i'm nothing if not last-minute....

it's monday night here in crabcake corners and i'm readying myself for a lengthy, multi-day trip, the first leg of which will begin tomorrow evening after work. i've got laundry to wash, packing and tidying to do, treats and supplies to gather, and papers to organize before i leave. shouldn't be a problem, right? it's only 8:50 PM the night before.

this weekend, bella got all spiffied up, and today after work, i went and bought some new running shoes to keep my tootsies happy. really, it's just a matter of checking all the items off my list before i depart.

oh, and i'm going to the antebellum south, in case you're wondering....the land of sweet tea and y'all....where i plan to sleep in, get on a boat, put my feet in the ocean, eat more than one grit, visit my dear nigel, and finish the book i began before this past semester started. in short, i can't wait. when i come home, i promise to *try* and upload some pics, but for anyone who's read my blog for more than a year, you know that i don't always hop to it right away. i'm trying to get better. really, i am.

so, that's all the news that's fit to print tonight. i'll have my laptop while i'm there, so i'm sure there may be some blogging, facebooking, and tweeting going on (but again, we'll see how faithful i am with it all once i've got an ocean breeze in my face).

try not to miss me too much, y'all. see you on the flip side:).

i'm not a doctor; i just play one on my blog.

the last few days, i've been an incredibly slow-moving train. my asthma kicked into high gear this week, and i feared i was on the fast track to bronchitis. so, i did what any paranoid girl does: i locked myself in the house for a few days and slept as much as humanly possible, didn't take too many phone calls, and tried to let myself just breathe.

i think it may have helped.

i'm not entirely out of the woods, but my chest isn't incredibly tight anymore—thank God. still, i cannot seem to shake the cloud my head is in. i don't know if it's 3-day-old nyquil that has yet to wear off, complete exhaustion, or some combination of the two, but it's taking me extra time to do everything. as it stands, i've been up for 5 hours now, and i haven't even gotten fully dressed yet, haven't eaten anything, and certainly haven't started on the paper i have due tomorrow. i just cannot get moving. all i want to do is sleep.

so, i'm going to listen to my body. i'm going to eat a little lunch and then i'm going to take a nap while i wait for salimah to call so we can hang out. the laundry can sit in its piles. the paper will get written tomorrow. right now, i need restorative sleep and more fluids. sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered.

gotta have you

gray, quiet and tired and mean
picking at a worried seam
try to make you mad at me over the phone
red eyes and fire and signs
i'm taken by a nursery rhyme
i wanna make a ray of sunshine and never leave home

no amount of coffee, no amount of cryin
no amount of whiskey, no amount of wine
no no no no no, nothing else will do
i've gotta have you, i've gotta have you.

the road gets cold, there's no spring in the middle this year
i'm the new chicken plucking open hearts and ears
oh, such a prima donna, sorry for myself
but green, it is also summer
and i won't be warm till i'm lying in your arms.

...chorus

i see it all through a telescope: guitar, suitcase, and a warm coat
lying in the back of the blue boat, humming a tune...

no amount of coffee, no amount of cryin
no amount of whiskey, no amount of wine
no no no no no, nothing else will do
i've gotta have you, i've gotta have you.

**************************************************
it's easter sunday and i got up early to bright sunshine and blue skies. yes, i thought, that's right. good friday the skies were angry and overcast. i fully believe that on easter sunday, it should be bright and clean. as a child, even before really understanding the meaning of the day, i remember daffodils and ribbons in my hair and sunshine warming my skin and somehow i knew that was as it should be.

i wasted no time this morning waking up and setting about the things i needed to get done before leaving the house in a bit. laundry's churning, cookies are baked, breakfast still in my tum (eggs, biscuits), and i'm listening to the weepies. i cannot get enough of them these days. their melodies make sense to me on a visceral level, and they remind me of what it is that i want and where i want to be.

