1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Maintained a 4.0 GPA.  Made a one-day out-of-state trip for a job interview, then turned down the subsequent job offer.  Went to the Middle East.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Here’s what I wrote for 2011:

I generally don’t make specific resolutions.  And if you want to know the honest truth, it’s because I’ll forget what I resolved to do.

True dat.  Maybe I could use this entry as a reminder of what I hope to accomplish over the year.  Resolutions always seem sort of lame to me, but I love a good to-do list so maybe if I look at it from that perspective it will work.  So:

• Finish grad school.  This should be accomplished in early May.
• Improve my job situation.  Work has been…challenging for several months now and I’d like to improve that in one way or another.  At this point I’m not picky.
• Make more of an effort to record family memories.  Either I need to blog more reliably or take up scrapbooking again.  Or start creating professionally printed photo books.  Now that I’m almost done with school I should have more free time. Theoretically.
• Have more patience with the kids.  Patience may be a virtue but unfortunately is not one of mine.  I’m hoping things will be easier on this front now that we’ve turned the corner out of age three with Misty.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, but a good friend is pregnant so I’m looking forward to April.  A new baby to cuddle that doesn’t keep me up at night!  Woo!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, and thank goodness for that.

5. What countries did you visit?

Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Mexico.  Qatar.  And technically I was in UAE, but never left the airport so I wouldn’t call it a visit.  Although the duty-free shopping in the Dubai airport is incredibly impressive and possibly a tourist destination all on its own.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Forward motion.  As previously mentioned, I’m finishing up my master’s in the spring and would like to use it, you know?  Although I’m not sure that things are going to pan out along the original plan, I’d like to feel as though I’m moving UP a career ladder rather than just chilling on the same damn rung year after year.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

It isn’t every day that a gal gets to fly halfway across the world (in business class, no less), so I’m not likely to forget that anytime soon.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I think it bears repeating that I’ve managed to maintain straight As in my classwork while working full-time and parenting two kids.  Of course, none of it would be possible without N – he is the most awesome husband and co-parent any woman could ask for.  Achieving an entire decade of marriage is pretty impressive too.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I continue to be the opposite of a domestic goddess, whatever that may be.  The anti-housewife, I suppose.  A big fat FAIL in the domesticity department, no matter how you look at it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing really.  Sinus troubles here and there, although I’ve discovered the wonder of Mucinex and therefore managed to avoid a full-blown sinus infection for an entire year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

LASIK.  Hands down.

12. Where did most of your money go?

As usual, our mortgage payment and child care fees ate up a significant chunk of change.

13. What did you get really excited about?

Going from 20/400 to 20/15 vision is pretty damn exciting.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Not exactly sure…I listen to such an eclectic mix of music that it’s hard to say.  Probably something by Bruno Mars – like maybe The Lazy Song.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? Sadder overall, but only because work has been so massively frustrating lately.  I’d say my personal happiness is about the same as last year.
– thinner or fatter? No real change.
– richer or poorer? We’ve taken better control of our finances by going to a mostly cash-based budget, but still have some debt to get paid off.  So taking all that into consideration, about the same I guess.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Distance running – I’ve been copping out with 1-2 mile runs most of the time and would like to get back to a place where a 5K is nothing big.  Writing here.  Playing with the kids.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Fretting over work and making my husband miserable with all of the constant bitching.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

In The Swamp, splitting days between our families for the last time – my parents are permanently moving to their retirement home in a few weeks.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Still totally into Burn Notice, NCIS, Psych and Sons of Anarchy.  I’ve added Hawaii 5-0 to the list this year.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

Other than the usual slew of Nora Roberts between semesters, I didn’t really read much of anything.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I listened to a lot of Rob Zombie to get me through increasingly torturous workdays.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

Fast Five.  It may not be Oscar-worthy, but that’s the one that stands out as most enjoyable.  It seems I didn’t do a lot of movie-watching in 2011.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I’m honestly not sure.  I checked my archives and evidently didn’t write about it.  I’m sure we just celebrated at home.  I turned 32.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Access to a reliable, inexpensive babysitter.  I generally don’t mind living a couple hours away from family but sometimes it is frustrating to not have ready access to grandparents-as-free-childcare.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Second verse, same as the first.  I wear what is comfortable for me, which includes black and gray 95% of the time.

