I know I'm not the only one that does this because the chat thread on every room I have ever played in repeats the sad story over and over. I cannot stop playing poker at "bed time". How can you? You keep saying to yourself "Self, you really should go to bed. The baby will wake soon. You haven't slept in months. Why are you still playing?"  I then respond to myself "Self, this is your last hand. Seriously. I promise. Last hand."  But I lie. I lie to myself.  Lying to oneself is a sad state of affairs. On one hand, you always fall for the lie. You tell yourself you can't possibly lie to Yourself, because you're yourself. Then you do, completely surprising Yourself and catching Yourself off-guard. On the other hand, you know in the back of your mind it's a lie. You are sitting there saying "Last hand" but thinking "Only if I lose!"

The funny thing is, the minute this conversation starts, I start to win. How is that possible?  I can be losing for hours, I get so tired I am ready to go ALL IN on 7/2 off suit every hand just to get some shut eye. But I can't lose! My 7/2 turns into 7s full on the flop. My J/5 turns into a straight. I get pocket As. It's insane?  If we're supposed to get in return from the universe what we put out in thought, you would think I would be getting my tail beat! I swear there's a computer algorithm calculating betting responses and equating them to tiredness and then dealing the cards it knows will keep you in!

Just a thought.

I really didn't think I cared who won the Super Bowl. I watch it every year, without fail, because I'm American. It's the American thing to do! Patriots vs Giants? Ok. Fine. Not teams I watch during the regular season. I was ambivilant about who won. Argument one: It would be cool to see a team have a completely undefeated season. Argument two: How awesome would it be for last year's winning quarterback's little brother to win the very next year?

Argument two completely won. I was so excited to watch that 4th Quarter, 30 seconds left touchdown! I screamed. I did a little dance. I had been rooting for them the entire game, ever since I decided that Tom Brady really was the a** that everyone said he was. I mean, really? You couldn't shake the Eli's hand before the game? What kind of prick are you? Then the whole cheating allegations thing. It was just so much fun to root for the "underdog"! Seriously! Did you SEE. THAT. PLAY?  AWESOME!

Tags: super bowl
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: content
Current Music: Husband snoring

Yes. Taxes. Don't look at me like that! Please see prior posts about orginality. You won't find it here!

So this year my taxes have made me nearly obsessive.  It is really bothering me that I have not received all my 1099 and 1098 statements. I am still missing one 1099-INT and one 1098-MTG. I normally would be holding off even looking at any of this, but I decided about 12 days ago to plug in our W-2 info just to see a preliminary amount of what we'll owe. Get a head start saving for the April deadline. We ALWAYS owe. Sometimes by alot!

Well, to my honest to goodness shock and amazement, we are getting a refund! A big one! I won't say how much, but considering I haven't seen one in years, anything would be huge to me. I can't even fathom the possibility. So now I am obsessive about getting them done. I am logging on to my financial institution sites 50 times a day. (Lord how I hope that's an exaggeration!)

Last night one of them finally popped up as available! It was the biggy, too since it reported our capital gains. I opened it up, glanced at the info, then stupid me closed it thinking "I will just import this directly to TurboTax". Well, of course, I tried that and it failed. Then I go back to my financial institution site and try to open it again so I can manually enter the info. I get a one liner: "You do not have authorization to access this statement". Seriously?!? It's mine! MINE, MINE, MINE!!! So about an hour of refreshing and attempting in vain to access the statement I finally decide it's time to go to bed. This is about 11:30.

I dreamt all night of tax statements playing hide and seek. I am sick. Very ill. Call a doctor! Somebody help!

This morning it was available just fine. Yay! I entered the info then realized I am still missing all the information from the sale of our house in May and from our new purchase in September. So now I'm back to waiting. This time I don't even have websites to hound.  If you are looking for me and having trouble actually finding me, check out the pup tent by the mailboxes. I'm in there. Camping out, waiting for the mailman. Postal worker? What do they prefer? That's probably pretty important to know. You don't want to piss of the mail delivery person. Maybe I'll fix him some hot chocolate.

Tags: taxes
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: restless
Current Music: Silence

So,  the Super Bowl is February 3. I really don't care who makes it to the Big Game, since my teams were a huge disappointment. That doesn't change the fact it's still a big social occassion. Every year but last I have hosted a party. This year, I want to again, but my friend base has completely evaporated. Well, given that the majority of the attendees to my functions are family, and all are going to be out of town this year, that pretty much did it. Not that we lost any friends! :)

So here's my dilemma. I love to entertain. My house is finally put together and looks fantastic and I believe would be a great place to entertain. However, the people I would invite, are very new aquaintances. From church. We've enjoyed a few social occassions with them, and have another planned this weekend, but I just don't know how appropriate hosting is at this point.  Next year, maybe?

Again, doesn't change that I really want to enjoy the day. I love the cooking, the laughing, the stupid commercials, the really bad halftime shows. I guess I can settle in and enjoy it with my husband and daughter. They might get a little tired of eating all the food I want to make. I guess I will have to revise my planned menu. Any suggestions for a party of three?

