2007: My Year In Review

In 2007:

1. I learned that sometimes you have to do someone else's job for them to get what you need. Especially if you're dealing with medical clearances.

2. I realized that I can be friends with someone, even if our children aren't.

3. I learned how to knit socks and hats on two circular needles, instead of dpn's. I like it much better, except for the parts where I occasionally get tangled up in the needles hanging off the cable when moving from one to the other.

4. I learned that a lack of communication will sink a relationship faster than the Titanic. It doesn't take long to go from "extreme confidante" to "I know we share a bed, and have two kids together, but who are you again?"

Also, no one plays music as the relationship is going down…

5. I said good-bye to friends I'd made in my year in San Angelo, and learned to say "hello" to new ones.

6. For the first time in a very, very long time I was reminded of how it feels to be so far away from people whom I love and care about very much; not just family, but friends. Friends who have become family to me; who always made me laugh, who have seen me at my tired-est and absolute worst, and love me anyways; who always get my bizarre humor (and countered with oddities of their own). Friends who would actually become genuinely excited about the upcoming Pirates vs. Ninja's Dodgeball game for the Xbox 360. Friends with whom I have many things in common and great chemistry, to boot. These friends are just simply too, too far away.

I miss them all, and I miss them tons. Every day.

7. In a violent corporate-coffee-drinking coup which took place on my taste buds, Pumpkin Spice latte's were usurped as my seasonal favorite of choice and replaced by Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha (which is NOT the same thing as a peppermint mocha, or a white chocolate mocha. It is it's own entity. Don't make that mistake again!)

In 2008, I will:

1. Read at least 75% of the books I pay money to bring home, rather than having them languish with neglect on my bedside table. Or in my office. Or tucked away somewhere in the living room… (I am nothing if not organized. Ha! Had you going there for a second, didn't I?!)

2. Take better care of myself. This is a multi-faceted resolution:
Aside from actually using the gym membership my otherwise-for-coffee/yarn/books money goes to, I will remember to eat my fruits and veggies.
In non-liquid form even (although a Jamba Juice gives me more than enough of my RDA).

3. Actually include pics of finished objects (fo's) on my knitting blog (Just One More Row for those of you who are morbidly curious).

4. Worry less, play more.

5. Become a "screamfree parent"- or something very closely resembling one.

6. Spend less money on coffee and more money on... uh, ok. This one obviously needs some work. Do I even need to spend that money at all?

Haha!

Had you going again! Of course I do! Drop a habit, pick one up, I always say!

7. Overcome my complete and total anxiety and contempt for the drive up to Mt. Lemmon, and actually look at the scenery the whole way as dh drives us up there. How I feel about being there once we arrive is still open for negotiation.

How about you? What are a few of your goals for the New Year?

This Christmas: Greatest Hits

Just a few of my favorite photos over the last few days:

This photo has become one of my favorites, and needs a bit of back story.

A good friend of ours went into labor Christmas Eve morning, so dh went to pick up her 4 year old to hang out with us. She was supposed to spend the night, but was having a real hard time with it. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning (about 1 am), I stepped into A.'s room to see if they were sleeping. They weren't. Her friend, A.B., had her head in A.'s lap as they watched some movie together. A. was petting A.B.'s head, trying to comfort her. It worked. For a little while.

It was the sweetest thing I think I've caught on camera in a very long time. It is definately one of those moments that makes me so proud of A., and reminds me of what a truly wonderful and empathic child she is and always has been.

Oh, Christmas tree!

A. and dh duking it out to see who gets to play Beautiful Katamari first.

A. enjoying her l-max.

This game? Harder than it looks, people!

But not for A. She is the fishing pro of this house.

S. actually smiled for the camera! This is typically unheard of behavior for her.

Driving Ms. S.

She's gonna be a rock star someday!

Happy birthday to- uh, you?

Someone, Stop The Madness!

I'm not much of a gamer. There was a time when I bought myself a Playstation 2 and spent all night trying to beat games (Parasite Eve comes to mind). But those days are long gone. Video games of such type just don't interest me before. I did go a little Sims crazy (pc version) when it first came out several years ago. Dh and I were dating at the time, and I think he found it a little confusing when I would tell him about how Barbra Simovich or whatever I named her, died in the swimming pool because she was apparently very tired and I didn't know it. So she swam when she should have been sleeping and then, poof, there was the grim reaper and then she was gone. Leaving behind nothing but a small gray tombstone on the side of the swimming pool. There were times he wasn't sure about whether I was talking about real people or not. I stopped playing a few years go,until Sims 2 came out. But after I had a family of my own, I felt guilty spending any time trying to take care of simulated people- getting kids off to school so they wouldn't be taken to juvy- when I had my own kids right outside the room to feed and change and play with.

