See Hear Speak No Evil

‘Tis the season for reflection and as I’m sitting here drinking beer and watching the tele I started to think about the resolutions that I would like to make for next year, which made me think about the resolutions I made for THIS year and I wondered how I was doing.

I had to go back and look at my post to figure out what my resolutions actually were. How effed up is that? I don’t even remember what MY resolutions for aught eight were.

Let’s take a look back to January, shall we?

1. Run a half-marathon.
this was a no go. I was doing well early this year then I went out into the field for 11 hr days from February until May. THEN I had the ankle issue…
I’m working toward this one in 2009. I already ran a 5k (28 minutes), and am training w/a few friends for the Durango 1/2 Marathon in June.
2. Get out of my house more, and not just for work. I’m talking about socializing n’ shit (this one may be the most difficult)
I have gotten better about this, but it’s usually been w/JEB or the same group of friends. I need to meet new people and make new friends.
3. Figure out how to meet people. Seriously, can anyone tell me how people meet people? Maybe part of my problem is that I don’t do #2 very often.
I’ve got friends who’ve tried the ‘platonic’ section on Craig’s List and maybe it’s worked but I can’t do it. Most of those people don’t use proper grammer. I can’t handle that.
4. Read more. Especially books by authors whom I have not yet read. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and re-paid with good karma headed your way.
on Bridge’s suggestion, I read some Dumas and am reading a geology THRILLA by some dude named McPhee… also, joined GoodReads and so get some tidbits here or there (I DO NOT want to read twilight, people)
5. Get out of my house more (believe you me, this one bears repeating. Once it’s written, man, I am OBLIGATED.)
gawd damn… i thought this would help (see how i used all caps on obligated?) but it turns out that it really didn’t. can you take lessons to be more extroverted?
6. Blog more. I’d like to start out with the goal of twice a week. That seems reasonable. And totally do-able.
i’m not sure i want to revisit this one. i SWEAR i started out strong and then POOF! just like that, i got busy or lazy or bored or unable to think of things to say.

I think I’ll print this post and hang it somewhere so I can refer to it often and hopefully it will keep me motivated. If you, dear readers, feel at any point during this year, like asking how I’m doing on my resolutions, I will appreciate that as well. i didn’t do any of these things. in fact, my fridge got quite fuddled up with sexy, sexy poetry magnets and i had to take old GWB funnies and pictures of the nieces and nephews off the fridge. so there was definitely no room for a large 2008 resolution print out.

Anywho- It seems as though my 2009 resolutions will be similar to my 2008 resolutions because i can’t get my shit together enough to follow through. maybe one year i can make it work, though. one year…

If’n ya’ll don’t know who Eddie Izzard is, you’re in for a real treat! I love this Death Star Cantina bit, but I have to wonder how much time it took these guys to put it to legos? Does anyone else think their effort could have been better utilized. Think, they could have figured out how to get solar and wind energy from the western US to the rest of the country…

so i’m gonna do something tonight that i’ve never done before. run a 5k. bridge ran a 5k, and you can see her post here…

this 5k starts at 530 in the evening and the path will be lit with farolitos (or luminarias). traditional new mexican holiday decorations consisting of paper bags filled with sand and a lit candle. they’re quite beautiful and outline a whole slew of buildings and pathways at this time of year. unfortunately, the makers of crap have capitolized on the whole thing and now you can purchase farolitos make of fake plastic bags and lights. CRAP i tell you! quit being so lazy and just light your own.

anywho- i’ll be sure to let all ya’ll know how the race goes. as long as i finish it, i’m good. but my goal is to run it in less than 35 minutes…

so wish me luck and happy sunday!

this entire article came from ENN… see more here
‘Tis the season to give, celebrate and renew. It only takes a small commitment to protect the environment. Here are eight simple ways you can make a difference this holiday season:
1. Rethink the Gift Wrap
It’s time to think outside the box, for real. Not only are most wrapping types wasteful, but its been done, year after year. Break out of your comfort zone and create some great looks with reuse items found around your house.

* Bows
* Bags
* Fabrics
* Newspaper comics
* Magazines
* Decorative boxes

These scrap items can be used to make that gift even more special. They can also be reused year after year.

2. Keep the Trees Truly Green
If part of your celebrations include a Christmas tree, choose to recycle it once the festivities are over, find local treecycling centers through Earth911.

If you want to recycle your tree, do not use tinsel or spray it with fake snow, as tinsel and white trees cannot be recycled. You can also use a live, uncut tree and replant it after the holidays or just decorate a house plant or tree in your yard.

3. Hang up your Cheer
Though ornaments have traditionally been used with Christmas trees, they can be hung from any place in the house. String them with lights to dress up a window or hang them outside. Either way you approach it, ornaments are a great craft and reuse project.

