My Dog is Chelsea

Hello, world! It’s been three weeks since my last confession blog entry. Happy New Year and all of that! So much to say, and yet I am too lazy to say it. Brief summary:

• Went home for Christmas. Almost missed my flight due to my inability to read my boarding pass. Accidentally stumbled across my plane’s gate while trying to ask for directions to gate 16A for the JFK flight. “Are you Laura?” the flight attendant asked me. “Yes. How did you know that?” He would’ve been rolling his eyes if he weren’t so polite. “16A is your seat assignment. The gate is D7—this is the JFK flight. It’s final boarding call so hurry up and get on.” Well for CRYING OUT LOUD! Why use size 24 font for my bloody seat number but print the gate number in microscopic text at the bottom of the card? Who the hell can see THAT while they’re running down the moving walkway? Sheesh. It sure was a good thing I got lost.

• The holidays were great. I baked and cooked and ate food and saw family. This is going to sound really sappy, but it’s true: the older I get, the more and more I appreciate hanging out with my mother. When I was growing up, I built up in my head a division in my family: my mother and younger brother were alike (because neither could spell well, and they liked watching Seinfeld together), and I was like my father (because he was a good speller and so am I). All of my character traits that were unlike my mother’s I decided must have inherently come from my father, even if he had passed away before I developed them. Even if I had no memory of seeing these traits that he’d somehow given me in him. If I was proud of it, then it must’ve been something I learned from him.

Obviously, that’s an absurd line of thinking and it certainly doesn’t do a little girl much good to think that her personality is derived from a long lost role model (I dug out an old backpack from middle school while I was home; on it I had inscribed the Paul Simon quote “Who will be my role model/Now that my role model’s gone.” At the time, I’m sure, I wrote it because I just really liked that song—and because I was a huge nerd who also wrote “TRUST NO ONE” and “THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.” But it’s interesting nonetheless.) Anyway, this is all beside the point, WHICH IS: My mother is totally kickass and awesome and the older I get, the more apparent to me that becomes.

• I should use this opportunity to mention that the Grinch Asa overcame his Grinchiness and went above and beyond the call of yuletide duty by not only giving me an apron (something I’ve long needed/wanted), but by sewing the damn thing himself. The apron is fantastically beautiful, and as soon as I charge up the long-dead battery in my digital camera I will post a picture. It is so pretty, in fact, that when I showed it to my mother she decided to include in her gift to Asa a little note that said: “Thing [sic] about making me a [sic] aprion [sic].” (See spelling comment, above)

• For New Year’s, some college friends drove up from California. Eight of us + champagne + great food = good times. It’s hard to believe it was only a week ago that they were here. Pictures will come eventually, I am sure.

• Found this while compiling a list of 2007 “Best Of” and “Year in Review” articles for work. Hilarious two-minute recap of last year’s scandals. Enjoy!