ampersand

Super great awesomeness

This week has had some awesome things happen. I am choosing to ignore all the snow. Though, the snow has made people marginally nicer to each other in limited circumstances, so that’s pretty cool.

Awesome thing #1. I went to Buffalo and got to hang out with two of my favorite people and meet the youngest Great Dane to ever win a Rally Obedience title. Don’t think for a second she didn’t have a big head. She’ll be a huge diva by her first birthday, just you wait. But the REALLY awesome thing is that I was allowed into Buffalo by the wonderful U.S. Border Guards. Lately, my memory has been operating at approximately 1/5 of its regular capacity, and it didn’t even occur to me that Buffalo is, you know, NOT IN CANADA. So I didn’t exactly bring proper identification to get into another country when I left for the bus station last Sunday. And didn’t consider that until about 5 minutes before boarding.

Much frantic googling (and the discovery of my birth registration card, but not my birth certificate in my wallet) and activation of my inner lawyer later, we arrived at the border. And they have completely different entry requirements posted. So, I declared myself Canadian (hell, I’d have declared myself a toaster at that point), had a pleasant conversation with the super-cute border guards, and was on my way.

2. The Olive Garden. Shut up, I’d never been. And their breadsticks are to DIE FOR. Even if you can’t taste any booze in their (overpriced) drinks.

3. Forever 21 accessories. I’ll take one of everything, please. $20 should cover it.

4. Improv class ended. That’s kind of sad, really. But it’s been a great 8 weeks. They went by ridiculously fast. But Pete, our teacher, taught us so much. He really rocked it, for his first kick at the teaching can. I’m terrified that we’re doing a show, but still looking forward to it. Dreams that I’ve had buried since I was literally five years old are beginning to surface again and they’re starting to look like possibilities. Perhaps I need a brown paper bag in case I hyperventilate. My classmates are awesome, and we’re really growing together as a group. It’s only gonna get better in January as we take level 2.

5. This was waiting for me when I got home from Buffalo. The packaging is pretty, it smells wonderful, goes on easily, and has a quote from The Princess Bride on the leaflet inside the box. It makes me want to find some cute boys and make out with them. So, if you know any (two caveats: single and local. Or single and willing to travel!), send them my way. Also, does anybody know if you can get anything Tokyo Milk in Toronto?

6. Renewed friendship, and getting an unexpected assist in an awkward situation. Friends who are ALWAYS there to help me get out of my head. I wish there was some way I could show them how much their help means.

7. Finding out that my eyes are perfectly healthy. I’m not going more blind, my retinas and optic nerves are happy, and my eyeglass prescription hasn’t changed in the past two years. Score!

8. Flight of the Conchords is back! The Season 2 premiere is on Funny or Die. If you’re American, watch it now. If you’re not, do what you have to do to make the website think you’re American, and watch it. I loved Femident.

9. HDTV freaking ROCKS. I need to reconfigure my audio setup again, because my DVD player now has no sound going to the audio receiver (and I haven’t had the patience to sit down and play with the connections, or to pull everything away from the wall), but the cable part is awesome. Even if season 3 of Dexter is still boring, no matter how vivid it looks.

10. People I’ve heard of are following me on Twitter. That’s pretty freaking cool. And makes me feel like I need to start pimping my skills out more. Maybe one of these days, I’ll have a strategy session for my life.

As 2009 begins that slow climb up that first hill of any rollercoaster (before it gets unleashed on us all, screaming down the rails at full speed at the stroke of midnight in a little more than a week and a half), the goal is to harness any and all potential energy that’s still left in 2008 and carry it forward into the new year, in order to take this new year completely by storm and to make it the best year I possibly can. Too many things kept me down in 2008 (like the man. Screw you, The Man, and your little dog, too!). For 2009, the plan is to do everything in my power to rise above and… sound less like I’ve been brainwashed by Oprah. I have goals. That I’m not working toward. That will be corrected next year.