2008: a snapshot

borrowed from @daniellesque

1. Where did you begin 2008?
   Crashing on a friend's couch in Pasadena. But I got a homemade breakfast that day.
2. What was your status by Valentine's Day?
   Single and in my own apartment.
3. Were you in school (anytime this year)?
   Yes, I started University of Phoenix.
4. Did you have to go to the hospital?
   Only for Josh and his broken arm
5. Did you have any encounters with the police?
   thankfully, no
6. Where did you go on vacation?
   I took a few weekend trips to the Bay Area, but no real vacation
7. What did you purchase that was over $500?
   My Honda Fit
8. Did you know anybody who got married?
   Yes, my downstairs neighbors.
9. Did you know anybody who passed away?
   No. Death free year in my immediate circle.
10. Did you move anywhere?
    From Pasadena to Long Beach.
11. What sporting events did you attend?
    Vans Downtown Showdown. Skateboarding is a sport, right?
12. What concerts/shows did you go to?
    Backstreet Boys
13. Where do you live now?
    Still in Long Beach
14. Describe your birthday-
    The best day of the year I think. First we had the Corona Book Club, more wine imbibed than book discussion. Daphne got me a yummy chocolate cake and then we got dolled up and went to Old Town Pasadena for dinner and dancing. I was supposed to get a tattoo, but we took too long eating and just having fun.
15. What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
    get addicted to yet another on-line service *cough*twitter*cough*
16. What has/have been your favorite moment(s)? 
    Hiking with my daughter, the above mentioned birthday, and getting a job with Disney.
17. What's something you learned about yourself?
    I am waaaay to prone to anxiety and depression still.
18. Any new additions to your family?
    A neice and a nephew
19. What was your best month?
    sometime between July and August. I was unemployed, but the best moments of the year happened then.
20. What music will you remember 2008 by?
    Chris Brown, Pink, and Estelle
21. Who has been your best drinking buddy?
    Daphne and Jules
22. Made new friends?
    YUP! Lots of new twitterpals met in RL
23. Favorite Night[s] out?
    My birthday and the Roscoe's Tweetup
24. What do you want to change in 2009? 
    I want to focus more on being the best I can be at everything I turn my hand to, be more organized, be a better mom, and quit procrastinating.  Maybe my mom is right about me being an overachiever...
25. Overall, how would you rate this year?
    One of the worst I have ever had.
26. What would you change about 2008?
    I'm not sure. Everything is an opportunity for growth right?
27. Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
    On the freeway, and on twitter 
28. Have any life changes 2008?
    Continued separation, adopted a new dog, and decided to lose weight
29. Change your hairstyle?
    Still letting it grow.
30. Get a new job?
    Yup. Switched agencies after getting sacked and now working for DIMG and loving it.
31. How old did you turn this year?
    A lady never tells her age. But you might be able to figure it out from older posts
32. Do you have a New Year's resolution?
    To kick this depression in the arse
33. Did anything embarrassing?
    Of Course! Not going to make it public though.
34. Buy anything new from eBay?
    A power cable for the camcorder.
35. What was/were your favorite purchase[s]?
    I guess my car... everything else has been a necessity. Oh! My Nikon pns
36. Get married or divorced?
    Still separated
37. Get arrested?
    Nope
38. Did you get sick this year?
    More times than I care to think about
39. Start a new hobby?
    got more into photography, but that's not really new is it? Introduced Joy to hiking.
40. Are you happy to see 2008 go?
    
    YES!!!!!!

Leave a Comment memes, reflection

I hate being alone with my thoughts

They aren't good thoughts. They aren't uplifting, nor inspiring, nor especially good for my self-esteem. I think that is why I have been hating the drive to Vegas and this whole season. It gives me too much time to think and reflect. And leaves me in a lot pain, which is always a mood-lifter for me. I've been canceling on people lately because of the pain and depression, feeling more and more anti-social. I really don't want to be the life of the party, but can someone drag me out once it in a while? Self-reflection is NOT what I need right now. It leads to drinking, and drinking leads to anxiety, and anxiety attacks, and that whole scenario is just bad.

