My 2009 New Years resolutions:

1) My biggest and main goal is to pay off my credit cards and save. Without charging more onto them... This actually shouldn't take me that long to do (in theory) and Lester will be proud. I already plan to use my entire tax return towards it. I am telling you this so when you see me spending my tax return on a new jacket for Bruiser- Stop me.

2) I will try very hard to have a greater tolerance for people. I get annoyed very easily and I will attempt to not let others annoy me as much. This will definitely be the most difficult resolution for me to achieve.

3) Like everyone else out there, I would like to get into shape. I figure by summer I should have enough time to lose a couple pounds and tone up.

4) I want to get out there and meet new people. Preferably good looking, smart and successful male-type people... but you know how that goes.

5) I am going to concentrate on "advancing my career" if you will.

Ok I think that is it for now, I like to add them as they come to me. Hope that everyone has a fantastic new years eve!

Oh yeah one more. I will try not to wind up with frost bite from under dressing tonight!

A look back at my 2008

A few highlights from my ultra exciting 2008.

One year ago today!

Kitty reunion in LA/San Diego Jan. '08

Reuniting with Bridget and Cunty Cat in DC for St. Paddy's day

Costume birthday party for Carrie's boyfriend

Cubs game this summer!

Jamie's bachelorette party and then wedding June/July

North Ave. Beach

Iowa vs. Iowa State game

Canada for my grandpa's 80th

"I die" Halloween
Back to Canada for Yola's wedding

TBox barcrawl

And last but not least: Wedding and Christmas 2008!

I almost like bacon this much

Everyone knows my obsession with bacon. However, I am not sure that I like it enough to purchase any of these masterpieces by Victoria Reynolds.

Belated Feliz Navidad

Well the holidays were a blast! First to Canada for a night to see one side of the family. Travelling was a giant bitch, but we did see Dan Aykroyd at the Hertz counter in Toronto. So that counts for something. And then we were off to a little tropical getaway for my Cousin's wedding. It was a great week of beach, hanging out with the family and maybe one or two cervezas!

Me and Ashley on the beach

Coconut cabs to the wedding

Little Evan

Me and Jay on Christmas Day

The bride and groom!

"Playing" volleyball...and yes I posted this picture because I look tan
Me and Dad downtown

My uncle Ray choking me in the airport

Jay and I

GUANTANAMERA!

Maya and I in the "Discotheque"

The fam at the wedding

Cousins on the beach

Most of the family

I bid you adieu...for a week

Well I take off early tomorrow morning (depending on the weather) for the great land of Canada. I will then be pretty much M.I.A. until I return on the 28th. I know, you're devastated. I hope that everyone has a safe and fantastic holiday! I leave you with another gem of a video.

Xmas circa 2006

Two years ago I spent my Xmas in the lovely Club Med Sandpiper Village. It was the first year that I was totally away from all family for the holidays. The ONLY thing getting me through Christmas Eve was the fact that we were allowed to eat lobster tails for dinner. And I loves me some lobster. But of course, shortly after dinner I had to quickly get dressed in my "wedding dress" for the celebration! We also did a secret Santa, and I believe I got a miniature perfume set from Jack, the 94 year old yoga instructor (who only wore speedos). I somehow managed to lose this nice gift that same night, but it was much appreciated. In the picture above, Jessie is awkwardly posing with her hot chocolate gift that she got. She opened her gift, and thought it was maybe the greatest gift anyone has ever received. And God is dancing with the "Choke the chicken" (get it?) that thing was actually pretty funny. Ahh the memories... I will say that nothing beats family at Christmas! And this year I get to spend some quality time with half of the extended family which is going to be awesome!

I'm not impressed

Ok Scarlett Johansson. I would say that no one wants your stupid snot rag...but apparently people do. This beast is auctioning off her used snot tissue on ebay, to raise $$ for a charity, USA Harvest. There are already 61 bids (as of 10am CST) and its at $2, 050.00! If I had money, I would actually just donate the money to having someone make her disappear. FINE I wouldn't do that, but I would just donate to the charity itself rather contract Avian Flu from her used, snotty kleenex.

We found our third dancer!

So last week before the company Christmas party, we had to run a couple errands. This included picking up Popeyes Fried Chicken... Don't ask. Apparently biscuits take like a half hour to make, so me, Dan and Bethany were forced to sit in Kim's car waiting for her to come back with the goods. Her delightful CD mix had "Spotlight" by Jennifer Hudson which was quickly turned off once I started singing along... Anyway, that fantastic "Single Ladies" song came on and we all know that I'm trying to learn the dance moves from various sources. So for the entire song, Bethany and I were in the back shaking the car with our dance moves, while trying to avoid eye contact with the homeless woman dancing along on the street. LONG story short, we totally found our third dancer!!!