Make ornaments at home with items you may normally recycle:

1. Paper towel rolls
2. Old calendar pictures
3. Holiday wrapping paper

If you have any left over ornaments from holidays past, donate them to your local thrift store or pass them on to family and friends.

4. Keep Energy Low & Excitement High
It is easy to let energy get the best of you during the holiday months, but you can fight back with some easy ways to keep the bills down. Use a timer on your house and tree lights to avoid keeping them on all night, cuddle up next to a fire burning an eco-friendly log and keep your water heater warm with insulation.

5. Just Call
Some of the best holiday greetings don’t come in the form of paper. Forget that card and pick up the phone. It is pretty likely that most of your family and friends would prefer some real talk time over words in a card.

If sending cards is part of a die-hard tradition, save old holiday cards and create new ones by cutting the card down. Old cards also make great ornaments or can even get laminated for coasters. You could also send e-cards and save paper, or you can buy new cards made with post-consumer content.

6. Celebrate in Style
Holiday parties are some of the best times to see friends, share gifts and eat a lot of food. Instead of opting for paper and plastic, use dishes, silverware and cloth napkins instead of disposable utensils and paper products.

Don’t have enough reusable plates for everyone? No problem! Make it BYOP, and have everyone bring their own plates, forks and cups. You can even make a game out of it and have people trade with each other. In addition, give out leftovers so you won’t waste food. Plus, your guests already brought their own to-go containers!

7. Shop Smart
This holiday shopping season may be tighter than years past, so it’s time to get strategic. Many online retailers not only offer free shipping, but by getting it directly delivered to you, your car can stay parked in your driveway. If you do venture out to the mall, plan a trip with friends to carpool and save resources, and try to consolidate your shopping trips into as few as possible.

8. Resolve That Resolution
Though New Year’s is still a ways off, now is a great time to begin planning your changes for 2009. Want to buck that plastic habit, get that commute to be a group affair or increase your recycling efforts? The new year is a national time where change is praised and encouraged. Do some research, and start the new year off with a plan. Hold onto your hat 2009, here we come!

please join me in celebrating the birthday of a very good friend of mine who turns the ripe old age of 29 today!
THIS IS T AND I IN LAS VEGAS, CELEBRATING MY 30TH BIRTHDAY

I have known T since I was the ripe old age of 15. She used to give my little brother her lunch money so he could buy candy, and I used to date her older brother’s best friend. Yeah, a match made in CV…

Anyway, I remember a whole multitude of times that T and I would go to a party up Smithfield Canyon or Green Canyon, or whatever, and then would sit in her driveway until dawn talking about life, the universe, and everything.

Our friendship has only grown stronger by flying to Minneapolis and then driving to Sioux Falls, SD to see Alice in Chains (minus Layne…) play at the county fair. On this trip, we went to a strange bar w/ a strange dude who introduced us to more strange dudes. One of which proposed to T because she’s fucking awesome!

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT T LOVES SD… THAT’S WHERE THEY HAVE STURGIS, BITCHES

Then we went to Las Vegas for my 30th birthday where she helped me put on this corset AND proceeded to stuff some cash in there to make me feel better about being 30! How awesome is that?!

I WISH HER EYES WEREN’T EERIE RED…

She even entertained this avid hiker when I visited her in St. George, UT by taking me to some park (I can’t remember it’s name doggonit!) and enduring a 2-ish mile hike where her 2 yr old son walked the entire time.

WE WERE NEAR A SANDSTONE FORMATION CALLED ‘THE BUTTERFLY’

She was even my non-lesbian lady date to my baby brother’s wedding. We proceeded to get extremely drunk (w/Bridge who was the wedding photog…) and drunk dialed the guy I was dating at the time. If only we had stopped at 3 or even 4 drunk dials!

CHECK OUT THAT FLEXIBILITY GENTS… SHE’S SINGLE!

I love you, T. Thanks for listening to me bitch and moan, and for visiting me in Green Bay (where she made out w/a fellow grad student. Can you believe that she had the audacity to tell me he used too much tongue. A nicmo is a nicmo! No complaining, lady!), and for always knowing when to grab my boob or ass. It’s a wonderful sense you’ve got there. We’ll always be TnA!

AT THE WHITE OWL, DOIN’ WHAT WE DO BEST YA’LL. AND THAT’S DRINKIN’

I’d like to take this opportunity to post the last post of NaMoPoBlo… or whatever it is. You see, or read, that I have ridden on the coattails of my fellow blog authors this month (as most months) and let them do all the work while I sat back and enjoyed the ride. ***edit- as it turns out, I missed the boat on this one. Jess got in under the gun and stole my thunder, or something. But since I’m too lazy to delete the introduction, I’m just editing it here so you all can see me for what I really am.***

I’m good like that. If you ever met me, I’d be more than happy to show you how easy it is to heap praise on those close to you and then let them do the work.

