100

Made it to 100 books for 2010 today (including 50 on Kindle, 18 on CD, and the rest in print, mostly from the library), and it looks like I will finish the year at 101 or 102. Thanks, work, for slowing down enough to let me read.

work day

Today is technically a work day, and I came in after the movers finished with Boyfriend's stuff, but the office is almost empty, and my inbox is very quiet. Tomorrow is the last official work day of the year, and I'm hoping this means that my clients are all laying low until next year.

big day

Boyfriend's furniture finally made the journey to the house, which makes things seem a little bit stressful and real, but also kind of exciting.

spontaneous

I decided to meet up with my sister at my parents' place yesterday (which surprised my parents and scored me some of my mom's cooking), and then my sister and I decided to head back to her place. I picked up Dungeness crabs on the way there, and we spent the evening eating crabs and hanging out with the kids while my brother in law was on call at the hospital. I spent the night and hung out for a few hours this morning. It was nice to have some unplanned, low-key family time, especially with my sister. We're both so busy with work, and she has three kids, so life is usually so hectic that we only have short, planned time together.

ho ho ho

Boyfriend and I went up to my sister's place and spent Christmas afternoon and evening there with her family, my parents, one of my cousins, and a friend of my sister's. It went pretty well -- I think that both of my parents liked what I gave them (which is not always something I'm sure of), the kids were in a present-filled haze of joy, and we all just ate and hung out. Eventually, we started goofing around, and my cousin grabbed Boyfriend's butt. Boyfriend has always done pretty well with my family, but I'm kind of proud that he has been elevated to butt-squeezing status. It may sound strange, but in my family, that's kind of a mark of acceptance.

fin

I had finished all of my Christmas shopping except for Boyfriend. I finally finished one part of his present (a framed picture from our trip to Palau and Yap) and gave it to him because I couldn't wait, and ordered the rest of it (a Kindle and cover) to be delivered in a few days. It feels good to have that all taken care of.

say cheese

Truffled Brillat-Savarin.

millipede

My coworker has a deep and amusing fear of millipedes. I printed a picture of one yesterday, cut it out, and hid it in her wallet. My only regret was that I wouldn't be there to see her reaction. Today was my lucky day, because she discovered it while we were at the nail salon, so I got to witness her little yelp of surprise and disgust when she opened her wallet. Merry Christmas to me!

weekend?

Finished work for the day (and perhaps even for the weekend) earlier than expected, and then went for spur of the moment pedicures with two friends from work. Now I'm settling in for an evening of reading, as I realized that I have four books going at the same time, and need to finish all of them in the next week.

unlikely combination

The ChromeOS netbook, when brand new, smells ever so slightly and inexplicably of some combination of neoprene and other scents that I strongly associate with dive gear. So basically, it's a gadget (one of my favorite things) that reminds me of diving (another one of my favorite things).

making a list

I'm going to just list some unrelated things:

1. Every day for the next six months will be longer, and it is only a matter of time before we can start leaving work before dark again.
2. Grooveshark is a pretty awesome app. It's like Last.fm and iTunes had a child. A child that got the best genes from both sides.
3. I love when Hyperbole and a Half gets updated.
4. Dinner with a friend is great, especially when that dinner also involves all-you-can-eat meat.
5. Although it really shouldn't be that surprising, it's still fun to randomly run into people unexpectedly.

my precious

I got an email before I came into work today, letting me know that I could pick up a Cr-48. I worked a ton on the launch, and am excited to try it out, thanks to some finagling by the business guy and the product counsel to help me scoot up the list.

the good news...

The bad news is that work kind of blindsided me today. The good news is that I managed to crawl back on top of it. The bad news is that the cafes were closed before I could get dinner. The good news is that I had enough energy to make dumplings at home, instead. At least there's good news, right?

rofl

No one makes me laugh as often, or as stomachache- and hyperventilation-inducingly hard as Boyfriend makes me laugh. No one else takes pictures of me sleeping so that he can show me how my feet look like giant marshmallows in the duvet. That counts for a lot.

new phone

I love gadgets, and it's kind of perfect that I work somewhere that keeps me supplied with new gadgets from time to time.

This time, it's a new phone. It's pretty slick.

Also, gone are the days when getting a new phone meant having to enter all of your numbers in again. Everything loads up automatically. I got my first cell phone in 1998, and it's so amazing how much more they can do now.

twelve days

Twelve days left in the year, and I'm about to start book #96. It's going to be a race to the finish. 100 just might happen...

wrap it up

I can call this a productive day, because I did the dishes and wrapped all of the presents I bought. It's also a successful day, because I didn't have to change out of my pajamas or leave the house.

shopping

I finished all of my Christmas shopping (except for Boyfriend) with a week to spare, and the only time I had to set foot in a store was to pick up wrapping paper.

messiah

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness. I am not good at cleaning. This means that my cleaning lady is the closest thing to god in my life, and she went to Mexico to get married. This meant that my house was slated to go for eight weeks without a cleaning. I can make as much mess in eight weeks as a normal person can make in months.

But salvation is at hand. Her cousin is going to come tomorrow (3-1/2 weeks since the last cleaning), and maybe again in the remaining time. Hallelujah!

90

I hit 90 books consumed in 2010 today. There almost three more weeks left in this year... 100 would be awesome but perhaps unattainable.

holiday cheer

Egg nog and karaoke!

night light

Boyfriend complained often that the mud room adjacent to the garage is always poorly lit. I finally got a photo sensitive night light to put there, and there's one problem solved.

canine companion

I love that my dentist lets me hold a dog (mine or hers, whichever one is around) while I'm in the chair.

schwag

One of my products had a big launch yesterday, and my business guy picked up schwag for me from the launch event. Super nice of him.

crabby

Two whole Dungeness crabs for lunch? Don't mind if I do...

dog's life

Received an Amazon package early today, a special dog heating pad, and I couldn't wait to tuck it into his bed, so Fiver got his present early. I hope he likes it.

highlights

The latkes and gingerbread cupcakes at dinner tonight were amazing.

ready

I have no idea how this happened, but I think everything I had to get done for my next launch got done early. That never happens.

simulation

Today has been a day of simulated perfection. It's cold and dreary out there, but I've barricaded myself in the bedroom with a humidifier and a space heater, drifting in and out of sleep between phone calls, meals, and books. It's pretty perfect in here.

lotr

My coworker's boyfriend is renting out a 300 person theater and showing the first movie from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to celebrate his birthday. Instead of presents, he just wants people to bring donations for Toys for Tots. I love the combination of fun, nerdiness, and charity.

counting down

Lots of things coming up, and I'm getting stuff done for them: a big launch, Christmas shopping, and planning for a friend's wedding shower.