Some people start feeling down in the dumps so they change their hair. Me? I change my blog layout. The lovely and talented KarahLeigh did this layout for me…and I love it. I hope you do too.I did upload the layout myself…which is more than I have ever done before…so GO ME!

Let me know what you think.  I promise I am going to post something real soon!  But for now…revel in the layout…I do.

I brought in the New Year playing Guitar Hero World Tour (Decades) for the DS. I really was planning on going to bed before the turn of the year (Hey I worked on NYE so give me a break) but I got sucked into the game and was trying my darnedest to unlock the Bon Jovi song (I didn’t succeed that night). I then spent the next 45 minutes trying to calm a totally freaked out beagle. See our neighbors (the ones across the street who brought us the best tamales in the world just hours before) obtained what I am sure are very illegal and very noisy fireworks and shot them off from their front yard. I know I have mentioned before that Roxy is afraid of fireworks…but these really did a number on her. She absolutely refused to go outside…even well after they finally stopped. She barked and whined and shook and paced…and hid. She knocked a lamp completely off the table it was on and pulled it out of the outlet as well (luckily it landed in her big poofy bed so it didn’t hurt the lamp any). The rest of New Years Day was spent doing normal things like laundry, working on Guitar Hero for the DS and preparing for work the next day.

Then we have today. I did the whole work thing…which was typical and exactly what I thought today would be like- me changing hundreds upon hundreds of passwords in requests that accumulated during the break (pretty much knew that was a given since I had worked New Years Eve too and did the same thing).

So far I feel like I am letting 2009 down and I didn’t even bother to make any resolutions so it’s not that I feel I have broken them already. I am just in my usual winter time funk -I get into one nearly every year. This year’s isn’t as bad as last year’s funk but it is there with its funkalicious self…trying its best to drag me down with it. I have so much I want to do but I just can’t find myself motivated. AT ALL. Whether it be my letting my laundry go until I absolutely have to do it, the fact that I have been fairly sporatic both writing in my blog and commenting on other’s blogs (it’s not you…really…it’s me I promise), the fact that I have a writing project that is about 70 percent done (or the first draft of it is anyway) and I just cannot get it together enough to finish it, or the fact that I can’t stick to anyone thing for very long- whether it be a crochet project or playing a nintendo ds game.  I can’t even get out of the funk enough to learn how to use my (new to me) dslr camera so I have an idea how it works before I take it to the races at the end of Feb. Sigh. And let’s not even talk about that evil date looming upon me and all that that signifies.

So far 2009 has been the year of the funk. How can I get my game back. And my year back before it runs away from me for good?

• Reading like a fiend. I have read New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn (the last three books of the Twilight series)- which alone is approximate 2000 pages. Plus approximately 200 pages of a book I started before New Moon.  This was all since December 25th.
• Procrastinating with my laundry until it achieved critical mass and needed to be done.
• Dreading today because it meant back to work.
• Hanging out with my nephew…he’s so incredible. He’s not big on the crawling…but he will do like an army drag/crawl and is fast like a ninja baby…but has been pulling himself into a standing position for quite awhile now- and the otherday he did a chin up trying to pull himself up onto our table.  Also- according to his dad- he took three steps the other day.
• Procrastinating getting my oil changed…because I hate being without my wheels.

So What have YOU been up to lately?

Oh and HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

How was your Christmas? Mine? Was good. Exhausting but good. Here are some random numbers from my Christmas:

0: Number of pictures taken by me (I know….don’t fall over in shock. I just was NOT in the mood).

1: Number of NASCAR.COM Store gift cards received. (YEY) Also number of stressed out dogs stuck outside for a majority of the day on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

2: Number of bookstore giftcards received. (Double yey) Also number of perfumes received.  Number of shower gels received too (can’t have too much of that good stuff)! And…number of helpings of Sweet Potato Suffle made by my sister-in-law…that stuff was like crack.

3: Number of Christmas celebrations attended by me within a 24 hour period. All three including exchanging of presents and food. By number three I was exhausted, tired of unwrapping presents and full of rich food (and possibly slightly cranky). Also number of stockings opened.

4: Number of lip glosses received. Also number of Nintendo DS games received.

5: Number of pens received. I told you I have a writing implements fetish.

6: Number of books received. The last three of the twilight series, The new Stephen King,  a Dean Koontz and a NASCAR book. Lots of reading in my future.

7: Pieces of fudge sneaked out of my dad’s white elephant present- he ended up with a huge tin of the best homemade fudge ever.

8: Pairs of socks received.

12: Number of potatoes mashed for mashed potato casserole.