26. What kept you sane?

Friends and family, especially my husband.  I would have gone off the deep end long ago if I didn’t have him to help me keep it all together.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Not all good memories have to involve spending vast quantities of money.  Being a homeowner is totally overrated.  White wine makes my teeth sensitive sometimes, but red wines do not.  Anything worth having is worth working for.

Anyhow.  Qatar, yes.  A couple of coworkers and I were sent to our campus in Doha to meet with some researchers face-to-face prior to a big proposal deadline.  And I am here to tell you that lo, it was awesome.

First of all, I love air travel.  I don’t really care about the destination as long as it involves taking a plane.  I love everything about it.  Waking up early to get to the airport.  Searching for a magazine at an over-priced newsstand.  Hauling ass through the terminal to make a connection.  I don’t even mind taking off my shoes and pulling out my laptop to get through security.  I just really enjoy the entire experience, especially the actual flight.  There’s nothing quite like knowing you have absolutely nowhere else to be, so you may as well relax and enjoy the ride.  (And the free champagne.)

Now.  That being said, it turns out that around hour ten of an international flight is when I start to get restless and starting thinking things like OH MY GOD this flight will never END and I am going to be ON THIS PLANE for the rest of my LIFE.  Because at that point we still had over five hours to go and well, that can start to feel a little dire.  When you have enough time to watch SEVEN ENTIRE MOVIES on one flight, you know it is a long one.

But we did eventually land, although it was in Dubai and we had to make a connection into Doha from there.  Fortunately that flight was only an hour and we were literally the only people in business class (HELLS YEAH, business class, BTW – I definitely would have died had I been stuck in coach for fifteen hours) so it wasn’t bad at all.

And upon leaving the airport, I immediately decided that I love Doha even more than air travel.  While I do realize that it can get up to a horrifying 120 degrees in the summer, the weather is merely pleasantly warm this time of year.  Everything is clean and shiny new (SO MUCH construction – there are cranes in the background of almost every photo), the people are pleasant and overall it was a phenomenal experience.  Doha is a very international city.  Only about 20% of the residents are native Qatari, everyone else is an expat.  Australia, Britain, the US, you name it and someone of that nationality lives in Doha.  Arabic is the official language but English is very widely spoken so there’s no trouble whatsoever in terms of getting around.  Not even for this central Texas gal.

Okay, enough blathering.  On to the photos!  You can find the full set here, should you be interested in such things.

So to sum up:  Doha = AWESOME.  Air travel = also awesome, though admittedly less so after 15 hours on a single flight.  Whether you’re in business class or not.

Y’all.  Y’ALL.  I had several people tell me how awesome it is, how I would wish I’d done it years ago.  And guess what?  I TOTALLY WISH I’D DONE IT YEARS AGO.  In addition to the cost (which is admittedly substantial), I was mostly worried about silly things, like being required to keep my eyes closed for 4 hours after the procedure (not a problem, thanks to the Xanax AND Valium they gave me beforehand, ZZZ) having to keep up with multiple sets of eye drops, and being able to see well enough to drive myself back home (90 miles) by the next day.  But in the end, none of that was a big deal at all (well, except the money but WORTH IT).

I may sound like a cheesy-ass ad but seriously.  I’ve worn contacts for 25 years, glasses for a couple of years beyond that.  I walked into that operating room unable to see the big E without corrective lenses.  I had high myopia and required about a -7.5 corrective diopter to see, at best, 20/30-ish.  My vision was about 20/400 uncorrected.  That is not good.  Impressive in its crappiness, actually, especially when you consider it’s been that bad since I was about 10 years old.

But now I see 20/15 in both eyes.  Better than “normal” visual acuity of 20/20.  I can’t even begin to tell you how cool it is to open my eyes in the morning and SEE.  EVERYTHING.  I can see in the shower!  I can fall asleep to the TV without worrying about my glasses!  I’ve never known what that was like.

