The Inmates Run the Asylum

I'm quite happily buzzed right now. Tradition dictates that if you open a bottle of champagne on New Year's Eve, you must finish it or risk bad luck. Carrie wasn't feeling up to drinking her share and I didn't want to have bad luck, sooo...I drank most of the bottle.

I also survived my first close encounter with death shortly after ringing in the new year. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but champagne hiccups hurt, dammit!

Since I'm on the intoxicated side, I'll just say that I hope everyone has a marvelous 2013. I hope it's happy, healthy, and a lot of fun for everyone. We all deserve it.

Here's to a bright and shiny 2013!

Spending my New Year's Eve watching the Jaws movie marathon on Spike. The GERD is making it questionable as to whether or not I should indulge in any champagne tonight, but it will not keep me from the cinnamon roll cheesecake, that I promise you.

I'm not in the mood to be reflective. Instead, I look to the future and I hope 2012 is a happy, healthy, productive, and fun-filled year for myself and for all of you.

Be safe as your party hard.

Happy New Year!

2010 wasn't all that I hoped it was going to be, but it wasn't too bad.

I had some fun, succeeded a little, failed a lot, endured a little heartbreak, scrounged, flailed, laughed, loved, and learned. Good and bad, I'm ready to put 2010 in the books and move on to the next.

Bring on 2011.

Enjoy your celebrating tonight, babies. Stay safe and have fun.

Well, 2010 has gotten off to a questionable start for me.

While I had a great time ringing in the new year with Carrie in our low key way, I ended up staying up until after 4am because I was sick (and it had nothing to do with booze; we went alcohol-free). I fell asleep to The Three Stooges. I rarely go to sleep with the TV on. Unless, of course, I'm sick.

I woke up around 10:30 feeling fine and spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon switching back and forth between Looney Tunes and Barney Miller. I finally got off my ass to run to Walgreens to pick up a few things and only to get to the check out and find out that my credit card doesn't work. I don't know why it doesn't work. I've never had any trouble with it, so I don't know what's going on. With my current state of agitation, it's a mystery best left until Monday.

In the meantime, Dad gave me some cash so I could pick up the few things I needed.

It was on my way out the second time that I realized I'd forgotten to pay a bill (just the subscription to the local newspaper, but it still irks me). So I dropped that in the mail a few days late.

So much for getting a good start to 2010. I'm so cranky right now that I've already declared that I'm not making dinner tonight and I feel so jinxed that I'm surprised I didn't wreck while running errands and the microwave didn't blow up when I used it this afternoon.

If this is going to be how my year is going to roll, I'll pass.

So far I've spent the majority of 2009 in bed watching cartoons when I was conscious. I did have a short burst of forced productivity early, but it wore me out and I was soon out of my real pants and into pajama pants, tucked snugly under the covers, watching Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

I'd feel guilty about such lethargy (in theory), but I'm sick. I have a cold.

I knew I was getting one, but I kept hoping that it was just sinus troubles, that I had just thrown my sleep schedule off again, but no. I woke up with all the symptoms. Sneezing. Coughing. Sometimes stuffy, sometimes runny nose. Scratchy throat. Fatigue. A thirst for embalming fluid.

I really hope this isn't a sign of the year to come.

Speaking of which, tradition dictates that I should make resolutions. I'm lousy at this. It's not that I don't keep them; it's that by March, I don't remember if I made any.

So this year, I'm setting the bar low and only setting myself two resolutions that I should be able to both keep and remember.

I resolve to have a good time and not get dead.

I'm pretty sure I can manage those.

You notice I don't resolve to be a better person. I think we all know why. I'd have that one broken thirty seconds after the words left my lips.

Besides, it goes against my resolution to have a good time.

After getting sick in the middle of the night and not doing well with the whole sleeping thing (when you start dreaming about Mickey Rourke and Muppets, you know it's time to give up, boys and girls) and Carrie ending up in a bad mood, I knew there would be no partying to be had on this night, no ceremonial drop kicking of the old year.

Also, we totally failed at coming up with any ideas on what to do tonight even if we weren't cranky and sleepy.

I'm watching MSTK and working on the next writing project. I look to toast the new year with a glass of orange juice and then probably go to sleep shortly after.

2008 was a success for one reason and one reason only: I'm not dead yet. I've always set my standards low.

My final thought for 2008...My sinuses itch.

It's hard to be sentimental, profound, and thoughtful when you've got an itch that you just can't scratch.