Happy New Year!

Perhaps it's a bit premature, since it's nearly four hours away from the actual new year, but I thought that I would try to be the first to wish it. :) I am home alone, well, with the Pager. I miss the good ole days, shocker, back in RC, when I had a party to host each year for the Triviathon on the local radio station. Those were fun. I think this is maybe the first year that I haven't had anything to do...but I am oddly at peace with it. Perhaps because I have the pager...maybe because I am just glad to be home and doing what I want to do when I want to do it...but in any case, I am not too upset that I am home. Sure, the New Year's kiss that always alludes me would be splendid, but really it's no big deal. Currently, banana bread is baking (complements of the power outtage that prompted me to buy them and then...never ate them so that they turned brown while I was out of town). The Christmas tree is glaring at me, supposing that it's death is iminent. The washing machine has been working all day to catch up with the abundance of clothes. Finished a pair of socks for a belated Christmas gift today...the sock that I need to knit the mate for Keely is languishing on the floor.

The Packer game just finished...sad to think that this was probably the last Favre game. Too bad they didn't make it to the playoffs.

A nice surprise yesterday: went to WW and I lost nearly a pound while I was away! Considering that I drank soda like I would never have it again and ate out nearly every meal, this is an incredible feat. It's not like I chose healthy food while I ate out either. Hoping that the pounds don't show up next week! Went to the gym today as a preemptive strike.

I really hope that the pager doesn't go off tomorrow. I have a feeling that it will...early. Since I have a soccer game (what? on a holiday?) tomorrow night, I would like it not to at an inconvenient time, which includes any hour before 9 am and after 6 pm.

Nikki on 12.31.06 @ 08:24 PM PST [link]

One More Day

Well, I have tonight and part of tomorrow to: clean out the freezer and throw everything away, do laundry so I can pack clean clothes, clean the house, clean the car, go to the bank to make a deposit, pack my stuff and the presents (thankfully most things have been ordered and shipped to Mom's house), and probably a myriad of other things I will forget. I had planned on doing some things last night, before and after the soccer game, but then once I got home I didn't want to leave for soccer so I just stayed home and slept the first perfectly warm sleep in days. So tonight I will have to go into overdrive. If my fricking dryer wasn't slow as molassis, laundry wouldn't be such a problem. I can't wait to get my refund check and buy a new one that is normal sized and dries a load in less than two hours. The joys of being a home owner!

The cable and internet still is inoperable at this point. I guess it's good timing since most shows are in reruns til the beginning of the year anyway. I miss the internet more than the cable...I think.

We got a fleece blanket as a work gift. It was chilly (or maybe it was just that I was wearing a thin dress) so I wore it as a cape. Today I am wearing my Santa hat.

I am taking the laptop back to WI yet again this year, with lots of intentions of working on the novel while I am there...this rarely happens, though. I am also debating on whether or not to take my work out clothes...Decisions, decisions...

Nikki on 12.19.06 @ 10:34 AM PST [link]

That Was A Mistake

Yesterday's blog should not have been blogged. I knew while I was writing it that perhaps it wasn't the right thing to do...and I hadn't wanted to stir up any trouble with it, but I have and I regret that. I have removed it so that it's not a reminder. While I won't apologize for my feelings, but it's not like you can ever help feeling one way or another, I do apologize for my reactions because those are something that I can control. While working on letting people know when I am upset, I am still trying to find that balance. I wonder how many other bloggers find themselves in this position, writing about things that in the end upset other people, even if they didn't think that it would. In any case, in my still weary weepy state, I should have just journaled it, maybe added it as a scene in the novel, and then carried on. I really am sorry about this.

Nikki on 12.19.06 @ 09:27 AM PST [link]

Rethinking Books

For many years now, maybe dating back to high school, I've had as one of my New Year's Resolutions the goal of reading two books a month. Some people think that this is too lofty a goal while others think it too shallow. Unless I am able to read a butt ton of books in the remaining weeks, I will fall short of the goal by several. So far I've only read sixteen books. I guess right now I am less concerned with the number and more troubled by the statistics of the books, namely the genres. I've read two historical, ten contempory, only one classic, and three nonfiction/essay. So, for those of you who love numbers, the percentage breakdown is: 12.5/62.5/6.25/18.75. That's way too many contemporary. Now granted, the last book that I read could probably be defended as a historical novel since it's about the story of the nativity, but Elizabeth Berg, my favorite author, is slotted as contemporary most other times, so I kept her there. I think this year I will focus less on number of books and more on even dispersement of genres. I don't have a plan for how to do this yet...I will have to consider this more heavily. Any suggestions?

Nikki on 12.02.06 @ 01:22 PM PST [link]