Monday, December 31, 2007

Goodbye to 2007

Alvin and I went out to a wonderful Italian dinner to celebrate New Years Eve once I finally finished working. It was really nice but getting home was a bit of an ordeal. Last year we had seen the swarms of people going up 8th Avenue, but this year there seemed to be massive crowds walking up 9th Avenue. And just stopping in the intersections and standing around. It took a lot of winding through cars in the street just to get home! And then the cops blocked off our street already.

But now that we're here, my annual new years recap/resolutions. I always intend to do this earlier, but it never happens.

Despite my posts where I'm annoyed with all the commotion and chaos with the Times Square NYE, the new year is actually one of my favorite holidays. Although it's probably new years day. New beginnings, the chance to start over, an easy way to hit restart and do all those things that you want to do. And if my resolutions don't really work out, I get to refine them and try again on Chinese new year. :)

So here's the recap (as I was getting ready to write this, I realized I left San Juan off of last year's trip list; how could I forget that?):

Movies/shows I saw in the theatre in 2007:
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Vacations/trips in 2007:
  • Frankfurt, Germany
  • Singapore
  • Shanghai, China
  • Chicago
  • Washington, DC
  • Seattle
  • Juneau, Alaska
  • Sitka, Alaska
  • Ketchikan, Alaska
  • Victoria, BC
Big events of 2007:
  • Engagement :)
  • Family Alaska trip
Resolutions:

The usual ones:
  1. Exercise more.
  2. Eat healthier.
  3. Sleep more.
  4. Clean the apartment.
  5. Get rid of stuff I don't need.
  6. Keep in touch better.
  7. Keep files organized.
  8. More free time and time off.
  9. Keep inboxes clear.
  10. Post/write more.
And some more specific resolutions... for January, at least:
  1. Buy a sunrise alarm clock and work on shifting to a morning routine and getting to work earlier.
  2. Try to do at least 10 minutes of exercise per day.
  3. Try to eat healthier and smaller portions.
  4. Try to sleep by 1 am.
  5. Get gmail inbox below 3,000 messages (and keep it that way).
  6. Get work inbox below 300 messages (and keep it that way).
  7. Clean 5 things per day.
  8. Keep budget book current.
  9. Try to keep work files organized.
  10. Take vitamins daily.
Good luck to me. Happy (almost) new year! 20 more minutes until a fresh start!

Confetti

Happy New Years Eve.  I can't believe there was already confetti in the street at 10 am.  What did they do, have a practice ball drop celebration or something?
 
Video trailers and speakers everywhere.  Barricades on the sidewalk curbs.  Crazy people in the streets.  Those annoying honking noisemakers.  At least the crowds are less than they were Friday night when I came home with the gigantic redweld.  For now.
 
It's no surprise I want to leave to work from home by lunchtime.  I can't believe there was a time when I was younger that I actually wanted to go to Times Square for NYE.  What was I thinking?

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Chardonnay

I think the smoke has finally lessened enough that I can go to sleep (at 6 am!). This [insert word - I can't think of it - not quite "zig zag"] sleep pattern is crazy. 5:15 am, 1 am, now 6 am (or so). Although unlike Friday morning, I'm not getting up early for work tomorrow, so we'll see how much this throws off my plan to get in to work early Monday morning. Blahhhh.

I think I blog more when it's late at night because I am not chatting with people online and this is the closest thing to it. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

In quiz news (ha), this one is not that far off except for the meat part:

You Are Chardonnay

Fresh, spirited, and classic - you have many facets to your personality.
You can be sweet and light. Or deep and complex.
You have a little bit of something to offer everyone... no wonder you're so popular.
Approachable and never smug, you are easy to get to know (and love!).

Deep down you are: Dependable and modest

Your partying style: Understated and polite

Your company is enjoyed best with: Cold or wild meat

Missed That

When I said that I believed the results in the last post, I was referring to both the description and the activity. Nothing against running... I like it, I'm just horrible at it right now. And I don't like to run on treadmills, only outside...

Then I looked at the results again and saw that it said I should "get in shape" with yoga unlike the other one which said I should "stay in shape" with running. The second result was definitely more accurate.

Re-do

Now this one I believe.

You Should Get in Shape With Yoga

You're serious enough to be dedicated to yoga...
But playful enough to keep it fun
Yoga will give you the lean yet curvy look you desire

Amusing

You Should Stay in Shape With Running

Chances are that you're already in fairly good shape
Why not challenge yourself with a run from time to time?
Running will give you that lean, toned body you desire


HAHAHAHAHA. "Chances are that you're already in fairly good shape." That's ... funny. I think I should take this quiz again. Maybe I accidentally answered a question wrong?

Another Post

Your Dosha is Pitta

You have a quick mind, a gift for persuasion, and a sharp sense of humor.
You have both the drive and people skills to be a very successful leader.
Argumentative and a bit stubborn, you have been known to be a little too set in your ways.
But while you may be biased toward your own point of view, you are always honest, fair, and ethical.

With friends: You are outgoing and open to anyone who might want to talk to you

In love: You are picky but passionate

To achieve more balance: Be less judgmental of those around you, and take cool walks in the moonlight.


Completely unrelated to the quiz, I have moved on to a dust mask in order to breathe in the apartment.

I have posted a lot in the past few days. Not really very much of substance though. Even if it's just a couple of lines of substance, I still want to post more than I have been over the past few months. It's just been such a busy year. Need to post more before I forget it all. On Christmas, we were talking about who had driven to/from my aunt's house the previous year and I had completely forgotten that I did. Hmm. Everyone else remembered.

4 am posting seems to be conducive to ramblings. I remember one post from one morning where I was up at 4 because I couldn't sleep because I was really sick and couldn't stop coughing (or was it sneezing?) and I watched the sun come up and wrote a really long post.

I wish I weren't wearing a dust mask at home in order to breathe. This kind of sucks.

I can't believe another year has already gone by. So, so quick.

Misery

This is miserable. The entire apartment reeks of cigarette smoke which is freely flowing in through the air that comes up through the fuse box. My air filter broke and I need a new one, but I don't think even that would help with this. It's worse than usual. Argh. It makes me feel sick and unable to sleep, so I guess on the plus side, the toxic fumes are helping me get work done. Sigh.

Pass

Woohoo! I passed the its it's their there they're quiz!

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct.

It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors.
If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs.
As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human.
And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

Summer

Maybe this is an old quiz, since it's winter, but:

You Should Spend Your Summer at the Beach

You're a free spirit who is always thinking of new ways to have fun.
And you don't just love summer... you live for it.
So, you really should blow off your responsibilities and head to the beach!


I would love to go to the beach right now.