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So.

01/02/04

So.

Permalink 07:34:00 pm by cassie, Categories: Announcements [A]

I thought about posting some sort of lame This Is New Years Day And I'm Starting Everything Afresh, but I declined. The fact is, I probably won't start afresh anything I resolve to do, and the things I do change will be completely unrelated to the things I thought would change. if that makes any sense. Probably not. This is already a crazy year. I mean, Brian? Abbey? Married?

I spent New Years Eve babysitting five neighbor kids and trying to keep ahead of a sick two-year-old. She kept whining and saying, "I wanna do it I wanna do itIwannadoitIwannaDOIT!!" about everything and largely, I ignored her. I'm, as they say, the "Mean Babysitter." Mostly, I try to keep the kids from telling me what to do, because, mostly, they want to do dumb things that make no sense. But then again, when kids get away with everything 364 days a year and are snuggled every time they have minor crying tantrums, one day at Babysitter Bootcamp probably won't make much of a difference. Unfortunately. The babysitting, altogether, was pretty easy in terms of prior experiences for me, so I can't complain, and I had a good time playing Uno with the kids and holding the newborn when he woke up. And that's another thing - the newborn is 4 months old and he slept through the night. He woke up twice, I gave him his pacifier, and he went back to sleep. What's up with that?

Somewhere around 12:30, Mark called to wish me a Happy new Year, and that was cool. I don't talk to him too often on the phone, so we had a good time talking. I kept getting majorly distracted because the neighbor's dog enormous shepard-black lab mix kept putting his giant furry paws on my lap while I was sitting on the couch and talking. Then, with his paws on my lab, he stood there breathing in my face and kept trying to, like, throw the rest of the body on top of me. I kept shoving him away with my feet but he kept coming back, and I quivered in fear with the thought of a 200-something pound dog squashing my colossally wimpy 100-pound one. I'm not much of a dog person as it stands, and although Jack The Dog is a very cute lab-shepard mix, I just didn't think he was meant to sit on my lap. So. The New Year with Jack The Dog, five neighbor kids under the age of 12, and Mark, figuratively speaking. I probably would have called more of my friends to wish a Happy New Year, but I know that by and large we're a pretty boring bunch (we spend most of our time together sleeping/pretending to study) and I figured most of them would be sleeping anyways. I found out later that mostly all of them stayed up. At home. With their parents. Some even watched the Three Stooges marathon. So, there you go. This is what life is like. In the prime of our partying years, college, we are lumping around like nerds with our families. But, hey, nobody's watching, right?

At the turn of the New Year, during much rejoicing and partying over Ritz Bitz sandwiches and chocolate milk, I turned to the kids and said, "Who's gonna give me my new years kiss?" The eleven year old, Ashley, laughed, and the two year old, Hailee, stepped forward to give me a hug and kiss my cheek but chickened out. I grinned. But the best part was that Jamie (who is ten) and Justin (eight) ran to the corner of the room and writhed on the floor making gagging noises and clutching each other in fear. I love hanging out with cool grade school guys. No pretense. And they keep ya humble.

I have been chewing on the proverbial cud over this past year, and I've decided that I really, really can't do a Past Year post. Too much has happened, between school, Yiayia, family, friends, relationships, my writing, God... The words fail me. Look, I can even make things sound melodramatic:

"There were gains. I gained a school, new people to see every day, peace of mind, a new goal. I lost. I lost my Yia even further. I progressed in friendships with my quiet small group of friends, getting back in touch with some and losing touch with others as we were kept busy with school, work, and life. I pierced my left ear once again and laughed at the fact that Sar can't even wear earrings. I have gained appreciation for my family and our time that we can spend together. I went camping. I went sledding. I can now drive stick. Almost. I worked a lot. I got a Jeep. I watched people move away from me and move on. And I was so happy for them, because I know that they are doing what's best. I have watched people move towards me and loved it, knowing that there are only a few things more precious than knowing people better and closer. And I have grown, as always, to understand more deeply Who I owe my life to."

There you have it - the condensed version of my year, with enormous gaps and vague implications that are meant to keep you guessing.

Tomorrow my family and I are going to our town's groundbreaking ceremony for the addition onto our library. We went there a lot when we were kids, because, you know, that larnin' thang is one of them thangs that them thar homeskulers do, and I've found the library to be indispensable during midterms and finals. Anyways, the librarians have gotten to know us rather well and, as a result, we got a personal call from one of them, asking us to come to represent a homeschooling family that uses the library. Or something. With an expression of horror/amusement/incredulity, my mother told me, "Cass, we've finally arrived - we're townies now." To that, I have absolutely no comment. I'm just hoping that Marty Meehan or John Kerry or the like aren't there. I may have to give them a piece of my mind. Since it's very cold out and it will probably be raining tomorrow, it's actually going to be an indoor groundbreaking ceremony. I think we're going to place a brick or something like that onto the floor to represent the new building. It should be sufficiently cool and corny at the same time, and I'm majorly happy to get the library re-vamped. It's too small now, and too many people utilize it to allow for us to have carried on in the old building much longer. It will be a blessing when it's done. Unfortunately, the renovations mean that I won't quite have a place to study as I did before. We'll see.

Tomorrow afternoon, the fam and I will likely be going to Kittery, Maine to hang around the outlet stores and have some fun. I'm looking forward to it. People always think I jest in regards to enjoying my family and their outings. I mean, some of them get tiring, but, you know, things can also get tiring when you're sitting on your bum at home doing nothing for five hours in a row.

Today I worked. Then I had a headache and came home. Then I went to TAWAKAT to kiss boo-boos, give out some hugs, and watch for kids to smile at me. I love those kids so much. If they weren't so cool there's no doubt I would be greatly perturbed at the thought of 2 hours with screaming and yelling and singing and chillins running around everywhere in floppy socks and adults running up to me and asking me questions about how to do stuff. But the kids are cool, therefore I enjoy it, even after work and a headache.

Thursday I get to dress up to go out to eat at a fancy schmancy restaurant for the "office party." This is somewhat of a joke, because realistically, it's only the two doctors, Dr. Ken Weinbeck and his daughter Dr. Wendy, the office manager Kathy, and me. Maybe Dr. Weinbeck's wife will come along too. But to call it an office party? At least we can giggle at these things.

Anyways, this is the New Year. So what? I mean, really, what else is new?

4 comments

Comment from: Mark [Visitor]
MarkI'm pretty sure Craddoc was worse than the dog. Heh. ;)
01/03/04 @ 08:29
Comment from: Sarah [Visitor]
Sarah*hums the Honor A Long Post song* [I was going to sing it, but then I decided not to, publically]
01/05/04 @ 16:33
Comment from: Heidi [Visitor]
Heidiwow, it took me two times to get through that post. (just cuz i always get distracted while reading a long post). We renovated our library too. Woot woot. its nice now. but its wierd, after they renuvated it, i like, haven't been there as much. i feel inspired to go visit the library now. but, alas, there is snow on the ground, and theres no way i can get out of the driveway. brrrrrrrrrrr.
01/05/04 @ 17:56
Comment from: john [Visitor]
johnwow, ritz crackers are always there for us.
01/07/04 @ 11:40
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I like to multi-task: wife, writer, nurse, Christian, ne'er do well. I do all with equal gusto.

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