my brothah-man's annual rockin' christmas eve par-tay!

hopefully, i won't have a hang-over on christmas day.

Cold brisk winter air
Warm inside fireplace heat
My new pajama bottoms
My new Robosapien
Mosturizing handsoap that really works
Woxy.com's rad modern rock xmas songs (thanks b.ruce!)
My ipod
The Orchard
Love for everybody.

(sniff) I love you guys!

WOXY's music.
Family.
Getting home safe.
Eating in the nice dining room (my suggestion, everyone scoffed, but then loved it).

Thundering bass at 2 a.m. with U2 singing "Deck the Halls"
My soundcard's "what you hear" recording feature.

24 hours of a christmas story on TNT.
The fact that my parents liked my church.
Getting the sweetest email I have ever gotten.
My cousin getting excited over the mixed CDs I made him.

playing in a string quartet.
buying just the right gift.
being able to participate in pun-offs.
my family

spending christmas morning at home with my family.

the butterfly wings inside.

family.
all the different shades of green.

Listening to my parents' new autographed copies of Changes Come and Good Dog Bad Dog while opening gifts. (They have excellent taste!)
Fire.
My cat.
My siblings.
That look of absolute awe when she realized that my brothers had just given her a djembe of her very own.
Discovering that my brothers are super-geeks in just the ways I'd thought (meaning the geek gifts I'd chosen were perfect -- haha).
Storytime.
My beautiful new Russian dolls.
My new stuff in general, really... but dude! Russian dolls!
Learning to play the first chunk of Latter Days.
Not getting a headache from trying to decipher sheet music.
Brunch.
Lasagna.
Egg nnog.
Splitting cardamom pods.

Getting really cool gloves from fellow Orchardees. Thanks, I love them! You know who you are.

Oh, and the fact that the above mentioned person (whom I assume wishes to be anonymous) works in theme gifts.

colorful surprises

Christmas eve with my family.

Hearing my niece say "My mommy's going to be mad at you," when she opened the Play-Dough 24-pack I gave her.

Having my sister-in-law tell me that I give the best gifts of anyone she knows.

Trudging through snow to look at (and photograph) the city's Christmas lights up close without a wicked windchill factor on Christmas night.

Getting a very very warm blanket as a Christmas gift on Christmas eve when my furnace blew a fuse and quit working that very day (on the coldest night of the year, no less), and there was too much snow to get be able to get to the fuse that night.

A someone.

New scarves.
Emails from interesting people.

Today I helped a friend with his computer problems... he fed me atlantic salmon with french cheese and capers and sixteen-year-old single malt islay.

Oh.. and this cup. It's a Christmas gift from one of my children.

Being sore from hard workouts at the gym.

That sometimes deep breathing helps....

24 hour stores
scanners
seeing old pictures
pictures with famous people
baseball

Finding an extra fifty dollar bonus in my paycheck!!!!
The fact that I did not get fired today, but rather my boss joked around about what I did.

Conversations with good friends.
My Australian buddy having successfully moved to Alberta -- and found a grocery store! Yay, food!
Driving well.
Putting together more of the pieces.
Pine needle shadows on the living room ceiling.

I just bought tickets to see Toto play two shows in the Los Angeles area in March. This makes me incredibly happy.

Sleeping. However long it lasts, anyway.... Waking up rather bites.

Waking up feeling refreshed for the first time in a week.

Making corners even my dad often cuts -- whee!

professional cookwear
naps
orchard friends

4 hour coffee with my friend (we affectionately refer to eachother as "my evil twin") which involved reciting our favorite poems, telling math jokes, and talking about when God spoke directly to us. Apparantly God called her "Bucko" and made fun of her roommates cooking.

Bonding with my sister.

Seeing D in chat.

Yes, it was so nice to chat with d.

the past few days.

receiving an e-mail giving me 2 tickets to: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Buddy and Julie Miller @ the Ryman @ 9:30 on Sat, 1/15.

hot damn. 7th row main floor. gotta love it when friends come through!

I LOVE math jokes! Bethany! Do your thing!

I may have posted this math joke before, but I think its funny everytime. Okay. So all the functions were at a party. 2^x, x^3, e^x, everybody. Except e^x was kind of hanging out in the corner all by himself. Then his friend 2^x came over and said, "hey, buddy, why don't you come on over and try and integrate yourself with the other functions, make conversation or something" "I'd like to," he responded "but somehow I dont think it would make a difference."

har! nerd humor!

yay! nerd humor!

I love the "T" at thinkgeek.com that says:
"There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't"

tee hee
~m

being in chat after missing the apples so much. thanks libby and amanda.
mwah.
d

finding chapstick and cash after a winter in the jacket pocket...

I still love my gravity shirt from Thinkgeek.com. In fact, I love it even more, now that Christmas has passed and I may now officially wear it. All hail the geeks!

Also: finding all of my cables neatly coiled with a minimum of fuss. (All of my nagging about putting my gear back the way it was found must FINALLY be making an impression!)
Giant mega-loaves of pülla.
Finally learning the secret of my sister's perfect cookies. (I might not be able to duplicate her results, but I know the secret! Muahahahahaaaa!)
My littlest brother's a sweetheart.

Best new years eve ever: a low key evening with 4 friends, lots of talking, a few true confessions, and a close game of trivial persuit (my team won. boo yah.)

Playing word games with my family -- and winning nearly every round.

Three day weekends!

Getting to take a shower again. Sure, it involves a minimal amount of water and me sucking the water out of the tub with a wet/dry vac, but anything beats those sponge bathes.

The fact that I at least have running water.
The fact that one day, I will get to walk into my boss' office and say "Take this job and shove it."
The fact that I feel that day is drawing closer.
My best friend coming into town for a couple days.
The optimism the new year brings, despite current circumstances.

A clean kitchen!

long hot showers

Hot homemade tomato and basil soup with grilled cheese sandwhiches.
Sleeping in

orange pillow cases
the best seafood ever
good sleep
a clean computer
candles
watching football on a Sunday afternoon

the way my fellow church members linger long after the service chatting with one another.

chocolate milkshakes

:-) me too. Except my church.

Picture frames
Coconut milk
Hot showers
Tying strings
Rosario and friends

My new signature.

mmm...milk.