Happy New Ear!!

Yes, "ear"...last year Munchkin thought it was Happy New Hair and rubbed the top of our heads while wishing that to us! At any rate, it is 2008. Where does the effing time go? Really...where does it go?

The last two weeks were a freakin' blur...my mom came out for two weeks and it was glorious to have her here. It did, however f* up Munchkin's routine and she was a bear for about the first week but, once she got used to Gram hanging with us she calmed down a bit (not to mention the excitement over Xmas and the increased sugar consumption). We did so much fun stuff while Mom was here...Reindeer Festival, A Tap Dance Christmas Carol, saw the Christmas Ships on Lake W., saw the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton, rode two carousels downtown, rode the monorail, saw The Big Friendly Giant at the children's theatre...it was so fun doing all that and having mom along.

Meanwhile while Mom was here...back on the east coast one aunt died, one aunt fell outside on the ice and had to go to the ER, and the ex-wife of my big brother was hospitalized after a severe heart attack and may not make it. I just gotta get back there with all this crap going on.

I've had so much to do lately and still so much to get done (adoption paperwork, holiday cards, prep for the winter concert at preschool...) but I feel like I can breathe tonight. I made another batch of chap chae today and it was a double batch--I got a frickin' blister on my hand from chopping the onions, the carrots, the shitake-million-$-a-pound 'shrooms...worth it, though, as the dish was good. We had a great little NYE party for a few of our friends and their kids (all KADs) tonight and I made my own crazy ball for BikeBoy to lower like in Times Square! It had rows of crystal and silver beads and some silver pipe cleaners stuck into a styrofoam ball. WTF was I thinking! It was funny anyway. And, you know, the only 12:00 a.m. which truly counts is the one that occurs in NYC's timezone so after the other families left around 8:00 our time Munchkin, BikeBoy and I watched the countdown in NYC on tv and then it was pretty much over. They are both deep in dreamland now while I shopped on itunes a while (Queensryche's "Jet City Woman," Fiction Plane's "Two Sisters," "Dig" by Incubus, "Pretty Vegas" by INXS w/JD, and "Flagpole Sitta" which is actually an old Harvey Danger song but iTunes carries an "exacta" version of it by some other cover band) and am catching up with my reading/writing.

Oh, and let me plug holiday cards for a moment...I can't tell you how much I love getting them! I so love hearing from my friends and family, especially when a little note is included or a picture of them or something. I never throw them out (honestly). I look at the pictures over and over. It amazes me how lucky I am to have these wonderful people in my life even if I never get to see them in person. And one special group of gals--most of whom I've never met IRL, though I consider them "real" friends--so cool to hold the card in my hand knowing it once rested in yours. I love all my friends all over the US and world so much--maybe the importance of friends increases when one has no siblings. I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe everyone feels this way. At any rate, a handful of you are truly like sisters to me in my heart and I may never tell you this in person and I may not have seen you in over a decade or maybe only a few months ago or somewhere in between but...oh, heck...I should just tell you in person one day but I hope you know who you are! :)

And, while we're at it, let me announce it so that I'll feel some sort of responsibility...I am going back on WW tomorrow (or today now that it is 12:30 am on January 1st, 2008). I did 30 min on the treadmill yesterday and plan to do it at least 4 days a week. I also will return to tap once the studio re-opens. I have to get this bod back into shape. I don't know why I let stress take my eating down the road-of-no-return when I feel so much better when I treat my body like the temple that it is. And my friend, C, was over here tonight and she lost 71 lbs this year and now weighs less than I do! She rocks. She looks incredible. I suck. I cannot even tell you how much crap I ate in the last week or two...it would disgust you.

Well, that's it for tonight. Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2008 which brings you only good things! And I promise my holiday cards will get into the mail this year. Soon. Really. I mean it.