all day today, i've thinking about a place that once represented sorrow and death becoming a source of peace and hope. there was once a tomb inside of me, too, i think....a well of sadness and loneliness and pain. but the one who transformed that tomb in jerusalem has changed the place inside of me and given me dreams and hope and the will to want things i never knew i could have. and one day i'll get there, even though my path might look different than some others'.

i've never been very good at following the masses, and it seems i'm still not. but this isn't really about them, is it? it's not really about what anyone else thinks. all the matters is that in some small way, i've seen that empty tomb and i know that some day it will all make sense to me.

in the mean time, there are some more things i still need to walk through. grad school is almost over, and then the next big project begins. and i know what i hope is waiting for me around the next bend in the road. looks like i need to get some new shoes for the next leg of this journey. it might prove to be a bit rocky, but like i said, one day i'll get there.

in the wee small hours of the morning

it's 4:30 a.m. and i've come to a conclusion: no one should be up this late/early. it's just not a good time of day for doing stuff. honestly, i was asleep. i just woke up and couldn't go back there, so instead of lying in bed feeling frustrated, i got up and meandered down the hall to my office. so, let's see...since we're here together, i might as well tell you a few things, internets....

1. now that i've moved my furniture around/gotten new stuff, i really want to paint. i'm pretty sure this will NOT happen because a) i don't have the time to deal with that right now and b) the fumes are no good for me.
2. i need an oil change soon.
3. in particular, i should get an oil change soon, because i'm going to charleston, sc, in 3 weeks or so to visit my dear nigel. i love that i will be in the land of sweet tea for a few days.
4. i've been thinking lately that my days of city living have a shelf life, and i'm becoming less and less tolerant of the idea of urban dwelling. not that i have any grand plans for today, mind you, but i just feel like i can't stay here forever...nor do i want to.
5. one of my coworkers is pregnant, and it occurs to me every few days that she's actually growing a human man-child inside of her. trippy.
6. i am not sleeping well lately, as i'm sure you can tell....
7. i can count multiple nights this week where i didn't eat dinner because of homework and then found myself awake and ravenous at 2 a.m.. this is not contributing to #6 either.
8. i consider #s 6 and 7 a problem.
9. i have rediscovered my love for old school strawberry preserves. they still might be my secret, underdog favorite for pb&j sandwiches.
10. i think i'm getting hungry.
11. enough of that. i need to clean out my desk drawers and reorganize my papers. it's actually starting to get on my nerves.
12. i have ella fitzgerald's version of 'the boy from ipanema' in my head. it's splicing and interspersing with 'evening' by eric roberson. interesting....
12+1. i just found out that domino is discontinuing its magazine production. bummer. but at least i got an awesome tote bag out of the deal :D.
14. once i get done with grad school, i have a list of items that i want to accomplish asap, not the least of which is to start ripping my entire CD collection so i can load up my ipod properly. i find myself craving random music that i own but don't have electronic copies of. sometimes you just need to hear 'love is a battlefield,' you know?
15. my grandmother keeps making cameo appearances in my dreams lately. i wonder what that's about.
16. today i got to watch some kids running in circles looking up at the sky, and i actually felt a little jealous. i don't remember the last time i did that.
17. in order to make up for #s 6 and 7, i want to take a nap later and make a good dinner. it's all about restoration, baby.
18. i really only drink cabernet these days (if i'm drinking wine, that is).
19. my beloved JT was on oprah today. it actually made me tear up a tiny bit to see him.
20. i've made it to 20 and suddenly i'm sleepy. i feel i should go capitalize on this.
21. goodnight (again)!

jelly belly sours are not nutritionally valuable, fyi

before this day gets away from me, let it be known that i didn't eat dinner last night. unless you count some leftover rice at midnight after finishing homework. which i don't. or the jelly beans i ate while doing said homework. which i don't.