But if you insist on being an enabler, I'm just about out of Bailey's and completely out of everything else.

6 comments depression, family, reflection

Misunderstood - an understatement

You Feel Misunderstood By Your Family

You feel a bit overwhelmed by and resentful of your family right now. This is a good moment for you to take some time away from them. You feel like your family is prone to too many arguments and instability. You never feel like things can be completely peaceful. It's sometimes hard for your family to understand who you are now. You've changed a lot, and they have trouble accepting the new you. You are honest and very outspoken with your family. You sometimes hurt feelings by saying things they don't want to hear.

How Do You Really Feel About Your Family?

Leave a Comment memes

Feeling Grinchy

I don't know what it is about this week, this month. Around Thanksgiving I was looking forward to Christmas, and now that it has arrived, not so much. I'm ready to go into hermit mode. I am tired of the kids asking for things that they *know* I can't afford. Yes, me, not Santa. I'm not sure if my daughter still believes in Santa, but she certainly believes in her Amazon Wish List.

And Josh! Since being in Vegas he has called for money, more money (ok, it's so he can buy Christmas gifts for everyone else but he could have put *SOME* effort into earning his allowance!) my external HDD or lots of DVDs to burn stuff from my brother, and FINALLY, once to find out if I was coming tonight. And could I bring ... I forget what. Joy hasn't bothered to call once, but that's ok. She's 6 and I don't recall wanting to talk to my parents when I was with my grandmother either.

I guess the true source of my sense of Grinchiness is my complete and utter inability to pull this one out of my ass. There have been a few years where it was tight, or impossible, but I have always been crafty and resourceful. This year I am drawing a complete blank. My kids are freaking materialistic and I'm not sure when that happened. And the fact that I can't think of a single thing to get them, galls me. They used to be so easy to shop for, especially after we instituted the "3 Gifts Rule" -- which doesn't completely apply since they get gobs of gifts from everyone else in the family.

I know there has been one other Christmas where I felt "this is the worst Christmas ever", but I don't think I felt this sad, dejected, and upset at myself and the world. That makes this one officially "The Worst Christmas Ever". And no amount of chilly weather or Christmas songs will make me change my mind.

 

4 comments Christmas, depression, family, holiday, Las Vegas

Jan 1 No Text Law & My Addiction

So if you are like me and occasionally (though Josh will say constantly) text while driving, you might want to try Dial2Do. You have your hands-free headset, right?

And of course, the line that convinced me .... "post updates to your TWITTER or JAIKU stream".

Not that I have an addiction or anything...

2 comments android, apps, law, texting

You HAVE to listen to this

If you didn't catch my tweets pimping @CynicalDad, you have to watch and listen to this all the way through. It's HI-LARIOUS! And the chick's voice, I dig it. Er, I really like it. She's phenomenal cuz you know, I don't think there was much studio editing the way there is for all the pop divas. Her voice kinda reminds me of Etta James... but anyways, I present Paloma Faith and Josh Weller for your listening and viewing pleasure.

1 comment holidays, music, twitter

The Third Degree

I found this fascinating quote today:

We had to go in this morning. Too bad there were 12-18 inches of snow in my driveway/parking lot so I wasn’t driving myself! BM came to get me (adore the man!) and we had the branch open by about 9:30am. Not too bad. However, we only had six clients in six hours, so they sent us home at 2pm.Sarah, The Third Degree, Dec 2008

You should read the whole article.

1 comment

Portable North Pole

pointed me towards this awesome little app. Get your own personalized Santa to read your kids wishlist to them :)

Here's the one I made for Joy: Joy's Santa Message

1 comment Christmas, cool stuff, Santa

Forgotten Christmas Specials

Truthfully, I know about the Star Wars one because of Tim. I think I saw the He-Man/She-Ra one, I wasn't allowed to watch the Pee Wee Herman one, and I never heard of the Pac-Man one. How about you guys?

