The End.

This morning while I was driving to work the radio announcers were talking about the top rated songs of 2010 and it dawned on me that I have not seen, on TV, any 2010 year-in-reviews! I love those shows. I feel the need to watch those shows to properly pay my respect to the previous year before ringing in the New Year. So, I began thinking about MY 2010.

2010 was a roller coaster, filled with highs and lows. Keeping my fingers crossed, the year is already ending better than 2009 ended. 2009 ended with me getting admitted to the hospital and Dave losing his job.

Yea, UGH.

So, since the television networks have failed me in providing a 2010 year-in-review, I decided that I am going to do my own year-in-review…but, I am only going to focus on the highs of the year…lucky you! And, because I'm so long winded, I'll do the first half of 2010 today…and the second half tomorrow! Dang, I must love you guys to give you an honor like that!


January- Started off rough with the doctor telling me that I was going to be out of work for a month; but, turned out great. Dave and I had almost an entire month to spend together! We watched movies; he made omelettes and I discovered that Dave is a Master Omelette Maker!

February- The month the impossible happened! My friends surprised me! Truly, truly surprised me with a limo bus for my birthday complete with chocolate Martinis! We were walking in Old Sac, the bus drove past us and our friend Josh, Mr. outgoing, announced, "I'll get us on the bus!" The rest of the group trotted on behind him like a school of fish. I, on the other hand, hung back with Jennifer, Mr Outgoing's husband, because she does not like to bring attention to herself in public and that sounded good to me. Then, Jennifer suddenly exclaimed, "Let's follow him!" I stopped dead in my tracks, shocked that Jennifer was going to talk to strangers…STRANGERS! I did an about face, ran back to Dave who was bringing up the rear and tried to hide. (Have I mentioned before that I am shy…but, I forget I am shy until I am in social situations and then the shyness hits me like a blunt force trauma? Yea, it's a good way to be. NOT!) Somehow, I got pushed to the front of the group, my memory is a whirlwind, somehow they got me on the bus and the rest...I can't tell you fore I was told what happens on the bus, stays on the bus and if anyone accuses me of flipping off the capital building when we drove by, I will vehemently deny it!

March- *sigh* I was introduced to Mr. Bon Jovi. Well, I didn't actually get to meet him but I got to stare, gaze, gape, gawk, and ogle at him and Richie Sambora while they rocked the stage…and our hearts! Ha, just kidding, it wasn't our hearts they were rocking! OH FOR SHAME, MISSY! If Mr. Bon Jovi's concert was not enough to win me over, him playing Frank Sinatra at the end of his concert did the trick!

AND, in March, my step-dad turned 60! To prove to 60 that he still had 'it', my step-dad conquered a bottle of Jameson that day AND still managed to cook dinner. MY HERO! In the interest of still being welcome at my step-dad's house, I'm going to leave this synopsis at that!

Last, but definitely not least, my Grandma and I met Frank Sinatra Jr…AGAIN! I learned that it is OK to push your Grandma when one sees Mr. Sinatra Jr. walking towards oneself in a casino! That's probably the only time it's OK to push one's Grandma!

Mr. Sinatra Jr. told me, ME, that I was a, "VERY beautiful young lady." OH! I died and went to Heaven right then and there folks. Mr. Sinatra Jr…I love that man; he's kind, nice, generous, talented, smart! *SIGH*

April- Dave's birthday AND our friend Andy's birthday! We had two really fun, epic, kick a** parties at our house in April…this non-cook, non-domestic diva was quite proud of herself! Turns out, music + alcohol = F U N

May- It was an adventurous month for me. For the first time in my lil' ol' life, I cooked chicken in the frying pan! Wait! It gets better! No smoke alarms went off during the chicken fry!

June- June was a…a…a 'month' to say the least! Three GREAT things happened in June.
FIRST: My BFF flew all the way from the great state of Missouri to visit. The trip got off to a rocky start as we could not find each other in the airport! She got off the plane, went to baggage claim, and I was no where to be seen. Meanwhile, I was very excitedly waiting at the bottom of the escalators for my dear BFF, who never appeared! Thank goodness for cel phones! It was the greatest weekend, it was the shortest weekend, it was the fastest weekend…it was pretty cool.

SECOND: My Grandma's birthday this year was celebrated by starting the COOLEST tradition. My Grandma is a fan, just a little bit, of Mr. Frank Sinatra; so, when my Uncle's wife, Trish, suggested we all wish my Grandma a happy birthday by taking turns and singing a line from a Frank Sinatra song to my Grandma we, the family, jumped at the chance! Then, as if perfectly on queue, after everyone had sang their line, the whole family erupted in the same Frank song. I tell ya, families that sing together…ring-a-ding-ding together!

