A Helluva Holiday

Hello blog readers! Welcome to 2007! What do I have to say? Not that much, but in the interest of not getting killed by Miss KD or punched in the face by Rebecca, I had better put something down.

I enjoyed some much needed rest over the holidays, and other than excessive amounts of family time (both mine and Paul's), basically became a hermit, stayed in sweats or pyjamas and watched a kazillion DVD's. And ate chocolate. A lot of chocolate.

We rented and watched seasons four and five of Six Feet Under and watched them all in a matter of days. I am being as sincere as I know how to be when I say that this was hands down THE BEST TV series I have ever watched. It was created and co-written by Alan Ball, Oscar winning writer of American Beauty, and there are certainly some of the same elements from the movie popping up through the series. The series finale was, in my opinion, the best, most satisfying end to a series of all time. We watched it, bawling uncontrollably by the end (well, I was . . . I'm not convinced that Paul has functioning tear ducts - a theory I may test in the future by punching him in the nuts as hard as I can . . . oh wait, I want to have babies . . . scratch that), and then immediately watched the last five minutes over again, and then watched the last episode over again with the Alan Ball's commentary, which was also great. Now I want to buy the entire series and start watching from the beginning again. I've been scoping ebay for some sweet deals.

Santa came, and was good to me. A little too good, if you ask me. I got a Le Creuset french oven:

which I absolutely freaking love. It's cast iron coated with a porcelain enamel, so it heats evenly, can get up to and safely retain super high heats, and can go from the stove top to the oven to the fridge to the table. You can even bake a cake in it. These things aren't cheap, so it's my Christmas AND birthday present from my out-laws. I also received some great new frying pans to replace my crappy non-stick ones, and a Calphalon stainless steel frying pan, which I never knew I wanted but now can never part with.

New Years was awesome! I hate New Years, and the last three that Paul and I have spent together have all resulted in massive fights and starting the new year completely pissed off at each other. I refused to lift a finger to plan anything for this year, and Paul is inherently lazy, didn't make any real plans and kept changing his mind about what he wanted to do until it was just too late, so we stayed home watching movies and then watched the countdown on Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve, and were in bed by 12:15. Best New Years Eve ever!

Resolutions? Last year my resolution was to no longer support Starbucks. I am proud to say that I have been Starbucks free now for over a year. I had considered loosening up on it after the one year mark, mainly because when friends want to go for coffee and I tell them we can't go to Starbucks they look at me like I'm completely insane (which usually goes away once I explain my reasons), but I truly don't think that Starbucks needs or deserves my money. Maybe if they start using a biodegradable or recyclable cup, or make the incentive to bring your own mug a little better, or stop popping up on every street corner, I might reconsider. For 2007 I'd like to try to put more of my energy into me, and focus on good mental health.