Hello, my name is Amanda, and I'm addicted to TiVo. The TiVo was my Christmas present to myself, and it came yesterday. Ken describes it as crack. Apt description. I've had it little more than 12 hours, and I'm already so excited about television, and there is nothing on. I went wild recording programs, pausing live TV, jumping back and forth between programs, and surfing the guide.

My only problem is that I can't figure out how to hook up my DVD player. My television was literally manufactured in the 80's, and only has one set of AV inputs, and only one auxillary channel. I'm told there is a such thing as an AV splitter, so I'm hoping that both the TiVo and the DVD player can share the AUX channel. I'm going to be pissed if I have to buy a new television, too.

It was a lovely Christmas, although I think I would have preferred all the excitement to be at the beginning of my vacation instead of the end, so I would have had more time to relax.

And my annual loot list, in general order received:

Ken - apple pie (it was the best pie that I've had that wasn't made by a relative)
Calvin - Operation (it was so cute...he didn't know what to get me, and Cassie told him to get something we could do together, so he got me a board game. Also very cute was his snoring through Candlelight Service Christmas Eve.)
Neighbor Erika - gift basket with cookie mix, cocoa mix, cinnamon and sugar shaker, all homemade
Gym-Nest (where I teach TKD) - beer mug (which actually was supposed to go to Troy, because they did beer mugs for guys and coffee mugs for girls, sexist much?, but Troy doesn't drink alcohol, so we traded. Without his knowledge.)
Chelsea & Josh - a yarn tote and handmade magnets
Stocking - 3 antique ornaments, a Strawberry Shortcake tin, pajama pants, my favorite lip balm (Denali Dreams in cranberry, made with fireweed honey), and Sweet Pea Body Butter from Bath and Body Works. I was told that I was supposed to receive the Vanilla Body Butter and Emily was supposed to receive the Sweet Pea. I don't know how Santa made that mistake, since we live in completely different time zones, but I guess we're making a switch.
Emily & Matt - hand-blown glass ornament (not by them), a set of wrought-iron picture frames and a collage of pictures taken by Emily, who is a wonderful photographer and has some great scenery to work with up there in Alaska.
Lew - UFC DVDs of the greatest knockouts (we watched them yesterday, there was a lot of cringing and groaning going on. Ouch!)
Mom & Dad - a crochet hook organizer (yay!), a real iron (I've been using a travel iron for years, and it's worn out it's welcome), a body pillow, flannel sheets, boots (the ones I was agonizing over at Kohl's on the shopping trip with Emily because they were so cheap and so cute, but I've been trying to cut down my extraneous spending so I can get my windows paid off faster, so Mom said, "Don't look" and snapped them up.), a brown and pink striped blouse, and a skirt and sweater that I had tried on at Cato's on the same shopping trip, but they didn't have the right sizes for me. She found the right sizes at a different store.
Santa - cherry chocolates, a Far Side off-the-wall calendar, and She-Ra S1, V1
Twyla - candle votive

It was a Christmas like most others, though there was a hole with Emily gone. I'm glad they're planning on coming home, though it won't be for another couple of years.

So much for being all self-actualized and putting high school behind me. I've been invited to a party that I'm not sure I want to go to, because of all those bad feelings I was not being petty about. I was not invited by the hostess, I was invited by one of the two friends from high school I still keep in touch with. She had a much closer relationship with the rest of the invitees than I did: I talked to them in school, but very little social contact with them outside of school. I had very little social contact with anyone outside of school, really.

I know people have changed, and I had a good time talking with them at the reunion. But I think I'd feel like I was intruding on something at this party. I don't have the shared memories the rest of them have. On the other hand, I don't know how much that matters. Plus, I'd really like to see their kids, the ones who have them, anyway. At any rate, it'll be streching my comfort level to go, and it may just take me some time to get used to the idea.