Tags: entertaining, friends, super bowl
Current Mood: contemplative

My daughter taught me something about persevering today. Remember she is only eighteen months old. Maybe other kids this age do this too, but I've never really been exposed to children much in the past! Anyway, she found a bottle of baby lotion. Not that we hide it, but she noticed it sitting on the counter and grabbed it. She managed to open the top and luckily for me (or so I thought at the time) the bottle was nearly empty and she couldn't quite get any out. She loves lotion. She rubs her hands together and puts it on her cheeks because that's what we do after baths. She now even will rub it on her belly and down her legs. So I didn't mind much that she had it, even if she did manage to eke a little out. I also didn't think much of her struggle, as I figured her attention span these days runs up to about 5 minutes. Apparently, attention spans increase in leaps in bounds because about 30 minutes later I found my precious angel in the dining room with the same bottle of lotion. By this time, however, lotion had decided to come forth. The contents of a nearly empty bottle of lotion seem quite a bit more volumenous whem spread through the bottom of the sideboard and into the carpet! Ronald McDonald has no dry skin to speak of, I assure you. Neither does Princess Ariel (I wonder how lotion works under the sea?!).  Oh, and my daughter's cheeks are well moisturized!

Of course I couldn't scold her. I was laughing too hard anyway. But I will remember this next time she decides she's in need of dermal hydration.  Need a cure for the drudgery that is television in the wake of the writer's strike? My child is all the entertainment I need these days! Watch your kids, I bet they can come up with something way more interesting than the lates "reality" show.

On a slightly different topic, we have a cheerleader in making for the Super Bowl. Even if our teams have no chance to make it there! Next year, Sir Urlacher. Next year.

Tags: family, super bowl
Current Mood: content

You Are a Strawberry Daiquiri

You're a fun, playful drinker who loves to party.
You may get totally wasted, but you're always a happy drunk!
http://www.blogthings.com/whatmixeddrinkareyouquiz

So, I took this quiz for two reasons. The first being that I saw it on a friend's MySpace page and thought it would be fun. The other is that I have been indulging in a few more alcoholic drinks per week than was my average. Only about one a night, but still, more than the couple times a month thing I did have going on.

I am trying to get my social calendar to somewhere in between college days of partying and never going out new mom. So far I am enjoying a 2nd Tuesday night out with friends once a month. This weekend and next we are participating in game nights with friends. Different groups of friends. Just so happened to be happening in the same month. I bet it has to do with it being the new year and everyone wantint to reconnect. Just a theory. Now to get my husband to commit to a once a month date night. I want twice a month, but will settle. For now. ;)

I will keep you posted on my success.Oh, and we are officially at an even 8 weeks (plus 7 hours) until Vegas, baby!

Current Mood: hungry

I am 8 weeks and just over 2 days away from my Vegas trip. I can hardly stand it. So much so that yesterday I wiled away two hours playing online poker. I cannot wait to get to the tables in LV!

This got me thinking about addictions. Whether or not I have an addictive personality. Others in my family struggle with this trait. My sister and father are on the extreme end. They find something they enjoy and they commit completely. No holding back. No moderation. 

I happen to moderate very well in most things. Lately, though, it's been more difficult with the gambling. I went up the hill to Central City a few weeks back with a specific amount of money. I always go with a specific budget, and rarely if ever desire more. This particular trip, though, I proceeded to wipe out my Vegas saving fund.  I am gradually building it back up, but it's been a painful realization that I could have had so much more!  I'm a little worried about how I will handle the Vegas trip. On one hand, I now have the firsthand experience of feelings after a disasterous evening of excess. This could help curb the desire to do it again. On the other hand, on the prior trip, I knew in the back of my head that I was doing a bad thing, but it didn't really seem to matter at the time.  "Just one big hand. That's all I need!" How pathetic!

Keep your fingers crossed. I have 8 weeks, 2 days, 9 hours to go before I am faced with the decision. I can only hope that common sense and reason which serve me so well in most cases, will prevail! Of course, you notice I'm not even thinking of not going!

Tags: vegas
Current Mood: contemplative

I have to say this is the longest lasting resolution I have ever made. Today marks an entire week! To date I have:

1) Caught up the laundry. This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, but here's a little description to put it in perspective. We own the largest model washer/dryer for residential use. I ran 13 loads in 3 days! 13. That's like 26 regular loads.  How do two adults and one little itty bitty child create so much laundry?!

2) Completely cleaned, reorganized, and otherwise completed my kitchen. Remember we've only lived here three months. I feel great about my kitchen finally. I think everything has a proper place at this point. I simplified my countertops. Put the rotisserie and bread machine in the pantry for storage. I realized I only use them about once a month, so no point cluttering the counters!

3) You can see the top of my desk. Enough said. Especially if you know me! =)

In addition to just the hard labor (haha) I am making little checklists and systems for maintaining. I think my husband is about to have a coronary.  He hasn't been much help in achieving the goals, but I tell ya he's been given a chore list for maintaining. We'll see if the marriage survives!

