Does "Very" Mean Three Times a Lady?

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New Year's Meme

What better way to get back into posting after a leave of absence than with a meme? I stole this from Jamie.

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
I ran a marathon.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can barely get things done in my normal, every day life, much less big ol’ resolutions that are meaningful. So, no and no.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but my one friend with a kid is pregnant again.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, which is pretty awesome.

5. What countries did you visit?
Thanks to my great job, I got to go to a bunch of new places this year. I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and rode an elephant. I went up in the Eiffel Tower and drank wine in Paris. I walked on the beach in La Baule, France. I ate schnausage in Germany. I drank lots of beer and took a boat ride through the canals in Amsterdam. It was the best traveling year that I’ve ever had.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
I really need to work on patience, watching my mouth, and keeping track of finances.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Well, I ran the marathon on January 8. My anniversary with Mark (three years- holy crap, and no we’re not getting married) was on March 17. I inched closer to 30 on April 3. My dog went into surgery on December 4.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Again, I ran a marathon. I think I won a Media Award this year from the United States Equestrian Federation. The awards banquet is next weekend, so I’ll know then for sure.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Yelling at my dogs, letting myself get lazy and stop running.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious, just various aches and pains and bruises that I get from being klutzy. Oh, and I had to get my toe cut open. It was gross and painful, but it's better now.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Probably my new hybrid car or my Coach purse, or my new bike for triathlons!! I need to put a photo up of it. It’s so pretty.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mark’s, for putting up with me, helping me buy my bike, making dinner all the time, and millions of other reasons.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The government’s, but that’s nothing new.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Insurance and taxes. I swear to God, I can barely afford to live here anymore.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Malaysia, getting my new car and bike.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
“SOS” – Rihanna- we made (and I mean nagged mercilessly) the DJ at Jen’s wedding to play it. Good times.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer?
Can I be more annoyed than last year? Fatter. Poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise, reading, riding.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Bitching and moaning, sleeping in.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Well, as this is already past New Year’s, I spent Christmas at my parent’s house, to which a post will be forthcoming because Jenny said it was hilarious and I needed to write about it.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
Scrubs, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, ANTM, CSI, Medium, the Sarah Brightman PBS special (random?). I need to read a book.

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate? Probably not. Want to yell at? Definitely.

23. What was the best book you read?
Island, by Aldous Huxley, was definitely strange but also chillingly parallel to today’s problems in the world. I’m in the middle of Man O’War, a biography about the greatest race horse ever, and it’s very, very good. Like Seabiscuit, but almost better.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I agree with Jamie here, loved the new Dixie Chicks album. Gnarls Barkley, although I can’t really say I “discovered” it since it was on the radio constantly.

25. What did you want and get?
Material things.

26. What did you want and not get?
The MegaMillions lottery winning numbers. Fuckers.

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
The Departed, Stranger Than Fiction.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked at the horse show. I think I drove home from Tampa to WPB and had dinner with Mark. Very boring. 27.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Losing ten pounds, staying active while traveling.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Jeans, t-shirt, sneakers. I’m low-maintenance, and luckily my job thinks that’s just fine.

31. What kept you sane?
Mark

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I think Nigel Barker from ANTM is about the hottest guy on TV, and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees. Mark thinks he has a “funny nose.”

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
The environment, as usual. I have mixed feelings about the war and our place in international issues, but I will always feel that GWB is one of the worst presidents ever (along with many in Congress) in terms of endangering the environment.

34. Who did you miss?
My friends who live far away.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
I can do anything I set my mind to.

The Crunk of 2006

Regret the Error has a great article about all of the blunders, retractions, and typos of the year in print media. Here were a few of my favorites.

"From the Chicago Tribune:
An editorial in Friday’s paper incorrectly stated that Florida Cresswell, a candidate for state representative in the 28th District, was convicted in 1999 of battery and stealing Tupperware. In fact he was convicted of stealing a battery from a van as well as Tupperware that was inside the van. Link

Best Handling of an Error:
The Stranger, a Seattle weekly, was celebrated by us in the past for its hilarious corrections. This year, the paper earned our eternal admiration. After its theatre editor confused two well known playwrights, the paper decided to make him pay for his mistake by creating a theatre quiz and forcing him to complete it. Readers were also invited to take part. From the paper: “Last week, Stranger theater editor Brendan Kiley made a mistake worthy of lifelong shame, somehow confusing Neil Simon with Eugene O’Neill. Brendan made a prompt apology, but can a mere apology suffice? Of course not, hence this quiz, through which Brendan will confirm his new and thorough understanding of these two ridiculously distinctive playwrights. Feel free to join in the fun!” Link

Pseudo-Apologies of the Year
We can thank the World Cup for delivering three hilarious pseudo-apologies from U.K. tabloids. From the Sun (U.K.):
RECENT articles in this column may have given the impression that Mr Sven Goran Eriksson was a greedy, useless, incompetent fool. This was a misunderstanding. Mr Eriksson is in fact a footballing genius. We are happy to make this clear. Link
Also from the Sun:
SUNSPORT would like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt SORRY to Owen Hargreaves.Over recent weeks we might have given the impression we thought he was, well, rubbish.But Owen proved against Portugal, with his all-action performance, that he was well worth his place.Unlike soppy Sven, we’re big enough to admit we got it wrong. Link
From the Daily Star (U.K.):
IN previous issues of this newspaper, we may have given the impression that the people of France were snail swallowing garlic munching surrender-monkeys whose women never bother to shave their armpits.We now realise that the French football team can stop the Portuguese – and in particular their cheating whingeing winger Cristiano Ronaldo – from getting to the World Cup Final which we so richly deserved to do.We apologise profusely to France and its sporting heroes like Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane who we now accept are skilful, brave and the most wonderful neighbours we could ever wish for.Vive La France! Link"

There's tons more on the article, so read the best of 2006 on the link at the top.