(Disclosure: this was sent to me by someone else who had the time to do the research on "forgotten" Christmas specials. I thought it was good enough to pass along)

 

1. "The Star Wars Holiday Special" (1978 - CBS): On the planet of Kashyyyk, Chewie’s family anxiously awaits the return of Han Solo and Chewie for the celebration of ‘Life Day.’ The duo must battle their way through Imperial forces to join the party.
*Key moment: Princess Leia performing the "Life Day" theme song to the tune of the original Star Wars’ score.

2. "He-Man & She-Ra Christmas Special"  (1985): Two children unwittingly get caught up in the battle between good and evil when Skeletor believes that the spread of their Christmas spirit is the only thing that can stop Horde Prime’s total domination of the Universe.
*Key moment: Skeletor shooting down Horde Prime’s ship and saving the two children after being overtaken by the Christmas Spirit.

3. "Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special"  (1988): A number of celebrities drop by Pee Wee’s festive playhouse to teach Pee Wee the lessons of Christmas and Hanukkah. Appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Cher, Joan Rivers and Magic Johnson give the special some celebrity wattage.
*Key moment: The classic double entendres featured throughout -- such as the bottled "Eau de Pee-Wee" perfume that smells like Pee Wee.

4. "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (2000): Jake strives to help his Mum and Dad protect their family store from takeover, but in the confusion it turns out Grandma has gone missing and was involved in a very unusual hit and run accident.
*Key moment: Santa’s "hit and run" note and Grandma’s Christmas cakes being spiked by ‘reindeer-nip’.

5. “Christmas comes to Pac Land ” (1982 – 1984, you actually had two years to try and catch this one!):  Pac-Man and Christmas!!  Who wouldn’t want a show that was part of the Hollywood trend of “it’s a successful video game/movie/song/catchphrase; so, let’s make a whole series around it!”
*Key moment:  How could you pick with so many hidden gems throughout this excruciating 1/2 hour?

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY HUNTING AT YOUR VIDEO STORE FOR THESE CLASSICS!

4 comments Christmas, holidays, movies

Adult Acne

I knew it was bad, I didn't think it was that bad. I arrived in Vegas last night about 8:30/9:00 PM. Kids pass out hugs, we bring in the stuff and my then my dad takes a look at me. Says, "What happened to your face?" 

Wonderful. It's not like I had black eyes (ok, I have the racoon look going on), but still. It was dim in the house, not even full lights and one was really bad, bright red, even in the dark. I guess it was noticeable. I guess I should be glad he didn't call me Rudolph. That's the name of one of the puppies that woke me.

5 comments acne, family, pets

Picture Meme

I got this meme from Mary Lutz. I wasn't tagged, but I thought it would be fun to do anyway.

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

 

This is Noel. Well, the child is my daughter Joy. Noel is the guinea pig. And my couch is clean. Wow. But back to the picture, this was the morning after we adopted Noel in January 2008. Joy was so happy to have a guinea pig to add to her menagerie. This is as close to sleeping with the GP that she ever got.

 

I tag:

Shadejinx

jasperblu

killregrets

divacowgirl

7 comments

How to determine your "Star Wars" name

How to determine your "Star Wars" name:

For your new first name:

1. Take the first 3 letters of your 1st name and add
2. the first 2 letters of your last name

For your new last name:

3. Then take the first 2 letters of your Mom's maiden name and add
4. the first 3 letters of the city you were born

How to determine your Star Wars honorific name and title:

1. take the last three letters of your last name and reverse them.
2. add the name of the first car you drove/owned
3. insert the word "of"
4. tack on the name of the last medication you took.

