spoiled

too often, I am bogged down with the miseries of life. this holiday season has been a much needed reminder that life goes on-- and so will I.

- the ugly sweater holiday party with ornament exchange, sweets, crab rangoons, games, and conversation.






- little indulgences like egg salad sandwiches.






- Christy and Ryan's cookie decorating party. I made a starfish with bullet holes and an evil Ginger girl.










- company holiday party with booze, treats, weiner dogs, and "festive" wear.

- amazingly generous gifts from friends and coworkers that nearly made me cry.






- Christmas eve and morning with my family.






- playing with my new toys, including 3 new outfits (2 vests, 3 shirts, sweater, 2 leggings, scarf, and socks-- all coordinated!), comforter bed set, misc items, and a sewing machine! I tested my skills and made a crappy tiny pillow case for hello kitty ornament...






- remembering the real reason for the season.

merry Christmas to you, reader. warmest wishes always.

fleeting

right now, I am enjoying my Christmas tree.






right now, I know my career must involve creativity and using my hands. last night's Christmas card-making gusto gave me the biggest sense of accomplishment in a great while.






right now, the scale says I weigh the same yet I feel like a gooey chub ball. so please excuse my self-portrait of just my face... self-esteem is low these days.






right now, I should focus on this message:






right now, I appreciate my dry and corny sense of humor because I will never be bored.






right now, my insides feel kind of like this:






right now, I love tumblr. it's the last thing I look at before bed, one of the first things I see when I wake up, and I find myself sitting on the pot long for longer than usual just scrolling and tapping and saving images.














right now, I am thankful my apartment's landlord keeps our stairs and parking lot relatively ice free. you know one of my greatest fears is falling backwards down a flight of stairs, right?






right now, I think broccoli would be more popular if it would just taste like bacon.






right now, I can't stop listening to Taylor Swift's "speak now" album. it's like the booze-free, more fiddle-ish version of pink!'s "funhouse" album. you should YouTube tay's acoustic version of "haunted."






right now, I'm still depressed after finishing season 2 of joss whedon's "dollhouse" tv series. so amazing. so many "WHAT THE EFF JUST HAPPENED?!!!" moments. I suppose watching all 12 episodes in a row only contributed to the feeling of being sucked into yet another canceled tv show's world. sigh.







right now, I don't know how to separate complicated from simple, realizable from abstraction, motivation from desperation.

but, like always, I'll ride it out. thanks for reading.

summer day 35

my dad turned 61 yesterday, but we celebrated today. my mom told me that my dad has started making birdhouses and would like a home depot giftcard for his birthday. he was excited to show me the 3 houses he's made so far--2 are occupied already. my dad's handiwork: this is just one reason I love my dad.

Christmas 2007

(We used to be photogenic people. . . )

I hope your holidays were joyful, faithful blog-readers (whomever you are!). Brett's family went to California for Christmas, so he spent Christmas Eve (making homemade pizzas for dinner) and morning with us, which is pretty exciting seeing as how he's the ONLY guest at the Johnson household for Christmas morning (with the exception of my maternal grandparents who visited before Austin was even born). Here's a photo blog post to explain the rest:

All dressed up for the 'casual' Christmas party for Brett's work. Remind me to rave about the chocolate fountain at the party. . .

Leftover snow = White Christmas in Boise! Just ask this garden turtle statue (to know this is to know my mother) how he feels about all the snow!

As previously mentioned, we made home-made pizzas for Christmas Eve dinner. Here's the family creating their scrumptious concoctions-- apparently, Riley thinks pizza is yummy (pictured above begging for pizza tidbits under the table).

I bought a Wii last July with my summer job money. My brother has every other game console besides the Wii, so my purchase rounds out the technological goldmine in our house; it also came in handy to entertain our Christmas Eve all-nighter. (However, Brett and I proved what an old couple we are by falling asleep around two a.m.) The above picture shows Brett playing Call of Duty-- or trying to, anyway-- with my brother in the role of backseat-gamer.

And then Christmas morning came!

My mom made a great Christmas brunch-- breakfast casserole (egg, sausage, cheese, mushrooms, and other breakfasty/omelette items), fruit salad, coffee cake (from Brett's mom), bacon, and OJ. Gift-opening was quite an ordeal as well, at least in my family, because one person at a time opens their stocking, then gifts, and the non-openers look on in great anticipation for the perfect reaction on the recipient's face. . . quite a suspenseful and slow-going process!!! Judging from the gifts from my family, one would conclude that I am a narcissistic video-gamer (somewhat accurate), based on the Wii supplies, brown boots, desk items, candy, pasta recipe book, misc clothes, and other items they gave me. Brett gave me a new black iPod nano that holds 8 GB's worth of videos, pictures, and--of course-- music. I'm still in the process of loading my CD's onto it. Very cool! Now I can join the rest of society and tune out everything except pure musical satisfaction pulsing through the microscopic magnetic holes in my earphones.

All in all, 'twas a great Christmas.