She's Okay for Now

My dog Delaney went into surgery yesterday, which is why I haven't written much lately. She hd symptoms that led us to believe she had degenerative myelopathy, which basically paralyzes dogs and moves it's way up the spinal cord from the back legs. There's no cure and no way to slow it down really.

We took her to a neurology clinic in Jacksonville and found an awesome doctor that tested her. They did a myelogram and found that she had two pretty bad herniated disks in her back, which may be causing her symptoms, which include dragging her hind leg, being uncoordinated, and not being able to pick her hind end up from the sitting position. It had gotten pretty bad the past couple months, and I had been gone for so long traveling that seeing her progress from when I left to when I got back was scary.

So anyways, the good news is that she made it through surgery to fix the disks in her back. She has feeling in her toes on both feet, which is a great sign. She's still sedated and on pain meds, so they're not exactly sure how she's walking yet...that will come in a few days. But, her recovery will take weeks, if not months, for her to get back to where she was, if not improve. Which is what we were hoping- at least she won't get worse. This is all assuming that she does not have myelopathy in addition to her herniated disks. But, all signs point- if tentatively- to her improving and having a better quality of life with no pain.

Making the decision to have her go through surgery was so hard. She's 11 years old, which many people would say is too old to put a dog through that. But, if you've seen her, you'd swear she was a young dog. People regularly comment on how young she looks and acts. She still runs around with Kinsley, who is not even two years old, and keeps up with her. So- I had to take the risk of surgery to see if this is something that we could fix and keep her running for a few more years. Considering how important she is to me....I had to try.

I feel so damn guilty about not doing something earlier....especially now, considering it's something that was treatable (still assuming it's not the disease). I have beaten myself up over it for weeks and I can't forgive myself for letting it get to this point.

My only hope right now is that she will get better and return to her old self. And that's all I can ask for.

Hope There Was a Pre-Nup

I mean, really. Can someone please tell me the point of this relationship? I just find it annoying that it takes up space in the news.

Why My Pants Don't Fit

From an e-mail from my online exercise program- um, I don't want to, at least not since January.

"You Can't or You Don't Want To?
When it comes to diet and exercise, I forbid you to ever use the phrase: I can't. I'm telling you, there's no such thing! There might be "I don't want tos," but there are absolutely no "I can'ts" from here on out.
Why am I being so hard on you about this? Because I know you can! In fact, I promise that you can do anything you want in this life — if you want it bad enough.
The next time you start to say "I can't," stop yourself and instead say the "antidote" statement, which is I can. I can lose weight. I can start to exercise. I can get control of my life.
Think about what might be causing you to feel defeated before you even begin, and tackle those negative feelings or memories or harsh life lessons. You have the power to take your life back. Soon you'll see the evidence that you can accomplish your goals, that you are strong and intelligent, and that you deserve everything wonderful that life has to offer. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, kid!"

Blah.

No Thank You

To go along with the baby-theme of late (ok, one other post- shut up), I read this post from Mighty Girl, and in the first paragraph she states,

"Last night I had a mini breakdown and decided that I definitely do not want to push a baby out my vagina. I want even less to have major abdominal surgery. I do not want to feed another human being with my boobs. Also, I will not be pushing a baby out of my vagina. I cannot imagine what my boobs are going to look like after this, let alone my ass. I have never felt less sexy. Also, my vagina is very small. I do want to be a parent, but don’t really want to be a mom. Also, I will not be pushing a baby out of my vagina. No."

And I thought, "YES. that is how I feel." I also know myself. I can barely remember to take a vitamin every day and save money. And oh my God, I'm still so selfish. The dogs have to pee? Um, you have to wait until a commercial. Luckily, I'm not having these thoughts while I'm pregnant, as poor Maggie did. Obviously, she has come to terms with things and feels better about her pregnancy.

I still feel that parenting is something I'm probably not meant to do. I don't like babies, I don't like kids, and I can only halfway stand teenagers. Plus, I can't see myself and Mark financially solvent enough to support another human being anytime soon. We can barely stand to talk about engagement or marraige, just saying, "Well....maybe some day." I'm not in a rush, people. I don't understand why people can't grasp that concept. I don't really like change, and I'm wary of big legal commitments. I'm getting to the point where I don't want to smile and say, "I'm not in a rush," or "We're not at that point yet" when people ask when the wedding is. We've been dating for almost four years, but I feel like it's been a few months. I don't know- maybe I'll change...maybe WE'LL change...but I do know how I feel now, and I know myself. And that should be good enough, right?