Dear Santa
I know it's been a while...something like, what, 27 years? Well, I've decided to believe in you again. I'm also welcoming the Tooth Fairy back into the fold in light of my recent dental work, so if you can let her know, I'd appreciate it.
You should know that I have been a very good girl this year. Well, not exactly very good, but definitely good. OK, good enough? Right, well, I haven't killed anyone this year, ok?
So...this is kind of awkward since I've sent quite some time denying your existence (my bad), but since there's only a few more days until Christmas, I need to get on the stick to let you know what I want.
- Another 5k in my salary. I hope you take into account that I could be greedy here and ask for another zero (the 35 year old equivalent of asking for a pony), so please, you're Santa after all. Nothing's impossible for you. And if you want to add another zero to my salary, I completely understand if you want to mess around with the first number.
- A boyfriend. Let me clarify - a quality boyfriend who doesn't live with his parents (ahem), has a good job, clean medical history and can provide 3 years audited financial statements along with a complete medical workup. Kids OK as long as the ex-wife isn't a nightmare
- An Hermes Kelly bag. Again, being reasonable here, but if you want to upgrade the a Birkin, I'll take that too. I know we're in a recession, so if resources are limited for you as well Santa, just as Posh Spice to give up one. She has like...a million.
- Gisele Bundchen's body. I know she just had a baby and I'd be willing to do the work to lose the baby weight. But let's face it Santa, especially if you see when I'm sleeping and know when I'm awake, Gisele looks better on her worst day than I do on my best.
Since I am a grownup, I guess I should ask for some stuff to help other people out.
- An end to this recession and sustained job growth. Please Santa let everyone have a job that wants one (or needs one)
- An end to the hostility in the world. Please bring our soldiers safely home
- An end to poverty and hunger in the world. That does sound a little beauty contestant, doesn't it?
- Heath care for everybody
- Oh, some toys for my dogs; a bottle of scotch for my dad and a Kindle for my mom. I'm sure you'll be hearing from the rest of the family and my friends real soon so I won't duplicate their requests.
Well, that's it. I hope it's not too much. You might have a problem with stuffing the boyfriend down the chimney, so I can leave a key under the mat for you. I'll leave the milk and cookies out for you.
Love,
Beth
P.S. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Lamentation
Oh my poor neglected blog...familiar refrain, no?
For the two of you still reading (and yes mom, I know one of them is you), I guess I owe you an explanation.
But heck, that's no fun, is it?
Let me fill you in on what's been happening here at Chez Beth since we last chatted.
Still working two jobs. I left an unnamed big box home improvement store (think orange - sooo not a good color for me) for a low-cost retail chain. Liking this place more, a better fit than home improvement and video games. Absolutely better wine-infused stores to tell in my off hours. Let's just say that I am amazed at how slovenly people can be. Oh, I don't want this blouse...where to put it? Oh, the floor is quite convenient.
Holidays are around the corner, and for once I'm not planning a Dec 23/Dec 24 shopping extravaganza, although that is more due to the fact that I am paid once a month at my full time job and have to strike while the iron is hot. But hey, I'm done!
Still struggling with the depression - hard to stay positive when you're working your tail off and still at loose ends, but striving to stay positive. I have a great family and great friends, who I'm pretty sure would be happy with a hug if that was all I could offer at the holidays.
Anyhow, 3 more days of work before a 2 week vacation over the holidays. Hoping to come back rejuvenated and refreshed with inspiration for more blogs.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa...
For the two of you still reading (and yes mom, I know one of them is you), I guess I owe you an explanation.
But heck, that's no fun, is it?
Let me fill you in on what's been happening here at Chez Beth since we last chatted.
Still working two jobs. I left an unnamed big box home improvement store (think orange - sooo not a good color for me) for a low-cost retail chain. Liking this place more, a better fit than home improvement and video games. Absolutely better wine-infused stores to tell in my off hours. Let's just say that I am amazed at how slovenly people can be. Oh, I don't want this blouse...where to put it? Oh, the floor is quite convenient.
Holidays are around the corner, and for once I'm not planning a Dec 23/Dec 24 shopping extravaganza, although that is more due to the fact that I am paid once a month at my full time job and have to strike while the iron is hot. But hey, I'm done!
