November 2007

We got the movies, refrigerators...we got the movies, color TV...

Thanksgiving is now beyond us, meaning the end of November is in our midst.  So, if for no other reason than keeping the masses from hunting me down and threatening my person, here are November's Ten Happy Things in no particular order...

10.  This is a two part thing, one of which I've mentioned in the past.  For the first part, in honor of the Christmas season, Starbucks has brought back thier annual treat, the eggnog latte.  I first chanced upon this phenomena last year.  Since that time, I developed an addiction for Starbucks' caramel macchiatos...an addiction that could have rivaled any street-dwelling crack addict.  Noticing this downward spiral in my coffee-consumption life, I swore the things off.  I haven't been in a Starbucks in months.  Then the eggnog lattes reappeared.  I've been in a Starbucks just about every day since.....tall decaf eggnog latte with whip and one Splenda.  There is no pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater than the eggnog latte. 

9.  As I have returned to my daily Starbucks soujourn, I have also returned to the big dude behind the register who calls me "baby."  I have written of this before.  He really makes my morning.  Sometimes, my entire day.  I feel like I should buy him a lollipop or something.  It's just so unfair that the relationship is so one-sided.  ;-)

8.  On Black Friday, a day that I usually spend avoiding any and all retail centers, I braved the local Best Buy and procured myself a new entertainment set-up.  New surround speakers, new receiver, new HD DVD player (which came with seven free movies, by the way....tres coolio), and a new 52 inch LCD High Definition television.  This gaggle of drool-inspiring electronics goes with the PlayStation 3 I already have and will go with the Wii that I plan on treating myself to after Christmas (if for no other reason than the Star Wars game...and Mario Kart....and tennis.....yeah).  I cannot WAIT to watch Grand Slam tennis on this thing.  Oh, holy chocolate christmas trees!  I can't even think about it without swooning.

7.  The Christmas season is upon us.  I do not acknowledge anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving.  I fear the wrath of the Angry Pilgrim.  BUT...now that the turkeys of the world can breathe a little easier, I'm unabashedly listening to Christmas music.  I've redone my page to reflect the impending holiday.  I've begun the house-decorating process.  I've selected Christmas cookie recipes.  I've been drinking eggnog lattes (see 10).  Normally, I fear the holidays in general...but I have a rather cheery outlook this year that's really quite out of character for me.  Maybe it's the Chipmunks singing "Christmas Don't Be Late" that's doing it.  I don't know.  There's just something about the way Alvin screams "oooooookay!" that just makes me all chipper.  Chipper.  Good choice for an adjective...

6.  In keeping with the Christmas spirit, this year I designed my own Christmas card.  I worked on it for like four days at work...all day.  Yeah, I got paid for designing my Christmas card.  You wish you had my kind of job.   Anyway, I designed it myself and  I'm having it printed.  I'm really pleased with it.  It's a hugely dorkeriffic card but I friggin' love it.  I'm not telling what's on it.  If you want one, send me your address...I'll send you a card.  It's so dorktastic, it should be illegal.  :-)

5.  Winter is here.  It's HERE!  The hot has left and the cold is here with the promise of getting even colder.  This is good.  This is very good.  This brings joys to the cockles of my penguinishness.  That's a new word, by the way.  Penguinishness.  Feel free to insert it into your daily lexicon.

4.  This is kind of a lame thing to be happy about but I'm pleased about it so I'm sharing.  My hair is getting so long.  It's bordering on ridiculous....ridiculous for me anyway.  I have this tendency to cut my hair when it aggravates me...which is often because I have hair that has to be literally wrestled into submission.  Every time I cut it off, though, I cry and then I'm sorry I did it for days and weeks and months.  I made a deal with myself at the beginning of 2007 that I would grow it out until at least the end of the year.  So, the end of the year is coming and my hair is still growing.  I will admit, while it's a lot of time and effort and frustration, when it's all done and styled and whatnot, the hair is pretty outstanding.  So, you know, I've got that going for me.  Nikki's hair is kind of my goal...I want to see what I'd look like with hair as long as Nikki's.  When Nikki wears her hair down with that big spiral curl thing going on with her ends, that looks pretty slammin'.  I'm shooting for that look...

3.   As I said earlier, this is my slow time at work.  Which means I have many hours during the day to shop, and surf, and make art, and blog, and work on my books, and other such recreational activities.  The beauty of this is that I get paid to do it all.  Which brings me to...

2.  On really slow days when a lot of people are out of the office, I fire up the online Netflix application and watch an episode or two of MI-5.  I love MI-5.  It's the best show.  It's a British government spy show that you can only get in the US if you have BBC America in your cable package or on DVD via Netflix.  I will openly admit that I only began watching this show because it stars Matthew MacFadyen.......the positively delicious actor who plays Mr. Darcy in the version of Pride & Predjudice with Kiera Knightley.  He is by far and without question the most gorgeous man EVER.  He's absolutely criminal.  It really shouldn't be allowed but I thank God every day that it is.  I digress...  Anyway.  I started watching MI-5 because of said hot bloke...but I soon found it's a really good show!  The funniest thing about it is that since it's a show filmed, set, and broadcasted in the UK, the open disdain toward America and Americans is pretty evident.....and it's just hilarious.  They actually call Americans "yanks."  It just cracks me up.  And the British 'spooks' on the show just HATE the CIA, which in personified by this hot-as-pancakes blonde CIA chick character who ends up making the hot bloke character fall madly in love with her.  It's all so sordid and yet so proper at the same time.  It's so great.  

1.  My birthday came and went with very little muss or fuss...which is a good thing.  I saw Dane Cook, which was awesome.  I went for sushi at Kampai, which I affectionately call "little boats" because you sit at this counter thing and all the sushi goes by you on little boats.  You just pull off what you want.  It's awesome.  No one argued with me.  No one annoyed me.  No one made me feel craptastic.  My gran got me six loaves of bread.  All in all, a good birthday experience.  The best part of it, though, was this card that Kim in my office got me.  I laughed so hard when I read it.  It's still on my desk and I still laugh at it.  Anyone who knows me and knows what a grammar stickler I am will totally get why this card is so friggin hilarious to me.  Here, take a gander:

Funny, right?  Especially if you're me.  I mean, I used to be an English teacher so, you know, it's just funny. 

This marks the end of November's Ten Happy Things...  There will be a list for December as well.....  And, maybe, if I'm feeling saucy, I'll do a Ten Happiest Things for 2007 list.  Hmmm...  That's an idea.  Until then, eat, drink, and be fat and drunk.  :-)