Thanks 911...

This 21 year old Wisconsin Madison student, Brittany Zimmerman, had someone break into her apartment. She called 911, and they didn't show up for 48 minutes... Her fiance came home to find her dead after being stabbed near the heart multiple times. The 911 operator claims that she didn't hear anything on the phone despite court records alleging that there were screams and gasps on the 911 tape. This slaying happened back in April, but they are now saying that she may have been able to live, had help come sooner.
Now, this bothers me because I remember thinking as a kid that the police show up maybe 3 seconds after you place the call. I think that's how I forced my brother to listen to me- by threatening that I will call the police and they would be there ASAP. What? Is that weird? Anyway, now that we are in the world of cell phones, can they locate where you are? If someones crazy ex girlfriend is choking me, and I call 911 from my cell, can they even find out where I am? And even if they can locate where the call came from, how long will it take them to get there? I could maybe last 35 seconds, and then just assume they aren't coming and give up. This story was depressing, but it does bring up a lot of questions.

Shenae Grimes = sewer beast

Sewer beast or cunty bitch (sorry I like that word, I will hereto for refer to them as "C.B.s" for those of you who are easily offended) might be the best way to describe her. She is awful, I even hated her on the amazing Canadian television show of Degrassi. Well if you don't know the ins and outs of Shenae Grimes, she is a 19 year old Canadian actress...and she's awful. On Degrassi she plays the religious prude/tease that goes off to Bible camp etc. That was when I first decided that she needs to no longer be. Now, she is the main character on 90210 which I forced myself to watch a few times, and decided that its boring, predictable and no one is hot enough. There have been rumors flying around that she is the new Brenda Walsh, and no one on the 90210 set likes her at all. Then there was that People cover that shows how thin she is and how she must have an eating disorder. I digress, the latest rumor about her is that she might have a little drug problem. Really? You're 19, and just became famous and are now living in Hollywood...what else is there to do? Apparently now she's showing up late for work, and forgetting lines and basically slacking off. I can't WAIT for shit to hit the fan!!

Tbox!

This past Saturday was the annual Twelve Bars of Christmas bar crawl. Basically over 5,000 people head out at 10am to partake in an excuse for wearing ugly sweaters and day drinking. Since I didn't get a wristband ahead of time, we were worried that I wouldn't even be able to get one. So Eileen, in her crafty ways photocopied her bracelet, and then used green highlighter to make me a paper bracelet. And it totally worked!!! We started at Sluggers and looked even more cheap when we decided to get a 6 pack of tall boys Old Style to sneak in. There were maybe 8 million people, and about 3 decrepit bartenders, which should be illegal. And we were just trying to get drunk in a efficient manor. It was a great day full of seeing old friends, flippy cup games, sprinting down Clark from bar to bar, and "Happy Birthday Jesus" tshirts.

Classy Jello Shots!

Our office Holiday party is today, and if I were at all crafty, I would have (maybe) considered attempting to make these.

step 1: Assemble utensils and food
Obviously, you'll need some type of gelatin, oranges, and something to make the gelatin in. If I was smart, I'd be able to tell you how many oranges you'll be able to fill…

step 2: Orange prep
Cut your oranges in half, through the middle.

step 3: Making the molds
Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the pulp of the oranges. If you're careful, you can get it all in one piece. Unfortunately, at my local grocery store, they only had na…

step 4: Fill your molds
If you're reading Instructables, you can make gelatin, so I'll spare you that. While you're boiling the water, get your molds ready. The way I normally do it is to dampen…

step 5: Refrigerate and wait
Most gelatin needs around 4 hours to really set, and overnight wouldn't hurt at all. Especially if you've added your own antifreeze to them! Anyway, if you make a mess, c…

step 6: Party Time!
After your gelatin is good and set, it's time to cut them into wedges. Take your time here, patience is a virtue. Even if they're not perfect, they still look cool, so do…

Princess Unicorn!

On "The Office" tonight, Dwight took it upon himself to buy up all of the Unicorn Princess dolls, and turn them for a profit. Now where were these when I was a kid? The only Barbies that I remember having as a kid was "Hawaiian Barbie" because she came with really cool pineapple scented lip gloss. And a black barbie because she came with a cassette tape and had a fancy plastic shirt with shapes in it. Either way this whole doll was made up by the producers for the show...I think. However, there already is a hilarious website dedicated to the Unicorn Princess. I'm totally getting Bethany this for Hanukkah: