Happy New Year!
Yet another year down; they seem to fly by the older I get. So that sucks.
New Year's Eve was spent eating Chinese food and playing Rock Band 2. Oh my god, how much fun is that game? My family knows how much I love to sing, but Chris has rarely heard me since I'm pretty shy. He has seen me naked, seen me give birth, yet singing in front of him paralyzes me. Go figure. The kids hear me all the time when I'm driving. So at first I stuck to playing the drums and guitar, which were really fun, but I desperately wanted to take the microphone. However, every time Chris would put the microphone to my face when he was singing, I collapsed with nervous giggles. Finally, I sang along with Becca on a song and really liked it. Then, after a couple of strawberry daquiris, I was on the mic by myself and LOVING IT. If you know me at all, you will be SHOCKED to know that I belted out "Roxanne" by The Police and got 100 percent! Never mind that it's a completely inappropriate song to be singing while the kids are playing; I DON'T CARE. I sang! Out loud! Very loud! And on key! That was a RUSH. I was beet red and nervous perspiring, but I had so much fun. Best game EVER.
I took some pictures of the family playing the game, so you won't find me here. However, I'm sure Chris and his mom will have some extremely embarrassing pictures of me on their blogs sometime soon (links to the left).
Lauren has a really nice voice, although she doesn't believe it (I have no idea where she gets THAT). And I got the biggest kick out of hearing Becca (who is only ten) sing The Who's "Baba O'Reilly", especially when she belted out the words "It's only a teenage wasteland - they're all WASTED!" Awesome.
So it's the time to make resolutions. I don't usually make them, because I always break them. However, there are a few I do plan to keep:
Get back to Weight Watchers and lose these last ten pounds or so.
Get a basic physical and try to get the stupid depression/anxiety under control for once and for all.
I always get my yearly gyn check-up and mammogram, plus I have an appointment with a dermatologist for a skin cancer check (many nasty sunburns as a kid before we knew sunshine was dangerous).
Actually start using the treadmill again.
Better sleep habits! Quit staying up until 2 or 3 am. I may be nocturnal, but most of the world isn't, so I need to adapt them them and not the other way around.
And I make this resolution every year, but don't always keep it: read at least 100 books. I only made it to 80 this year, which was seven less than last year. I've already finished Book #1 for 2009, so I'm off to a good start. I've been keeping a yearly book list since 2007. I really wish I had started doing that back when I was a kid.
Escape by Carolyn Jessop
A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele
I Am American and So Can You by Stephen Colbert
Wayne: An Abused Child's Story of Courage, Survival and Hope by Wayne Theodore
Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashworth
Duma Key by Stephen King
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe
Planet Cat: A CAT-alog by Sandra Choron
Get a Hobby! by Tina Barseghian
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer
I Married My Mother-in-Law by Ilena Silverman
Middletown, American: One Town's Passage from Trauma to Hope by Gail Sheehy
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry
Sickened: A True Story of a Lost Childhood by Julie Gregory
Stop Walking on Eggshells by Paul T. Mason
Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli
The Shell Game by Steve Alten
And I Don't Want to Live this Life by Deborah Spungen
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Sit, Ubu, Sit by Gary David Goldberg
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff
My Life with Bonnie and Clyde by Blanche Barrow
The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg
The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer
Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Luke Davis
Looking for Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner
Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent by Fred Burton
Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff
Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella
Air Force Wives by Ruth Walker
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall
Carrie by Stephen King
The Beach House by Jane Green
North and South by John Jakes
Medical Myths That Can Kill You by Nancy L. Snyderman
Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
Diary of a Fat Housewife by Rosemary Green
Hero of the Underground: A Memoir by Jason Peter
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica
My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life: An Anti-Memoir by Adam Nimoy
How to be Single by Liz Tuccillo
My Lobotomy by Howard Dully
Was: A Novel by Geoff Ryman
Endless Love by Scott Spencer
Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
Well Enough Alone by Jennifer Traig
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
Brainiac by Ken Jennings
Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween by Richard Chizmar
In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri by Harry Maclean
Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller
Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
All My Patients are Under the Bed by Dr. Louis Camuti
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Testimony by Anita Shreve
After by Francine Prose
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
My Life as a Ten-Year-Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright
The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
Well, it's 2am, so obviously I'm already breaking my resolutions, but it took forever to put the book list together! I'm counting Monday as the first day of keeping resolutions. I hope everyone has a great year!