this morning i feel lethargic like there's no tomorrow. i have major deadlines and am, therefore, working at home today, but i'm just having a hard time getting jumpstarted. i swear, i'm so tired of talking about how i want grad school to be over, but it's at the front of nearly every thought i seem to have these days.

so i'm officially letting the world know that in three more months, you won't hear me whining about this anymore. i pinky swear.

in the meantime, however, i cannot make any promises.

here is my positive statement du jour (must make sure to get at least one of these in): i'm hanging out with my dear friend melly tonight (we're getting mari luna), and between now and then, i plan to eat some real breakfast to make up for last night's jelly bean debacle. onward and upward....

dear downstairs neighbors,

i have but two requests. here they are, in no particular order.

please, for the love of all that is good and kind, stop cooking delicious-smelling food at 10 p.m. when, quite frankly, i'm hungry from a lacklustre dinner i ate on the fly while reading something meaningless for homework. for some reason, your late-night feasting makes me crave stuffing like nobody's business. yeah, that's right. like stove top, out-of-the-box-and-on-a-plate-in-two-minutes stuffing. what is wrong with this picture? everything. ev.ry.thing.

okay, also, i can hear every word of your television program. how freaking loud do you have your tv turned up that the person ABOVE you can hear this? seriously, unless you want me to start doing some type of aerobics up here...or better yet, irish dancing (yeah, that'll really show 'em!)...please turn it down just a smidge.

and if you're not going to turn it down, could you at least call me the next time you're making fried chicken? pretty please?

thanks for your consideration,
sarah

if it starts hailing, i'm turning off my computer....

the first thunderstorm of spring is bellowing outside my window. i'm holed up in my office trying to create something out of nothing for a group paper and thinking about what to make for dinner and when i'll deal with all the sorted laundry that awaits me on my bedroom floor. what amazes me is people who put truly crappy work out there and expect others to clean up their messes. well, folks, i'm not doing it this time. i phoned my prof on friday night to tell her of the madness; she actually understood and promised not to penalize me if what i submit is their paltry pseudo bullet points. finally, someone who's thinking logically....

oh, and suddenly the sun is out again.

in other news, i've been having the strangest dreams for the past few nights, undoubtedly brought on by my anxiety over salimah's unemployment, coupled with too much facebook and the inevitable wheezing that occurs during allergy season. former coworkers, reality tv stars, and movie characters are showing up unannounced to hug me, console me, tell me i'm fired, and/or help me problem solve my way through some un-solvable problem.

now that i type these words, the sky has opened back up, and rain is battering my window at full force.

spring is, indeed, a funny, fickle season. how fitting.

up close and personal

i recently moved all my furniture around to accommodate some new things. yesterday afternoon, i was in a super macro mood, so i photographed a few important (or just lovely) items in my immediate vicinity at that moment. here they are, in no particular order:

i love these pens. for editing, they're my favorite.

lately i've been needing this way too much. spring brings with it a host of allergic issues, i find.

i love this little guy. my dear friend kim brought me this dish from maine a few years ago. he used to hold paper clips at my old job. now he just sits there and looks cute:).

my sweet friend carla gave me this notebook before i started my current job (a little office pick-me-up). i use it only for very important lists and other such things.

my awesome friend cat made me these coasters for my birthday last year. they're scattered about my living room and office now.

two words: red mouse. 'nuff said.

my hair, in a non-straight state, which is very unusual for me these days. for the last two mornings, i simply couldn't be bothered with straightening. i'm sure you all can understand.

finally, my 'new' phone (new to me since january). honestly, this thing is a little bit temperamental, but at least it hasn't completely crapped out on me the way the instinct did. that phone was such a punk. never again.

now then, enough of these diversions; i'm off to eat dinner and do homework!

ides plus 2

winter is lazing about, it seems, and while spring is trying her best to make a debut, the cold keeps creeping in, sometimes bringing with it spitting rain that seems to penetrate the skin, leaving you feeling bereft and greatly in need of hot beverages and naps. i am craving open windows, even despite my allergies; i need fresh air in more ways than one.