It is AWESOME.

Tiny Little Smartass

I believe I’ve mentioned how Misty/Miss T (am still trying to give these new names a chance, perhaps it would be easier if I wrote more often) is cute but evil.  In yet another example of the child’s disturbing cleverness, yesterday N was playing Wii so that she could watch.  But then she got tired of Super Mario 3.

Misty:  I want to play a different game.  I want to play a different game.

N:  [says nothing; continues to play]

Misty:  I want to play a different game.  I want to play a different game.

N:  [still says nothing; continues playing]

Misty:  I want to play a different game.  I want to play a different game!  I! Want! To! Play! A! Different! Game!

Me: [in the kitchen, unsure as to whether N is purposely ignoring her or is so deep in the zone that he truly doesn't hear, but either way I am slowly being driven crazy whether he is or not]  MISTY.  That is ENOUGH.  We HEAR YOU.

Misty:  But I want to play a different game.  I want to play a different game!  I want to play a different game!

Me:  Say it again.  Say it ONE MORE TIME, and you’ll sit in time out.  [meaningful glare]

Misty:  [sweetly and deliberately]  Daddy, can you please put in another game?

A New Purchase

Though I did love my BMW X5 and for the most part I enjoyed owning and driving it, we decided to let it go and get something a bit more practical.  We’d had the X5 in the shop no less than four times since purchasing it a year ago, and between the constant threat of major mechanical problems and ever-rising gas costs, it began to feel rather like an albatross.

So we took it down to the local Toyota dealership and they offered us a good deal.  Now we’re rocking a 2011 Prius.  It isn’t flashy, it isn’t fast, but it is a smooth, dependable ride and quite frankly the potential gas savings make me a little weak in the knees.

N and I plan to trade off driving it, but I’ve been back behind the wheel of our old faithful 4Runner for a couple days now and honestly, I’m completely fine with that.  I loved that 4Runner from the second I got behind the wheel for a test drive back in October of 2001 and there was a part of me that always felt I’d betrayed it by buying the X5 in the first place.

It might sound silly, but now I think we’ve returned to the natural order of things.  I belong behind the wheel of that old stellar blue pearl (NOT PURPLE) 4Runner, not a snobby, stuffy, tank-like X5.  Turns out I wasn’t much of a BMW gal after all.

Cubicle Farms

I’ve been working in my current cube for 3 years now and while I’m generally not bothered by ambient office noise, the lack of privacy provided by 5.5-foot walls does get irritating.  Particularly when I’m in the midst of a deadline or trying to work on a complex budget.  My cube also happens to be at the end of a row at a rather high-traffic area, so people are walking back and forth all day long.

But a week from tomorrow, all that changes.  Because I’m moving into a new cubicle.  And it has eight-foot walls and a sliding door with frosted privacy glass.  A DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR.  With a lock even!  I am so excited!

There’s also a ton more desk space, lots of storage and several magnetic dry-erase boards.

Oh, and did I mention the door?  This new cubicle has a door.

(Seriously!  A DOOR!!)

The End

You’ve reached it.

So.  From now on, I’ll refer to AE as Lex.  It’s a shortened version of his real name, but not what we actually call him.  I could go with Xander, I suppose, but he’d appreciate the comic book/video game/movie connection of Lex.  So Lex it shall be.

And Miss T shall now be Misty.  (See what I did there?  Am so clever, yes?)  Essentially that’s how I see it in my mind when I’m writing about her anyway, so there you go.  It isn’t anything close to her real name unless you count the fact that it also has five letters and contains T and S.  Heh.

And what about N, you ask?  That’s a very good question.  Many of the four readers that I have know his real name already.  It is out there on the internet anyway due to the nature of his job.  I could call him by his real name, but will not.  I shall call him Nic, for no other reason than it annoys the living hell out of him.

There you have it.  To sum up, Lex = AE, Misty = Miss T, and Nic = N.

