believing in the best and trying hard not to mire down too much in the worst; ultimately, here's to perseverance. *clinkies*

Oh, and yeah, this is my song for '08. And it gives rise to one resolution for 2008: I really have to start listening to something other than Radio Disney.

Happy New Year, kids. I love you.



Jonas Brothers "Hold On"

On the 7th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me

our last day of lying around.

New Year's Day is spent like Boxing Day, always in our jammies, eating cold cuts and watching movies. Except, of course, first we had to greet Norbert, who we had asked to be our "first-footer". (A wee tradition from the old country which allows that if the first person over your threshold today is a tall, dark man you will have good luck in the new year). He arrived and we offered him scotch, as custom dictates. He politely refused, as reason and sense dictate. (Single malt scotch? At 10:30am? I am descended from comedians).

But there are little nibbling signs that this day is not like the Non Sans Jammie of Boxing Day. Everyone knows that tomorrow we get back to business. It will still be Christmas for a few more days, but work and school are back on the docket. The Spouse is ready. He realized this morning that he hasn't left the house since Mass on Christmas Eve. The Child is, of course, a little less excited but Lord have mercy, the kid has had 2 grand weeks of vacation. And she did brighten up when she realized that she gets to take in rounds from the Big Ass Tree. (They've been studying trees in class...she's pretty sure her tale of giant falling trees and the evidence thereof will score her a few extra credit points).

And so. The Spouse has gone off to fetch his bus pass for the month. The Child and I are fixin' to move her computer back into her room. And then The Neighbor will arrive, the platters will come out and we'll plug in some movies. It will be just lovely. And so will getting back on schedule tomorrow.

Hope you have a good first day of the year!

Happy New Year!

I promised my Poodle a latke and caviar. Yum.

Happy frakkin' New Year, y'all!

What are You Doing New Year's Eve?

I'm not sure what happened. I had some intentions for today, not the least of which were cleaning the house from the party remnants, dispatching a pile of papers and generally getting things all tidy. I have this thing about entering the New Year with nothing hanging over me; no laundry, no bills to pay (well, that I accomplished)...you know, just generally setting the stage for that "fresh start" feeling.

Not so much. It didn't help that we all slept in, what with SFYS ending at 12:30am. Deciding to help The Child reorganize her room took some time. Man. The stuff we found. It was like an archeological dig. Launching the new blog certainly had something to do with it. I had to drink coffee. One thing and another, it's now 7:15 and while there is light at the end of the tunnel, I can guarantee you there will be a lot left undone before The Neighbor shows up for our New Year's Eve celebrations.

But hey. Life is never tidy. There's always something to be done. The second you finish all the laundry somebody in the house changes their underwear. That's the way it is. And it's more than ok because as long as there are dustbunnies and dirty laundry and baskets of papers to look at it proves, once again, that life is occuring. A good life. A life full of friends and parties and challenges and blessings.

So the house isn't clean. Meh. It will be. And then it will get messy again. The New Year will dawn with remnants of the Old Year. I'm totally ok with that.

Wishing you and all yours a very happy new year! Where's the champagne?

It's Been a Good Year

I shared the following with the Sing for Your Supper crowd last night and felt compelled to share it now, with you:



It is traditional at this time of year to reflect, to take stock. We count and celebrate our achievements. We face our failings and resolve to do better. And so, in that spirit, I offer the following reflection on my life in 2006.

The writing is going well. My blog audience continues to grow and inspired by the daily need to keep them coming back for more, I have begun to do what I intended in the first place…develop a body of work. One manuscript finished, another begun and within the next few days I should hold in my hands a copy of the first edition of the Unbound Press which contains my first published work in 2 decades (not counting Letters to the Editor). I am proud of that. I’m also proud of the fact that none of my work contains fabrications about my drug addiction or reference to how I would have killed my wife if I had killed my wife.

I was involved in an exciting and successful political campaign this year. The Democrats are in control of the legislature. This makes me very happy. It makes me even happier to note that at no time during the campaign did I refer to anyone as “Macaca”, text any underage pages or have to resign my seat because I was facing indictments of fraud, corruption or money laundering.

I was never photographed without my panties.

I never made any racial slurs about anyone, under any circumstances; not even after a drunk driving arrest or from the stage of a comedy club. I’m pretty proud of that.

Upon reflection, I might possibly be more proud of never being photographed without my panties.

I didn’t have a baby in Nambia. I didn’t buy one in Malawi. I also didn’t “have” one and then keep it in seclusion until Annie Leibovitz was available to take her much ballyhooed photo and smack it on the cover of Vanity Fair. I suppose I’m a bit old fashioned, what with my having a child in wedlock and/or not buying it thing. I’m ok with that.

I was (photo shopped) on the cover of Vanity Fair. And of course, I was named Time's “Person of the Year”. That was cool. But all in all it was a quiet year. No court cases, no quicky marriages and even quicker divorces. I avoided scandal, the glare of the papperazzi and I can’t be accused of ever once suggesting that the war in Iraq is going well. Those are all things for which to be thankful.

But mostly, I’m thankful for the blessings of friendship, virtual and actual. Friends are a gift. And I’m happy to say that this year I once again managed to avoid shooting my best friend in the face while duck hunting.

Happy New Year.