25: Weight of turkey cooked on Christmas Eve in pounds.

45: Number of times someone commented on how windy it was.

350: Number of times I swooned and declared my love of Edward.

45,689: The number of toys my nephew got for Christmas. A rough estimate.

37,000,000.37: The amount of money, according to my uncle, on the borders card he gave me. This is a running joke.

RANDOM BIT OF CHRISTMAS TRIVIA: How many people can state that they got a pink canister of pepper spray in their stocking for Christmas? Two. My sister-in-law and I both got it in ours!!!

Dear Santa-

Please excuse the late letter- did Christmas sneak up on you and the elves the way it did me? Anyway…I hope that you are having an easy time making all those presents.

Of course I want the usual things for Christmas- you know world peace, health and happiness to all my family, friends, and favorite bloggerfriends. Oh and new underwear, an iTunes gift card, an amazon gift certificate and whatever else you see fit to shove in my stocking (I hope the bubble bath doesn’t leak all over the harth this year- that was a sticky mess).

However can I ask for one two three more things for Christmas this year? I think I have been a good enough girl- where I can give you one or three special requests (in order of importance of course):

First and foremost: Please do your best to give Stewart Haas racing a good inaugral 2009 season.  Be especially gracious to Tony (that would be the #14 car) but also feel free to sprinkle some of that magic onto the Ryan Newman team as well (the #39 car).  I would love for Stewart Haas racing to come out of the box a winning team- so a good showing at the Daytona 500 in February would be a great start (but please don’t let the year fall off dramatically like poor Ryan’s team did this year after his Daytona win).

Secondly a second sponsor for the #39 team would be a good thing.  Hell if I had the money I would sponsor him. But I don’t have these kind of funds Santa…and in all actuality who would want to see my name on the hood of a car. It’s not like I have an exciting company or product- lets face it Santa there is NOTHING innovating about me…but I am sure you will think of SOMETHING.

And finally, I would love a Stewart-Haas racing sticker. Just a simple smallish sticker of the new teal colored (that is teal isn’t it?) logo would be perfect. I need something for the back window of my car, not only so I can show my colors as a Stewart-Haas fan, but so that I can pick my car out in a parking lot. There are more than one Silver HHR in the area and I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to get into someone else’s car.  Somehow my 20 sticker disappeared in late October leaving just a little ring of clean window where a sticker had once been.

I wanted to give you this letter in person, however, after about 20 minutes in the mall on both Saturday and Sunday, I wanted to be put out of my misery. There really is not any thing worth those kind of crowds…especially since YOU bring all the Christmas magic anyway.

I will leave extra cookies for the reindeer as always. And maybe some chex mix just to mix things up.

Love, Amy M., Marina, CA

PS. If you are really at a loss for something ELSE to get me this year- I wouldn’t cry if I found one of THESE under the tree.

There is this family who loves my Mom. She came into contact with them through her job as an grammar school librarian, health aide and teachers aide (she has done them all at some point). My mom lives in close proximity to the school and walks to work on most days so its not odd for students and such to know where she lives.  Anyway to make a long story short…because of our Grizwald like reputation for decorating for Christmas- this one family- we will call them the Andersons- come by and carol at our house every year. Its gone on for at least five years now.  One night close to Christmas we will hear a knock on the door and people will be standing on our stoop singing to us.

This year was no different, with the exception that we happened to be babysitting (we as in my parents and me) my nephew who turns 9 months old tomorrow. We had a pretty good idea who was at the door when we heard the knock so I grabbed him out of the laundry basket (he LOVES playing in the laundry basket) while my Mom went and opened the door.  The whole family again stood on our stoop (and by whole family I mean just that…a mom, dad, and three children…two of which are teenagers- one might even been old enough to be in college now- I am not sure) and began to sing.  (They are good singers too let me tell you).  Usually they sing us “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” but this year we got TWO songs.  My focus wasn’t on WHAT they were singer…but on MXM, my nephew. I wish I had taken a picture of his expression. It was clearly a “WHAT THE?” kind of expression.  He was captivated by them- yet unsure. He was like what is this? People don’t come to my door and sing. He just looked at us with an awe like expression.  It was pretty much the same look he had on his face as I carried him around Toys R Us this past Sunday while my brother picked up some last minute items only with out the “Oooh ooooh” noises that he makes when he wants to touch or hold something. Its a face that he makes where he looks like he is making an O with his mouth. Its cute and I have been trying to capture that face but he has wised up to cameras…and the minute he sees someone point a camera at him- he smiles.