*

Yesterday I went for my Free! Lasik! Consult! as touted by a Houston-based doctor that comes to my city once a week.  I’ve been thinking about lasik (LASIK? Lasik? oh who cares) for a while, and if I’m serious about getting into any sort of law enforcement – federal or otherwise – it’s pretty much a must.  My vision uncorrected is something god-awful like 20/400.  I can’t even see the big E without my glasses or contacts, and most law enforcement agencies won’t consider anyone with uncorrected vision worse than 20/100 for a field position.

Anyway, yesterday I went for an evaluation and within 45 minutes I was signed up for the procedure.  August 18, yo.  Supposedly after resting my eyes that afternoon, I’ll be able to drive myself to the follow-up appointment the next morning, totally corrective-aid free.  I find this hard to believe, but it sounds awesome.  And only possible through magic.  Certainly it will not involve lasers aimed at my eyeballs, because that is horrific and scary and shudder-inducing.

Denial.  It ain’t just a river in Egypt, people.

*

Nic (man, even I hate the way that looks but I will persist) and I found ourselves sans kids last week (they were both out of town visiting grandparents) and we hardly knew what to do with ourselves in the evenings.  We muddled through, going out to dinner several times and even squeezing in a movie – Horrible Bosses.

I highly recommend this movie, you guys.  If you’ve ever had a boss that you’ve hated even a little (and if you say you haven’t, I say you’re lying), this is the movie for you.  Office Space is another movie I recommend for disgruntled employees, but it’s more applicable for corporate drones stuck in a cubicle farm.  Horrible Bosses appeals to a much wider audience.  Almost everyone has a boss, and very few people adore theirs.

Jason Bateman is awesome as always and perfect in his role as the voice of reason.  It reminded me of his character in Arrested Development (another must-see) – the long-suffering normal person who inevitably finds himself in the midst of crazy people.  And I really don’t care for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (no link, just because) but Charlie Day was really funny and charming in a pathetic sort of way.  I didn’t think Jason Sudeikis was quite as good as the other two (probably because I’m never fond of the overgrown frat boy character), but every movie has to have a weak link and he did have some good lines.

The three bosses were cast perfectly as well.  Kevin Spacey was doing his standard thing, Jennifer Aniston was really vamping it up (her eye makeup was over-the-top and so not HER but it worked), and Colin Farrell does obnoxious and disgusting oh so very well.

The language is foul but the one-liners are great.  The theater was full and everyone laughed out loud throughout the entire movie.  There were none of the plot holes that I tend to expect in comedies – usually the writers are so focused on the jokes they tend to lose sight of the story, but not here.  And added bonus for me, the Old Lady Moviegoer that I am: only one scene made me cringe a little with crude “toilet humor”.  If (WHEN) you see it, you will know exactly what I mean and it really isn’t terrible at all, especially as compared to other “comedies” these days.  (OMG, Grandma?  Is that you?)

Horrible Bosses really isn’t anything you need to see on the big screen, of course.  Nic and I usually reserve that for blockbuster-type action movies that have impressive special effects, but since we had the opportunity (and I’d already seen Green Lantern which I’ll review some other time) we went for it.  Totally, totally worth the expense of the tickets and giant vat of Coke that Nic requires for any movie viewing – and I’ll definitely buy the DVD (or Blu-ray, I guess) whenever it comes out.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up:  one for me, and one for my movie reviewer by proxy.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?  Started graduate school.  Bought a BMW.  Got a new sister-in-law.  Ran a half-marathon.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?  I generally don’t make specific resolutions.  And if you want to know the honest truth, it’s because I’ll forget what I resolved to do.  True story.

3. Did anyone close to you have a child?  Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Nope, thankfully.

5. Where did you travel?  Baltimore.  Denver.  Providence.  And also San Francisco.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?  As per my usual response to any question of this nature, it would be really nice to have a limitless cash flow.  Other than that, I’m good.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory?  Well, maybe not the specific date (because I had to look it up), but I’ll always remember the event that took place on July 25.  That’s the day I ran – and finished – my very first half-marathon.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  Making As in both of my very first graduate-level courses.  Studying works!  WHO KNEW.

