Feliz New Year, ohkeh

Hello! Happy New Year, and all that. 2009 is here, and I'm in a funk because I have to work five full days this week, which I haven't done in a while. I'm trying to focus on the 2009/10 brochure, but I'm losing the battle, so here I am, blogging. It's been a while, I know.

Anyway, the holiday break was lovely. I escaped to Tennessee on the 20th, where I did assorted things:

• sang Messiah the Sunday before Christmas. I did quite well, too, considering I haven't sung it in about five years.
• watched the Steelers lose to the Titans. Not so fun, actually.
• had a Weather Report Duel with G's gentleman friend, entertaining my father in the process. [SIDE NOTE: Apparently, G's gentleman friend thinks that I'm intimidating. Is this true? (picture intense stare here) I found it rather surprising, given that was wandering around in pink sweatpants and festive Christmas monkey socks for most of the time he was at our house.]
• had several old friends over for an Impromptu Holiday Gathering (not to be confused with a H&G's Christmas Extravaganza, which we did not have this year).
• successfully avoided setting foot in the mall.
• experienced A Christmas Miracle (in addition to, you know, the birth of Jesus), about which I will post at a later date.

Then, on Christmas Day, we ventured north to West Virginia, where we spent a few days with my grandparents, great aunt, Mom's sister, and three awesome cousins. It was, as always, a fun and rather loud time.

I drove home on Sunday after Christmas listening to the Steelers on the radio, turning it on just after Ben Roethlisberger's frightening hit. "...spinal injury.....sure was hit hard....He's been down for more than ten minutes now.... not moving.... these are the kind of moments that professional athletes try not to think about."

I celebrated the New Year mostly by eating. A BITTER cold New Year's Eve was spent at an epic--yet lively!--dinner with Ed and Val, followed by a party at a friend's house. Val and I spent the final hour of 2008 checking our watches ("Twenty minutes....eleven minutes... five minutes...") and plotting a quick escape after the ball dropped. I was in bed by one. The next day, the three of us and J had brunch, which was followed by a lengthy afternoon nap and then pork, sauerkraut, and the Rose Bowl at Ed and Val's. It was a great way to start the year--good foot, good friends, and, well, a pretty unexciting football game.

Anyway, I'm now back at work "for real," since last week was a series of rather short days (every day, BC ambled by around 3pm: "You can go home. Nobody's here.") and one food-filled holiday. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I'm getting back in the swing of things.

One of my resolutions this year is not to abandon you, my loyal readers, for weeks at a time. I shall try to do better!