This past weekend, the weekend before Christmas, found me at the local mall which was a veritable zoo. It then found me at the Target across the street from the mall, which was also a zoo.  My shopping and wrapping is all but done but I was there with my Mom.  My dad does not like her to go shopping alone for some unknown reason. But he also did not want to go anywhere NEAR the mall or Target the weekend before Christmas.

The stores were crowded and the lines were long but we survived.  We were leaving Target and were behind a little Silver Rav4 who had the blinker on. Little Rav4 was waiting for a spot to open up in the block. He spotted the leaving party and put his blinker on to signal his intention to take the spot. In our area, this is proper ettiquete for calling dibs on a spot that has not opened up quite yet.  I mean the Little Rav might as well as gotten out of the car and licked the parking spot. So, Little Rav waiting very patiently for the parent to wrangle the children in to car and booster seats and put the packages in the back of the car. I sat behind said little Rav chatting with my mother about what she had just purchased at Target. Finally the parked car pulled out of the spot that Little Rav claimed. And just as Little Rav was about to pull into the newly opened spot a small silver car turned left in front of Little Rav, swooping in and stealing the spot.  I was flabbergasted (but not really).  Little Rav pulled forward and the female passenger leaned out the window and flipped the bird to the spot stealer.  And, I admit it, I cheered for the little Rav. Because if ANYONE deserved to be flipped off the weekend before Christmas it was the spot stealer.

The reason I was not surprised by the spot stealer’s actions was that it reminded me of the time I went to a mall in San Jose with my friend the weekend before Christmas (back when I too drove a little Rav). Bigger City, bigger mall, sixteen gazillion more people.  We were driving up and down the isles of the parking lot looking for a place to park when ALAS…I spotted a mother just arriving at her car.  I put my signal on and patiently waited as she added the packages to the truck, the children to the car seats, folded up the stroller, etc.  This mall has very narrow isles in the parking lot so they are all one way. This of course held up traffic behind me- but its what you had to do. We were all driving around - choo-choo train style looking for open spots.  Well- except apparently for the guy behind me. He honked at me several times (mind you my blinker was on-indicating I was waiting for the spot). I just sat there chatting with my friend and waited for the lady…occasionally looking in the rear view at the creep honking. Well as the woman was finishing up buckling her children into the car, the guy got out of his car and started to yell at me through the window.  I just said- it will just be a minute- she is almost done. (I was very polite).  He then said I should scoot over then so he could get by…and which point I looked at him and said…”Um where would you like me to scoot? There is NO ROOM for two cars.” At which point he yelled some expletives…and then hit the drivers side window hard enough to rock the entire Rav (they are pretty light). I was surprised that he didn’t break the window or at least knock it off the track but it did not.  Luckily as soon as his hand hit the window to my car, a man in the car behind his car got out of the car and told him, in no uncertain terms, to get in his car and stay in his car…and to shut the f up while he was at it.  The part that was surreal about my experience with the guy who pounded on my window? Is the aggressor was an older, very conservatively dressed man. He did NOT look like someone who would go postal while waiting three minutes in a parking lot.  I wanted to thank the man in the car behind the jerk who was behind me.  However by the time I had parked and gotten out- he was gone…no doubt looking for a spot of his own.

**Yes the title is sarcasm. Hope you weren’t expecting a happy story. If you were…um…sorry.

Now where I live is fairly mild weatherwise. I mean, sure I bitch about it being cold…but really it’s rarely below freezing here- ever. And we never have to deal with that evil S-word (SNOW) because we are at 32 feet above sea level and it just doesn’t happen here (in the hills around us very rarely…and never here at least not in my 30-something years).

Earlier this week it hailed like all get out for about 10-15 minutes. It was tiny dried pea sized hail…but there were some major accidents on the highway because people drive like idiots on the highway.  That same day I went out during my lunch to see the results of a car flipped over in the medium of the highway.

On Friday of this week it had been raining moderately to lightly but had then slowed down to a very light drizzle.  Well there I am trucking along and a car is in the far right lane (three lanes now that his lane has merged onto the road) and the guy TOTALLY loses it right there in front of me. I guess he went around the corner too fast or something but it was pretty violent to watch actually despite the fact that it was single car and really all he did was spin out and I am a NASCAR fan and see much worse, much higher speed wrecks both on TV and in person (ie- Tony Stewart hitting the wall in Las Vegas right in front of our section was pretty damn scary).  However I have seen these cars up close and personal…they are virtual caccoons of protection- way more then our average passenger car. So people …PLEASE BE CAREFUL! Drive slower. Make sure you have snow tires/chains if its snowing. If you get caught in weather you aren’t prepared for (hail or stuff) please for the love of your fellow drivers and your family- pull the heck over and wait it out.