9. What was your biggest failure?  I often feel like a spectacular failure in regards to my utter lack of domestic ability.  I mean, yeah, I do laundry and keep a clean house but cooking…well, let’s just say I’m glad I’m not getting a letter grade on that particular life skill.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Nothing major.  Some new aches and pains as my body adjusted to running.

11. What was the best thing you bought?  Please see above re: BMW, FTW!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  You know, my kids are really great and I don’t give them enough credit.  AE in particular is an awesomely-behaved kid.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  YOUR MOM.  (Not really.)

14. Where did most of your money go?  Travel.  Daycare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?  I love traveling, so this was an awesome year in that regard.  It was particularly cool to go to Providence – I don’t do a lot of traveling by myself, so that was a first for me.

16.  What song will always remind you of 2010?  All kinds of stuff that I listened to on repeat.  Be My Thrill by The Weepies.  The Funeral by Band of Horses.  Hands in the Sky (Big Shot) by Straylight Run.  All We Are by Matt Nathanson.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:  a) happier or sadder?  b) thinner or fatter?  c) richer or poorer?   About the same on all fronts, honestly.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?  Slowing down.  I’m always in a hurry one way or the other and have a really hard time just taking each day as it comes.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?  Bitching.  Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  It is my lot in life, I’m afraid.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?  In The Swamp with the folks.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?  With my car, yes.

22. What was your favorite TV program?  My new obsession is Psych, and I still love NCIS, Sons of Anarchy and Burn Notice. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?  Yes.  Yes I do. 

24. What was the best book you read?  The only books I read other than textbooks were by Nora Roberts.  I read all three of her books in the Sign of Seven Trilogy.  Scoff if you must (N sure does), but I really enjoyed them.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?  Ah, there were many.  I’m a huge fan of Amazon’s free MP3 downloads, Starbucks Pick of the Week and the iTunes free weekly single.  I think my favorite discovery of the year is Band of Horses.

26. What did you want and get?  An iPhone 4.  And a BMW (OMG, obnoxious, yes?  Sorry about that). 

28. What did you want and not get?  A hundred million dollars.  And a yacht.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?  I didn’t see many in the theater at all, but I really liked The Other Guys.  I also watched Unstoppable a few weeks back and that one was enjoyable too.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?  What did I do?  I had to look it up, but apparently I went to the zoo and had a date night.  I turned 31.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?  A hundred million dollars.  And a yacht.  Oh wait.  That’s two things.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?  The same as 2009, I’d guess.  Casual and comfortable, with lots of black and gray.

33. What kept you sane?  My husband, particularly his willingness to take the kids out of the house whenever I needed time to study.  My employer’s flexibility with my class schedule.  Wine.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?  Let’s just say that if you search “Mark Wahlberg” on this blog you get several results.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?  MEH.

36. Who did you miss?  I’m lucky enough to live a quick drive from most of my closest friends and family.  I do wish I got to see Val more often.

37. Who was the best new person you met?  Hmm.  Did I meet someone new this year?  We have some new employees at the office.  They seem nice.  Perhaps I should get out more. 

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.  Try to take each event as it comes and don’t do too much at once.  And wine is the cure for all that ails (I may or may not have known that one already).

What, you’ve never had one of those?

I ordered my textbooks online through Amazon last week and one arrived yesterday.  I skimmed through it and was immediately transported back into my very first sociology class, a place where I was introduced to the word “paradigm” and didn’t have a clue what was actually being discussed. I’m one of those people who would show up to lecture, half-ass the assigned reading and somehow manage to BS my way through the exam just enough to squeak by with a passing grade.  Honestly, it’s a wonder I have a bachelor’s degree, considering my astounding lack of study skills.

I’m someone who reads crappy romance/mystery novels – like the ones by Nora Roberts and Mary Higgins Clark – on the rare occasion that I actually sit down and read a book.  Do you know when I feel like I have time for that?  On airplanes.  In hotel rooms before I go to bed.  That’s about it.  Reading actual informative books – and comprehending them – is going to be a rude awakening.  As is eschewing my evening glass of wine and mindless TV for some serious study time.