With Love,
Annho Talos,
D'na Toyota of Advil

4 comments memes, star wars

Snow Day at Shoreline Village

The sun was covered by dark clouds, the wind was blowing, and we were at sea level. BUT honey, it was COLD outside! It hadn't been when we left the house for gymnastics, so despite having her snowsuit (time for a new one I think) we didn't have a jacket. In these pics she's wearing her leotard, covered by a long sleeve tee and a snowsuit. Pants wouldn't fit. And she hates wearing socks if she doesn't have to.

After being miserable on the snow, we went to the bouncy stuff, and then back to the snow where she proceeded to bean me in the eye with a snowball. After that we went shopping in the Village and warmed up with some tasty churros.

All-in-all a good Saturday.

3 comments family, Joy, Long Beach, snow

Dayngrous Discourse: There's Always Room for More Love

Dayngrous Discourse: There's Always Room for More Love

When Dayngr first asked

Do you have a little extra room in your heart this holiday season for a 3 and 4 year old?

I had a snarky comeback. But then something told me to click on the link (I had missed her first tweet about it). Boy, did I feel like a heel.

So, before you make my mistake, Daynger is asking for some Christmas cards to be sent to her children. They love receiving mail. You can read all about it on the Daynger Zone. So, to make two kids VERY happy, all you have to is send one more Christmas card this season.

With love,

Annette

1 comment

No time for the working mom

So I'm watching "The Starter Wife" (that darn insomnia) and this clip just got to me because it's so TRUE!!!


This balancing act is about to topple me far, far, far down.

Enjoy, have a laugh, and get some insight into the life of a single, working mom. Even though you never see her kid.

1 comment momhood, TV

How's this for accountability?

So I'm watching and pondering a post that I have had in mind since yesterday. Because, you know, something has to change. I asked Tim to bring my scale over, he did. I got on it this morning (dripping wet as you're supposed to) and my fear was confirmed. I'm back up to 180#. I'm at least 30# overweight for my frame and height.

There, I said it. My real weight. And I want to get my real weight back to 150#. Preferably between 135 and 145, that's where I felt healthiest and strongest, but 150# is doable too. That's about where I was when I was running the daycare.

I am going to get rid of these rolls! Or figure out someway to move all my fat to my bustline. (Like that's ever going to happen).

For the record, with both pregnancies I never got above 165#. So for me to be at 180 first thing in the morning, is ... distressing. Mainly because of all the weight-related diseases that run in my family. Diabetes. Heart diseases. High blood pressure. I want to live to be older than 62.

And you know, I'm just too pretty to die young :-) (Capt. Mal Reynolds)

 

Now to give up the soda and start walking .... this is so not going to be fun.

11 comments change, diet, Firefly, Food, weight loss

It's a White Elephant!

First of all, what is a white elephant?

White elephant gifts are traditionally gifts considered extremely tacky, or that do not fit the tastes of the recipient, and that are given by a friend or close relative (such as a mother-in-law) and therefore cannot be returned or exchanged at the store without potentially offending the giver. The thought behind a white elephant gift exchange is to give everyone a chance to rid themselves of these tacky gifts--and invariably gaining a new one!

-- WikiHow

The Rules
Select who will open a gift first. 

Decisions, decisions...
Have the next person choose and open a gift. Now this is where it gets interesting. The person has a choice of whether to keep the gift they opened, or to "steal" an already opened gift from a previous person. If they steal a gift, they take that gift and give their unwanted gift to the person they stole from. That person then gets the option of stealing from someone else, and this continues until somebody decides to stick with their gift.

Modifications for this blog:

I will start by telling you what the gift is in the comments. You can decide if you want it. Whoever comments first will be the one to "open" it.  But beware! Someone may come along later in the night and steal it! 

If you steal a gift you have to leave a gift in the comments and also let the other twitter/blog owner know that you have given your gift away. 

Whoever has kept the gift by the time 10 PM Pacific Time rolls around wins and will get the gift via email from me.

