Sunday, December 31, 2006

My Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone. We've all made it through another one. Here are the big events that happened in Zippychik's life:

January: Started my second class, Dr. D's database management principals (say that three times fast.) Ended my temp job in the advertising department of the local paper.

Februrary: Got hired as a part-time graphic designer for a software development company. Helped my friend, D celebrate her 5oth birthday. Hubby and I had a new standpipe installed; nothing like throwing two grand into a hole in your yard.

March: Got a year older, but not any wiser. Attended my fifth CineFest; Leonard Maltin sat in front of me -- again.

April: Volunteered at the International Video and Film Festival in Syracuse. I had a good time, but no celeb sightings this year.

May: Got an A in Dr. D's class. Started my second part-time job at JCPenneys.

June: Hell month begins. Was made full-time right at the software company after I started working evenings and weekends at Penneys. Also managed to work at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Liverpool, NY. We raised over $45,000.

July: Quit JCPenney. Got my life back.

August: Visited Uncle T in Boston.

September: Spent time with R and her friend, K when they visited Ithaca, NY. My design for the company billboard was posted. Started another class, Internet Architecture.

October: Kind of a blur.

November: Hell month. Final group project for class begins. Worked on 2 important projects at work AND organized the office ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the company.

December: Group presentation was wildly successful, but still waiting for professor to post grade. Had a long overdue get together with close friends on 12/22. Spent quiet holidays with family.

That's the year for me. The new job was the biggest thing. I didn't see any concerts this year, although, buddies, R & C had front row seats to The Pretenders in November and are still talking about the show. Didn't go anywhere exciting and didn't purchase any fun toys, either. Another year goes by, and I am still iPodless.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

I'm All Aglow

Your Christmas lights are glowing 100%.

Awesome! Your Christmas tree lights up the whole room! You are a true lover of all things Christmas, and a joy for those around you!

Christmas Trivia
Make Your Own Quiz



I scored 100 on my first try, although I almost got tripped up on Scrooge's business partner being named "Jacob Marley" not "Bob Marley." I also went above and beyond Christmas Spirit this year when the string of lights on the top of our tree blew out last weekend. It really looked crappy. After hubby and I spent the rest of the weekend debating the best solution to this crisis, I undecorated the entire top third of tree, put up a new string, then redecorated the tree and best I could. It looks terrific, but not as nice as the tree my friend S put up. Props to him for a tremendous job! He'd score 200% on any Christmas Quiz!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006


Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Just to prove that I have offline friends who are even nuttier than my online pals, here's a Christmas card that my husband and I received the other day form our friend M. M is a professional drummer who's played with many great blues bands over the course of his career. For the past several years, however, M. has been developing a sideline in handcrafted wacked out greeting cards, which he appropriately calls "Hellmark LTD." In addition to M's subversive holiday cards, he sent my husband an absolutely hysterical card on the occassion of the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series.

To all my friends both online and off, I wish you and yours all a safe and Happy Holiday. And I'll borrow this final wish from another of my crazy offline friends, "Peace, love and shirazz!"

Saturday, December 16, 2006



Now That's My Kind of Christmas Tree!

Since my good friend, R is Thai, I had no doubt of how brilliant and creative the Thai people are, but I really have to hand it to the culinary staff at the Amari Atrium Hotel in Bangkok for building this masterwork!

Be sure to check out the video, too. It's the closest thing to my concept of the perfect Christmas Tree.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Yes, we had a few inches of snow last week, but with the rain earlier this week it's all gone. Temperatures have been in the high fifties all week! I even saw a few guys out wearing shorts today. Of course, there's more than a week until Christmas and a lot can happen here in a week, at least as far as the weather is concerned. Temperatures are supposed to go back down into the thirties next week, so there's still a good chance of seeing white stuff for the holiday!

Monday, December 11, 2006


The Month That Was

You gotta be kidding? I've gone a whole month without a post? Actually, I've hardly had time to breath this past month. Yesterday my sister called to chew me out, "What's wrong? We haven't heard from you since Thanksgiving?" Hey, she should be happy -- at least she got to see me for Thanksgiving! So here's the run down from my last post:

Halloween found me in at the office until eight, working on graphics for one of our client's tradeshow exhibits. The show was five days out. I was all alone in the office, probably close to being all alone in that huge building. The old radiators kept banging, and being Halloween I tried not to let me imagination run away with me.

The following week we had a huge web site launch at work, and I had a huge research paper due. The week after that I was beginning to freak out because my professor wasn't giving us enough direction on our final group project. I was seriously doubting we could get this project done with only 4 weeks left in the semester. Then it was Thanksgiving; my sister had us over for dinner, and all I had to cook was my famous sweet potato casserole.

Now the REAL fun begins, I'm pushing full out on the final project and then my boss puts in in charge of organizing the company's open house--only two days before the open house is scheduled!!!! I put in extra hours and ran my butt off. For those three days all I wanted to do when I got home was crawl right into bed--but no, I had a final project to work on!!! Then I spent the entire following weekend compiling the powerpoint file deliverable.

Last week, of course, the last day of class the professor scheduled a quiz, so I had to cram in some study time with the final project work. My group gave the presentation this past Friday afternoon. We blew the professor away. At the meeting he each group member their grades up to that point. Even if the presentation had sucked, my labs and papers were so strong, I still would have received an "A."

So now with all that behind me I could kick back and relax for a bit, right? Oh God, no!!! Saturday night my husband and I took his 21-year-old niece and her boyfriend who're both going to college nearby to an Orange basketball game. And then there's that little thing called Christmas that's going on. I decorated our tree and finished all the shopping, except my favorite shop -- the liquor store. I save that for last. I'll go next Saturday!