I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful, supportive husband that takes an equal role in raising our kids.  But there are things that I must do that he won’t (because I am a control freak and also rather anal), or other things that he could do but doesn’t think about because they don’t bother him.  Things like the laundry, setting out clothes for the next day, vacuuming more than is strictly necessary, cleaning the cat box, straightening up the kids’ rooms, putting away rogue toys, etc., etc., etc.  So I am going to have to learn to ask for help when I need it, and also to lighten up a little.  A year from now, is it really going to matter that Miss T’s various dollhouse components didn’t get put away before I went to bed?  Settle down, self.

Not to mention all the other regular tasks that will still have to get done.  Cooking dinner, grocery shopping, going to the gym, going on occasional out of town trips to visit my nonagenarian grandmothers…none of these things will stop being important just because I have homework to get done.

I’m going to need another twelve hours in each day.

I have no doubt that I can do this.  Anyone who knows me in real life can attest to exactly how stubborn I am.  Hell, I ran a half-marathon powered primarily by sheer force of will.  Prior to running those 13.1 miles in San Francisco, the furthest I’d ever gone was 6.7.  But I did it.  If I want something, I go after it full-throttle and won’t stop until it’s mine.  I’m not worried about that at all.

It’s going to be hard.  Probably harder even than I’ve prepared myself for.  I ran into a professor I know at the grocery store on Sunday.  He had been kind enough to write me a letter of recommendation when I applied to ASU and so has an understandable interest in whether or not I succeed.  “Gotten started with those graduate classes yet?” he asked.  “Next week,” I replied.  “Remind me, do you have kids?” was his follow-up question.  When I answered, “Yeah, two of them, not quite 8 and 2 1/2,” he looked impressed.  “All that and you’re still planning to work full time?  Good luck,” he said sincerely. “You’ll need it.”

Thanks for that, dude.  Now I’m even more panicked than I was before.  I’m coping by telling myself that his graduate work was in HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS.  Of course it was a challenge.  GAAAAAAH.

But beyond the nerves, trumping the stress – is the excitement.  God, y’all, I’m so excited.  This is what I’ve always wanted.  It took me a lot of years to figure that out, and the path I chose is not the most direct, but this is what I am meant to do.

And I can’t wait to see where it takes me.

I’ve never been to Rhode Island before, and in fact haven’t spent a lot of time in New England at all, so this has actually been a fun experience for me (hours of meetings notwithstanding.  But in all honesty, even the meetings weren’t bad – it’s nice to talk shop with colleagues from other institutions, you know?  ANYWAY).  I hit it off with a woman from Buffalo, and we ended up going out to dinner last night with a group of ladies from the Boston area (one of whom was a transplant from Ireland, so her accent was extra-fun).  It seems that quite a few of the conference attendees are from Boston and the surrounding areas, and I love listening to them talk.  I’m sure they probably feel the same way about me because try as I may, “y’all” keeps flying out of my mouth far more often than it normally would.

I’ve had excellent New England clam chowder, scallops that were among the best I’ve ever had, and a fabulous shrimp pasta.  The seafood options alone make coming here worthwhile, is what I’m saying.

I spent a pleasant (if surprisingly warm) afternoon walking around town taking pictures after the conference ended today.   I had a very nice chat with the poor lonely park ranger at Roger Williams National Memorial, and he gave me the scoop on where to go and what to see.  Providence is pretty small, and I was able to cover a lot of ground in just a few hours.  There are tons of gorgeous Colonial-era buildings, and an impressive amount of hills.  So in addition to a crash lesson in Rhode Island history, I was able to get in my daily workout at the same time.

The one downside of the trip (other than being lonely – I’d be having way more fun if N had been able to come) has been the complete lack of internet access in my hotel room.  N swears, the nicer the hotel, the crappier the internet service.  That seems to hold true here – it’s $9.95/day to get access in the rooms, and it isn’t wireless.  And OF COURSE the cable they provide doesn’t work with my computer.  So if you would like to know where I am sitting to bring this post to you – that would be the hotel lobby, where there IS free wi-fi.  I swear, the sacrifices I make for you people.

