Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Grateful Head

Lately I feel like life has been kinda kickin' me in the teeth. I think things start to settle down and then four teenagers get killed or someone gets shot by police in an icy Ohio River. Karma hasn't exactly been on my side lately in either the work or life department.

But there's a funny thing about things going poorly, those are the times when you start to see the good things in your life. All the reasons you have to be grateful. Friends show their true colors as they stick by you and sometimes you realize someone who you thought was a friend really isn't so much. Things get clearer in difficult times, all while they also seem muddled.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately as I've been contemplating the end of one year and the approach of a new one. I'm not a resolution maker really. But something about Jan. 1 does make me think about the direction I'm headed in. I don't set lofty goals like losing a certain number of pounds or saving x-number of dollars. But I do assess my current state and where I'd like to see it head over the next 12 months.

In 2008, I vowed that I would seize opportunities and try for some adventures. And I wanted to get a hold of what I saw as a spiraling weight gain. And as always, I wanted to deepen friendships.

It was a pretty successful year for that. I tried, though I only got close, for a couple fellowships. I traveled. And I got a lot closer with a set of five women who have really helped my life feel fuller here.

There are a couple goals for 2009. I want to continue to seize the opportunities that present themselves and have as much adventure as possible, even in the everyday things. I want to keep up with the new exercise and healthy lifestyle that has become routine, and hopefully not put on any of the 16 pounds I've already lost. I want to get my book project together, whatever that will be. And I want to have a solid backup plan, in case this journalism thing all comes crumbling down. Mostly, I want to be happy with myself wherever I am at the moment.

I thought a good way to kick start my year would be to jot down a few of the things that I'm happy about from 2008. Somehow looking at what's good about life makes me feel like life will always be that good, even in the midst of troubles.

So, here's my list in no particular order:

*Puerto Vallarta in January
*Chicago at Christmas time (and maybe I'll learn to visit when it's warmer.)
*Making it through Gannett layoffs
*Finishing the mini-marathon
*Finding love and surviving its loss
*BOOT CAMP -- even at 5:30 a.m.
*My new iPhone
*Costa Rica for my 35th -- riding a horse to waterfalls, seeing monkeys and sloths, ziplining
*Yoga
*Crafts with 6-year-old Elise and 4-year-old Lucy
*Springsteen!!
*Writing about the floods in Iowa
*Surviving 8 days with no power after Ike barrelled through
*Avon Walk #6 in Charlotte with my mom and Kate by my side
*Still loving my beat at work and the privilege to talk to so many people
*Walks through Cherokee Park with the girls, followed by a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
*Friends who never quit being there
*Dinners at Morton's
*Elena and Keith's wedding -- and the opportunity to see old friends.
*White Christmas at the funniest dinner theater ever with Patty.
*Actors Theater nights with Patty and Diane
*Nashville with Maria and Paula -- the girls really came through for me.
*Thanksgiving at the fire house
*A KitchenAid for Christmas
*Losing 16 pounds
*Knowing I can do 30 pushups in a minute
*Bill and Linda taking me under their wings
*Kat's laugh, Kerri's kitchen, Brooke's smile, Heidi's lefse, Renee's optimism
*learning to kayak -- on the Ohio

All in all, it's been an amazing year despite the bumps these last two months have offered up. And there are already plans in the works to make 2009 a great year -- a trip to the inaugural, Mardi Gras roadtrip, Cayce's wedding...

Cheesy alert: The best part is that I know I can get through anything with the support of my family and friends.

Happy New Year!!!!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Family affair

I love Christmas! This will not be a shock to most of my friends. But there is this part of Christmas that I don't particularly like ... it usually involves some member of my family getting irritable and snapping at someone. At age 35, I've decided this is not a game I play anymore. I've had way too many angst-filled holidays to let these things get to me anymore.

So, while we had a wonderful Christmas ... including playing so much Guitar Hero at my sister's that I think I sprained my wrist ... I was pretty glad to head for home.

Except, Karma had other plans for me making it in a timely fashion. My aunt and I barely got around the corner when she noticed a light. An ominous exclamation point looming at us. Basically all it meant was low tire pressure. So, we headed for a gas station and filled up the tires. A little delay but then we were on the way.

Outside Lima, Ohio (which is perhaps the most boring state to drive across and that's saying a lot since I drove around Iowa this year), we sat in some mysterious traffic snarl up. That was a full half hour of nothing but sitting next to a car decorated in more Spartan crap than I have Michigan crap on my car. That's saying something.

Once again on our way, we were feeling good. Slightly delayed again but with the Kentucky border closer in our mental sights. Too good to be true. Outside Carrollton, something's not right. The exclamation point is back and then there is a sound ... and then the smell of burning rubber. A flat.

Calm in a crisis is my job ... so I whipped out the AAA card and called for roadside assistance. It surprisingly didn't take too long. I think that was because we were like prey on the side of the road as semis whipped past us rocking my aunt's Fit. So, with another half hour delay we were back on the road with a donut as a tire. That prompted my aunt to take the back roads, which are painfully long. I guess that's why they are back roads.

I was pretty happy to make it home ... and I'm wondering when Karma is going to give me a break. I apparently have to deal with her attitude until the very last second of 2008 before she's going to cut me some slack. I wish I knew what I did to piss her off.

To counteract this Karma business ... I'm going to compose my next blog entry about all the things I'm grateful for and accomplished during 2008. Wait for it ... it will be worth it I think.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Reality Bites

For the past several days I've been feeling like someone must be secretly videotaping my life for some whacked out reality show. How else could I possibly explain the weird convergence of events that have been my life?

It started early Sunday morning as I woke up about 6 a.m. in a complete panic about baking a 21-pound turkey. Now I wasn't crazy enough to get out of bed at that hour, so I laid there fitfully trying to soak up a couple more hours of sleep. By 8 a.m., I'd given up. I got up and made my way into the kitchen to have a stare down with Bob, the turkey. (It may seem sick to name the thing you are going to cook, but I thought it would be cathartic.)

At some point in the preparation, which involved stuffing the thing with onions, apples and garlic and then slathering it with butter, I decided I could be more productive if I began speaking like Julia Child. These are moments when it's a good thing you live alone or that might be used against me if I'm ever taken to a commitment hearing in court.

I get the bird in the oven and settle in for the next five hours of baking it. Things seem to go well, the thermometer goes off at the appropriate time and indicates that Bob has reached the perfect 180 degree temp. But when I make a small cut on one side, things don't look quite right. A bit too pink. So, I heave the thing back in the oven for about another hour.

He comes out and my friend Kerri, who is among the early guests to arrive, assures me that Bob will be delish and safe to eat. Except when we've carved up the deliciousness of his one side and start on the other, it's clear that one side did not complete the cooking process.

I will spare you the description of my panic and anxiety over my lack of domestic ability that was seeping into my being at that moment. Bob goes back in the oven and we feast one one side of him. It was actually a pretty divine meal supplemented by the many wonderful things brought by my friends. Thank God for friends.

All in all it was a good night and eventually the entire turkey got cooked.

After washing a ridiculous amount of serving and cooking dishes, I crawled into bed happy with food and wine.

1 a.m. -- into the deepest part of my sleep. A shrill, shrieking can be heard in the distance.

"What's that?" my subconscious asks.
"Crap, it's the work phone. Shit," she answers.
I stumble through the hallway and dial back the dreaded work number.
"Jessie, do you think you could go to the scene of a police-involved shooting?"

It was the coldest night of the year. Along the Ohio River. With a windchill well below zero.

Not a good start to the Christmas week.