This is some of the most meta (and cohesive) spam I've received in a long time:

He woke up around eleven, and almost as soon as Annie heard him stirring about, she came in with orange juice, his pills, and a bowl of hot chicken soup. Once upon a time it would have been filled with crushed butts; now it held nothing more hazardous to his health than paper-clips and a typewriter eraser.

He reversed out of the pantry, pausing to turn off the light, reminding himself that he must (rinse) put everything back in order as he made his retreat.

It would be nice to believe he had performed heroically, but he supposed it was only that escape thing again, because the pain had been really dreadful.

Oh, and I found out that I have approximately 48 hours to complete the hat and scarf set for the family gift exchange that I am now prepared to start all over again. Will she be able to do it? Stay tuned!

I forgot to mention that I ran into Aaron at Aoeshe's after testing on Friday. (I still don't know, by the way, I had to work late last night, and didn't make it to TKD again. The universe is conspiring against me!) Aaron and I had a...thing about three and a half years ago. By thing, I guess I mean a mutual crush, and it never went any further than some kissing, because he didn't want to start anything because he was leaving for law school in the fall. I was a little perturbed, because it was May and we had the whole summer to figure out if there was anything beyond that. I've seen him since then, the last time at Kristen and Todd's wedding, but really not much.

In the course of our catching up, I mentioned that I had been to my 10-year high school reunion, and he said he didn't think he'd go to his. I told him my philosophy, that I figured if I didn't go, I would just be being petty. And his reply was "What's wrong with being petty?" And right then, I realized that it was probably a good thing that I hadn't ended up with him. He's a pessimistic, cynical kind of guy, and I wouldn't have been able to tolerate that for long. I think he saw that and although I'll probably never tell him, I thank him for not putting us through that.

"What's wrong with being petty?"

"I'm not in high school anymore."

My sinuses were killing me yesterday, so instead of going to TKD last night, I went to bed. So I have to wait until Wednesday. I think. Wednesday night is kinda weird, there's class, but there's also the instructor/student pizza party. It's also the last class until January. There's no way I'm waiting a month!

To help tide you over, I finished Calvin's blanket, and I think it turned out really well. It turned out a lot bigger than I'd planned, but that's okay, it'll grow with him. Or he'll grow with it. Whatever.

I look totally scary in this picture, but...



Testing is over and done with, and it wasn't too bad. I didn't have to do anything I wasn't prepared for, except for doing a board break with my elbow, which resulted in a nasty bruise because of the tries to get the hang of it. (You don't hurt yourself if you do it right.) I got the board break with the spin hook kick on the second try. I'll know the results on Monday!

I'm testing for my black belt tonight. Wish me luck!

Calvin's field trip got canceled yesterday. We were so disappointed! But I had driven all the way to Wilton anyway, because no one called me to tell me that the Quad Cities had a heap of snow. We didn't get any! What a difference 30 miles makes. At any rate, I had driven all that way, so I spent the morning in the classroom instead. Mrs. Feuerbach used to be my kindergarten and first grade teacher, so it was like a blast from the past listening to her teach.

She didn't have much planned, since she expected to be on a field trip, so we reviewed math facts, the months of the year, the days of the week, and which ones were weekdays and which were weekends. Then we got to color and do some reading/word comprehension. And then we had milk and then made Christmas ornaments out of pinecones and glitter.

It was so much fun! Little kids are so accepting; I was everyone's friend by the end of the morning. I think Calvin was a little jealous, since I was supposed to be his special guest. It was also interesting to see how the teaching/learning style has changed. It's a parochial school, and they were supposed to close it last year due to money problems, but instead they switched to a self-directed learning program so that they could get by with fewer teachers. (There are kindergarten, first, and second grades in Calvin's room.) Basically, kids have assignments they have to do with deadlines, but they choose in what order to do them and the teachers assess whether they can go on or whether they need to cover the material again. I'll be seeing Calvin's mom tomorrow; I'm looking forward to seeing what Calvin said about it. He did ask whether I could come back on Monday. :)