But dh is a gamer, through and through. When we first met, I would go visit him in his room and he would be playing Unreal Tournament on his computer.

I do enjoy watching him play, though. Sometimes. Dead Rising, a zombie game that came out earlier this year, was fun to watch. The MC (main character) was a photographer. So in addition to fighting for his life because the helicopter pilot couldn't get him out of that zombie infested town soon enough, he got to take pictures for points. Super duper extra points for "action shots": catching zombies taking chunks of flesh off of cartoony characters who were neither smart nor fast enough to protect themselves. Part of the MC's mission in the game is to find "survivors" (video game morons hiding behind the counters, crying like babies while the zombies close in on them, instead of being quiet and trying to find themselves a really safe place) and bring them to safety- which is a store room or something like that (the setting is a mall). So he (Frank) goes out, kills some zombies, takes a few pictures, gets survivors and brings them to safety. Some of these "survivors" are whiny babies which made me think that Frank should have just left them behind since they obviously don't appreciate being brought out of danger by some brave and compassionate stranger. One of the prizes you get after you've killed like, a million thousand zombies or something like that, is a pitchfork which you can mount onto a shopping cart and just drive right through hordes of zombies, goring them right through the middle along the way. It was pretty funny. And then there was the freakazoid cult that had taken over the theater or something like that.

I liked watching that game.

And the more recent game I didn't mind sitting through was Bioshock. That game is about an underwater utopia created by a man who became disillusioned with the growing oppressive political and religious authorities in the "real world". And so he builds an underwater city as a utopia, which he believes will become an exemplary example of the way humankind is supposed to be. Things go incredibly awry, and this is where the MC, Jack, comes in. He is in a plane crash and happens upon this once-utopian underwater city. But it is in shambles, and society has become the exact opposite of the vision that Ryan, the city's founder, had for it. A good deal of the plot has to do with genetic alterations serving or destroying Rapture. Then there are these little girls, harvesters, who go are also genetically mutated, and go around harvesting blood from corpses laying around what's left of the city.

What I like about Bioshock was the plot was interesting, and the visuals were phenomenal. Rapture, being created in the 1950's, had a really interesting art deco look throughout. And the dialogue was interesting and well written.

This latest game- Mass Effect- is some space age game in which the dialogue is truly terrible in incredibly astronomical proportions. According to dh, Mass Effect has received very good reviews- including for it's dialogue. I'm not sure who these wackadoo's are that think that the dialogue in this game is any good. But I disagree with them, whole heartedly. Just being in the same room and hearing half the crap that spews out of these characters's mouths is painful in a way that would make military interrogators proud! As a new form of torture they could just sit their detainees down in a room, make sure they're handcuffed and lock them in. Then they would make them watch someone play this game. For hours at a time. After sitting through an hour of this game, I am sure the detainees will break, and spill everything they know, if only the game would be stopped.

For the love of God, just make it stop!

But I sit out here, because I am trying to be a loving wife- I like dh's company. And he, mine. I just hate this stupid game. It makes me hostile and prone to mocking whenever the characters begin talking. Consider the fact that I am already in a terrible mood today, and my feelings about this game multiply a hundred-million-thousand fold. Bad, bad, bad. I think it's just bad.

But I'll let him play until he's ready to retire. I'll just finish reading Carpe Demon, or work on the sock that I've recently frogged 52 rows of, and try to ignore the noises emanating from the speakers.

I need these Bose headphones- the ones that cancel out sound. I need them, and I need them NOW! But they're like, $200 or more.

*sigh*

Would anyone like to donate to my "stop the Mass Effect dialogue and help me save my sanity" charity?

Pretty please?

With a cherry on top.

Rock On!