New Year's Eve was spent eating Chinese food and playing Rock Band 2. Oh my god, how much fun is that game? My family knows how much I love to sing, but Chris has rarely heard me since I'm pretty shy. He has seen me naked, seen me give birth, yet singing in front of him paralyzes me. Go figure. The kids hear me all the time when I'm driving. So at first I stuck to playing the drums and guitar, which were really fun, but I desperately wanted to take the microphone. However, every time Chris would put the microphone to my face when he was singing, I collapsed with nervous giggles. Finally, I sang along with Becca on a song and really liked it. Then, after a couple of strawberry daquiris, I was on the mic by myself and LOVING IT. If you know me at all, you will be SHOCKED to know that I belted out "Roxanne" by The Police and got 100 percent! Never mind that it's a completely inappropriate song to be singing while the kids are playing; I DON'T CARE. I sang! Out loud! Very loud! And on key! That was a RUSH. I was beet red and nervous perspiring, but I had so much fun. Best game EVER.
I took some pictures of the family playing the game, so you won't find me here. However, I'm sure Chris and his mom will have some extremely embarrassing pictures of me on their blogs sometime soon (links to the left).
Lauren has a really nice voice, although she doesn't believe it (I have no idea where she gets THAT). And I got the biggest kick out of hearing Becca (who is only ten) sing The Who's "Baba O'Reilly", especially when she belted out the words "It's only a teenage wasteland - they're all WASTED!" Awesome.
So it's the time to make resolutions. I don't usually make them, because I always break them. However, there are a few I do plan to keep:
Get back to Weight Watchers and lose these last ten pounds or so.
Get a basic physical and try to get the stupid depression/anxiety under control for once and for all.
I always get my yearly gyn check-up and mammogram, plus I have an appointment with a dermatologist for a skin cancer check (many nasty sunburns as a kid before we knew sunshine was dangerous).
Actually start using the treadmill again.
Better sleep habits! Quit staying up until 2 or 3 am. I may be nocturnal, but most of the world isn't, so I need to adapt them them and not the other way around.
And I make this resolution every year, but don't always keep it: read at least 100 books. I only made it to 80 this year, which was seven less than last year. I've already finished Book #1 for 2009, so I'm off to a good start. I've been keeping a yearly book list since 2007. I really wish I had started doing that back when I was a kid.
Escape by Carolyn Jessop
A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele
I Am American and So Can You by Stephen Colbert
Wayne: An Abused Child's Story of Courage, Survival and Hope by Wayne Theodore
Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashworth
Duma Key by Stephen King
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe
Planet Cat: A CAT-alog by Sandra Choron
Get a Hobby! by Tina Barseghian
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer
I Married My Mother-in-Law by Ilena Silverman
Middletown, American: One Town's Passage from Trauma to Hope by Gail Sheehy
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry
Sickened: A True Story of a Lost Childhood by Julie Gregory
Stop Walking on Eggshells by Paul T. Mason
Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli
The Shell Game by Steve Alten
And I Don't Want to Live this Life by Deborah Spungen
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Sit, Ubu, Sit by Gary David Goldberg
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff
My Life with Bonnie and Clyde by Blanche Barrow
The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg
The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer
Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Luke Davis
Looking for Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner
Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent by Fred Burton
Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff
Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella
Air Force Wives by Ruth Walker
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall
Carrie by Stephen King
The Beach House by Jane Green
North and South by John Jakes
Medical Myths That Can Kill You by Nancy L. Snyderman
Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
Diary of a Fat Housewife by Rosemary Green
Hero of the Underground: A Memoir by Jason Peter
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica
My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life: An Anti-Memoir by Adam Nimoy
How to be Single by Liz Tuccillo
My Lobotomy by Howard Dully
Was: A Novel by Geoff Ryman
Endless Love by Scott Spencer
Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
Well Enough Alone by Jennifer Traig
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
Brainiac by Ken Jennings
Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween by Richard Chizmar
In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri by Harry Maclean
Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller
Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
All My Patients are Under the Bed by Dr. Louis Camuti
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Testimony by Anita Shreve
After by Francine Prose
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
My Life as a Ten-Year-Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright
The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
Well, it's 2am, so obviously I'm already breaking my resolutions, but it took forever to put the book list together! I'm counting Monday as the first day of keeping resolutions. I hope everyone has a great year!