Still struggling with the depression - hard to stay positive when you're working your tail off and still at loose ends, but striving to stay positive. I have a great family and great friends, who I'm pretty sure would be happy with a hug if that was all I could offer at the holidays.
Anyhow, 3 more days of work before a 2 week vacation over the holidays. Hoping to come back rejuvenated and refreshed with inspiration for more blogs.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa...
Friday, October 23, 2009
Update
I've got nothing right now folks...
- Restarted (for like the millionth time) Weight Watchers. I hope I can do it this time.
- Figuring out how to escape from the black cloud I'm under at the moment. I zig, it zags, and somehow it finds me again (or am I finding it? I am a pessimist by nature)
- Still wanting to find the bastard who broke into my car the other night. I want my damn iPod back you little bastard.
- Mentally preparing to turn 35 in a few weeks. My sister asked me what I wanted for it, I told her to be 27 again. Of course that would mean I'd have to re-do this year and I don't wanna
- And finally, working on my whining. But hey, it something I'm good at and "they" do say to play to your strengths.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Loss
This has been a rough year, even rougher than last, and I thought 2008 would go down in history as a bad year for me.
2009 has been the year of loss and death. No other way to put it. Too many people have died this year, and I'm not talking about Farrah or Michael. I'm talking about people I know - Lou, Joe, Uncle Ed, Sandy and now Bobby. There were also people on my "social periphery" so to speak - Patrick, Scott & my friend Margie's dad.
I'm not going to lie, Bobby's death has shaken me up, and has made realize what a gift life is, even more so than the deaths preceeding it. I glibly mentioned to a few people after Sandy passed a few weeks ago that I was too young to read the obits regularly, and not only that, but to recognize the names. Now I feel like I'm afraid to read the paper.
My recent problems seem trivial, and I'm glad for that. Life is a gift, and I don't want to squander it.
2009 has been the year of loss and death. No other way to put it. Too many people have died this year, and I'm not talking about Farrah or Michael. I'm talking about people I know - Lou, Joe, Uncle Ed, Sandy and now Bobby. There were also people on my "social periphery" so to speak - Patrick, Scott & my friend Margie's dad.
I'm not going to lie, Bobby's death has shaken me up, and has made realize what a gift life is, even more so than the deaths preceeding it. I glibly mentioned to a few people after Sandy passed a few weeks ago that I was too young to read the obits regularly, and not only that, but to recognize the names. Now I feel like I'm afraid to read the paper.
My recent problems seem trivial, and I'm glad for that. Life is a gift, and I don't want to squander it.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Second Verse, Same as the First
Here I go again...time to admit that I need to go back to Weight Watchers.
I don't want to.
I really don't want to.
But I need to.
Wish me luck.
I don't want to.
I really don't want to.
But I need to.
Wish me luck.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Another Open Letter
Dear Jon & Kate:
For the sake of your children, I implore both of you to please grow up. That's it, that's my simple request.
Ideally you'd both fade back into obscurity, Kate being the kind of nurse that makes people stay away from doctor's offices and hospitals despite bleeding from both eyes and ears, and Jon being the kind of IT guy that my friends and I openly mock.
But in the words of Mick Jagger, you can't always get what you want.
So with that in mind, I'd like to ask that you keep your divorce proceedings, financial disputes and dalliances out of the press.
There are a lot of children of divorce out there, and I'd likely wager that the majority of them didn't have to read on the web that their parents "despise" each other, or that the other parent is acting like a teenager. I'd pretty much bet the ranch that most children of divorce aren't able to look forward to the inevitable boxed set of the dissolution of their parent's marriage that the +8 are going to have.
Marriages end, people change, couples grow apart. It happens every day in America. Regrettably in your case it happened on TV with America watching.
The past can't be changed. What can be changed is how you choose to co-parent in the future.
At the end of the day, you've brought 8 lovely children into this word who have no power and little capacity to understand what is happening around them. I hope you both prove themselves in deed that you are the loving parents you profess to be by hashing out your differences in private, and letting their children be children.
In the meantime, can you both please get the hell out of my People Magazine? Kate, your hair and Jon, your bling are giving me nightmares.