Okay. So I'm not a Guitar Hero kinda gal. I'm not even a real guitar kind of gal, I think. Which is a shame, because a few years ago (about 5) I decided I needed to learn how to play the guitar. So I sprang for a beautiful Ibanez which only cost me about $300. I tried to teach myself from a book for awhile (three months), and even had a friend come over to teach me once in awhile. I wonder what my noise must have sounded like to dh, because, gawd! I'm sure I was pretty awful! I love the idea of being musically talented with an instrument (5^th grade clarinet doesn't count because I really wanted a saxophone, and I only played in the band for that year. The clarinet simply wasn't as cool as a sax, you know?). I mean, my sister plays the piano and the flute, my mom allegedly played the guitar in her younger days, and I played… the clarinet. Hmph. But I can kinda sing, so I guess it all evens out, yeah? That's what I tell myself, anyways. Regardless, that doesn't excuse the fact that I own this beautiful guitar that has stayed in its case for the last few years. It got lugged around, packed up and hauled out through 3 moves last year. In it's case. I haven't once taken it out since we lived in MD, which was two years ago! And that's at least. Occassionally I've thought- I should just let go and sell it! I should at least get half of what I paid, considering the impeccable condition it's in. Do you know how much peppermint white chocolate mocha latte's that would get me! And yarn! Lots and lots of wonderful yarn. And books! Ah, my books. Coffee, yarn and books- this is what I'm passing up because I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Dh wants to keep it and maybe when the girls get older they may take an interest and then actually use the damn thing!

Which brings me back to Guitar Hero. Just not my thing. I've tried. Seriously. But I'm clumsy and my fingers just don't move that fast! Plus, I have small fingers. That sort of makes things a little difficult at times.

But Rock Band. Is. AWESOME! Because as I said in my previous post, it's not just about the guitar. You can play with the drums that come with it instead. Or you can be a lead singer and just do karaoke. Or, you could have one person on the guitar and another singing and another on the drums. You could form your own ROCK BAND! Get it! And go through all the challenges together and open cool venues and items and songs. AND the songs for Rock Band are simply just awesome! The developers got a really great playlist together!

After dh came home, and set up Rock Band (the girls did wake up, by the way. But while he was setting up, not after he started playing). A. grabbed the mike and muttered- er- sang along with his songs. What she could anyways, not knowing the songs and being unable to read and all. Eventually I decided I needed a shot at being a lead singer. So I took the mike, dh set up the game so that we could form a band, with him on the guitar. Our band name is Porksword, by the way. His band name is Frag and I'm Marmelade, but with a silent 'e'. So it's pronounced more like "Marmelahd"- all Frenchy and shit. Don't ask where it came from- it was just there. Thus, we became a band and started going down the beginning sets. Among them were:

Weezer- Say it ain't so

Garbage- I think I'm paranoid

OK Go- Here it goes again (which I flubbed quite nicely, although that was the mp3 ring tone for my phone for like- ever!)

Radio- head Creep

And several more really good songs that brought my memories of the 90's just flooding back.

My favorite set was "I think I'm paranoid". I love that song. I love Garbage. And most of the aforementioned songs (with the exception of Creep) are REALLY FUN TO SING!

I love this game!

The cool thing, for the lead singers, is that the "bars" scroll across the screen with the words, so you know if you need to be singing in a high pitch, low pitch, falsetto, whatever. It get's pretty specific. And you get to see when you flub, so you know what to try to improve later. Anyways, your success as a lead singer depends almost completely on your ability to match the pitch as closely as possible, with the "easy" mode giving the most flexibility in getting the right pitch. if you were too high or too low.

Rock Band is the perfect party game, I think. Even a great mom's night out activity for women who like to karaoke but not sit in a smoky bar to have a good time (are there still smoky bars in Tucson?). There's something for everyone. And if everyone just wants to karaoke, well then that's okay, too. And hey, I was a great lead singer! Mostly.

Soooo much fun!

For the girls, too! A. ran into her room and returned with her pink electric guitar (which I made her turn off while we played the game. So she still got to jam. Just really really quietly), and then S. appeared with this little toy drum she has. Which I also made her turn off. Later, S. grabbed A.'s guitar and pretended to be rocking out with us on her (still quiet) electric guitar.

Now, I have to say that I don't really foresee myself playing this much without dh- if at all. I have other obsessions- uh- interests that need to be tended to. I simply do not have any more room in my schedule for yet another one! And, like most things, I just have more fun doing it along with him, rather than by myself.

But still- if your very own game-addicted dh or spawn gets Rock Band, pick up the mike and take a swing at being a lead singer sometime. Or get the drumsticks and pound away. Or rock out on the guitar. You'll have a good time, even if you suck. I promise!