lately i've been listening to other people's stories of 'woe,' and i find myself thinking that they just need to get over themselves. i know it sounds insensitive, but even despite the economic misery we're all facing (among other things), there is still so much good to find in each day. and i guess when i listen to the whinings of someone else who pretty much has it made, i want to just tell her/him to cease and desist. even more so, when i listen to my own whinings, i find myself quickly over it...shut up, sarah. just shut up and move on.

last night i had a dream that i opened up the window next to my desk at work (which faces a kind of courtyard, 7 floors up), and there was snow all around me, on every branch and piled high on the walls surrounding me. my coworker looked at me with this childlike glint in her eye and i knew in that instant that i needed to start making snowballs to throw with gusto. i tried a few round-shaped ones, but eventually, i realized that if i made my snowballs in the shape of footballs (mini torpedoes, i called them), they would soar much farther. i guess when you think about it, much of life's successful attempts come down to a bit of good sense, a spirit of fun, and aerodynamics.

"this is for all the lonely people...."

i can't believe i'm still awake after the week i've had, but again, friday night homework sucked me into a vortex and although my eyelids are drooping something fierce, i felt like checking in with the internets. hello there. although it's been awhile, you're looking lovely as ever. :)

in the past few weeks, i've been acquiring some new things for my apartment, and tomorrow morning, some new dining room furniture is set to arrive, along with a new entertainment center thingie from ikea. nothing earth-shattering, but it was time. my old dining room set was about 10 years old, very well used, and had a huge scratch up the middle of the table due to the indiscretions of my ex's former roommate. whatever. the whole thing cost me 175 bucks brand new. that should tell you something about its craftsmanship.

anyhoo, i'm just glad to have it gone. i wound up giving the set to a pregnant, out of work woman and her new husband. i hope they can get some more good use out of it before it falls apart completely. i was happy to donate it to some people who both need and appreciate it.

in other news, i'm just as tired as ever, if not more so. i started crying a little tonight from sheer exhaustion. even my trip to blacksburg (girls weekend!) last week wasn't long enough...and to boot, it took us over 6 hours to get down there! driving for long periods of time doesn't really help an already cranky/sleepy/headachy me. i'm just not sure when there will be a break in the deluge of stress and unfinished tasks, but i could sure use a nice little respite sooner rather than later. if you know where i can catch a break, please report to me immediately....

all things, good or bad, must come to an end....

i distinctly remember riding in the car with at least one of my parents (usually my mother, when i had picked her up from work in the afternoon during my high school years) listening to paul harvey's rest of the story. another light has gone out in the world:

"my father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news. so in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend." - paul harvey, jr.

and so it must be that eras pass and memories fade. but what is good in that is that even the worst things in our lives will also go away—if we choose to end them, that is. with that being said, i'm about to hunker down in one particular area of my life for the next few years, and while i don't anticipate that it will be easy to get through, i'm committed to seeing it all the way to the end, bitter or sweet. sometimes life gives us a pill that must be swallowed, whether now or later. i'm choosing today to fill up my glass and drink it down, because i'm truly convinced that ultimately, this is for my good.

thank God that i have friends, both old and new (hi, jeff!), to see me through this process and to remind me that maybe it really IS darkest just before the dawn. oh, and perhaps you're wondering why i'm being kind of cryptic. i'll tell you—part of this situation involves things i don't want to discuss on the internets for another several months (although if you're already in my life, you probably know what the heck i'm talking about), so if we're friends and you're like, huh? feel free to get in touch.

and now, because i have a ridiculously long paper to tackle today, i bid you a fond adieu. let it not be said that i'm one of those girls who stays too long at the fair....