Thanks,
Beth
For the sake of your children, I implore both of you to please grow up. That's it, that's my simple request.
Ideally you'd both fade back into obscurity, Kate being the kind of nurse that makes people stay away from doctor's offices and hospitals despite bleeding from both eyes and ears, and Jon being the kind of IT guy that my friends and I openly mock.
But in the words of Mick Jagger, you can't always get what you want.
So with that in mind, I'd like to ask that you keep your divorce proceedings, financial disputes and dalliances out of the press.
There are a lot of children of divorce out there, and I'd likely wager that the majority of them didn't have to read on the web that their parents "despise" each other, or that the other parent is acting like a teenager. I'd pretty much bet the ranch that most children of divorce aren't able to look forward to the inevitable boxed set of the dissolution of their parent's marriage that the +8 are going to have.
Marriages end, people change, couples grow apart. It happens every day in America. Regrettably in your case it happened on TV with America watching.
The past can't be changed. What can be changed is how you choose to co-parent in the future.
At the end of the day, you've brought 8 lovely children into this word who have no power and little capacity to understand what is happening around them. I hope you both prove themselves in deed that you are the loving parents you profess to be by hashing out your differences in private, and letting their children be children.
In the meantime, can you both please get the hell out of my People Magazine? Kate, your hair and Jon, your bling are giving me nightmares.
Thanks,
Beth
Thursday, September 10, 2009
9/11
Indulge me for a moment, while I share my 9/11 story. I still remember where I was (and actually what I was wearing - a knee length flowered dress - my weigh in dress actually since Tuesday was WW) on that day.
I had called my father around 8:15 to harass him about an email he didn't reply to, when he picked up the phone with "Yeah, I'm watching it".
"Watching what?" I asked
"A plane crashed into the World Trade Center."
"Was it an accident or..."
"Gotta go, there was an explosion at the other building" and he hung up.
I went to get on MSNBC.com and my computer went into ultra-slow mode, clearly hosed by the bandwidth. My boss, Barbara, then came around the corner to tell me she was getting on conference call and to interrupt her if a particular call came through. I told her with my father told me, and that I was trying to get more info. She paled and told me to keep her posted.
About 10 minutes later she came out of her office, she told me that she had heard about something happening at the Pentagon and that she was off to find a TV. I hopped up and followed her. As we walked up to the conference room, she turned to me and said "Beth, we have people in there". The company I worked for at the time had around 40 people working for one client in the South Tower, 5 more for a different client in the North Tower and 15 at the Pentagon. We also had friends and colleagues who regularly flew out of Newark and Logan.
We went up to the conference room and joined others watching CNBC. The whole time I had one thought - don't cry, do not cry
Suddenly we saw the south tower collapse, and heard an anchor report that a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. I looked over and saw Kim wiping tears from her eyes, and Laura blurted out "You guys, I am so scared" and I allowed a few tears to pop out. Barbara got up, and true to her take charge attitude said she needed to start making some phone calls. I followed her to help.
She said we needed to start calling people who could get information - if Dave, who lived in Connecticut and flew out of Logan regularly, was in the office today; to find out where Dick was and if he was flying out of Newark; to get a list of people on projects in the Towers, the Pentagon and anyone who would be flying out of the airports the flights originated from.
The first call I made was to the only person I knew who lived in New York, my friend Ashia. I tried to call and got a busy signal. I kept at it and burst into tears when she finally answered. She told me she was OK but freaked out. I felt better knowing where she was and that she was safe for the moment.
My overriding thought that day was that I wanted to go home. Once I realized that Barbara and I couldn't do anything (corporate had stepped in and set up a command center to account for affected employees), I told her I wanted to leave. Not knowing if Philadelphia would be attacked, corporate center management closed all of the buildings.
I drove home listening to KYW, not wanting to believe what I was hearing, irate at the news of dancing in the streets in some countries that the US was attacked. I came home to an empty house, mom was at home with my sister and then 3 month old niece who had been home from the NICU for about 1 week, and dad was at work. Me and my dog Murphy sat watching TV, numb. I tagged along with my parents to pick out carpet (of all things) and we went for dinner at a small pub, swapping what we had heard with the waiter, not wanting to believe it was true.