Here – since I’m already making sacrifices, enjoy some photos.  They were taken with my iPhone (the only camera I brought), and I had to e-mail each one to myself individually because the phone cable is back in my room.  You are welcome.

Providence, Rhode Island.

Please, try and contain your excitement.  You’re scaring the children.

I’m actually really looking forward to the trip.  I’ve never been to Rhode Island, and while I’m sure it isn’t the most riveting city on Earth (my apologies to its residents, who I am sure are quite lovely), I always like to experience new places.  Plus, three nights in a hotel room BY MYSELF.  I love my family more than life itself but rarely get the chance to do anything alone, you know?

I have to admit to being a little nervous, though – while I’ve done a great deal of traveling, very little of it has been solo.  In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve even flown by myself:

1.  I flew from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to tiny Panama City Beach one summer in high school to attend youth camp.  Everyone else rode a bus from Texas to Florida but I was already there on a family vacation, so I hopped a puddle-jumper to meet up with the church group.

2.  While we were living in Denver, I went from there to Houston a couple of times while I was pregnant with AE.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand…that’s it.  Not to mention, there was always someone I knew on the other end of those flights, be it my parents, husband, or a youth group leader.

I’m mildly freaked at the idea of getting to a city where I’ve never been, being greeted by absolutely NO ONE, and then being solely responsible for getting my luggage, finding a cab, telling the driver where to go, and checking myself into the hotel on my company’s dime.  At least it is just a cab.  If I had to rent a car and DRIVE MYSELF SOMEWHERE…well, let’s just say that it’s probable that no one would ever see me again.  My navigational skills are on par with those of a toddler.  Or possibly a rock.

So.  Rhode Island!  Yes.  And although it’s just an hour from Boston, it’s doubtful that I’ll make it out that way (see above re: lack of a car and also Adult Life Skills), but hey.  Fine by me.  If I have time (since I am there to attend a conference, after all), I’ll just wander around and see what I can discover.

I’ll probably also spend a fair amount of time fretting.  Because my flight gets back here at noonish on a Thursday, then I have to repack for the whole family, we have to load up and take the kids to my parents’ place near Austin, and we fly out for San Francisco early the next morning.

San Francisco.

Where I’m running a half-marathon.

Gah.

Thursday my mom came into town to watch the kids so that N and I could go out and have some time to ourselves.  So we headed out mid-afternoon and just puttered around town, something we rarely get to do (not in a leisurely fashion, anyway).  We putzed around the mall, browsed at Spec’s (and bought plenty of wine), and laughed at the ridiculous band-related merchandise you can find at Hastings.  (Seriously, folks, does anyone really need an old-fashioned twin bell alarm clock with Korn or Slipknot emblazoned on the face?  Survey says: NO.)

We had dinner at Abuelo’s, where I had a sinfully delicious guacamole/shrimp/scallop/white wine enchilada platter with steamed vegetables.  OMG it was so good, I unapologetically ate every last bit.  (And consequently had a horrible stomachache later that night but it was so worth it.)  We followed that up with a trip to a local wine bar, which was pleasantly quiet (as was the restaurant, thanks to spring break) and a nice place to sit and chat.

Then yesterday, my actual birthday, we took the kids to the Houston Zoo.  AE had been asking to go for quite a while and we hadn’t taken the poor kid since his sixth birthday (a year and a half ago).  The weather was nice so we decided to give it a try.

And as it turned out, so did most of the population of the greater Houston area.  Holy crap, but there were a lot of people.  We got stuck in a traffic jam in the museum district, where some moron two cars up was insistent on letting in every single sly rule-breaking last-minute jerkoff into our lane, thereby causing an even bigger delay.  Which would have been a mere annoyance, if it weren’t for the fact that I had consumed a large cup of coffee during the 1.5 hour drive.  And I needed to find some facilities tout de suite, if you catch my drift.  It got so bad that I seriously considered jumping out of the car to utilize a nearby porta-potty.  Or possibly a tree.

We made it to Hermann Park in the nick of time, where N had to let me jump out of the car and run (literally) to the restrooms at the theater while he and the kids searched for a parking spot (which ended up costing us NINE DOLLARS in a nearby garage, but what can you do).