at this point, i could be a country song

blog world, i'll warn you: i'm a jumble of emotions right now. the last few days have been rough for me...like nearly crying at my desk rough. oh, nothing's wrong, per se; i just have way too much to do and the weeks of pushing too hard are taking their toll on me physically and mentally. every day at work, i look at my face in the bathroom mirror (not the most flattering lighting, i know), and what i see staring back at me is slightly bloodshot eyes and dark circles and i just keep telling myself that maybe if i keep hydrated, things will get better.

yeah, because water will fix my stress level. sure.

so then i go back to my desk and try to zone out to some tunes, but every song is all emotion, and i'm trying to keep mine pent up so as not to melt down. not super healthy, i know, but it's getting me through the week and it means the homework gets turned in on time.

so then yesterday was friday and i felt like i could finally relax for a few. (a huge paper due this week was already turned in, and it seemed that 1 of the monkeys previously on my back had removed itself.) somewhere in the midst of watching programming on HGTV, i fell asleep and had wacked out dreams about having house problems and weird real estate issues and what-not, and when i woke up, i felt the pressing stress of money woes on my shoulder blades.

so i went to bed. and proceeded to sleep like a log (which i needed). and then i woke up kind of late this morning, went into the bathroom to shower, took a nice, luxurious stretch, and felt every single muscle in my mid-back tense up like it had a point to prove. apparently, i slept horribly wrong, and now i'm on a heating pad with some major ibu pulsing through my system.

and did i mention i have to write a 15-page paper this week?

dear blogworld, i have a confession to make....

...i love 'reality' programming and i'm probably never going to give it up.

seriously, this is the best time of year for me, because all of my favorite shows are either on or are about to be on. american idol is about to be in full swing, the biggest loser is getting really good, jack bauer has already taken several people down on 24, that angry man from hell's kitchen is cussing people out, tom colicchio and team are about to pick another top chef, and the bachelor is about to pick ANOTHER wrong woman. again. really, it's so awesome.

and besides, can you blame a girl? it's winter time, i have no one fun to hang out with, and school is a drag. so sue me.

now if you'll pardon me, i'm off to watch my DVRed programming. happy monday!

'and then there's morning; each one feels like the first one....'

my head hurts. i have too much to do. tomorrow is monday already. i wish i were somewhere reading a book and drinking something warm under a blanket. i missed my sunday afternoon nap. this paper won't write itself. i miss you.

but

it was almost 70 today and the sun came out. i made delicious lasagna with a friend from work. i'm wearing flip-flops. my dishes are done. i bought red grapefruit. there are a few more hours until bed, so once i finish this paper (just do it!), i can read for awhile. my down comforter is soft and pillowy. there are harmonies and melancholy voices in my ears.

i still miss you.

'when i get back to the city

everything's cluttered and pretty.

i won't regret my return.

i'll just remember the wind and the snow

and the howling so loud

that it alone drowns out the inside of me.'

a whole bowl of super

well, here we are again. it's sunday night, and i should be sleeping, but i'm awake, of course. this is because i napped today. when will i ever learn?

but you see, it's because i have an excuse. i was out very late last night at a beautiful friend's awesome wedding at which i drank a "bit" too much rum. (i blame it on the ukranian who plied me with free drinks before i brought 'sexy back' out on the dance floor with a host of friends and strangers.) apparently i am a dancing machine. who knew? actually, i wasn't truly busting a groove the way my friend's cousin was. i informed her and her sister that he was, in fact, a 'modern artist.' all i'm saying is he was doing these very interesting things with his fingers and the rum made it even better.

so, after i got home last night, i washed up, drank a bunch of water, took a huge ibuprofen tablet to stave off the aches, and drunk dialed my coworker to tell her all about my evening. (this is, of course, after leaving 3 messages for other friends in which i believe i informed them that i adored them and that i was, in fact, intoxicated.) again, i'm not entirely proud of myself for this, but that captain morgan really did sneak up on me.

whatever.

so i slept in until 9:30 this morning after staying up until probably 3:45. less than 6 hours....not enough for me. so at about 3ish this afternoon, i put on a movie and promptly zonked out for a couple of hours. i needed it....more, apparently, than the laundry and tidying i had planned to do today.