3 comments give-away, GNO, holiday, white elephant

Saturday was a bust

Ever have one of those days where you just want to curl into a ball and hide from the world? Well, that was me Saturday afternoon. I didn't plan on it being that way. In fact, I had all sorts of plans for being productive and useful and "getting things done" that just didn't happen. First, I had left some flexibility in my schedule just in case I got to go to the  "ALL 80's ALL DAY Skate event at Quiksilver in Huntington Beach with Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi & more" courtesy of Rock Da Mullet. I thought Josh would want to go -- mom got clarification, Josh wants to go to skate events where he actually gets to skate some -- and the timing was all off. I guess that worked out, because, can you imagine me having a full-blown, out-of-the-blue anxiety attack at a skate event??? Me neither, and I don't want to!

I should have noticed that something was off because I was disoriented and tired all day long. I mean really tired and disoriented, but maybe that's why I didn't notice. It didn't help that I went to bed with a migraine and woke up with one too. I think I am grinding my teeth in my sleep again.

After walking the dogs and letting RockDaMullet know that I wasn't going to make it, I decided to hit the post office and get my mail situation cleared up. That didn't happen because even though I said I was going to do it about 11:30 AM I didn't leave the house till after 1:00 PM. Part of that is because I had no motivation and got sucked into Into The Blue on TNT. And then Britney's "For The Record". Luckily I don't watch MTV that much so I was able to pull myself away finally.

So after getting a box at a local UPS store,I sent out a few emails from my phone (I really do feel naked without the thing these days, but I hardly ever make an actual phone call) .. where was I? Oh yeah, I sent out emails to a few people who had told me that mail had been returned with my new mailing address. Then I called Josh and he didn't want to go grocery shopping, so I went alone. I tried a new Albertson's, the one off 2nd street because I also wanted to hit Trader Joe's. I never did make it to Trader Joe's. After some awesome savings, I loaded up the car and proceeded to have a small mental break-down, also known as an anxiety attack.

Despite tweeting about it, yes, it was real. I can feel them coming on, but this one hit hard and fast. I sat in the parking lot for over an hour wanting to crawl into a ball. But my Fit is kinda small to do that, so I just sat, and cried, and tried to breathe, and tweeted to take my mind off things. I would really like to thank @amhurst, @tinatessina, and @thelaughingimp for talking to me during that episode. I think it went faster because I had immediate feedback that I wasn't alone.

Finally around 4 something I was able to start up the car and head home. We got the groceries put away and then I went and crawled into my blankets. I needed a cocoon. I spent the rest of the night in bed, watching TV and tweeting. Because you know, it doesn't take a whole lot mentally to tweet.

3 comments anxiety, twitter

Remember my Scrabulous addiction?

It was replaced by Scrabble Beta on Facebook, but now I can play Scrabulous (excuse me Lexulous) all over again! They finally impleted and even ported over all of my email games. Now I just have to figure out how to nudge people to sign up and play again. Let the games begin!

(at least it's a safe addiction to have ...)

4 comments addictions, Scrabulous

GNO - Random Acts of Kindness

Your task for the week, should you choose to accept it, is to perform at least one random act of kindness. Now, generally I try to follow Matt 6:1-4

1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

But Jyl and Carissa have an awesome idea for spreading some Holiday Cheer:

• Identify and perform at least one random of act of kindness this week (December 2 through 9).
• Post about the experience in written, picture, and/or video format(s).
• Be creative! Keep it simple. Do something within your means and time. Include your friends and family.
• Submit the post URL via e-mail to mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com by Monday, December 9 at 6 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Pacific).

Full details can be found at Mommy-Gossip Cares.

So far, I have decided that my Random Act of Kindness is to not send Josh off to military school before the holidays. Other moms can relate and agree. I guess I will have to find something else to make a blog post out of though.

With love,

Annette

5 comments family, GNO, holidays, kindness, twitter