I always forget how much I enjoy the zoo until I actually get there.  My brain manages to hold on to everything that makes it a pain in the ass – the long drive, lack of parking, ticket expense, hot hot sun, crowds, etc. etc. etc. – and blocks the fact that I always have a good time.  I love looking at all of the exotic animals, and it’s always more fun to watch the kids get excited.  Miss T was in absolute AWE.  She loved everything.  She dubbed the Golden Lion Tamarins “baby lions” almost immediately, and she thought the giraffes were most excellent.  She wasn’t as fascinated by the real lions, however, probably because all they do is sleep.  We have animals at home that do that (in fact, later that evening she compared our dog to the lions because of the way she was lying on the carpet.  Very astute, baby girl.)  We had a picnic, checked out the koi in the reflecting pool, and saw the keeper feed the meerkats.  Miss T and I got up close and personal with a 2-year-old Galapagos tortoise while N and AE were in the reptile house, which was pretty neat.  So we had a really good time, traffic and personal near-catastrophes not withstanding.

AND THEN, we got home and I was given my birthday gifts.  One of which was a brand-new laptop!  Whee!  We’ve been talking for a while about how I’ll need my own laptop once I start classes in the fall, so that I can leave the house and study and all that fun stuff.  I’d oh-so-sneakily mentioned to N a few weeks ago that Dell was running a special on their notebook computers, but it turns out that he already knew that and had in fact already ordered me a shiny green one.  Yay!  I’d been giving him a hard time about topping last year’s gift (a trip to a surprise destination) and I think he did a great job of coming pretty damn close.  But now, of course, he’s just creating a greater challenge for himself with each passing year.  I figure by the time I turn 50, he should have worked his way up to the purchase of a small tropical island, yes?

SO!  To sum up:  I may be a year older, but had a pretty awesome birthday celebration to soften the blow.  Win!

Today, though, I find that I simply do not give a rat’s ass.  Not one measly rat, or his tiny little ass.  Would you like to know the last movie I saw in the theater?  Why, I’ll tell you.  It was Star Trek.  Seriously.  And not only am I not interested in the Oscars (I don’t even know who’s hosting this year), but I was actively pissed off at the gym earlier, when the pre-show was playing at volume eleventy-billion and twelve and I didn’t have the option not to hear it.  (Side note:  when I can clearly hear the TV over Rob Zombie playing millimeters from my eardrums, the TV is TOO LOUD.)

So.  What would be the point of me watching the Oscars?  I have seen exactly zero of the movies that they’re all geeked up about.  I never made it to Avatar, I barely know the basic premise of The Hurt Locker.  Not a consistent Tarantino fan, so I’m not interested in Inglourious Basterds.  I haven’t even watched Up, and we own the DVD.

Because I Do. Not. Care.  I’ve never really cared about the fashion aspect of it.  I mean, yeah, some of the dresses are wild and others are gorgeous and the stars all look fantastic but what purpose does this serve to me?  None, really, except to remind me that  a) I will never be a movie star and b) I will never be that rich.  I’ll catch up with the style in the post-Oscars issue of People magazine.

So when you knock that aspect out, what’s left?  Oh yeah, the movies.

I’m not sure when I stopped caring so much about movies in general.  I used to work at a movie theater, for crying out loud!  I saw pretty much every movie that was released during that time, often before the opening date!  I can sing the closing music for any move released in the late 1990s!  I have an entire category of this blog devoted to movie reviews!

I think that these days I’m just a lot less willing to get out of my Movie Genre Comfort Zone.  My down time is limited, so I’m not really willing to potentially waste it, you know?  Why would I want to devote 3+ hours of my life for Avatar (which, admittedly, I would probably love), when I could be using that time for other things?  Like sleeping?  Or drinking wine?  Or Netflixing movies that I know I’ll enjoy, like Wolverine?  Or, um, Resident Evil.  ANYWAY.  I do have a point (sort of) and here it is:

I’m old and crabby.  And clearly, I’m wholly intolerant of your Oscar-worthy film making.  Now get the hell off my lawn.