It's been 8 years and it still doesn't seem real in some ways. I feel odd scheduling things - hearing, "ok, so we're set for 10:00 on 9/11" come out of my mouth when confirming a meeting. The day feels sacred to me.
I know tomorrow will be a different day - no, I didn't lose anyone. Fortunately all of our employees survived. But our country lost something - our innocence. Our sense of security. That it couldn't happen here.
But we also gained something I think. We all united that day and the days after. I practically rolled around and wrapped myself in the American flag - and a part of me is nostalgic for the days that we all seemed a little kinder to each other. When hearing the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful would stop people in their tracks.
Let's take a few moments tomorrow to remember those who died that day, those who died defending our country and those who now serve our country.
God Bless America
I had called my father around 8:15 to harass him about an email he didn't reply to, when he picked up the phone with "Yeah, I'm watching it".
"Watching what?" I asked
"A plane crashed into the World Trade Center."
"Was it an accident or..."
"Gotta go, there was an explosion at the other building" and he hung up.
I went to get on MSNBC.com and my computer went into ultra-slow mode, clearly hosed by the bandwidth. My boss, Barbara, then came around the corner to tell me she was getting on conference call and to interrupt her if a particular call came through. I told her with my father told me, and that I was trying to get more info. She paled and told me to keep her posted.
About 10 minutes later she came out of her office, she told me that she had heard about something happening at the Pentagon and that she was off to find a TV. I hopped up and followed her. As we walked up to the conference room, she turned to me and said "Beth, we have people in there". The company I worked for at the time had around 40 people working for one client in the South Tower, 5 more for a different client in the North Tower and 15 at the Pentagon. We also had friends and colleagues who regularly flew out of Newark and Logan.
We went up to the conference room and joined others watching CNBC. The whole time I had one thought - don't cry, do not cry
Suddenly we saw the south tower collapse, and heard an anchor report that a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. I looked over and saw Kim wiping tears from her eyes, and Laura blurted out "You guys, I am so scared" and I allowed a few tears to pop out. Barbara got up, and true to her take charge attitude said she needed to start making some phone calls. I followed her to help.
She said we needed to start calling people who could get information - if Dave, who lived in Connecticut and flew out of Logan regularly, was in the office today; to find out where Dick was and if he was flying out of Newark; to get a list of people on projects in the Towers, the Pentagon and anyone who would be flying out of the airports the flights originated from.
The first call I made was to the only person I knew who lived in New York, my friend Ashia. I tried to call and got a busy signal. I kept at it and burst into tears when she finally answered. She told me she was OK but freaked out. I felt better knowing where she was and that she was safe for the moment.
My overriding thought that day was that I wanted to go home. Once I realized that Barbara and I couldn't do anything (corporate had stepped in and set up a command center to account for affected employees), I told her I wanted to leave. Not knowing if Philadelphia would be attacked, corporate center management closed all of the buildings.
I drove home listening to KYW, not wanting to believe what I was hearing, irate at the news of dancing in the streets in some countries that the US was attacked. I came home to an empty house, mom was at home with my sister and then 3 month old niece who had been home from the NICU for about 1 week, and dad was at work. Me and my dog Murphy sat watching TV, numb. I tagged along with my parents to pick out carpet (of all things) and we went for dinner at a small pub, swapping what we had heard with the waiter, not wanting to believe it was true.
It's been 8 years and it still doesn't seem real in some ways. I feel odd scheduling things - hearing, "ok, so we're set for 10:00 on 9/11" come out of my mouth when confirming a meeting. The day feels sacred to me.
I know tomorrow will be a different day - no, I didn't lose anyone. Fortunately all of our employees survived. But our country lost something - our innocence. Our sense of security. That it couldn't happen here.
But we also gained something I think. We all united that day and the days after. I practically rolled around and wrapped myself in the American flag - and a part of me is nostalgic for the days that we all seemed a little kinder to each other. When hearing the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful would stop people in their tracks.
Let's take a few moments tomorrow to remember those who died that day, those who died defending our country and those who now serve our country.
God Bless America
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