Focus, people.

Last night we went to see Ben Folds at the Tabernacle, and I was grossed out by how many people were on their phones / mobile devices the entire time. Any time there was a little downtime, the guy a few rows in front of us was on his Nintendo DS. Brett was like, "Feel free to leave me if I ever become that disinterested in our relationship", as the dude was there with a date. The girl in front of us kept googling stuff on her blackberry during the concert. At one point I leaned way over to see what exactly she was searching, and it was "who is Claire Danes dating?" Her date was on facebook most of the concert.

Um, I am obviously all for the internet when I'm not doing anything else or really need some information, but I go to concerts to see and pretty much focus on the band. Don't really need other entertainment when I already payed $50 for a ticket.

The guy next to us was keeping track of the set list on, gasp, a little notebook and, gasp again, an old fashioned stubby pencil with bite marks. It was so charming, almost like being right back in 1998. 

Another eerily familiar yet apparently obsolete concept was the really drunk dude with the lighter. I like seeing the lighter at concerts. That the cell phone was replaced it just seems way too sterile. Much in the same way I dislike the plastic and cardboard holders for candles at midnight mass.  I know, I know, no one likes hot wax dripping on their hands, but if we're going to hold plastic, might as well just use fake candles. Wait, let's just use cell phones at church from now on. 

This is a pretty ridiculous post. Oh well. Ben Folds was great.

Merry Belated Christmas

Since I took a bit of a blogging hiatus, I never got to say Merry Christmas and share any fun details from my holiday 2008 season. It was a lovely time, Katie and Kyle were the perfect hosts and their home is looking lovely. 

First of all, it wouldn't really be Christmas without a nod to everyone's favorite 24 hour movie marathon.

Looked fab on K & K's new tv.

Second we ate really, really well, in fact that is pretty much all we did. Here is a beauty of a shot. I think it really captures the excitement we all felt about all those sugarplums, er, sauteed mushrooms.

To me, this image is like a modern day Norman Rockwell. I am considering painting it...

And third, when I got home and was regaling tales of father - stepdaughter cooking, brother-in-law wine decanting and general family merrymaking to Brett, he commented that we seemed like such a fancy schmancy bunch. So I consoled him by sharing this picture that I snapped from Katie's oh-so-elegant dining table:

Katie, what is this lovely red sauce? I hear it pairs well with Yorkshire pudding.

Hope your holidays were happy!

Once again, work is getting in the way of life.

How bad do I want to stay home tomorrow and watch Dr.Phil lay into the Octo-mom? Pretty bad. And no, I don't have Tivo. I have a combo DVD VCR, but the DVD player is broken. So I have a tiny, sleek DVD player sitting on top of the huge monolith DVD VCR. Just so I can watch the few VHS tapes I own and occasionally tape something with the VHS tape I've had since college. It was purchased when some friends and I bought Tae Bo off an infomercial, taped it and then sent it back. We were a wild bunch. That wasn't nearly as wild as when the shirts came off and we worked out with Billy Blanks in our sports bras in the dorm. Lovely. So yeah, I want to watch. Somebody fill me in.

a sad day

Although I am so lucky to have many lifelong friends from my hometown, none of them can claim the title of my first friend in Potsdam. And now she's gone. My heart breaks for the people closest to her, especially her husband, little girl and the baby who will never know his mom. Nothing much else to say, some things don't and will never make sense. Guess I just wanted to mark the day.

hi!

Ugh, the last couple of months have been so busy, I have been a blog-slacker. Not to mention the weekends have been just as busy as the workweek. Very little downtime. Not to mention that I CRIED AT WORK yesterday, the cardinal sin / most-dreaded-thing that can happen at work. So needless to say I'm glad it's the weekend and I have no Friday night plans. 

During all this business, I have been thinking about what I might blog about when the time came. And I know it's late, but I wanted to comment a little on 2008, twas a great year. So here is my Top Ten list for 2008, 2 months late.

1. I fell in love!! Yay, who doesn't love love? I am a very lucky girl. Brett and I had our one year anniversary in January, we are very happy.

2. I ran a marathon! Can't believe that happened. I mean, I can believe it, but I can't believe I ran the whole deal and that I didn't slack on training. And now I'm planning number two.

3. I made lots of new friends and strengthened a lot of existing friendships in Atlanta. I actually have a group of girlfriends here now! This year we need to work on couple friends, a much more daunting endeavor.

4. I picked a few hobbies I am into and focused energy on those. This doesn't sound all that important but when you really sit and think about what makes you you and concentrate on being the best version of yourself, it is rewarding. 

5. I exorcised some personal demons that had been following me around for years. Combine that with learn to ask for help and it's like 2 accomplishments in one.

6. I perfected a go-to dinner party recipe. 

7. Decided it is stupid to wait until I'm married to have nice things and bought gorgeous stemless wine glasses. I love them feel like a grownup when I use them! I also made a few other really nice home decor purchases. But waited a few days to decide I really wanted them. 

8. I learned to say no (nicely). At work, at home, at play. Not that I do this all the time, but a lot of the time. I just learned that I am an adult and I don't have to feel uncomfortable in any situation.

9. I took up mountain biking and extended this hobby to a foreign country. And I went running every where I travelled. Such a great way to see the world. 

10. Met 4 professional athletes! Still don't understand football though.

11. Professional success! I had a good, learning year at work. This year isn't looking like a repeat so far (hence the aforementioned crying episode).

12. I think I'm nicer and more tolerant after 2008. 

So that was twelve. I told you, 2008 was great! Sorry, 2009. You should pretty much just stop trying now. Except, you do have the darling Obama daughters in their inauguration coats going for you.