No Place Like Home

Ah, the Holidays. After months at the grind, it's been nice to spend the past few days bickering with my sisters and kissing my mom with ridiculous gusto. I love my family.
I'm totally diggin' on The Pierces right now - it's a couple of girls that hail from somewhere down South. They have a very avant-guarde, Frenchy sound. It's different but nice. It suits me right now.
What is it about the Holidays?

Gone in a Flash

July, August and September were all a blur. I started piano lessons (a life long dream of mine), went to a concert or two and celebrated a few birthdays. Work has been crazy but I'm trying not to let it get to me. Most days it does, but, all in all, I'm just livin' the dream and remindin' myself I'm a lucky little girl.
October was a flurry of material and plans for Halloween. And, boy, was it worth the tizzy! Four wigs and a few yards of fabric later, The Flinstones were in town! I still can't believe I was able to con our boys into wearing the costumes! I made the Wilma, Fred and Barney costumes and left Angel to work her Betty Rubble magic. It was seriously good times. We even won a Best Costume prize at the party we went to! Yabba-dabba-DOO!

Runnin' and Runnin'

Better late than never, eh?
Life is good, my darlings. Not as good as the UPs, mind you, but good enough. It's been a busy past few months and I thought my blogging days were over. But all that changed with a quick weekend trip to Utah. I was reminded how much I love the UPs and their blogging ways. And so here I am. Here's the latest and greatest:
March - missed out on Moab but made a trip to Vegas to see my auntie get hitched by Elvis. Good times, indeed.
April - scheduled a trip to Arizona, got stuck in the airport and ended up right back where I started withou actually going anywhere.
May - had a visit from my baby sister and her friend. Naturally, we hit DL and a few other prime SoCal locations. I tell you, this place never gets old.
June - headed to Washington for my sister's graduation and some family pictures. All the siblings were together for the first time in 6 or 7 years. Throw a game or two of RISK in the mix and you've got a recipe for a rip-roarin' good time.
July - headed up to the Hollywood Bowl in LA for an evening with Riders in the Sky. It was a tribute to Gene Autry and John Wayne. It's okay to be jealous - it was pretty much the best thing ever! Follow it up with a weekend trip to Salt Lake City and I'd say life is pretty close to perfect. Well, maybe not perfect, but good enough.
And here we are, mid-month and back to blogging.

stranger than fiction

i just got back from the theater. stranger than fiction was the order of the evening. i've just added another film to my top 10 list. it's fantastic. the writing is absolutely brillant and the cast is genius. it's not often that i absolutely love a film so this is very exciting for me. i can't believe i waited this long to see it.
the whole premise of the show really got me thinking about my desire to expand my writing abilities. i don't know if i've got it in me to write something good but more and more lately, i'm willing to try. honestly, i wouldn't even know where to start. i think part of my problem is that i think too systematically. writing is an art form and it's not something you can learn, per se, from taking a class. i mean, you might pick up a few technical hints but you've either got it or you don't, right? hmm, i'll have to look into that more. i've always been pigeonholed as opinionated but sometimes i wonder if i really do have an opinion.
that's all i'm going to say for now. i've been thinking about how much people share in blogs and i'm rethinking my stance on the whole blogging thing. i mean, it's convenient when people want to check in and all - but can't they shoot you an email? that gives you WAY more control over who knows what information and how much of it they're privvy to. not that i have so many dark secrets to hide, but you know what i mean. right?
i'm going crazy.
i just loaded office for mac onto my laptop (well, it's been a few weeks) and i keep getting errors on msn messenger. it's totally annoying! just thought you should know.

Birthday!

Angel's birthday is today. I made her a cake. I totally validate your feelings of envy with regard to my cake-making skills. It's pretty much the awesomest cake ever.
I love birthdays so much! Sometimes I get sad that people don't share my love of birthdays. Come on - cake, ice cream, presents - does it GET any better than that?! I think not, my friend. Yay for birthdays!

Patches O'Hoolihan

In the past few weeks, I've definitely earned the the right to claim a love of travel - Hawaii, San Francisco and the great state of Washington in a matter of weeks! Life just keeps getting better and better, my friends. Granted, I don't have any vacation time left (in fact, I'm in the negative) but it was worth every minute. Every minute. Life is so good. Not perfect, mind you, but good.
Hockey games, tap classes and Disneyland - does it get any better?! I don't think so.
I did get a flat tire today but I'm not gonna let it get me down. Granted, I'm surprised they lasted that long (Thanks, Richard!) but there comes a time in every person's life when they have to buy new tires, right? I can handle it.
I wish I could provide a more exciting account of my life's activities but the truth is, it's not really that exciting. Shocking, I know. I'll keep you posted, friends. Just in case something exciting does happen. Just a warning - don't hold your breath.