You're so Vain, You Probably Think this LJ is About You

It's time for what is becoming a bimonthly check in. Very bad, but what can I say? When did I get so busy? Seriously. I don't have kids or a demanding family or a wide circle of friends. And yet, somehow...my days are filled. Not with important or exciting things. Just...things.

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I was off this past week, so mine rocked. Tomorrow I return to work. Blargh. At least it should be a fairly quiet week (I hope). I don't think I mentioned it, but my boss got a really big promotion and now has only VPs reporting to her. She was nice to me, though, and placed me in a Technology/Project Support team run by her bestie, so I feel pretty safe for the time being. I am still working on that horrible project, but I think they will probably yank me off of it (or so my boss promised, but we'll see).

I am 40 now. It feels weird to say it. No big shindig or trip or even a weekend at Nay-nays, which is my normal way to celebrate. We had to postpone because we were both too busy. And I wanted to take a "dream" trip for this birthday, but since my brother just had his baby and tickets to Alaska were hovering around the two thousand dollar mark (for me and JP), I decided to postpone that as well. Instead, we went to Yuma to see my brother, his wife, and the baby (cutest thing ever, but I'm not a gusher so I will leave it at that). I am actually okay with being older. I think I freaked out a couple of years ago, so I am mostly over it.

We had a nice, quiet Christmas with no drama or problems. I have enjoyed this week off so much that I really want to look into retiring early. I guess I can't avoid a financial planner any longer, although I've been doing my best to not think about annuities and life insurance and IRAs. Yuck.

In concert news, I don't think I mentioned that JP and I went to see The Civil Wars, who were totally awesome and cute and wonderful. They performed in Austin, at Stubb's Barbeque, so I spent a lot of time looking around for people older than us, LOL. And apparently, I am hip as shit because every teenager I know (all three of them), were supremely jealous when I told them about the concert. If you get a chance, check out their music. They rock.

We also went to see Louis CK, also in Austin. He was flipping hilarious! Nice, long set. He got this annoying shithead thrown out of the venue, which was awesome. We almost didn't make the show because I took us to the wrong concert hall. What can I say? Sometimes I am sleepwalking through this life.

In movies, we saw The Hobbit (excellent and wonderful and Richard Armitage is my boyfriend...I saw him first!), Hotel Transylvania (a little late to that party but it was really good - Genndy Tartakovsky is my hero), Pitch Perfect (cute, but overrated IMO), and This is 40 (so fitting). My only beef with that movie is my frustration with the "bankruptcy" plotline - they run small businesses, drive a BMW and a Lexus, live in a big beautiful house and have parties catered...and they have money problems?! You don't say! I wanted to scream at them, "Sell your fucking shit!" Sorry - I have a beef with people living beyond their means and acting like it's so unfair that they get into financial predicaments. I have been driving the same Jeep wrangler for 12 years - suck it up, motherfuckers!

Ahem, anyway. I guess that is enough for now. Have a safe and happy New Year!

I know y'all are probably sick of hearing about it, but my next paycheck will have 40 hours of overtime. FORTY HOURS. That's so insanity...

I was graciously allowed two days off at the end of the month so I am getting a four-day weekend - what should I do? "Drink" and "sleep of the dead" are for normal weekends, so I feel this one must be special.

It's cold and rainy outside, but that's okay because it fits my mood.

JP is making me watch episodes of Northern Exposure and I am enjoying it. It's a little strange at times, but good. We have also been watching season 1 of Merlin, which is good in a "bad TV" kind of way. It's not even the non-canon stuff I have the issue with, it's more the modern slang they use and the smirky, "haha, get us in tights!" kind of undercurrent. I don't know. The two main characters are all kinds of pretty and I want to keep watching to see if the writers get a grip on where they want to go with the show. Anyone out there watch it? Does it get better?

I am also reading Hayao Miyazaki's Starting Point, which is mainly a collection of interviews, essays, and stories from 1976-1996. They cover the gamut from his work history and thoughts on animation to his ideals and beliefs. It's a heavy read and dry at some points, but if you ever want to find out what Miyazaki is like, this is not a bad way to do it (he's kind of an opinionated workaholic, but I don't think that surprises anyone, considering the sheer volume and quality of animation the man has generated).

Oh, good. I am getting texts and phone calls from work. Let's bump that overtime higher! Bye, y'all.