Thank you, Martin

Get a glass of your favorite beverage, and join me in a toast: To Fetenstimmung!

Sorted.

Passport and a pedicure - what more does a girl need for her first trip to London?

Goodbye, Precious Phoenix

The last time I got to see Phoenix was at Jess & Jon's wedding. He and his Mom Linda were out on the dance floor, but people kept cutting in and stealing Phoenix away. I, of course, was one of them. He went - always - smilingly and joyfully to the next woman who held out her arms.

I got a couple of songs' worth of cuddling on the dance floor, and at one point his Mom leaned over and shouted in my ear (the music was cranked, and the dance floor was small), "I don't know what you're saying to him, Jeannie, but he sure seems to like it!"

Apparently he'd been beaming at everyone (and drooling) over my shoulder, and I confessed to his Mom that I wasn't so much whispering in his ear as I was smooching on his neck. She laughed and said that he seemed okay with that. I said, "Cool - I can be his first hickey!" We parted ways and I got a few more minutes on the dance floor with Phoenix, who - despite the noise and the crowd - dozed a bit in my arms.

I'm so very very grateful that I got that time with him.

A Sunday Morning Conversation

"Oh, you're awake - good morning! Would you like me to put the kettle on?"

A baleful look from question recipient.

"Oh, c'mon, I don't think I could screw that part up."

"You're an American - you're genetically incapable of making a proper cup of tea."

"Hey! My ancestors came from there!"

"Well, that's probably why they got kicked out."

"Deported for improper beverage preparation?"

"Exactly."

Year in Review

A lot of "real bloggers" did some variety of the year in review - top five or ten favorite posts, Most Popular, Most Linked, Top News Stories, Best New Toys, 10 Most Disgusting Things Found In The Back Of My Fridge - you know how they are. Some smartass bloggers I know (too numerous to mention here) snidely asked me if I were planning on doing a "jeanniecool's top ten posts of 2004". Since I think both of my readers - along with the aforementioned smartass bloggers - are able to count, they will notice that there are, in fact, only 9 posts in 2004. Maybe this is the year I'll break into double digits! (But I'm not promising anything, so back off.)

All that said, I'm doin' me a review anyway. In no particular order, here it is:

Things That Made My Life Better in 2004
Family
Friends (both IRL & virtual)
The people who fall into both of the above categories
Chocolate
The Best Dogs In The World (really covered by "Family", but deserving a special mention)
My new job
Weddings
Babies
This picture
Laughter
Music
Chocolate
Creative geeky people with too much time on their hands
Yeah, I know I said chocolate twice. Consider this a third; 2004 wasn't easy.
A whole mess of authors
Boys

Things I Could Have Done Without
Death
Cancer (not mine)
George W. Bush's "reelection"
Immature whiny-assed passive-aggressive bloggers
Seattle traffic
Tsunamis (no, I'm not the only one)
Sociopaths
Boys

This list is (duh) by no means exhaustive, and I reserve the right to amend, append, remove, add, alter, destroy, or otherwise change any item contained therein. This list is not intended to represent your 2004, which may have been perfectly serene. If so, congratulations. If not, well...that's pretty much what life is, no?

I mean, there were a lot of things about 2004 that sucked. A lot. Still and all, it's kinda nice to realize that I ended the year with more things on the good list than on the bad. The repercussions of some items on the latter may be felt for years to come - and y'all know which ones I mean - so I'm hesitant to say 2004 was "good".

Regardless, I'm hoping that 2005 will round off the same way, with an overall rating of "Not Entirely Crappy". Sometimes that's all one can ask for.

May your 2005 leave you with a longer good list, too!    ;-)

Best. Thing. Ever.

I've been feeling more than a little distraught the last 24 hours. Who knows - perhaps even distressed enough to blog about it later...well, we'll see.

However, I just got this from my friend Jonas, and it made my day.

Thanks, Jonas; I owe you one!

Please.

Three words: Supreme Court appointments.

Go out and do the right thing on Tuesday, okay?

I steal things.