THIRD: Biggest surprise #2 this year! One of my other BFFs deserted me to move all the way around the world! Sheesh! This BFF's mom and I have stayed in touch since Michelle moved; so, when Michelle's mom called me to meet her for dinner, I though nothing of it. As soon as I got off work, I headed to the restaurant where we were meeting. Sandy, Michelle's mom, was waiting for me in the lobby. I followed her as we made our way to a table. We were almost to our table when what to my wondering eyes should appear?!?! But, a BFF and eight tiny reindeer! HOLY COW! I started screaming…right there in the restaurant…all shyness and public awareness just gone! That, my friends, was an epic surprise!


Wow, what a cool 6 months! Wonder what the next 6 had in store?!

Christmas Missyism

I was walking around Target the other day, doing Christmas shopping. I had just come from breakfast with my Mom and Grandparents. My Mom just had a hair appointment with my sister-in-law. Like any responsible daughter would do, I asked my Mom if she knew what my sister-in-law and Dave got me for Christmas. Like any responsible mother would do, she didn't answer me! Being the great detective that I am, I deduced that my Mom knew what I was getting for Christmas. So, as I'm walking through Target this thought crossed my mind: (Please insert whine because that's how it went through my head) "It's not fair that everyone knows what I'm getting for Christmas but me!"

You need not worry. As soon as the thought left my unconscious and entered my conscious I realized the silliness of it all.

I would like for you to sympathize with me, though…I live with a man who does not believe in giving Christmas or birthday or any gift hints! He doesn't even like to talk about what we got each other. He acts like it doesn't even bother him that he doesn't know what he's getting. Ha! Rubbish!

I'm a kid at heart. I love Christmas. I love it for all the right reasons…and I love it for all the wrong reasons! I know I'm going to get a present this year; so, I just embrace it. I want to talk about it, I want to guess, and I want hints…what it all boils down to is I'm just a girl who says she loves being surprised but really hates being surprised because I'm NOSY…like Rudolph!

I like to know what's going on and I like to be involved. Sometimes I have to force that upon others, thus ruining my surprises. It's a sacrifice; but, someone's gotta do it!

If you'll remember, this year for my Birthday, my friends and Dave surprised me BIG TIME with a limo bus. As you may have gathered after this post, it's kind of hard to surprise me. I LOVED my birthday surprise! I was so... so... so…SURPRISED! That is so unusual for me because I look for surprises everywhere…not to be a pest…but because it excites me!

Last night at dinner (because I just can't help it, folks), I asked my Mom and step-Dad what they had gotten me for Christmas. It really just comes out of my mouth before I have a chance to talk myself out of it. My step-Dad immediately began playing along and then, I think he dropped a real hint. He told me they ordered something and it's being shipped to my Grandparent's house! Whaa-haa-haa! An answer! A real answer!

The look of shock and horror that flashed across my Mom's face was priceless, folks! She immediately tapped my step-Dad's arm and began saying, "NO! She's the girl you can't tell ANYTHING to, you can't say ANYTHING to her, NOTHING at all!"

Ahhhh, my reputation precedes me! Now, off to my Grandparents house I go!

(Just kidding!)

4 Things

1. I take care of the family finances; so, naturally, money is on my mind quite a bit. One morning while I was brushing my teeth, I had an epiphany. It dawned on me that in 7, 15 or maybe even 50 years from now I am going to wonder why I ever worried about money so much.

2. This is my favorite Christmas ornament; I've had it since 1985!

3. This ornament pretty much sums up my feelings; it reads, "I'm not cooking dinner tonight!"

4. What's that behind the door?

Who says you can't have a little bathroom humor on the Christmas tree?

Apology Letter

Dear Suze Orman,

I must apologize to you in advance for what I am about to do on Friday November 26.

You recommend having a substantial amount of moola in one's savings account (you sound like my mother). While I recognize the importance of that, I also recognize the importance of fulfilling one's own crazy and sick fascination with battling the crowds and cold to score the best deals possible on bath towels and slippers and TVs and dog beds and movies. Ahhh, but at the end of the day, the satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment you feel...indescribable!

So, in advance, I must apologize to you for my spending behavior on November 26. I promise to repent all year, I promise to act cordially to all the other shoppers out there even though they may not do the same...but I do not promise to not go at it again next year...teeheehee.

Sincerely,

One of Your (I guess, not so faithful) Listeners

CRYING part II

FRIENDS.

The TV show FRIENDS first aired on TV the exact month that my parents separated.

FRIENDS ended while I was in college.

FRIENDS was my favorite TV show! It got me through so much when I was looking for thirty minutes to escape in another world, especially in high school!

When I graduated high school and moved into an apartment with my little roommate Jenn, our friends would come over every Thursday night and watch FRIENDS.

Ahhh, those were the good ol' days. FRIENDS. Will & Grace. ER. Great TV shows!

When it was time for FRIENDS to go off the air, my BFF Paula came over to watch with me and Dave. For one hour before the series finale there was a FRIENDS tribute. When the tribute ended, before the show even began, Paula and I were in tears.

Dave, feeling a little uncomfortable with this estrogen fest, didn't know what to do. All he knew is that he didn't want to be in the living room with two uncontrollably crying females. So, he did what any man with a caring heart and clever brain would do. It got him out of the room so he didn't have to sit with two crying females and it got him brownie points!