i managed to wake up and take a quick shower in time for the kickoff of the superbowl, although i missed the national anthem (youtube, here i come). the game was awesome. i can't say i'm a fan of either the steelers or the cardinals (although that mark kurt warner is rather dreamy), but i found myself rooting for pittsburgh and was really happy for them when they brought it home. so, after more hydrating and a little follow-up homework, i'm going to take the book i'm reading (just got it yesterday), get into bed, and follow some fictional woman's life until i slip off into slumber. sounds nice, doesn't it?

'i know you're out there somewhere....'

yes, i just quoted the moody blues. how old am i anyway?

in other news, i'm here to report that there are a lot of freaking people in this world. i was in a beauty products store and the owner was going on and on about 6 billion. okay, yes, it's a number. a very, very big number. but do you ever really THINK about what that means?

during the inauguration this week, i looked at the sea of people that descended on washington (perhaps up to 2 million people on the mall?) and realized that this sea was just a speck of humanity. just a speck. does that ever weird anyone else out, or is it just me??

anyway, then i started thinking about the whole doppelganger theory...you know, that there's at least one other person out there that looks and perhaps acts just like you. which is just weird. and sometimes, when i'm doing something quirky and saying one of my 'isms,' i wonder if my doppelganger is saying the same thing at that very moment. and then my head starts to hurt, because again, there are SIX BILLION people and also, why am i thinking about this in the first place?

right, so anyway, i wonder if there's another person somewhere in this world that looks and acts just like me. that's it. that's all i've got tonight. i did more homework, and now my brain is shot, and i didn't eat any dinner, and i'm thinking about doppelgangers.

k, bye:)

in which it becomes obvious that i have very little on the to-do list

this past week, i had a bout with a stomach flu that knocked me on my butt. i'm still not entirely recovered energy-wise, and i'm starting to wonder if i have a slight iron deficiency. perhaps i'll mainline spinach for a few days....

yesterday i spent napping, trying to chase away a headache i think was brought on by dehydration, and writing a paper that, once i sat down and actually did it, took me all of 45 minutes. all that procrastination for nothing!

today's plan is to shower, get out of the house for awhile, and then come home and do the four loads of laundry i have waiting on my floor....mostly towels and sheets, but still. i hate looking at it, and i refuse to let it go another week without getting addressed.

in other news, i'm starting to think more pointedly about what i want to do with my graduate degree—and possibly with the next one i get. if i'm going all the way to 'doctor,' i might as well have some actual plans, you know?

more on that as time passes. for now, shower and something to tide me over until lunch. what more riveting update could i give you than that!?

'...and let it begin with me'

today i watched history crack open and reveal itself to be a surprising, hopeful, and ever-changing turn and twist of events. today 'we the people' saw the swearing in of a black man as President of the United States of America. today i watched joy spark in the eyes of those who have seen and felt and experienced so much tragedy and so little freedom. today i wept along with those people for the reality of what, for many generations, was a dream too elusive to grasp, too terrifying, almost, to hope for.

today i thought about how far we've come and how many more miles we must yet walk in these shoes.

today i thanked God for another man who has been through a lot in the last two terms and tipped my hat to him, even when so many others do not. today i pledged to support mr. obama....mr. president....because, even though i didn't vote for him, i believe it is my duty as a citizen of this country to respect my leaders (even when we disagree). today i am proud to be an american. today i am hopeful for change.

today i am even more aware that the change we all seek must begin with ourselves.

it's friday and i'm in high avoidance mode

so, the new year is in full swing and i suddenly have nothing to say.

but here's something: i'm thinking about getting my doctorate. i know. i know. all i've done for the last year and a half is complain about how much homework i have. and maybe i'll change my mind when the time comes, but for now, it's sounding like a darn good idea. and even more so because i get 70% off my tuition. hellOOOO....