I've met a lot of incredibly cool people online in the past year (more on this later - really. I mean it!), so I debated long and hard about the wisdom of posting this. [Some of these wonderful and amazing people have extended invitations to me to visit, and I really hope these invitations are not about to be rescinded. Love of a good (?) story is pretty much always going to win the day, though...wise or not. ;-/ ]

I recently traveled to the midwest for family reunions (who knows? There might be more on that later, too!). I went a couple of days early to spend some time with a dear friend from high school, and his wife and son. It was great to spend time just hanging out, playing cards, catching up, yada yada yada. As I said above, I've met a plethora of groovy people in the last year, but there's something simply fulfilling about spending time with someone who's known me intimately for over twenty years - and loves me anyway.

My buddy and his wife were getting ready for a garage sale that coming weekend, so there were many boxes of stuff about. I'd like to say I pitched in and helped them get organized, but I mostly just sat around and distracted them. () ;-)

For various reasons, I ended up alone at their house for a while that Friday morning. (My friend came back from work for the wife and child, as it was a little league day.) There was a box of trashy romance novels (a guilty pleasure of mine), and I'd meant to confirm with the wife that they were for the garage sale, but in their rush to head out for the game, I forgot to ask. I tried to reach my friend on his cell but he wasn't answering. I left a message, and started looking through the box. There were several authors/titles I already had in my collection at home, but there were a some new ones, and I was almost done with the book I'd brought with me.... I picked out several authors to take along, left a note ("Sure hope these were for the garage sale! ;-)" because, really, why else would they be there?) and a few bucks on the kitchen counter.

It was a couple hours later that my friend called me back. I explained what I'd done, and there was a moment of silence. He says, "Um, actually, my wife was going to send those to her grandmother, who's in the hospital."

Oops.

"Hi, my name is jeannie cool, and I steal things."

[FTR, though, I talked with him today, and all is well. I'm going to mail them when I finish reading them, so you needn't rescind those invitations.]

Jeanniecool

is open for business.

It's official. The stupidity and the ridiculous waste of time, energy and emotion are over.

Official time of death: Sunday, July 25, 2004, 9:58 am PST.

Fool me once,

shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

Fool me 1, 384 times, shame on - well, hell, just take me out and shoot me for being such a fawking idiot for so very very long.

I'm sad to say the learning curve's been flat for waaaay too long, but I can take a hint...once it's been applied with a sledgehammer.

According to AA, the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over in the same way, each time expecting a different result." Color me certifiable.

The good thing is that I'm finally out of Limbo.

Important Safety Tip

From me to you.

Let's just say you're making brownies for your bestest friend's going away party. And let's just say you're so darn efficient that you mix up the brownies while the oven's heating up, putting them in and then heading off to take your shower while they bake.

And let's say that when you get out of the shower, it's time to take them out of the oven. And let's say that you do that while still in a towel, but the towel slips off and a part of you not normally used for cooking makes contact with the hot pan, leaving you with a two-inch-long burn.

I'd tell you the moral of this story, but if you need it explained at this point, there's really no helping you.

Dine Out for Life

It's time again for the most effortless charity work you'll ever be asked to do!

Before y'all start whining, let me tell you how you can do a good thing and have fun doing it!

Lifelong Aids Alliance, (the result of the merge of Chicken Soup Brigade and the Northwest AIDS Foundation) is once again sponsoring Dine Out for Life. The LAA is dedicated to educating people against the spread of AIDS/HIV and helping those affected by it, with services ranging from meal delivery and getting patients to medical appointments to hospice care. Dine Out for Life is an annual event, with area restaurants donating a percentage of the food profits to LAA. LAA regularly gets 100+ restaurants involved, raising over $125,000 - money which stays in Seattle!

See where I'm going with this? All you have to do is go out to eat. Yep, that's it. Get some friends together, choose your participating restaurant, and have fun. Whoever would've thought doing a good deed could be so painless? [A note, though - booze sales don't count, so go ahead and rack up that bar tab, just be sure to order dessert! ;-) ]

My sister and I will once again be ambassadors at the 74th Street Ale House. Come see us for dinner, or find a place in your own neighborhood - there are enough restaurants participating that you're guaranteed to find something to suit your mood and palate!

Don't live in Seattle? Check here to see if your city does it! (and my apologies if it's already happened, but now you'll know to check for 2005!)