Officially my last post for the year - already! 2k2 sure has flown past me like so many maniac drivers on the rainy freeway. I’m only working a half day today, thankfully, as my brain’s still kind of mush from a week of vacation. I made it back ok on saturday (obviously) and went straight downtown with Gabe, to wallow in city life after my extended urban deprivation. Sunday was pretty much unpacking, cleaning the place, and sleeping in. Oh, and i played Vice City for a few hours (thanx for the game, Danielle!). Monday it was back to work. I figured it would be rougher, but it was actually a pretty light day, and it was good to see all my coworkers again. I did have a very difficult time getting out of bed… it was worth it, though, to get back behind the wheel of the Max again. I really missed it!

The Benjamins had me over for dinner last night, for excellent homemade meatloaf - thanx, guys! And dessert at applebees with Nicole and the Benjamins was great, too. Heh, Nicole and the Benjamins - that’d be a good name for a band. Gabe and i stayed up late watching ski porn (that’s skiing movies, Mom, everyone’s wearing lots of clothes) - it’s a good thing he’s only here for a month, cause eventually i’m going to need to catch up on some sleep. ;)

So tonight’s new year’s eve. Hope you all have big exciting plans and have a blast. I haven’t talked to Libby yet, but we’re both trying to keep the holiday as low-key and low-cost as possible, so ours will probably involve microwave popcorn, Dick Clark, and a park with a view of downtown. :D

A great deal has happened to me in the last year, and i’ve learned a ton about myself, about being a “grown-up”, and all that rot. I’ve come to some realizations about my friends, and what i expect out of a friendship; what things i can live with and what things i’m not willing to, the differences between “know”, “like”, and “respect.” My big new year’s resolution for 2k3 is to waste less of my time. Whether it’s mindless channel surfing on saturday morning, stressing about things that may never happen, waiting for someone else to solve my problems, or the evil-yet-so-lovely-yet-so-evil 9 minutes of snooze, the next 12 months is my chance to do something valuable with my time and make a difference for myself and for my small slice of the world. I’m expecting you all to hold me to that. Be advised, however, that i’m a very dedicated rationalizer and can likely argue the “value” of anything, no matter how trivial… so keeping me on task may not be a pleasure cruise. :) Oh, and new year’s resolution number two: spend less, make more.

Flying back from montana today, back to civilization and broadband internet and c89.5fm and my Maxima and a mailbox full of bills. Christmas with the family was excellent, it was great to see Grama and Grampa, and to spend some time with Dad, Mom and Danielle. It’s always so relaxing and refreshing to be home with them, and i’m returning ready to face the cruel world again. I’ve very lucky to have such a “foundation” of a family, as so many people don’t. There are pics of my trip right here for ya. It was a great trip, thanx so much to Mom and Dad for my plane ticket! There’s no place like home for the holidays… :)

Well, i was dreaming of a white Christmas… guess i should be careful what i ask for.

Plane landed in missoula tonite and, although there isn’t a lot of snow, there’s at least enough on the ground and enough new stuff falling to make it feel like Christmas! Last 48 hrs in Seattle was super busy. A great salmon dinner with Tim, Carol, Michelle, June & Grama - including an introduction to uncle Tim’s new blue WRX - and thanks you guys for the bottle of austrailian shiraz! Ran around like a mad person friday and saturday, getting packed, doing laundry, cleaning the apt, and emptying out the fridge. I managed to get it all done, tho, and still see a few friends in the process, and as yet nothing has flashed into my mind that i forgot to do - so far, so good! Flight was quick, soooo much better than driving for 8 hours! Ran into Cara - a friend from high school - at seatac, turns out she lives in Seattle, too, and we have the same flights over and back for the holidays. Completely random, and very cool! We traded numbers and will catch up on our return… of course, i’m going to see her next saturday at the airport, too. ;)

Had a great homemade dinner with the family and Miguel. He’s the first guy of Danielle’s to know what a valve body is, and who uses the terms “ricer” and “turbo” in regular conversation - so of course, i like him already! They headed off to a late movie tonite with some friends, but i opted to stay home, forcing Mom and Dad to watch holiday episodes of the Simpsons with me and just enjoying being home. I have no schedule, no deadlines, no bills to pay, not even going to set an alarm clock for a whole week. Zero responsibility, minimal stress, and if we laugh as much all week as we did at dinner tonite, it’s going to be a great holiday. So glad i finally made it!

