Reasons to be cheerful

Oh, the Holidays. My poor stomach was the collateral damage of the overindulgence of the office Holiday Party last night. Fried rice balls, pizzetta, rack of lamb, chocolate cake, the mysteries of the always full wine glass took their toll on my digestive system. Tis the season, I guess. This was a scaled down version of the GMA Holiday Party; previous years have included smoke machine fueled dance parties and off-kilter Rockband sing-a-longs. Although somewhat quiet for GMA, it was still nice to celebrate the end of the year, although this year has taken a toll on our office. Those of us remaining are still on a 4-day work week, and although there is some hope on the horizon, some projects are finishing up. There were still the moments of hilarity, like when I discovered that my tattoo was visible over the top edge of the back of my dress when one of the partners and one of the associates noticed the ink and had all sorts of questions about it. A bit embarrassing, but funny nonetheless.

As I'm sitting here recovering from the night out, I've been thinking of reasons to be cheerful at the end of this year. Here's a sampling.

1. I still have a job. My office has suffered a lot of cuts this year; we're down to 15 architects, about half of what we were about 18 months ago. It's possible there may be more, but at this point I'm pretty confident that I'll survive.

2. I got a bonus this year. Totally and completely unexpected. It was smaller than previous years, but with the way things have gone this year, I was shocked to see it in my bank account when I checked my direct deposit on Tuesday morning. I found out today from one of the partners that they only gave bonuses to three people this year. This is what made me more confident about item #1.

3. Sailing. Being out in the harbor is one of the greatest places in New York in the summer. This season especially as I worked on my Mate checklist. I felt a lot of support from the Mates and Captains as I worked my way through all the different skills.

4. My friends. I know, that's a cliche, but really, I've got the greatest friends in the world. From accompanying me on my trip to the doctor for my biopsy, to introducing me to the guy I'm currently dating, to comforting me when the previous guy pulled a disappearing act, my friends are awesome in every sense of that word.

5. Skype. It's great to be able to see my sister out in California while talking to her.

Have a great holiday!

to sleep, perhaps to dream

Unfortunately, that's not happening tonight. It's 1:54AM according to the cable box. I woke up about an hour ago, and cannot get back to sleep. After lying in bed for about 45 minutes, I decided to get up and peruse the internet. If this doesn't work, the tv is going on and I'm going to lay down on the couch. That's a surefire way to fall asleep.

I'm going to get some milk.

As I'm checking out www.gofugyourself.com, I come across this photo:



My first thought is, "Oh, please. What's with the lack of pants wearing today? Lace stockings are not pants." The girl is 16. I tried to get out of the house in some things my mother didn't approve of when I was that age (but that was because they were black or ripped or she didn't like me wearing my dad's old dress Army jacket) but it would have never occurred to me to skip a basic piece of clothing.

Second thought is, "When did little J get so freaking tall?" Maybe it's just the angle, but she looks freakishly tall. This leads to a google search. This is not a help, the internet does not agree with itself - one site says 5'-4 1/2" one site says 5'-10" yet another says 5'-8". There are way too many chat rooms discussing the height of the Gossip Girl stars, and who's taller than who. One even has a comparison photo between Blake Lively and Maria Sharapova, Tennis Star (I guess because Maria's height is a known factor?).

The strangest fact is that the girl above is the same person as the girl in the photo below:



I think I like her hair better as Cindy Lou Who.

Another 30 minutes have gone by. I think it's time to try the somnolent effects of late night tv. I'm just thankful that insomnia is a rare occurence for me.