I’n order to better understand and connect with the kids where I work, I’ve been listening to the hits station in the car much more lately. At least this is the reason I tell myself. Of course now I’m going around singing “Whachya Say-ya” and “Halo Halo Halo” instead of the collective works of Phil Collins (thanks easy listening station).

I can’t help it, I really like that Miley Cyrus song “Party in the U.S.A.”! I really, really do. It’s F to the U to the N.

Oh boy.

I have been doing this blog for almost 8 years!

8 YEARS.

EIGHT.

YEARS.

Alison is eating more yogurt.
Alison is trying to figure out a good way to decorate her office at the school. It’s so big. And white. And concrete.
Alison is often delirious.
Alison is too often tired.

Alison is hoping to lose weight.
Alison hates diets.
Alison hates diet commercials even more.

Alison especially hates commercials about fit women on a diet (Special K, Yoplait!)
Alison is angry at the media for making it impossible for a woman to ever be good enough.
Alison is a little bit melancholy.
Alison wonders if she has seasonal affective disorder.
Alison tends to buy a lot of gray, black, brown, and light blue clothing.

I feel like I should say something/write something about Haiti. But I don’t know what. The situation is just so impossibly horrible.

I wish I could adopt an Haitian orphan. Sounds trite, no? Yeah, wish away. I do often think about adoption, but I can’t afford it. Husband doesn’t like the idea. But all those kids–all those kids in that hopeless situation. I would go there and hold them. I would go there if I could. I don’t know how one does things like that. I don’t run in those circles, I don’t have those connections. Or resources. So I feel helpless.

Give some money. Hope. I don’t know what else to do or say.

Etsy has a shop where all the proceeds go to Doctors without Borders.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/crafthope

I like Partners In Health.

And The Humane Society is helping there, too.

I’m up late. For me. For some people 3am is late. For me, it’s after 11:30. I’m on call. Just to answer the phone, but it is still kinda freaking me out. That I’ll sleep through a call. Or that I’ll answer one completely incoherently. Or that I’ll fall asleep while talking to someone. I remember having to wake up often during the night when Dulcie was a baby. Breastfeeding every two hours. That was painful. I watched bad movies just to give me something to focus on. I even watched that movie with Queen Latifah and Steve Martin. Maybe “house” was in the title. I tried to watch Network but it required too much attention.

Some say love, it is a river.

Kate McGarrigle has died (and how cute is that picture?). Mark is a big fan and I like a lot of their music. NPR played Heart Like a Wheel the other day…

Some say the heart is just like a wheel
When you bend it you can’t mend it
But my love for you is like a sinking ship
And my heart is on that ship out in mid-ocean

How heartbreaking is that? How spot on? How lovely!

Time to try and sleep. Until the next call.

It may be trendy to like Vampire Weekend, but I more than like them. I LOVE THEM. I told Mark that I love them so much my heart could burst. They are everything I like in music and a band.

I mean I also love Arcade Fire so much it is embarrassing, but I don’t love every single song the way I love every single VW song. Like religion.

When did I get to the age when all my favorite musicians were younger than me? I?

Don’t be depressed about 35. Don’t let the world tell you the doors are closing. Don’t let numbers mean more than dreams.

Eek.

Two six year old girls having a sleepover are CRAZY. They are both Pokemon obsessed and play weird games that involve shutting doors and turning off the lights and saying “good morning” and “good night” over and over. Plus, everything to do with poop and private body parts is funny. Talk of buttholes and nipples and farts. Man. Girls sure know how to party. I don’t know how many times Mark and I have told them to stop jumping on the bed or stop jumping from the stair banister to the couch. Did I do this? I do remember lots of jumping on couch cushions to avoid the lava as we (elves) were trying to escape the evil king. I liked pretending to be an elf or a fairy. After seeing The Dark Crystal I always pretended my name was Kira and I was traveling the world having great adventures. I also had an affinity for Heidi and the Swiss Alps.

The Archies, as invented by the illustrious Donna Bowman, are the top (not necessarilly one’s favorite or best–though I suppose I kinda take it in that direction) things in the world, not counting one’s kids and husband (and pets, I must add). So, here we go, The top things of 2009, a list in random order.

1. Butterscotch
2. Breaking Bad
3. Mad Men
4. Pokemon
5. Japan
6. That Lentil Tomato rotini recipe
7. Jane Campion Returns
8. The blackberry pearl Honda Fit.
9. UAY
10. Game Nights
11. Dug, the dog
12. The Clay Pot
13. Z’Mariks
14. The Crisis Center
15. Madison
16. Deadwood from Netflix.
17. Obama!
18. Here Comes Science!
19. The Jar of Buttons
20. Junie B. Jones
21. Ivy & Bean
22. Columbine, the book

(and I may add more as I remember them)

So Dulcie lost a front upper tooth today. Oh the bittersweet feelings it stirs within me. My kiddo, growing up. Gonna get herself some big teeth. I’ll miss those little ones. The gap sure is cute, though!

We have been idling at my folk’s place in Dixon, IL while Mark is off in Virginia. His grandmother died last week and he drove out there with his sister and brother for the funeral. Mark was born in Washington D.C. and spent the first 10 years of his life in that area. Still, he definitely considers himself a Missourian, I think. At least sports-wise. I only have one childhood home–Dixon. And I only ever lived in two houses in all my growing up (and their backyards touch!). Funny, since leaving Dixon I have lived lots of places, lots of homes. Too many, I think. Too many.

I see more of Mark in my daughter every day. He got her an old spirograph set from ebay and they have already spent hours making various, intricate designs. And she’s keen on games–board games, video games, silly little games like “guess what color I’m thinking of” or “catch the hand”. And she likes things just so. Just like Mark. It is very frustrating for him if one cuts corners. Me? I’m a corner cutter.

2010 (weird to type that): The goals

1. To get rid of a lot of stuff (Dulcie, I’m looking at you, kid)
2. To find that necklace I got last Christmas and have never seen again.
3. To come up with a good plot.
4. To query.
5. To stick to an exercise plan.
6. To eat less artificial stuff.
7. To get my kid to eat better.
8. To grow some herbs in pots. (no, not THAT herb)
9. To spend a family weekend in Chicago
10. To spend a family weekend in Des Moines (yes, Des Moines–it has some cool stuff, you know).

honorable mentions (stuff that would be good, but no pressure): knit a scarf, Wisconsin Dells, learn how to bake a decent loaf of bread, sew on those missing buttons, clean the basement, try at least three of the nice Iowa City restaurants, become a member of the local food co-op.

Happy New Year!