Hang In There

I just finished the only book I have read, to completion, all year. I actually started it in September. That sounds horrible and I’m wincing even as I type it, but it’s true. I start lots of books, but I either loose interest or it’s due back to the library before I can finish it. Yesterday, after a day and a half of being snowed in, I finished a book.

Despite the length of time it took me to read, "Prep" by Curtis Sittenfeld was a great book. Anyone who is scared of standing out, or even more scared that they don’t stand out at all, would appreciate it. It is about a middle class teenager from the Midwest who goes to boarding school on the east coast. It made me reminiscent of high school. It brought back all of the pain and insecurity. But also, it brought back the joy of being young, energetic, and full of hope for the future. I remembered the friendships I had back then. They were the kind of friendships where you are together all the time, not bound by the constraints of day and night, or work, or financial obligations. My friends and I, we were intentionally trying to meld ourselves together, to make the distance between us a small as possible. That kind of free time, and sadly, that kind of friendship, just doesn’t exist for me anymore. There is always a child that needs attention, a mortgage payment that needs to be made... I guess marriage comes close. But it doesn't really ever completely take the place of friendhips like that.

The thing about private school, the thing that I remember the most, is that I actually felt like I one of the chosen ones. I think that deep in my heart, I still cling to that belief.

Charlie Brown

It is often difficult to be creative under the fluorescent glow of office lighting. Especially when I am constantly having to look behind me to make sure that none of the office spies can me on the internet (Damn you and your crotch shots Lindsay Lohan!) I’m only telling you this so that you might go easy on me and spelling/grammar mistakes. I am not a professional writer. I am not a professional anything.....boo hoo.

Something great happened to me. I got a camera phone for Christmas! I just downloaded the Charlie Brown Christmas theme song as my ringer. Christmas time is here. La la la la la la. Yay! Huzzy and Henry gave it to me early because my contract was about to expire and I didn’t want to be phone-less. “Phone-less”.....kind of sounds like “homeless”....very sad state to be in. Anyhoo, I can take pictures now. If I can figure out how to download it (or is that upload?), I’m going to post my first original picture to accompany this entry. I found this tree under Maple Nut Goodies desk. It was suffocating underneath three pounds of various colored tinsel, and some card board cut outs of Santa and Mistletoe. It kept falling down so one of the other office ladies and I popped it into a paper cup and covered the cup up with tinsel. It still tips over sometimes for no reason. I like this picture because there is something vaguely sad about it. Trees don’t grow under fluorescent lighting either.

A holiday shout out to my wonderful cousins. Especially you Charlie Brown (you know who you are).

You like me. You really like me!

Thank you. (insert shot of me, standing at a podium, in a formal dress, wiping tears of joy off my face) I’d like to thank my husband, for never losing faith in me. I’d like to thank my parents, my agent, and of course, the academy.....

I just found out that my neighborhood association is going to elect me as their Treasurer starting in 2007. I guess showing up to their meeting that one time really endeared me to their hearts. It probably has a little more to do with the fact that the woman who is their current Treasurer is leaving and no one else expressed interest. There is some irony in the fact that I’m going to be their Treasurer, considering the Discover Card debacle in college. Nevertheless, I think they have chosen wisely. They even said I bring my best buddy Henry to the meetings.

This weekend I’m going to spend some time making Christmas treats. I just love the holiday season. I think I’m going to make toasted spiced nuts, peppermint bark and maybe a few batches of spice tea (a.k.a. hot Tang). It’s also my mom’s birthday and cute husband’s company holiday party so I’m going to be well fed this weekend.

On Monday we were assigned a temporary replacement for Maple Nut Goodies. Today the replacement’s sister died and she didn’t come to work. Very sad. However, it does bring up an important question. Does that job actually attract people with extremely dramatic lives and (potentially) emotional problems? Does anyone else have crazy receptionist stories?