Another busy day! But at least it’s beautiful and sunny and the city looks great out my window! I can see all of downtown, the needle, and the snow-covered olympic mountains over the rim of my laptop screen, out the 4th floor windows at John L Scott. So very cool.

Finally changed the Max’s oil today, paid someone to do it as doing it myself just wasn’t very realistic right now. I did save 3 bucks by supplying my own oil… too bad the 5 quarts of Amsoil synthetic and the K&N filter cost $45. Boy is it ever clean in there, though - it’s actually difficult to read the dipstick, cause my engine’s so deposit- and grime-free now. Sweet! Brandon and the guys at Grease Monkey are great, they always let me poke around while they’re working on the Max. Tranny cooler seems to be mounted great; after a week of driving - even accidentally hopping a curb the other day at the post office :[ - everything’s solid. Definitely going to get on Amsoil’s preferred customer program before the next time, though, so i don’t have to pay retail for that oil!

John will be by today to drop off his keys, so i can pick his car up at the airport when i return. Julia’s going to be in bellevue and will stop by to say hello. When to coffee with DJ this morning - well, i had coffee, he had dairy queen - and Jim brought red-and-green-sprinkled (crack-laced) krispy kreme donuts to work, which along with my triple-shot peppermint mocha, made for a great holiday breakfast! Headed down south again tonite since Grama’s in town for the holidays to join Tim, Carol, David and Michelle in taking her out for dinner. This has been the busiest holiday season i can remember in a while, and it’s been great! I’ve loved seeing everyone so much! Oh, and Gabe’s spending the nite in missoula with us as he travels westward to Seattle - too bad i’m not bringing the ps2 home! :) Guess our weekend-marathon of vice city will just have to wait until i return.
One more day! Yeessss!

Roger that, squadron leader. We have a confirmed slacker at 9 o’clock. Repeat, slacker status confirmed.

Only five more days until Christmas, only one more day until i get on a plane home, and it’s been 12 whole days since i’ve said anything! Hmm, twelve days, it’s Christmastime… coincidence? Excuse me whilst i break into song:

Ahem. So it’s been a very busy week, traveling a lot for work, running last minute errands. I’ve delivered all the gifts that were under the tree to their recipients (save those that will fly with me to MT) and mailed all the cards (some as far away as europe!). I’ve gone through a gallon of eggnog since thanksgiving, although there’s still some ham left, if anybody wants a sandwich. Had a great steak dinner and threw some peanut shells on the floor with cuz Michelle, it was great talking with her. Jason, Julia, Patrick and i enjoyed Julia’s and my cooking and a couple bottles of wine, along with several hours of playing playstation. Chicken ragu with Libby. Christmas shopping downtown with Steph. More Christmas shopping with Libby. Still more Christmas shopping at home on the internet. Haven’t even started to pack - that’s what saturday morning’s for. Don’t have to worry about being distracted by watching cartoons, since the cable got shut off. Pretty efficient over there at at&t, i only cancelled it in august. People keep asking “have you seen that commercial where…?” or “did you see [show] last week?” and i of course say no. It’s difficult to be part of the mtv generation without mtv. And i think that might be a good thing, cause i’ve never really felt that connected to the mtv generation anyway, and if mindless drivel like survivor is what this generation’s about, i’ll happily opt-out.

I’m really excited to go home, and forget about my bills and deadlines and everything for a whole week. It’s going to be great. Mom and Danielle have already started baking holiday goodies, which i intend to completely pork out on. I may need two adjacent seats for the flight back to Seattle. I do wish i would have my car there, as there’s a bunch of things i want to show Dad and ask him about. But that’ll have to wait until the next time he comes to visit, at which point i can take him to the BBQ place Michelle introduced me to, and we can spend the evening throwing peanut shells on the floor.