Organization is so much easier than the fall back diet resolution. Thank goodness I didn't try that one this year!  Although, I do deserve applause for my will power this morning. I walked by fresh cupcakes 4 (four!) times this morning and didn't even reach. I glanced, maybe ogled a little, but my hands never reached! Whoohoo!

Oh! And one final little accomplishment...I found our snow boots! No more complaining about not having them. It's supposed to snow tonight, so I'm really happy they're safely tucked in the coat closet. I was starting to annoy myself with how much I was going on and on about those boots!

I promise, next post will have nothing (or rather, very little) about the Year of Organization!

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: chipper

Here we are, three days into 2008. This year for me marks 10 years since high school. 10 years since losing the one thing you really can't get back. I think they've tried. The closest anyone's gotten is a resolution to not do it again. Seriously. Doesn't take it back!  Resolutions. I know everyone talks about them. I'm not original in any way. I don't really care. I have to put my two cents in. Heck, could only be worth half a cent. Still going to say it!

I have declared 2008 as my Year of Organization. I would have to say it's a resolution to get organized. Three days in I still have a kitchen full of dirty dishes, a car that you can't see the floor of and a desk that has about 3 square inches of bare space.  However, I have a plan of action for the car, the kitchen is my afternoon project and the desk is slowly being cleared. I have tools that I am hoping will help.  First, I have color coded my family, my work, and me.  I'm Green.  My daughter is Purple. My husband is Blue. I assigned work the Drab color. Only fitting, right? Other tools are people. My mother has declared her willingness to help me.  So far this has amounted to us placing my life in boxes.

Now, remember I just moved in September. We have this large, lovely, brand new house. My endeavor was "no boxes!".  Now I have boxes. I have reboxed the stuff. They are separated, labeled, and full!  I have one for household papers. One for memorabilia from certain events in my 18-month-old's life so far that I can't throw out, but that really have no place (I realize most mothers would scrapbook them. I don't really know what that means. I think it requires a lot more organization that I have. Maybe by the end of 2008 I will be a scrapbooker. I think that's a lot to ask, though. Let's just stick with general closet cleaning, drawer sorting, and filing for now!). There are boxes for work. Two of which I am going to ship off to other people by the end of today (keep your fingers crossed!). That's the great thing about the end of the year for a business. All the paperwork that you had to keep up on throughout the year, you get to pass on to the accountant in the end! It's a great feeling to box them up and put someone elses name on them!

There are boxes for other things that I really don't know why I have them. So much so it feels a waste of time even to look at them. Too bad you can't just chuck them. I mean, you have to look at them before you pitch the whole box. What if for some reason the winning lottery ticket was stuck in the bottom?  Crazy, but slightly rational, I think. =D

Organization is my theme this year. It's my resolution. However, it's bound to be a boring year without something else to look forward to. These are the things I hope to gain from being better organized. The things I want, desire, hope to accomplish and enjoy in 2008.

1)  More time going to fun things with my daughter, such as museums, the zoo, the park, etc.  Right now I spend many Saturdays cleaning and neglect the fun things we could be doing. Not every weekend, mind you. We had a good share of the zoo and the aquarium in 2007. Just not as much as I would have liked.  I want to do something fun with her every Saturday.

2)  I want to join a book club. Reading has always been a passion and I've enjoyed discussing some books with a close friend. I want to experience that on a regular basis.  Reasons why I haven't joined one range the gammit from lack of time to actually read the book, to fear of sharing my thoughts. I want to remove the fear and resolve the time issue.

3)  I want to go back to school. This one will probably not happen in 2008, but there's a possibility. I am inspired by my father who at 50 has just enrolled in a bachelor's program. I am also inspired by my sister who has just been accepted to a master's program and my brother-in-law who is still an undergrad after 8 years in college.  I love to learn, I want to continue to do so. There are a few areas that peak my interest, such as culinary arts and law school. An MBA isn't out of the question. My resolve here is to make a plan. Decide which area I want to pursue and have a plan to achieve it.

This is a long post. I'm sure everyone has New Year's posts that just ramble. Thanks for reading mine! Any organization solutions for a complete knitwit and space case are much appreciated!  Remember, they have to be simple, automatic, foolproof!

May your 2008 be blessed, merry, and organized!

Current Mood: accomplished

Two things are running through my mind this morning. 

1) Are season tickets to the Rockies worth the small upfront fortune? Will I really attend 40 games this year? Is it incredibly selfish to splurge on such an expense, knowing full well that my dear husband has absolutely no interest in attending even one of said 40 games?  I SO want these tickets! Dang it! I have a few months left to contemplate the quandry.

2) I really need to move my office. It's not healthy to spend the day in my coat, three pairs of socks and ear muffs. That's indoors, btw. Yup, my current office is in a basement. The sad thing is, I have a perfectly lovely new home, with a dedicated spot (a terrific loft on the second floor with beautiful windows and heat!) for all my stuff. Why do I procrastinate on something that would so obviously make my life better?  Well, this one I have the solution to, and it comes in the form of my brother-in-law. He called this morning and wants to share my little piece of basement this week.  Yup! Pretty sure I will be all settled in the new office by tomorrow afternoon!

Current Mood: working
Current Music: Some Fools Never Learn - Steve Wariner