My wish for everyone for 2009: When you find out what you want to do with your life, go out and do it, don't wait for tomorrow.

And give your sweetheart a big ol' kiss too!

Wishing you all blessings and joy in 2009!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:44 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Right back atcha (and J and the pups, too!) xoxo M(3) + Pup + Kitteh

Posted by: Margi at December 31, 2008 08:27 PM (hqZSd)

2 and a happy 09 to you and yours!

Posted by: altadenablog at December 31, 2008 08:37 PM (10Grp)

3 Happy New Year CTG!!!

Posted by: Tammi at January 01, 2009 06:46 AM (pWX3U)

4 Happy 2009!!

Posted by: pam at January 01, 2009 07:57 AM (l6NIn)

5 Classic...Happy New year!!!

Posted by: Sam at January 01, 2009 08:44 AM (b1/rU)

6 happy new year!

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at January 01, 2009 03:21 PM (0Pi1o)

7 Happy New Year, my friend!

Posted by: Amanda at January 02, 2009 07:50 AM (HpZWe)

8 Best wishes Sam.

Posted by: Jane at January 03, 2009 05:44 PM (I4yBD)

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For Ben, who totally understands why:

I really need to get out those Planet Bob and Tom CDs. "The OJ Simpson Christmas Album" is appropriate for this Christmas, don't you think?

h/t GOC

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Two more days of rain and the car's interior is dry.  Guess I didn't get the sunroof all the way shut after all.

And on an unrelated note, randomly finding a webpage that calls a jackass from high school a "donkey fucker" is AWESOME *.

Getting ready for the annual holiday trek.  Today's task was to clean the house.  I hate coming home to a frigging mess after vacation.  Even when it is not vacation.  Tomorrow we'll start the odyssey of packing.  Making my packing list, gathering all the small things up, getting them organized. Figuring out how to fit everything in the car with TWO dogs for the first time, as last year our little Princess was waiting for us in Fresno.  At least we're planning on pizza so as to NOT make dirty dishes!

Work sucks, as usual, but I got a project complete that's been hanging over my head since August.  Finally.  Too bad it ended up the way I suspected: unusable.  But that was a probable outcome, and nothing I could have done would have changed that.

Oh well.  More later

* Seriously, he's a complete prick.  And his job is EXACTLY what you'd expect a smug, nerdy prick to be doing.  And that's why he got called such a perfect name.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:53 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Hmmmm, I was *so* hoping that the asterisk would lead to a clue for me

Posted by: ZTZCheese at December 18, 2008 01:01 AM (Iw+8+)

2 That's awesome!! About the donkey fucker, I mean... I bid you a Merry Christmas and safe travels!!

Posted by: Richmond at December 18, 2008 01:11 PM (Bn2/I)

3 I hope the trip goes well. We used to travel with 2 kids and a dog. I wonder if 2 dogs is about the same... LOL. I hate coming home to a dirty house too - so I really get that. donkey fucker.... ROFLMAO.

Posted by: Teresa at December 18, 2008 07:30 PM (smhqn)

4 Enjoy Fresno. I was raised there, and really don't miss it. Graduated from Roosevelt High, married a girl from Clovis, and lived in Fresno a couple of years after getting married. I still have family in the Fresno area, so I visit from time to time. Hate the traffic!! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Posted by: Alan at December 23, 2008 05:54 PM (kloCp)

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This morning I go out to the car to go to work, and what do I find?  An inch and a half of standing water in the driver's seat.

Either the seals around the sunroof are dead, or someone left it cracked.  Likely me.

Fuck.

One seat cover and two bath towels later, the seat was usable, and the headliner and flip-down sunshade on the driver's side were mostly dry.  Oh, and the carpet too.

It remains to be seen whether it was negligence or maintenance that caused my morning freak out.

Either way, definitely NOT the way to get my Christmas cheer going.

I had been doing pretty well, too.  Christmas cards going out, lights hung all over the house, wreaths, I was getting there.

So I treated myself to Peppermint Mocha #2 while I picked up a $tarbucks gift card for our gift exchange this afternoon.

That helped.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Snowfolks of No Evil, in an ironic twist, shall henceforth be known as Penny, Billy, and Hammer.

Notice that the "Corporate Tool" one even has a tie.  Nice touch, I thought.

Congrats to Sleepy Beth for suggesting the winning trio of names!

BTW, if you don't get it, you REALLY MUST go here.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:40 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Given my utter lack of Christmas cheer, I thought I might brighten things up with a return visit from the Snowfolks of No Evil, who some of you may remember from a couple of years back.

Boy, CSS is just like riding a bicycle... I haven't played with the site design in a while, and I was afraid I'd screw it up royal. Especially since I went from 2 columns to three since the Snowfolks last came out to play.

They need names, by the way. Any suggestions?

So enjoy the holiday theme. At least there's some snow in my virtual space....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:36 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Wow. I never thought I'd see pink on your site.

Posted by: Lauren at December 11, 2008 12:14 AM (RkLJR)

2 Manny, Moe, and Jack? Larry, Curly, and Moe? Rod, Todd, and Ned?

Posted by: ricki at December 11, 2008 05:22 AM (maFNB)

3 wacko, yacko & dot

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 11, 2008 06:09 AM (0Pi1o)

4 Penny, Billy,and Hammer.

Posted by: beth at December 11, 2008 06:39 AM (Slkto)

5 How cute! Groucho, Harpo & Chico?

Posted by: pam at December 11, 2008 06:49 AM (l6NIn)

6 Laettner, Hurley, and Redick.

Posted by: Lisa at December 11, 2008 08:19 AM (hR7mx)

7 Ed, Earl, and Jed. Or - Nancy, Frank, and Harry. Preview to the upcoming congress...

Posted by: Richmond at December 11, 2008 01:40 PM (Bn2/I)

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Today was the first $tarbuck$ peppermint mocha of the year.  I am generally NOT a $tarbucks fan, but I am such a peppermint whore that you will find me in there at least a  dozen times over the holidays.  Particularly after shopping at Target in Clovis with my Mom.  They have an awesome $tarbucks.

