Duffy and new music and getting back to me

J and I had a nice talk yesterday during Date Day about how I get lazy now that I'm married because I just want to cozy up and watch tv with him and I have lost all my goals and ambitions. He was very understanding, and said that he didn't like to see me get lazy either, and so he would help encourage me to not be lazy (which is funny because he's so not ambitious himself, but very much wants to support me). So today is my early new year's resolution of Not Being Lazy.

To that end I am doing some new things.
1. Listening to new music that I have been meaning to listen to but didn't because I've been lazy - today it's duffy - I LOVE her mix of beatles and norah jones.
2. working out five times a week to get more energy
3. cutting back on sugar, also for energy
4. drinking more water, also for energy
5. going to one museum a month
6. finding a church for spirituality and friends
7. finding a choir or starting one
8. reading at least one "smart" book a month (ie not chicklit or stupid fiction)
9. journaling and meditating daily
10. playing the piano a few times a week.

those are my new year's resolutions to get me back to me.

Our (future) baby has his first Christmas blanket

I was at the after-Christmas sales at Target and bought my future-baby a winnie-the-pooh blanket that says "my first Christmas" because it was too cute and $6. So Baby already has a blankey. And I'm not even pregnant. Of all the luck.

A heartwarming sports story (and getting ready for Christmas)

my inlaws are coming for Christmas tomorrow, despite the snow. I'm looking forward to cooking and making a good spread. I think I'm probably the only person who misses being alone at Christmas, though. J and I spend so much time together, and I haven't had any time alone in the house with the decorations and cats. Plus we're all snowed in, so we're on top of each other. I used to love being alone with the decorations, and then with my cats, and I never missed having someone with me, or being with family. I guess I'm too much of a loner.

All my stuff is done, though, which leaves me with plenty of time to bake cookies. The house is pretty clean, despite the snow which makes it hard to keep clean. And my presents are all bought and/or made. We got out of the house yesterday and I got everything done. We still can't get to the post office, though, which means my parents are getting New Years' presents. Oh well. I'm snowed in. I'm not stressing.

And in the spirit of Not Sweating the Small Stuff, here's a heartwarming sports story. A football team learns that there are more important things than winning, and that sports are about empowering people. It made me cry.

Snowed in

Yeah, I live in SoCal, but at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, so I've got snow. This was my deck yesterday afternoon. More has fallen since then. It's just one two foot mess, that's all I can say.

I went up to San Mateo on Sunday (which feels like forever ago now) for meetings and our holiday party on Wednesday. I heard that snow was on the way, so I left the toilet seats up in case the cats needed emergency water if Tara couldn't make it over, and I made sure they had tons of food. On Monday night we heard from Tara that she was completely snowed in and unable to get out, and her road hadn't been plowed. So we started panicking, and thinking about driving home. We live closer to a main road, so in a worst case scenario, we could drive up, park and then walk to the house.

Everyone was telling us we should wait and leave early Wednesday morning, but we just really felt in our "gut" that we needed to get home sooner, so I went to some of my meetings on Tuesday, and then cut out by 3, and we headed home. LOTS of rain through the central valley, and snow through the grapevine, which is only 4000 feet at its highest point. We stopped for gas in Pasadena, and the Girl Scout in me thought to get some groceries in case things were bad at the top of the mountain. I got a chicken, carrots and celery to make soup, potatoes, green beans, eggs, milk, J's favorite saltines, a loaf of bread, some gouda cheese, and some Christmas cookies. I managed to fit it all in one canvas bag, except for the saltines, and when I explained to the bag guy that I wanted to bag it myself as I needed it all to fit in one bag because I might have to carry it a mile in snow, he looked at me like I was crazy. We also bought cat litter because we had no idea what the litter situation would be like after so long.

The drive up the mountain was spooky. No one was on the road, and we couldn't see because of the cloud cover. Everything was pitch black. We kept scanning the road to see where the snow started, but couldn't tell. It was kind of frigntening. Like we were driving into this world of the unknown. When we got to the top, J put the chains on the tires, and we were happy to see that our road had been plowed, so we were able to drive right to the bottom of our stairs. J started shoveling the driveway so we could park, and I took the groceries, my computer bag, and my purse upstairs and began reassuring the cats that we did not hate them, beg for their forgiveness, and clean up their - erm - "statements" around the house. It wasn't that bad, actually. They were definitely clingy, though, and I can tell they missed us.

We went to sleep happy to be home, but thinking that perhaps we had overreacted a bit since everything was ok. Then it started snowing overnight and by the end of Wednesday we had another foot on the ground, the 5 is closed through the grapevine, and all of our mountain roads are closed. So we would have been well and truly screwed if we had waited to leave until Wednesday. As it is, we're quite happy, all the electric is working, the cats are happy, the dish works now that it's stopped snowing and we could clear it off so we can watch tv, we're warm, and eating all of our lovely groceries. Last night we had roasted chicken, garlic mashed potatoes and garlic green beans. Tonight we had chicken croquettes. And the stock is boiling on the stove for soup tomorrow.

I'm hoping I can get out by Saturday or Sunday, though. I still have Christmas shopping to do, and I'm getting a bit cabin-fevery just hanging out at home all day looking out at the imposing pile of white stuff that's going to need to be shoveled. The snow plow came today and the road has a semblance of being clear, but it's really going to take some warm weather to melt this stuff, and who knows when that's going to come? Plus it's supposed to rain on Monday and Tuesday. And if that would freeze - ugh - that would be bad. So I guess we'll start to shovel tomorrow.

It sure is nice to be so warm and have the snow outside for the holidays, though. J's parents are coming for Christmas, and I'm hoping that it still looks pretty for them, and not just all gross and dirty.

The shame of liking Britney Spears

I'm listening to the new Britney Spears album on Rhapsody, and I am so ashamed - I love it. It makes me want to go out clubbing. Ok, so it's not Beethoven. But that Britney sure has some staying power.

I threw my back out this weekend. I think. I've never had a backache before. I always wondered what the big deal was when people talked about backaches. Like the Sex and the City episode where Miranda is lying on the bathroom floor and Aiden goes to rescue her. I remember thinking "what can be that bad??" and now I know. I don't know what I did to do it, but I now have a new appreciation for my back, and need to figure out some good back exercises because not being able to get up from laying on the floor with the cats SUCKED.

And I hit over 50,000 words in my novel, so I'm a NaNoWriMo winner. Go me!