Back, and Forth

We survived Christmas!  Mom was here for a little over a week, which went well I think.  I lost patience a couple of times, which I'm sorry about, but I guess it's my fault... I don't call her often enough, so I never really know how she's really doing, so I expect the worst when she comes to visit, which makes me anxious, which leads to me being kinda snippy sometimes.  But I only lost it once, which is pretty dang good if you ask me.  We had some fun though, playing cards & shopping & hanging out.  Resolution #1: Be more patient.  Resolution #2: Keep in touch with friends & family better!

Christmas itself went pretty well too.  I was kinda stressed about cooking a fancy dinner for the in-law's but it turned out great.  We almost had an incident with the mashed potatoes... did you know they turn to GLUE when you wait until they're cold to add the cream & mash them?  Amazingly enough the salmon didn't catch fire and I didn't forget anything, and the soup was awesome even though we made it with crab instead of lobster.  And there's actually still a slice of pumpkin swirl cheesecake left that is calling my name!  Resolution #3: Eat healthier, while still enjoying what I eat!

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Supposed to get the Suby (aka "The Blue Booby" according to B) back from the shop tomorrow.  It took a lot longer than it should have due to the warranty company being a bunch of jackasses and refusing to cover the claim.  But thankfully the guys at my shop went to bat for me & convinced them to cover the majority of the repair, and they even convinced the dealership to cover part of it too which surprised the crap out of me!  We still have to pay a little bit out-of-pocket but it's affordable and worth it too, considering our shop warrantees their work for 3 years.  I hope I never see them again, but it's still good to know.  I am SO TIRED of having car problems!  Resolution #4: Take care of this car like it's the last one on earth!

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I managed to convince the "higher powers" at work that I needed a different computer.  For the first several trips I was using my personal laptop, which I didn't really feel comfortable with, so I asked for a work laptop a couple of months ago.  They gave me a hand-me-down old Dell that weighed somewhere close to ten pounds (I'm not kidding!) and would crash every time I let it go into hibernate mode.  So right before Christmas I went to the tech guys & told them I needed something light-weight and more convenient to actually travel with.  We got to chatting about my options (a new Dell) and someone mentioned MacBooks, and I mentioned the new "green" MacBook, and they were like, "You want one?  They cost the same as these Dells" and I was like, "SCORE!!"  So I now have a 13" MacBook and I am in loooooove.  And so is B.  Resolution #5:  Stop thinking of myself as still being the last man on the totem pole at work.  I work hard, and I've earned the respect (and the priveledges!).  So now the problem is that my stupid brother-in-law went & got himself an iPhone, and I want one of those too.  Wah.

I'm into the "green" and environmental stuff, yeah, and I think that people's standards of living need to shift in order to save the economy AND the planet, but I'm not necessarily anti-consumerism like some people.  Anti-credit, yes, anti-spending-above-your-means, yes, but that's not the same thing.  Just, you know, justifying myself and my wanton desire for shiny Apple products.  Resolution #6:  Get rid of credit card debt, then get rid of the credit cards.  

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Travel picks back up next week with a 2-day jaunt to Atlanta for a big training seminar, which may result in my frequent flyer miles going through the roof.  I'm learning how to teach a class to interior designers about indoor air quality, through the organization that we earned our fancy-pants certification from (GREENGUARD Environmental Institute).  Most designers & architects have to earn a certain number of "continuing education units" to maintain their memberships in the national and international associations and such, so being able to teach a class to them for a CEU will get us in the door at a lot more design firms.  I've been feeling more confident talking to groups of people, so having a script like this class will make it even easier I think.  I'm looking forward to it.  Resolution #7: Be more confident!

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Yes, there are more resolutions, but they're for ME.