Doo-Ta-Dooo

It is so boring at work this week. The phones don’t ring, there are no appointments set up, and I have to do year-end paperwork. Bleck.

In other news, I made a neat little present for some of my friends this year. If I can remember to, I will post a picture of what I made.

In other, other news, I am going to San Antonio with The Architect this weekend. We are going to the Alamo Bowl to support our Longhorns. I have mixed feelings about this because the Alamo Bowl is a crappy bowl game, but at the same time, I want to support my team no matter what. Plus, it’s probably the closest bowl game I will ever get to go to with the exception of the Cotton Bowl. It will be a fun time though.

I also have mixed feeling about New Years Eve. Since we will be in SA, we have two options.

Option One is to go to Austin on our way back to Dallas and go to a friend’s party. I won’t know many people, and the one’s I do know tend to hit on me when they are drunk (regardless of The Architect’s presence), but it would be a nice party, and it is in a hotel so an easy end of the night commute. The Architect will know people here. Several of them tailgate with him.

Option Two is come back to Dallas on New Year’s Eve and spend the evening in Addison at one of our hang outs, and go to a nice dinner. This option includes most of my friends, and a couple friends who will be in from out of town. The Architect is getting to know these people, but is not full on friends with them yet. A cab ride will get us home.

I want Option Two. Given that The Architect says “let’s play it by ear” and “we’ll see” a lot when we discuss this, I believe he wants to go to Austin.

However, A) I don’t want to get hit on by those guys. B) I don’t want to drive back on New Year’s Day and have to work the next day. I want to lounge around recovering from my inevitable hangover. C) The Architect has been on vacation since the 15th. He will be quite rested. I have not. I want my New Year’s Day! D) I would like to see the friends who are coming in town.

The question is, how do I convince him to come back to Dallas for New Year’s Eve without starting a fight? Any suggestions? He’s a laid back guy. Not really a fighter, but I can tell we are not seeing eye to eye on this one.

It’s So Beautiful…

Uh…Santa loves me…

This is how he showed it!

Oh But Wouldn’t it Be Grand…

Sleepless in Dallas

I need sleep.

I spend 8 hours in my bed, and I fall asleep quickly, but I might as well have a 2 month old baby. I wake up 4 times a night. Every two hours or so. It is really starting to suck. I have done everything that is suggested to get better sleep except completely give up caffeine, but I stop drinking it between three and four every day. I don’t drink much alcohol, and virtually none at all during the week. I have dark curtains so it stays dark in my room. It’s cool in my room, but not cold. I have a fan for white noise so I don’t get woken by things like my cats wrestling. I have even been going to bed at the same time every night (even on most weekend nights!) for a couple of months now. Yet, I still wake up at the same exact times every night. The worst one is 6:40am because I have to get up for work at 7. And when I say I wake up at the same time each night, I mean I wake up at the same time down to the minute. I might as well have an alarm clock.

I am just about to my wits end with this new habit my body has deemed necessary. I am getting very close to calling my doctor and requiring a prescription of Lunesta. There is no cause for this insomnia that I can see. It’s simply some new habit, and I can’t break it because it is happening in my subconscience. When I was in high school I had insomnia too, but then it was falling asleep. Not staying asleep. I seem to have insomnia in little bursts now and then, but usually they go away after a month or so and are caused by some kind of stressor. In those cases though, I wake up thinking about something. There is an obvious issue floating in my brain. But not right now. Right now, I just wake up as though I had slept a full night, look at the clock and then stare at it for the next 30 minutes. Tossing and turning. I might start thinking about some worry, but it is definitely not what is waking me.

So frustrating. I just want a couple good nights of sleep with maybe 5 straight hours of snooze time. God that would be great…

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…Sort of…

We have HEAT!

