holiday chia.

My family does Christmas wish lists. We’ve done them for as long as I can remember. I know a lot of people think that takes the surprise and the fun out of Christmas, but I think it’s a lifesaver. I never know what to buy for anyone, and having a list in front of me that says “I’ll love you if you buy me ANY of these things” is really handy. I am a strict conformist to these lists I receive each year. However, if I find a variation of something on a list that I know the person will love, I’ll deviate a little.

This being said, there are a few items that have been on my Christmas list since I was able to write one that I have unfortunately never received. Some things I’ve given up on in my older age (although I’d probably still squee over an Easy Bake Oven), but some things I’m still holding out for.

wtf holiday cheer?

I always used to laugh at adults when they would say things like “Time goes by so much faster when you get older!” I thought they were nuts. When I was little, time dragged on. The school day lasted for years, and summer break felt like an eternity away from my friends. Now, at 27, I seriously feel like January 1st was yesterday! This is probably why I didn’t notice when I forgot to post to my blog since November 9th….So I apologize for that. It really felt like 5 minutes to me! I have a few stories to tell about the last month, but it’s gonna take a few posts to cover.

So today, in honor of WTF Wednesday, I thought I would get a lil’ bit serious on y’all. I know I already did that once with The Warm Fuzzies, but I think a once-a-month serious post isn’t too much to ask!

Seriously.

wtf daylight savings time?

Hello!

I would like to cordially invite you to the first installment of “WTF Wednesday”! Every Wednesday, rain or shine, I will be blogging about things that make me go “WTF?!”

Today we will be talking about Daylight Savings Time. We all changed our clocks back on Saturday night, and I am still having issues trying to adjust.

Yes, Arizona, we know.

The more and more I think about Daylight Savings Time (or DST if you like acronyms), the less and less it makes sense. In my world, all it does is cause it to be dark when I leave work…and make me wake up in a panic every morning because it’s light outside and I may have overslept. So really, WTF Daylight Savings Time??

nomnomnom.

I like food. A lot. There isn’t much in the way of food that I don’t like, in fact. So for whatever reason, today I decided to give it up. Well, not completely. I chose to give up the delicious foods. You know, the ones that make you look in the mirror and sigh later?

One of my coworkers did this “Reboot” juicing fast. Basically, you throw a bunch of fruits and veggies in a juicer and drink it all day. For 15 days. She really struggled with it, probably because our office’s definition of team building is bringing in donuts and coffee cake. She lasted about 2 days of straight juice, which in my opinion makes her a super hero. I couldn’t even imagine going 15 days without a solid meal! I checked out the website for these Crazy Juice People, and they do have an “express” version of the diet, which I affectionately refer to as “The Pansy Version”. This one is only 5 days of torture and hunger. I had to try it.

the warm fuzzies.

My company has amazing benefits. Sick time, vacation, 401k, all the bells and whistles. There is one thing that sets them apart from other companies, though. They also offer us 40 paid hours a year to volunteer in the community. How amazing is that? What company says to their employees, “Hey guys, we want to pay you to go work for someone ELSE for a week, just because.” This is probably why we are pretty high on the Fortune List of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Not only do we get these extra paid volunteer hours, but we are highly motivated and strongly encouraged to complete them every year. I love that my employer cares so much about the community.

So today, I want to talk to you about warm fuzzy feelings. The “Warm Fuzzies”. What gives you those feelings? Your kids saying “I love you”? Your cat snuggling up on a cold night? Your boyfriend doing something romantic for you? Sure, all of these things are great sources of the Warm Fuzzies. Allow me to introduce to you a different source: Helping people. This is probably the best source of happiness I have found in my life. So far this year I have used my Volunteer Hours to help out at MORE in Placerville, which is a place for developmentally disabled adults. I helped them with their Client Appreciation Day, and it was a blast.

Recently, a coworker told me about an organization that she uses her hours for. It’s called “Women’s Empowerment”. Its purpose is to provide homeless women with professional job-readiness skills and resources to try to get them jobs. It’s such a wonderful program, and it teaches women skills that they normally wouldn’t have. After hearing how much my coworker loved working there, I decided to check it out.

scaredy pants.

So yesterday my coworker was talking about a fabulously frightening movie he rented on Halloween: Insidious. He said it was the first movie in a long time that freaked him out. So of course, I had to rent it. Yes, me who is afraid of her own shadow and almost puked during “Paranormal Activity” because I was so scared. Apparently I love to torture myself.

So I called up a friend and we headed over to our local Redbox to locate this amazing film, went back to my apartment and popped it in the DVD player.

We were giggling through the first half and I was getting really excited at the idea of making fun of my coworker the next day for being such a pansy….

When THIS appeared on the screen.

BEHIND YOU!!!!!

halloween in the big city.

I can’t believe it’s already November 1st. That’s insane. I feel like as I get older, time seems to go by a lot faster. That seems unfair. Whatever happened to being in school and wishing Christmas break would hurry up and get here already?? I guess because now I have the bills that come with Christmas break, it seems to creep up on me faster….sigh.

So how was everyone’s Halloween weekend? I, of course, went to my favorite city in the world…..San Francisco. It was my friend’s 30th birthday on the 28th, and he decided he wanted to hit up the city Saturday night, so a group of us went. I had to cater a wedding Saturday, so when I finally made it to the Bay Bridge it was already 10:30pm. Lucky for us, San Francisco doesn’t know the term “sleep”. We decided to meet at the hotel my friend got for us that night, and let me tell you….finding that place was a nightmare. As often as I go to San Fran, I should know my way around better. Instead I found myself driving us around in circles, shouting things like “What do you MEAN, no left turn??? What is THAT?! There is NO reason not to make a left turn there!” and “One way my ASS!”. At least it was an experience. During our circular excursion around the general area of the hotel, my friend decided it was time to dip into the birthday boy’s vodka. I mean, what else was she supposed to do? If I was stuck in a car with Lost Me, I probably would want a cocktail too.