for now, however, i just need to make it until june without losing my mind. and then i've promised myself six months off. i pinky swear!

in other news, i've taken on a small personal mission to try and be a bit less loose lipped this year. it's not so much a resolution as a mindset. yes, a mindset. that's what i shall call it. so far, so good.

and speaking of good, i'm now obsessed with encrusting everything in panko bread crumbs. so crispy and tasty! expect to hear of panko in '09.

and for my final announcement of the day: i'm getting rid of my nails. i'm tired of having them. i want stubby fingers back when i bake and do hardcore cooking, and honestly, i don't need the added expense. plus, my nails were getting tired of being covered up. i could tell. they—and i—need a break. my hair, however, does not. it needs a trim and another highlighting job in a month or two. gotta keep ahead of the old lady hair!

and with that, i have nothing more to share. i now return you to your regularly scheduled lack of programming while i go and procrastinate some more:)

hello, it's me.....

i know. i know. it's been awhile and i'm long overdue for some type of update. well, no time like the present....

first, the holidays were lovely and relaxing. my parents came to see me and stayed for a few days. we opened gifts, had some nice dinners, and celebrated their anniversary at della notte (for the second year in a row - it's becoming a tradition). i slept almost whenever i wanted—something i needed more than you'll ever know. over this mini-vaca, i also got to see a few dear friends and spent much time hanging out with the bff. new year's eve brought with it my dearest nigel, some tasty cocktails (including mai tais and firefly and lemonade - oh dear was THAT good), salimah and her sister, and some game-playing and karaoke-singing. i have blackmail videos, but i'm still debating whether they'll make it to the internet;). nige and i also visited with his cousin, her husband, and their two awesome kids and during that visit i was introduced to the best mac and cheese recipe i've ever encountered in my LIFE. oh, martha stewart, i really DO love you, despite what others say....

going back to work was slightly jarring, but i managed to hold it together, and although the new semester has started, i'm sort of avoiding doing anything resembling actual schoolwork. that will all change tonight, however, when i have to buckle down and produce a couple of assignments on the fly. i'm only three courses away from my degree. damn, that feels good to say!

as for what most people would consider new year's resolutions, i suppose i have a few, but at this moment, i'm not feeling so much like sharing those with the internets. perhaps i'll change my mind later, though. i'm sometimes fickle that way:).

what i CAN give you, however, is a year-in-review of '08. here are some things i discovered, rediscovered, and/or continued to appreciate, in no particular order:

1. the neti pot. holy crap - go out and get one of these and use it. i promise you won't regret it.
2. ne-yo. gosh, i heart him for some reason.
3. brown. i also heart brown.
4. red. don't worry, red, you're still my #1.
5. DVR. i don't feel that i will ever want to give this up. it has changed my TV life.
6. fage greek yogurt. i'm deeply entrenched in a love affair that borders on obsession. please don't try to intervene. it will do you no good.
7. grapefruit. citrus love. 'nuff said.
8. eucerin calming cream. so soothing.
9. regular haircuts and highlights. i'm too old to have my hair looking bad. trust me.
10. nails. even after a major nail 'incident' that involved bleeding and exposed flesh, i still love them. i may give them up in '09, though. jury's still out on this one.
11. my bella. she still runs like a charm and makes me happy every day.
12. money. i do not take these things for granted....
13. a job i enjoy. i ESPECIALLY do not take this for granted.
14. old friends and new friends. facebook really IS awesome.
15. my educational mojo. i'm kicking butt in grad school, yes, but i'm also just really wanting to continue my studies. this is foreign to me!

i know there's more. i just know it. but right now, i need to get crackin' on work and all of that. oh, and one of my glasses managed to throw itself off the kitchen counter at about 5 a.m. (hmm, suspicious), so now i've got shards all over my kitchen floor that need sweeping. is it friday yet?

oh, and happy 2009! may it be your best year yet, whoever and wherever you are:)