FINALLY, I had to turn the heat back on! Thank goodness! I thought it was going to be in the 70s right through Christmas! And that, my friends, is not Christmas! It’s still not cold, but there’s a chill in the air, and it’s cloudy and rainy, so I am pretending it’s about to snow. I look up at the clouds and say, “you clouds, you are snow clouds!” And they look back at me and say, “sure…”

I also got most of my Christmas shopping done last night! Thanks to Jenny! She asked if I wanted to go shopping with her and after several hours of deliberation, I decided yes. And, I even stuck to my budget! Perhaps even UNDER it! It’s amazing how much easier it is to shop when you have someone saying, “oooh, yes, that’s perfect.” or “Um, no. That is so not her.” Or “Oh, just get it! You know it’s just right for him!”

So two hours later, I had bought presents for 8 friends, and my dad. Whew! That is some crazy shopping! And I even like the presents!

So to those of you who are still in the predicament I was in yesterday, Go Forth for Presents!

Dear Santa,

Santa, I really, really, really want one of these for Christmas.

I know I am a strange one, but it looks so cool!! Tomatoes growing upside down, and herbs growing on top? It’s like a salad on a stand! LUV it!

Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

Somehow, in the last week, I haven’t mentioned the most amazing news I’ve heard in months!

My best friend from first grade…my first best friend ever…the person who knows me deep down, better than anyone else, even if we don’t know the daily details of each others lives anymore…the person who I respect more than anyone I know with the exception of my parents, and my grandmother…the person who I have wished my whole life to be like…one of the people who would be at my “If I could have dinner with anyone in the world dead or alive” Dinner, the tiniest, sweetest friend I have, my dear friend, Tricia, is having a baby!

But wait! It get’s better! Because this birth only, for the low, low price of $19.99, you can have TWINS!! Yes, that’s right for just $19.99, you can have double the fun (and sleepless nights, and college tuition, and car seats, and strollers…)!!

She is having twins! Her tiny 5′ 105lb (MAYBE) frame is having TWINS! Where the heck are they going to fit!! She is due July 14th, but we’ll see if she makes it…Her birthday is July 3rd…what a great birthday present that would be!

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this! I cannot think of couple who deserve this happiness more. Her family has had a rough year, and I think this is God’s way of saying it is all ok now.

And what a blessing to have twins the first go around! If they have anymore, it will be a piece of cake after this!

Looks like I’d better figure out how to pack my lighting kit to fly on a plane to Ohio, because somebody is going to need some baby pictures!

For the Love of All That is The Internets

The problem with throwing a Christmas party on December 9th is that you spend the three weeks before getting ready for the party, instead of shopping, and then the week after cleaning up…instead of shopping.

I have been so far behind on my Christmas shopping this year! If it weren’t for the internet, I don’t think any of my out-of-state friends and family would be getting anything before the new year. And it’s still doubtful they will get anything before Christmas Day.

But lo the wonders of the internet. I have frequented several sites this year that have saved the day. Among them are, UncommonGoods.com which has some really unque presents–didn’t the name tell you that??, BarnesandNoble.com (where I get great discounts because I have a membership card, which I have been repaid the $25 fee three or four times this year), Gifts.com which has sent me to some very cool sites, and given me some great present ideas, and Snapfish.com where I spent so much money this year, that they gave me a free gift…a nice one, too! And the Sur La Table website which is just so much cooler than William-Sonoma.

At any rate, I found some pretty cool gifts this year that I would never have found in stores, and I am thrilled! If you’re still looking, you’re creeping up on the deadline to get it before Christmas, but you still have a little bit of time. So get out there, and look at some 000s and 111s!

More Pictures!

Are you guys tired of seeing random baby pictures yet? Hope not!

I did another photo shoot last night for a friend of a friend who has a newborn. Newborns are so wrinkley and cute! And this one snorts! SO adorable!

Interesting Blogging News

This article on the BBC News: Technology website (which is strangely attributed to no one…) is rather interesting. Besides the fact that Technorati’s data has been notoriously unreliable, it’s interesting that this analyst firm, Gartner, thinks blogging will peak in 2007.

It seems to me that as the population ages, the number of bloggers will naturally increase, because people don’t seem to stop blogging because they hit a certain age, but they certainly do start blogging as they get old enough. So it’s interesting to think that

“most people who would ever start a web blog had already done so.”

But hey…who am I to disagree with mysterious analysts…

Any opinions?