randomly snarky

One year later and the holidays were still weird, but much better. I caught the spirit 2-3 days before Christmas. And now I'm sad it's over - a good sign of life going on, right? Yadda, yadda.

The first Colorado Christmas turned out to be fairly amazing. I missed traveling and seeing even more friends and family. I missed the beach. Yes, I missed Dad too.

My gift-giving was fairly decent this year. I did however, neglect to volunteer over the holidays, and haven't anywhere since moving out here. So I guess that's my first official resolution for '09. I can't believe we're sliding into 2009...

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I sent a coworker a Hipster Card today. Not this one. Hipster's collection is a mix of cute, subtle and lowbrow attempts at humor. On a quick browse I found a  healthy collection of retro-themed cards perfectly tailored for the people I know. Yes, many of my friends are odd. And your point is?

(Please pardon Hipster's French.)

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Imagine your favorite little leprechaun - even if he was almost 5'10" - a part of your entire life, then facing your first St. Patrick's Day without him. Blah.

The Guinness flowed, green was worn, and long-faded brogues suddenly returned. (As always, I skipped the corned beef and cabbage.) But there was no lucky Irishman to treat my mom to a night out, tell stupid Irish jokes or just... be him.

Things to avoid next year: Danny Boy, parades, cry-prone drunks.

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I be wearing me green but me pin broke. Fooking thing. Happy St. Paddy's - have a wonderful day wit yer darlins.

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Returning to work after a long weekend has its challenges. This morning in the shower the Boomtown Rats snuck into my head and they stuck with me all day.

The song's about more than your average bad day, but still... you can appreciate the sentiment.

Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
I want to shoot
The whole day down.

I want to shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-t... the whole. day. down.

Sir Bob rules. Unlike Mondays.

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A glorious long weekend is here!

As someone who eats poultry but no red meat, fish or pork, eating turkey is a regular affair. And while indulging in mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries and pie is yummy, Thanksgiving is about so much more than food.

This is the official start to the holiday season. It's time to celebrate family and friends, relax, share, decorate, and enjoy plenty of get-togethers. I'm a sucker for holiday music.

And let's not forget the shopping. Target's open at 6 on Friday and I'm so there.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

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I hate generic financial ads. They're targeted to vulnerable people who get robbed for short-term gains.

But I commend the lack of subtlety to this one -- if you respond to Pumpkinhead in a lime green jumpsuit, you deserve the screw job.Oh, and he danced on mouseover. 

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Cute little tree in my office. Sharon supplied the black, leafless tree, and I provided the candy corn lights and Burton-y ornaments. 

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Last year at this time we (the office) were obsessed with the M&M dark puzzle. Mars candy, we need a new game. Oh, and btw, I hate your "M&M inside" campaign.

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Easter was a nice excuse for family to get together this weekend.

The holiday also provided a great excuse to torture poor Conan. Love the lip curl.

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 Happy Valentine's Day!

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I don't create my own list but enjoy the hell out of other people's holiday wish lists. It's so entertaining to see and hear what others want - especially those who appear to have everything, materialistically speaking. I have quite a few people on my list this year but resist the idea that they should tell me what to get them. Are lists presumptuous? Maybe I am just a list snob. Bridal registries are fine.

I've been ranting for five days about dogs in the back of pickup trucks. What is with Floridians Rednecks that makes that okay? Including this, I've made a few passing "gotta blog that" notes to myself this week, some of which may actually wind up here when I'm spending more time online, post-holiday break.

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Ah, yes, and by there I mean central Florida, just outside of Ocala surrounded by horse farms and fields of rich grass, islands of trees and a surprising amount of rolling hills. (The hills are the low, likely man-made, Florida type, quite unlike Virginia hills.) This is a genuinely nice area.

I've been here two full days and already feel the stress melting away... somewhat.

This was a very intense week at work. Okay, that's both common knowledge and an understatement. Nice.

We lost quite a few colleagues and friends across the organization. We knew it was coming but these things can never truly be labeled easy, can they? If only that big red button worked. The week finished with the exit of a few executives, including our EVP, Jim Bankoff.

All tolled, between holiday bustle, the action at work and my travel, it's been one hell of a week. 

Oh, in case I forget....

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Holiday viral fun: OfficeMax gives us dancing elves who look as familiar as you make them. The guy at the right is a sample elf.

Repeat after me: Go elf yourself!

(Do you think the sample elves fancy themselves as Internet stars?)

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Egg nog is deadly but we should all have one cup a year, right? But don't go with a carton. Just say no... and to raw eggs, too. Cook up some real nog:

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 quart milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Nutmeg to shake
  

Mix eggs, sugar and salt in a saucepan, then stir in half the milk. Cook and stir on a low heat until it thickens and starts to coat the spoon. Remove from heat and mix in the rest of the milk and the teaspoon of vanilla. Pour into a heat-safe bowl, cover and chill overnight. Serve with a little nutmeg on top. Yum.

F*ck. Did I just post a recipe in my blog? 

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The holidays took precedent this weekend: Shopping, visiting with family, and planning for Christmas eve and day down in Florida.

I also set aside a couple of hours this afternoon to get all of my cards written and ready to send.

I suppose paper Christmas holiday cards are going out of vogue, although I've already received a few. I'm sending around 100 this year, including the hand-delivers to neighbors and colleagues.

And not to sound too Hallmarky, but cards are a nice way to show you care without spending a lot of money. However, if you're going to send/give a card, take time to personalize the damn thing - don't just sign your name. Otherwise, what's the point?

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And by 'backyard' I mean 20-something miles away in D.C.

The holidays make everything more hectic. Oh, okay, more fun too.

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Really glad tomorrow is recycling day. My doorstep was covered with boxes tonight - just about everything I ordered online (no catalogs!) arrived today. Six boxes at once.

Conan enjoyed helping me break the empties down.

I'm such a holiday geek. Ho' for the holidays.

Love the WeeMee.

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Gadgets, shoes, clothes, furniture, cookies, flowers ... if there's a catalog, it will inevitably appear in my mailbox. Today I received five -- Signals ("gifts that enlighten, inform and entertain"), Mrs. Fields, Fannie May, Coach and Red Envelope.

I'm sorry they're wasting all those trees when (I imagine) catalog shoppers are a rising minority. Aren't they?

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