Countdown... to X-mas or the final one

Good lunch with good people and good food.
Good feeling, break is right around the corner.
Gotta take care of a few small things.... then it's Christmas time.
That or the world is coming to and end. We'll see, I guess.

Presented with a present problem

So we weren't gonna do presents.
And then we were gonna do just like something small.
Then he got online and ordered himself a $6 scraper for ski waxing, as his gift from me.
Sweet, I thought, off the hook and done!
Then.... I get home and he tells me he got me a present. An expensive one. That I'll really like. Godammit. So now I have to get him something after all.
What....?

When are the next olympics?

My new year's resolution for next year?
To learn how to do the freestyle swim....
I haven't been entirely successful in doing yoga once a week, as was my resolution for this year. But I have done significantly more yoga this year than any other year. So it counts.
And now I'm off to the pool to improve my strokes. I've been swimming every Tuesday morning all semester.
Breast stroke. Exclusively.
Cause that's all I know how to do.
But it gets old and I get mad and frustrated when senior citizens in the next lane swoosh by my with long, elegant, effortless freestyle strokes.
I want to to that too.
Last week I decided to give it a go. Just went for it. Picture a dog drowning. And swallowing tons of water. That was me.
1 year. I'm shooting for somewhere right in between Ryan Lochte and the drowning dog.

So all those people promising to do good deeds and stuff....well, that's great. You guys save the planet. I'll be in the pool.

When people ask "so do you like it here?"

Well, let's see what I missed, thus far, this year.....
Everybody's birthday
Sister's wedding
Grandma's last days, death and funeral
Dad's retirement
Friend's babies

and probably a bunch of other stuff.
So you see, it's not that I don't like it here... we're not talking about Chinese food. It's not that simple.  I do like it here. But being here, I'm missing out...like, a lot.

A bug

One of my latest pet peeves?
Well, since you asked…. The Gluten Free Fad.
First it was fat-free and then low-carb and now it’s gluten. And most people don’t even have any idea what gluten is, they’re just happy to join the craze, thinking it’ll make them healthier. Or seem healthier, whichever one is more important.
And so facebook gets full of comments and statuses like “making gluten-free french fries!!” which is almost as difficult as making vegetarian rice…. Or “these gluten-free corn-tortillas are amazing!” when, again, people don’t usually stress that their milk is non-alcoholic…but maybe we should?


Potatoes and rice are probably happy though, since they got so much crap during the carb hysteria, now they can proudly say they’re gluten free.
And sugar, oil and flour everywhere can get it on and form vegan cookies, cause as we all now, as long as it’s vegan, it’s totally good for you.

I’m not saying there’s not a point behind these fads.
Yes, too much carbs is not good for you.
Neither is too much almost anything.
Too much of the all the additives they put into refined flour is also bad for you, hence the fear of gluten…. But, unless you’re actually gluten intolerant, completely cutting gluten from your diet can actually cause you digestive problems and other health issues.
People’s need to justify and advertise simple choices like whether they picked skim or soy for their latte (if they totally blew it and went with whole you know that shit won’t make it onto facebook) or that they ate something green and vegan and shaped like a tower for lunch (how often do we see yesterday's mac and cheese warmed up in the micro wave on instagram?)… Well you guessed it, it bugs me.

End rant.

Sunday Funday

There is just something about snow.
And the winter landscape.
Makes me feel at home like nothing else.
We skied Pomerelle today. First time for both of us on that mountain. Uncle Larry calls it a “pimple on my ass” as compared to Sun Valley.
And… well, I can see his point. It’s not big and it’s not steep.
But it is cheap.
And right on the way coming back from Buhl. And they had fresh, real snow.  So, it was a good day.
Well worth the drive and $.

Today...?

I keep saying it's my favourite show... Modern Family, yet somehow I care enough to always miss it. Although today I've been confused as to what day it actually is all day long long. I've said
"see you tomorrow! yeah, friday...so tomorrow?" twice.
And "this is what we normally do on Tuesdays"
and "so maybe on the 5th....whaddya mean today?"

I blame it on going out to dinner Monday night. I mean, who does that?
That lopsided my whole week.
Maybe I'll call tomorrow Saturday and call it good?

Confession

Crime: The tree is up and decorated.
I cleaned first, of course.
I haven't totally moved away from mother's teachings. You have to clean before you decorate. That's the rule. And one I follow, none the less. Just like you brush after you eat (new studies on that, please be quiet..)
I may be putting my tree up 24 days too early. But my bathroom is clean, my floors vaccuumed and I dusted the side table before putting that decorative green and red table cloth on it.
Plea: So, you see mom... I am not breaking all the rules.