Generally, I love the holidays.  The cold weather, fog, smell of pine trees.  It just makes me happy.  The cards and silly decorations.  Like Helen, it looks like Santa Claus threw up in my house most years.

This year, I can barely get up the motivation to finish addressing Christmas Cards.  I still don't have a tree.  The decorations are down from the attic, but they're just sitting in boxes in the front room.

I have no idea where my motivation went, but I suspect it's somewhere up auto-immune creek.  I feel like I am dragging myself through each day, just trying to accomplish what I can.  Without my faithful to-do list, I'd be sunk, as I seem to have no mind or memory for the things I need to accomplish.  Forget meetings and appointments, without my calendar, I'd be MIA all the time.

Even my students and coworkers are noticing the drag.  I'm usually up and about, dropping in to say hello to people, checking up on my students while they're studying.  But for the last several weeks, I've been content to sit in my office and try to work.  Meanwhile, people walk by and ask my what's wrong.  Clearly there is something down.

I mean, it's fucking Christmas.  My favorite time of the year.  The month I spend the other 11 looking forward to.  And I don't seem to be able to give a rat's ass.

I just don't get it.  I should be over the fucking moon, right?  I mean, in the last 6 months I've lost close to 30 pounds and I am down 1-2 sizes.  I have actually been exercising MORE than the recommended amount and LIKING it.  For a while I had more energy and the insomnia was gone and things were good.  Now, the insomnia is a joke, as I could sleep 15 hours a day and still be tired.

Now, before you all tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing, my Rheumatologist knows all about most of this, and I do have a referral to an endocrinologist so we can try to get to the bottom of this.  In February.

Until then, I'm just going to have to keep kicking myself in the ass and reminding myself how awesome life is, and just keep wishing for snow.

I think some snow would help a lot.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:38 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Look into Seasonal Affective Disorder, too, just in case.

Posted by: Lauren at December 09, 2008 12:28 PM (RkLJR)

2 Oh, and congrats on the weight loss! I am so proud of you!!!

Posted by: Lauren at December 09, 2008 12:29 PM (RkLJR)

3 First, congrats on losing weight and your exercise program! Awesome...! I know how tough it is... Second, I'm right there with you. Can't get into it this year... don't know if I'll have a tree, though I feel like I'd be shortchanging myself somehow if I don't.... Heard the same thing from a lot of people this year. Sure wish the holiday spirit would kick in...

Posted by: pam at December 09, 2008 12:30 PM (l6NIn)

4 Sorry to hear you are feeling down. It's ok to feel that way sometimes though, sometimes you just need to take some time out for yourself, things will get better. Oh, and congrats on the exercise regime and weight loss, you're doing really well. x

Posted by: Amanda at December 09, 2008 01:00 PM (aMtxC)

5 I am sorry to hear that you have the blues. However, I have a bunch of snow that I can send you. Would 30 semi-loads be enough? I've already had enough of this %$@&!*$ snow to last me a lifetime and a half. 10 inches we got between Monday night and yesterday afternoon. Add that to the 10 we already had... So, shall I send along that snow then?

Posted by: Phoenix at December 10, 2008 07:44 AM (FK3xh)

6 I'll take the blame on the lack of spirit. Usually, I am terribly lacking in spirit and just go through the motions for the sake of the MIL and kid. This year: I am full of Christmas cheer. And, frankly, it's freaking me out. So, there it is: I'm a vortex of cheer that has sucked it away from the traditionally cheerful. My bad. I think I'll go bake some cookies now. As for the weight loss: I don't know if I should congratulate you or not, since you posted recently about being annoyed with people who notice. So, I'll just go back to my Christmas cheer.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 10, 2008 12:27 PM (0Pi1o)

7 weird, I left a comment here earlier, and it's gone

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 10, 2008 08:01 PM (0Pi1o)

8 Don't hold your breath waiting for that snow.

Posted by: Alan at December 11, 2008 10:44 AM (kloCp)

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I picked up the cards, I have all but a few addresses in my newly reconstructed list (which of course I lost when my computer was stolen last spring), and I am watching Ralphie for the first time this year.

I will of course watch at least 8 times on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:24 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 SO many great lines from that movie: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid" "Mah tongue is nah....stuck STUCK STUCK!!!!" "Deck the halls with boughs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra"

Posted by: ricki at December 04, 2008 06:51 AM (O5SYw)

2 I have a confession: I've never seen that movie. Ever. Guess I should rent it?

Posted by: pam at December 04, 2008 07:43 AM (l6NIn)

3 I like Pam have never seen the movie - and I need a dose of Christmas spirit stat!! Maybe that would do it... ???

Posted by: Richmond at December 04, 2008 05:29 PM (S7nwl)

4 Pam and Richmond: You. Must. Watch. That. Movie. And you'll want to buy it, not rent it. Promise.

Posted by: Mrs. Who at December 06, 2008 02:18 PM (tj62K)

5 Oh, and if you don't like the movie, I'll buy it from you both. Don't be Grinches. Go watch!

Posted by: Mrs. Who at December 06, 2008 02:19 PM (tj62K)

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