Current Mood: 
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Uncle John! 
Think I'll be heading for bed before midnight this NYE. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but NYE is kind of a depressing day for me. It's sort of like the day after Christmas.
Not sure I can sleep though, with all these fireworks popping outside my window. This has been going on every night since Christmas Eve. I just hope no one's house catches on fire.
Okay, all these fireworks are too loud to even contemplate going to bed early. Instead, I got on the exercise bike and watched "Rudolph's Shiny New Year."
So sad. 
UPDATE:
Here's one video of the fireworks at midnight. The camera didn't pick it up so well, but it was LOUD out there. Some of these fireworks were in the circle across from us. Very, very, veeery close.
What's frightening is that at one time a bunch of fireworks were carried by the wind, and exploded like crazy in the yard of the house across the street from them.
In THE YARD which is covered with PINE NEEDLES. (Pine needles are everywhere around here, so fireworks on holidays can be frightening. The trees could catch fire so easily. One year I was sitting in my backyard when a stray ember floated right in front of me. It was literally inches away from my face).
One firecracker was even carried by the wind and on to the main road, just as a cop drove past. Unfortunately, all the cop did was flash his lights at them.
I can't believe people do this. Do they have any idea how stupid it is with all these tall pine trees and mounds of pine needles covering the ground and in the gutters? And WHY would you have your own children out there, too? Why risk 3rd degree burns? Why risk one of those explosives straying in front of a passing car? And WHY don't they realize that it isn't exactly wise to pop firecrackers next to a bunch of cars anyway? Hello?! Gas tanks, people. I bet these are the same people that use cell phones and light cigarettes next to the gas pumps at service stations.
I never could endanger people's lives like that. Children just a few feet away... pets... people innocently sleeping in their beds. All it takes is one tiny little spark. (Thank goodness this neighborhood listened to reason this past 4th of July, during the drought).
Fireworks really need to be banned in all neighborhoods. It didn't take long for me to hear the first fire truck of the evening. I actually stayed out there with the camera a while longer than intended. If someone's house DID catch fire, at least I'd have a video to prove who did it. Seeing those firecrackers popping in that person's yard really freaked me out. It was so scary. (By the way, they were the kind of explosives that pop on the ground).
Current Mood: 
Today (well, Thursday) was a good day. My sister and niece came for a visit and to spend the night. (Came here only b/c they're going to Pearland tomorrow. My nephew didn't even come). We spent the day shopping. Just a girls' day out followed my stuffing our faces with food and junk, making homemade fudge and watching movies.
It really was a nice day, despite my having a splitting headache that just doesn't want to flee.
These questions are all courtesy of The Little Things We Do.
~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
1. New Years is _________________.
A time best spent looking forward, not back.
2. One of my New Year's resolutions will be _________________.
I'm not sure I'll be making any this year. I guess the only one's I might make are:
- Getting on the "Exercise Bike 'O Doom" again.
- Being more open, spiritually. I've really been a skeptic about all that lately, and think it's time to start thinking more positively. I would definitely love to learn how to meditate better than oh, say... MY CAT!
- Just for my own sake, to edit that first chapter again from the last book that I wrote.
- Possibly submit my children's book to a magazine or publisher. I don't know...
3. A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to _________________.
Other than getting on the exercise bike 40 minutes a day, the other resolutions are a blur. All I know is I'm pretty good at keeping them, which is why I'm so careful about making them!
4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was _________________.
Submitting my last novel to literary agents. There was a lot of research, angst and false hope involved.
5. This year I will be spending New Year's Eve _________________.
I don't drink... can't stand chaos and noise... am afraid of being on the road when I know drunk drivers and speeders are all out there, acting like idiots and endangering other people's lives.
In other words, on NYE there's no place like HOME!
6. If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be _________________.
To find a calling that will make me happy. To not feel so lost all the time.
7. 2012 is going to be _________________.
Whatever I make of it.
Current Mood: 
So Christmas is over. I tried, but I just didn't feel it this year.
My sister and her family are coming on Thursday to spend the night and exchange gifts, so our tree will still be up then. Other than the tree and village, I think I'm ready to take the decorations down. (Well, I'd also like to keep some of the snow people around a while longer).
One good thing about this Christmas was that the weather was nice. It was 46 degrees and rainy. After this drought we've had, I always welcome the rain. (Of course, in a few days it's going to be 80 degrees again. I'm not looking forward to that). I also liked that no one was here for Christmas, and that we didn't go anywhere. Not 'cuz I was sick, but because I just didn't want to be around people.
Last night I watched the Doctor Who Christmas special. It wasn't fantastic, but I still enjoyed it. I really loved the ending. It was short, but really sweet. I also liked how the husband was rescued.
The things which bugged me the most was were trivial things:
1). Three years were supposed to have passed, yet they show the children as being the same age as before.
2). The men that were on the plane with the father were completely ignored at the end, so why were they even in the storyline in the first place?
3). Those 3 people at the station served no purpose. The story could have done without them, same as the men on the plane.
4). The father had a picture of his wife on his plane, but not his children? Hello?! That really bugged me.
Still, overall it was okay. A fluff episode that was predictable and not complicated at all, which I think is appropriate for a Christmas special. I think it was one of the better ones.
In preparation for New Years, people in this neighborhood started popping fireworks on Christmas Eve. They really need to stop doing that. I'm so afraid of it causing a fire one day, especially with all these tall pine trees that we have.
Also, it isn't exactly polite seeing how a lot of people still have to get up early for work the next day. It isn't easy falling asleep with what sounds like bombs bursting outside your window.
