Paint. Paint. Paint. Paint? Paint.

Look at me, talking to myself. In six short days I have totally lost my ability to socialize. There's something about being alone at home for days at a time that really messes me up. I enjoy my solitary time but when I go out in the world I act weird and chat up people who don't want to be chatted up.

Example: when I pulled myself away from the riveting world of semi-gloss trim paint yesterday and went to the gym, I overheard a girl in spinning say to someone that her husband was home re-doing the bathroom and I immediately piped up that I'd been painting all week and lost my ability to socialize and they both looked at me like I'd lost my ability to socialize. See what I mean?

Spinning was dreadful - it was an unfamiliar instructor and she was capital C crazy. She was one of those on-the-edge sinewy types who wants CONSTANT FEEDBACK. How are you doing? HOW ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU SWEATING YET? I AM! DO YOU FEEL YOUR QUADS WORKING? ONLY 10 MORE SECONDS, I PROMISE! 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1!!! OKAY, HOW ARE YOU FEELING? ARE YOU WARM? CAN YOU FEEL YOUR ABS WORKING? WHO WANTS FIRM ABS, RAISE YOUR HAND?

god. I wanted to punch her in the face.

But! The week has been a worthy endeavor and the kitchen looks awesome. I will say, if I'd known in advance how freaking much work it was, I'd never have attempted it. The trim alone was scandalous. Who puts crown molding in a kitchen and paints it BLACK? Do you know how many coats of primer you need to cover that shit? But ALL ALONE I persevered and painted like a little trooper all week long, while listening to my favorite embarrassing music. (Buffy musical soundtrack, anyone?)

Anyway, here ya go:

Before:

(drumroll...)

After!

Here's the other wall (and the cute phone nook):

Much better, no? I think so. I'm so glad it's over. So, so glad. Other things I did:

- Watched "Pride and Prejudice", which Netflix kindly sent me (Oh, the Firthy goodness of it!)
- Ate everything that wasn't nailed down
- Played tiny, tiny Tetris on my new Xmas cell phone
- Frolicked amongst my other lovely gifts
- Had a fun, boozy dinner with some old friends
- Hung out with my 2nd grade teacher, who is an amazing lady
- Discovered that my gym nemesis, Snooty, is no longer engaged to her man Milque Toast and that he, in fact, is dating another girl at the gym. (Scandalous!)
- Removed paint from my hair, clothing, face, hands and cats
- Generally reveled in my sloth

Christmas, which seems like a long time ago, was very nice and our tree was extra cute this year:

**********

So, today the year started out swimmingly by being 70 degrees out and sunny. 70 degrees! We went mountain biking and wore shorts. Shorts! I know, it was outstanding. Kate and I then spent some quality time together at the mall, where the Gap had only horrible puffy-sleeved remnants on sale, but hey, it's still the mall.

In the tradition of my last two New Year's entries (and to celebrate the two year anniversary of this journal) I will now list my 2004 highlights and lowlights.

Highlights:

- Um, the house? Still awesome.
- THANK FREAKING GOD, I HAVE A JOB I LIKE.
- Adorable new niece
- GOOD JOB. LOVE JOB.
- Placed top five in two races.
- Read 35 books this year, including a few really, really outstanding new favorites.
- Started making jewelry again

Lowlights:

- Lost a family member.
- Wasted half the year in hellish old job. What a shithole.
- Debt, still got it.
- Car, still dying.
- I read 40 books last year. Why didn't I beat last year's number? Do the Little House books really count as nine? Hmph.

All in all, not bad. The good outweighs the bad and that's all you can ask for. Happy New Year!

12 chatty monkeys