Resolutions or whatever

I don't know why this picture was on their site, but I figure they can use the traffic.

Do you set New Year's resolutions? Sometimes I do, but usually I don't bother because they just make me feel crappy when I don't meet them. This is most often because the goals I tend to set are not measurable: things like "be more assertive at work" or "be less judgmental of strangers" or "lose some weight" make it impossible to know when they've been achieved. So this year, I am trying something new.

Have you all seen those "[number of things] before [age]" lists going on around these internets? Most of the time I've seen them as "30 before 30" lists, but there are other examples and stuff - search "30 before 30" or whatever in google if you're interested. My list this year is a combination of that idea and a list of resolutions. I was going to make it "11 things in 2011," but then I got carried away, so the list has 14 things so far. All of these are things that will be great to look back at and say, "Man, I'm glad I got that taken care of."

So without further ado, here are the things I plan to accomplish in 2011. (They are broken into three categories for your convenience, but in no particular order within those categories.)

House and home
1. Redo upstairs bathroom (this is being made possible by some extra money from Christmas; "redo" for us means repaint and maybe redecorate, not renovate or anything).
2. Finally attach headboard to bedframe, as it has just been leaned against the wall behind the bed for about TWO YEARS.
3. Get new nightstands, as ours are about six inches too short for our tall bed, which pisses me off on a near-daily basis.
4. Repaint the crappy job we did with cut-in in the living room.
5. Get our kitchen knives professionally sharpened.
Social
6. Host a fancy dinner party (dress-up clothes [costumes?] required).
7. Take at least two weekend trips with Andy.
8. Visit friends in NYC and Boston at least once each (can be combined with #7!).
9. Go camping and enjoy it (my current feelings on camping will no doubt be revealed here at length; I'm sure there are ways to do it that are not awful, and #9 is about finding one of those ways). 
Personal
10. Relearn to drive standard (I learned to drive on a standard ten years ago, then promptly forgot how).
11. See a dermatologist and learn how to better care for my specific skin.
12. Somewhat related to #11: Investigate laser hair removal (because bikini-area maintenance is absolutely my least favorite beauty-thing, and I have sensitive skin so I don't know if laser shit is okay with that).
13. Complete Couch to 5K (I've started three times and quit, for various reasons, after Week Four each time).
14. With Andy's help, nail down the design of my next tattoo, then get said tattoo.

What about you? Do you have a life-list or a 25-before-25 or a 50-before-50 or even a single resolution? I'd love to hear 'em all.

Planning big.

Delicious image via

What are you all up to for New Year's Eve? We committed to hanging out with about five different sets of people, so then we were going to have a party, but then some of the people made other plans, so maybe we won't have a party. Or something.

What I'm trying to say is, I have no idea what we're doing on Friday night, but it's looking likely that we'll be at my parents' house with our friends. My parents like to host and their house is clean, so it's a way better option than having a party here, but I feel a little odd about spending New Year's Eve watching Dick Clark look robotic and heartbreaking with my mom.

When I was in college, my friend Chris's parents went out of town for New Year's a few years in a row, and Chris hosted some of the best parties I've ever been to. There was the year that Todd ran into the packed living room three minutes early and started the countdown, which we all participated in, only to realize that we had wasted the good countdown. There was the year many people saw Bob doing some girl. There was the year with the pancakes. And I'm pretty sure an evening at my parents' house, while fun, won't be as epic as those nights were.

Do any of you go out for the night? I know most New Yorkers avoid Times Square, but what about hotels and bars and stuff in your city? I think this year I want an excuse to get all dolled up, wear a sequined dress and some fancy shoes (p.s. LAUGHING OUT LOUD about the idea of paying those prices for dresses and shoes), and get buzzed on the best drink ever. Instead, I'll probably put on a little extra eyeliner, paint my nails with sparkly polish and bring the dog and Andy to my mom's. Not exactly as awesome, but good nonetheless.

What I'm loving and not loving

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Today I love:

• That my sister's still around to hang out with.
• Eating dinner with family and friends every night - with the bonus that it means I haven't cooked a meal in two weeks!
• Planning to use money we were given for Christmas to (finally) redo the upstairs bathroom that I've hated since we moved in [note: "redo" here means "scrape the peeling paint off the wall, repaint the walls and the whore's-lipstick-red trim, and maybe, if we're feeling flush, re-enamel our 1950s bathtub"].
• Homemade guacamole. I haven't had any this week or anything; I just really like the stuff.
• That this weekend is another three-day weekend that I get to spend hanging out with Andy.

Today I'm not loving:

• That the Kid leaves soon.
• How freaking cold my toes are (I need to get some of these or one of these).
• People who get in front of me and then go three miles under the speed limit.
• That champagne isn't an every-day drink on my budget. It's pretty much my favorite.
• That I haven't done laundry in almost three weeks. This has an awfulness triple-whammy: I am almost out of clean underwear, and when I finally get around to doing laundry it will take all goddamn day, and that means it will probably have to happen this weekend.

What are you loving and loathing lately?

So busy!

My most annoying coworker - the one who wears noisy flip-flops year round, who hums loudly to herself in our almost-silent office, who tries to convince me I did my job wrong so she has to do less work - came to my desk six times today to ask me questions about my work that she should have been able to figure out herself. So I'm extra-glad my best friend is home from Boston for an extra day and that she's on her way to my house right now so we can make this delicious mess before I have to head to Andy's parents' house for Christmas #4.

I truly love the holiday season, but damn, I'm pooped!

How are y'all holding up? Ready to throw in the towel, or ready for another viewing of Home Alone?

How was your Christmas?

Bizarre image via

 I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not a teacher anymore, which means I have to work during the week between Christmas and New Year's. It sucks. But I aim to have an awesome day today to squeeze in as much vacation as I can!

We had a great Christmas yesterday. There was one incident when Andy's sister's dog misinterpreted "shake" to mean "rear up on your hind legs and scratch me on the face," and we didn't start opening presents until ten p.m. at his folks' house, but other than that things were pretty smooth and calm.

Weirdest present I received: the Jell-o recipe book pictured above. I don't like Jell-o, pretty much at all, so that's fun.

Christmas-related anecdote: When I was a kid, I was sure that the word 'certain' could sometimes be used as a verb. This knowledge was based on the Christmas Carol "The First Noel," in which the angels sang the first noel to "certain poor shepherds." To nine-year-old me, this meant they sang it to the shepherds to reassure them and tell them that Jesus was coming - you know, to certain them.

How was your Christmas? Do you have to work tomorrow too?

Gus Polinski? Polka King of the Midwest?

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I hope you all are having a splendid Christmas (if you celebrate)! We had a nice quiet morning with the Kid and Brian, and we're heading out to hang with family and be joyful.

I hope you all got everything you wished for, and that the rest of your weekend is 100% awesome.

Almost Christmas!

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Yes! I have the day off, and I'm starting it with Italian cookies and some Earl Grey tea while my hair is being dyed (it was black a few months ago, but my roots are pretty crazy, so I'm dying it brown. We'll see what happens). I have three more presents to wrap, and then I'm done!

Today we're hanging out at home all morning (Andy's going to make his famous scrambled eggs), then going to Mass at 4, then a lovely party at my friend Stevie's parents' house. Stevie's mom hand-spins yarn, and I never leave the house without her handing me a whole bunch of lovely handspun, and Stevie's dad makes an amazing lobster bisque. It's a great time.

I hope you're having a lovely day! Watch this video and let it add to your enjoyment of the season:

This is me when I'm in my fifties and living in Boca Raton.