holly jolly christmas

woohoo!! my second time blogging this month! it's sad that that's progress, isn't it? =)

let's see... there was a crazy-ass christmas party at my house on the 16th, followed by an even crazier roadtrip to a concert on the 17th, last-minute christmas shopping, verbal warfare with the UPS people (more on that later), my birthday, and the blur that was christmas day, followed by the insanity that is picking up a shift at the starbucks in the mall on the day after christmas. (who thought that was a good idea?!?!?) but somehow, i think i survived it all. and i'll probably do it all again next year, really.

since last year was the first time in ages that i'd actually enjoyed christmas, i'd set for myself the ambitious goal of at least not HATING christmas this year. which, i mostly accomplished. there were a few rough moments, but overall, it was ok. i could have done without the non-stop christmas music at the bucks. talk about annoying. i'd have a day off and still wake up with those stupid songs in my head!!! it was so irritating! AND there's this creepy, screechy, weird winston marsalis version of carol of the bells that sounds like something out of a bad horror movie--this girl one of my co-workers knows evidently plans to write one, inspired by that song, about snowmen stabbing people with candy canes. but if nothing else, it gave us all something to comiserate about. and there were at least the redeeming moments when the charlie brown soundtrack was playing =)

this christmas was definitely different from last year--no snowy evenings spent wandering about the weihnachtsmaerkte, no christmas trees lit with real candles. but there was some gluehwein at my party--which was a big hit, if i may say so myself =) and i had my very first christmas stocking this year, which was particularly exciting, because there's a (semi-)functioning fireplace in our apartment!! the cats enjoyed the christmas tree (although my allergies did not!)--they sat in chairs on either side of it and just stared for hours on end, OR chased each other around underneath it, amazingly, breaking only one ornament this year! and there has been much drinking of tea and hot chocolate in front of the fireplace--except when it gets too smoky, and i get yelled at =) i even had to light a fire for warmth a week or so ago, when we discovered that our upstairs neighbors had all left for the holidays and turned down their thermostat, which, apparently, controls the heat for the whole house!!! it was 58 degrees in the apartment when i got home in the afternoon, and it definitely wasn't going to get any warmer when the sun went down. brrr!!! fortunately, our landlords came over and turned the upstairs girls' heat back up, so we didn't freeze to death--or die of smoke inhalation, due to our tempermental chimney. but yeah...

there are probably 8 million more equally unimportant things i could write about, but i think i'd rather sleep for a bit. but i will post my rant about UPS soon. really. probably not while it's still december. after all, 3 posts in one month might be a bit much =) but soon...

time flies

so it looks like i've been managing to blog about once a month lately. pathetic.

most of november was a blur of working, dogsitting, working some more, going to chicago to hang out with a bunch of crazy californians!!!! more working, working, working, dogsitting, thanksgiving, dogsitting, working, and going to portland--woohoo!!!

chicago was amazing as usual. seeing erin and steph and megan was fabulous. being in chicago was fabulous. driving a car (rental, of course!) that actually starts and runs and doesn't make scary noises was a beautiful thing. seeing erin's baby sister--who was in 6th grade when i met her!!--in her dorm room at college was insane. OMG, I'M OLD!!

then there was thanksgiving, which was pretty much lost in a blur of dog leashes and lattes. a few of us volunteered to work the whole day of thanksgiving--time and half, kids, and really, it's not like i eat turkey anyways =) so that was crazy and kind of fun--there were moments at least. the dogsitting was a little out of control, but kind of fun, too. i think it was just too many dogs and too much working all at once. smaller doses--or smaller dogs!!--might have been helpful =)

and last but not least...portland. ahhh!!! it was amazing. it was beautiful. it was five days of not working at all!!! it was hanging out with gretchen. it was getting enough sleep. and being outdoors. and freezing. and that being ok! meeting new people. and seeing some "old" germans!! =) *grin* and seeing a bit of america through their eyes. drinking coffee and tea and beer from portland and eating "frenchy" toast. did i mention not working!?!? it was having my flight cancelled and having to stay another day--and not being able to make it back in time to work!! ha ha!! i couldn't have planned it better myself!!! it was the gods smiling down on me and saying, "you need this"--and me realizing that they had a point. it was conversations about things that matter and things that are hard. and thinking about things that are harder. and moments of knowing it's going to be ok. that some things are bigger than all this. most importantly, it was coming back and being ok.

(despite spending my entire day in airports and airplanes and being "randomly selected" to undergo extra scrutiny at the security checkpoint.)

it was going back to work the next morning and still being ok. freezing my ass off, because it was 60 degrees when i left and 19 degrees when i got back!! but there was snow, and it was pretty, and it was ok.

and now it's december, and i'll try to post at least once more this month =)