Ah, I don't know.

...New Years Eve. What's the point? Another excuse for a party I don't want to go to? I'm supposed to make resolutions I know I'm going to break and spout off empty claims about how this year is going to be that much better than the last. I have to come up with an escape route so I don't have to kiss someone I don't care for or don't know and then pretend like I really wanted to but somehow never got the chance. "That's odd, what WAS I doing at midnight? Oh well. Next year maybe." It's either that or admitting I don't kiss people out of obligation...unless of course we're dating.

You're counting down to something very few people are really anticipating. New Years Day is just another day but with a different ending. What's with the build-up? Are people really that excited for a new year? It just means rewriting checks for the next few months because you habitually wrote '07 instead of '08. You don't get candy, you don't get to dress up, you can't have a barbeque, you don't get presents. You get the day off...which (unless you work for the government) makes it better than...Flag Day.

Have I lost the spirit of the new year? Am I bitter because I never could keep goals very well? Do I dislike New Years because I don't have someone special to smooch? To this I reply, perhaps...but perhaps not. Can you lose something you never really had? Shouldn't you attempt improvement every day of your life? Would having someone special make kissing for mere tradition less frivolous? Do we really need an excuse?

I do like sparkling grape juice. I also enjoy banging pots together.

Um, Happy New Years.

Tag I'm it.

I'm back and in the best shape I've ever been. This is a post to remember. There's nothing better than playing cyber-tag. Does this mean someone has to crawl under my legs or I'm frozen forever? or do I need to name a cartoon show? I guess 6 random and not-so-well-known facts about me will have to suffice.

1. I never made any team I tried out for in High School. One of the reasons I participated in track...I'm still working on the reason why the incoming freshmen were faster than me.

2. My family has a weird obsession with penguins for me. I'd say they think that I have a weird obsession with penguins--which I don't--but they don't. They know I don't and yet...penguin socks and the movie Surf's Up for Christmas this year.

3. I crowd surfed for the first time this summer. It was a matter of life and death.

4. I once swallowed a guitar pick. Another matter of life and death.

5. I very much dislike it when people chew with their mouth open. All that smackin' does something to my nerves.

6. If I ever have the chance to open new peanut butter, I carve a heart in it. It's from an old commercial.

I apologize but I'm going to take a hit on this one and not tag others. Lame maybe but...that's how it's going to be. If you feel so inclined, feel free to post 6 random facts about yourself on your blog...or mine. Peace out and Merry Merry Christmas.

It's still about war. Peace...anti-war...peace.

You know, I wish I could say that I am gearing up for some excellent, blog war winning posts, that I'm fine tuning my humor and brushing up on infrequently used vocabulary words, or that I have some posts up my sleeve that will blow my unsuspecting blogging nemeses and soon-to-be victims out of the proverbial water...but apparently I only have long sentences and little to say.

I am tired.

Like so few others, I have faithfully updated despite the lack of reciprocation (remember I give so you'll give). I have waited patiently for blogging antagonists to run up their flags and return to the front line. Now they are allegedly back and I have nothing left to give.

In the spirit of Christmas I am sidling away from my throne, I am relinquishing the stage...but I will not be gone for long. Like General Douglas MacArthur I am not retreating--I am merely advancing in another direction. Like a wave that recedes only to crash with greater strength upon the sandy foundation of your blog, I will return.

It gives me great pleasure knowing the sleeping giants are rousing, because like Goliath, they too shall fall.

More pictures reminiscent of home.

It's Martinelli's, I swear...

This picture is a few years old. We jumped on the trampoline like that...which didn't last long because we got WAY too hot. We probably thought it would be less dangerous.

Sometimes it hits me.

I haven't been home in a year...and I miss it.

I miss my little brothers who I haven't seen in a year. I miss sledding in our front yard. I miss celebrating Easter. I miss late-night games. Our fireplace! Snow football. I miss acting like a kid. Family scripture and prayer. Taco Bell runs. Movies in the sunroom. Grilled cheese sandwiches on Sunday. Bike rides. The candy drawer at my dad's office. Raiding my mom's candy stashes at home. I love candy. Acting like a kid again. Thunderstorms and playing in the rain. Watching soccer and going to Frosty Treats. Fall colors. My dad's book collection. Getting stuck in the driveway. Trampoline basketball. Saturday basketball. The hammock. Reading for hours. Lake Superior. Woods! Watching the Packers. Unlimited summer rentals from Blockbuster. No obligations. Trips to the Lake. Quoting movies. Childhood memories...

Oh man, Christmas can't come soon enough.

Sledding in the front yard. The end result of which is inevitably this:

Ring out wild...pans? Literally ringing in last year's New Year.

Believe it or not, this is home.