But, that’s not the point I wanted to make in this post. I do LOVE Jess and Bridge and would have been lost more times than I can count (especially in Paris… why don’t they speak English?) but this post is about me. ME, ME, ME!!!

Since the infamous tennis game in which I suffered an injury that defies all logic for anyone who has ever played tennis before. (Yes, I said I tore ligaments playing tennis. I’m a klutz. What of it?) I have put on a small amount of weight but an amount that is enough to make ye old pants a bit tight. I came to the conclusion that tight pants suck. Two ways I could deal with this large little problem: 1) purchase all new pants in a bigger and better size! or 2) lose some fucking weight.

By the luck of the draw, option 2 was behind the door I chose. What shit. I’d LOVE a new wardrobe. Except that I’d REALLY hate shopping for it. So, there’s that.

Good thing more luck was headed my way. A friend of a friend just opened a gym (SWSI) and was running a Holiday Fitness Challenge. The basic premise of the HFC is that there was an assessment at the beginning of the thing (you know, how fast can you run a mile, how many push-ups can you do, how long can you hold plank w/one or another extremity in the air…) and then there’s an assessment @ the end of the HFC.

The meat of the HFC is Adventure Fitness classes. (I really tried to find some pictures showing people doing similar stuff but Google Images failed me miserably. But here is what the facility looks like.) Anywho- we go to the class and do circuit sorts of training which helps me stave of the ongoing boredom that is riding a stationary bike or staring at a wall/out a window while running on a treadmill.

Our circuits are things like:
>take this medicine ball and throw it to the ground as hard as you possibly can (this one is doubly awesome because it’s a good venter of stress)
>attach yourself to this big bungee cord and sprint to the end of the turf… then maintain yourself (by NOT falling over as I’ve done before) by running backwards as the bungee pulls you back
>do as many rows (kind of like an inverted push-up or pull up when you’re laying on the ground instead of standing) as you can and then do 3 more
>sprint to the end of the room and back then get into plank and hold it until the trainer tells you to get your lazy ass up and run again
>push a sled with weights on it while running as fast as you possibly can
>etc

Did I mention that I’m having a WONDERFUL time doing all of this crazy shit? I mean, I HURT after the first couple of classes but now am invigorated and wish I had enough dough to buy enough classes to go at least 4 times a week. Ah me…

I did, however, take a photo of my beer belly (at least that’s what I call it and have no kid excuse) before we started and will take another one after the HFC is done. At that point I may seriously contemplate posting the pics… I’ll be like a Al-fomercial. It’s bound to be awesome. I mean, surely Victoria’s Secret or Playboy or Cosmo will be flooding my voicemail and email with requests to be their front page gal. Right?

So I open up my email this morning and see this little gem from my sister. I thought I’d share with all ya’ll because I need to up my post numbers. You know, add my two cents. Pull my own weight. etc. Feel free to steal it if’n you want. Also, feel free to mock me and my dislike for a holiday that no longer comes close to resembling it’s earlier intent. I guess that’s what happens when big corporations get their dirty little fingers into the mix.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? gift bags (they’re reusable…)

2. Real tree or Artificial? neither. I’d rather not have a tree at all

3. When do you put up the tree? see #2

4. When do you take the tree down? see #2

5. Do you like eggnog? depends on how much liquor is in it. Oh, and cinnamon and nutmeg. but gotta have booze

6. Favorite gift received as a child? my super suh-weet pink & gray 10-speed.

7. Hardest person to buy for? my bro-in-law

8. Easiest person to buy for? myself

9. Do you have a nativity scene? nope. Oh wait, I vaguely remember my dad gave me one some time ago. I think it’s in the garage. I won’t be getting it out.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? The Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? something that I don’t really have a need for or desire for. This happens A LOT…

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

13. When do you start shopping? Shopping? Never.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yep. If I’m not going to use it I might as well give it to someone who will.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? cheese soup (an old family recipe)

16. Lights on the tree? how many fucking tree questions are there?

17. Favorite Christmas song? none… Bah Humbug!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I’d rather stay home but sometimes I get guilted into going back to UT

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Isn’t there some song about it?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? see 16

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? neither. I really would rather NOT get gifts but I haven’t yet convinced the family to spend their money elsewhere…

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? the ads… the consumerism… the expectation that people MUST cater to every single desire of their loved ones…

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a Darth Vader ornament that is AWESOME!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? beer…

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? new boots… oh, wait. I already bought those. How in the world did I ever know what I wanted?