He got up. He walked into the kitchen. He retrieved a box of Ghiradelli brownie mix and began making brownies, chocolate, for these two devastated girls.

The icing on the cake though...he brought us the left over brownie batter and two spoons! We began soothing our sorrows away, before the brownies were even ready.

Chocolate healing all wounds...pretty much not a myth!

CRYING

It was an unusually rare occasion. It was a work night and I was in bed early! Early! EARLY! Can I get an AMEN?!

Because I was in bed early I allowed myself the luxury of flipping through a few channels before I set off for dream land only to be awoken by the most obnoxious sounding beeping that my ears have ever heard. I would so much rather wake up to the sound of an F-15 engine than beeping that doesn't quit. Why do we do that to ourselves?!

Anyway! (I think I type 'anyway' on this blog more than any other word!) That evening I came across a move on TV, it appeared to be a love story. The heroin had to choose between two handsome men. I was hooked. I'm a sucker for romance. Oh yes I am.

Then, all of a sudden in my movie, the two young lovers weren't young anymore. They were old and the old man was telling the old woman a story. I was so confused! The movie went back to my young lovers and happiness settled in again. But, alas, the movie switched back to the old people, who were now in a nursing home and things were taking an unhappy turn, and fast! But, I was hooked! There was no turning the channel now!

Needless to say, this movie that I stumbled on was, "The Notebook." A movie that I had vowed to never watch because I had heard that it was terribly sad.

So there I lay in my big bed, it's now past my bedtime because I got hooked into this movie and I'm sobbing because my two young lovers ended up in a nursing home with Alzeimer's and died. Yea, not a happy way to end one's night. Needless to say, the obnoxious beeping the next morning came way too fast.

I had higher hopes for the next evening. Mine and Dave's Netflix movie arrived and we had plans to watch it.

I was very much looking forward to our movie night and when I got home from work, I promptly opened the Netflix package.

The movie was, "The Bucket List."

WHAT?!?! I screamed in my head! This is not going to be happy, I thought, the movie is about dying! *SIGH*

So, Dave and I watched, "The Bucket List," which exceeded my expectations, but still ended with me sobbing. And, if you have estrogen running through your body like me then you know the tears don't automatically shut off when the credits begin to roll because you're replaying that sad, heartfelt, touching scene you just witnessed and you're thinking about that poor family who now has to...well, you get the idea.

It was at that point in time when Dave looked at me (he couldn't see me because I was hiding my tear drenched and snot laden face) and announced in a booming, happy voice, "Well that wasn't too sad, was it?!"

Now, thoroughly embarrassed, because only the best of girlfriends would understand this sudden outpouring of emotion, I stood up, turned my head away from him and rested my hand against my face so he couldn't see it, and began walking to the bathroom so I could cry in peace and said, "(sniff, sniff) Whatever,"! My wittyness sometimes shocks him into silence.

I knew I was an NBC snob for a reason! (Meaning, I usually, for reasons unknown to myself, find myself watching TV shows that are only on that network).

First, The Biggest Loser, which, I must say, almost always makes me cry. The Biggest Loser is socially responsible. It gives hope to people who might otherwise have lost hope. Shoot, it gives hope to me that I might someday fit into those jeans I wore in high school, lol! But hey, I can't complain, the earrings I wore in high school still fit! The bra doesn't...but, that's a good thing! (Did I go too far on that last one?!?!)

Then, last night, I was privy to the TV show School Pride...another show that brought me to tears. Another show that is socially responsible. In this day and age, teachers are villainized, put-down. It's atrocious! School Pride showed how much the teachers care for and love their students...not to mention how much time they put into the classroom (or into the library, cafeteria, football field, music room...). It is atrocious that our society does not respect teachers more.

Another thing I find interesting...I hear parents complaining about the education system of the United States (you see it on the news, you hear a lot about it with this being election season) and it always makes me wonder, do those parents believe the school, classroom, teacher, where they send their child is a part of the problem, too? Hmmm...I'm thinking not.

The only thing School Pride was missing was how the higher-ups in education, who have usually never been in a classroom teaching, treat teachers. Sometimes, they are the biggest non-supporters of teachers. How hypocritical is that?!?!

The only other thing School Pride was missing was how those higher-ups in education change curriculum on teachers every year, every other year, etc. Parents, when do you expect teachers to learn that new curriculum? Just curious. Do you know what their contracted hours are? My contracted hours are 8am-12pm & 1pm-5pm...I'm not a teacher. Parents, do you think I stay at work until 7:30pm or even 8pm? No, I don't. I leave when my contracted hours are up. Parents, do you think teachers have that luxury? Not the good ones. And, trust me, there are substantially more good ones than not.

There's a lot that goes into teaching that the average Joe is unaware of.

Oh, and one more thing, if you can read this...if your kids can read this, THANK A TEACHER!

I SAID GOOD DAY!