REVISITING YOUTH

Sometimes all you need to releive the stress from your life is to remember things from when you were a child. I've done an awful lot of that the last few weeks.

There's something about a toddler ripping open Christmas gifts, then seeing other people's gifts and wanting to open those as well. Come on, we've all done it. And seeing a friend of mine's child try to do it at a Christmas party recently made me wish I had all that wonder.

My family went to the same shopping center we've been going to for as long as I can remember (Northpark for all the Texas readers). They have these raised planters that look like a huge slide to a small child. When I was that small, I used to run up the planter and slide down to the floor. We were walking through the crowded mall and my dad saw kids doing the same thing. Then reminded me that all of us kids used to do that.

Coming home always makes me feel a lot younger than I really am. Maybe it's the house I grew up in, or being around my mom and dad and sister. Maybe it's just the memories.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Arni

P.S. I really miss my DSL. Dial up really sucks.

Merry Christmas !!!

In case I forgot to tell you. Have a good Christmas. I hope Santa brings you everything you wanted -- or that you can return the stuff you didn't want and get what you do want.

ATTACK OF THE INSOMNIAC

OK, maybe the Italian Job isn't the best bedtime story... too hyper to sleep, so I guess I should make everyone else suffer from my insomnia.

2003 is almost over, and there are so many highs that it's almost bad karma to mention them all. I still have a job I like for the most part, got some new fun stuff that I almost can't live without, have friends I enjoy being around and got to travel some. So I turned 30, but 2003 wasn't all that tramatic for me -- until the last two months or so.

It started the day I got home from my cousin Amanda's wedding in San Francisco. I got up early that day, for no apparent reason, and was greeted by an IM from a friend of mine telling me of a bad crash at Indianapolis. Tony Renna, a guy I genuinely liked, was killed in the accident. The news hit me pretty hard even though I had only talked to Tony when I interviewed. I knew who he was, but I didn't know him.

Just when I recovered from that news, came the news that my friend Jack's brother was killed in Iraq and a few weeks ago I found out Abbeville football coach Dennis Botts had suffered a stroke. I prayed that he would recover, but sadly, Coach Botts had complications and he died a week ago. Again the news hit me pretty hard. This time it was someone I really knew. He knew my name and my face. I think Coach Botts liked me, and I know I really liked him.

Now I'm dealing with another punch to the gut. And this time it's hurts pretty deep down, because this time it's a member of my family. A member of my family was recently diagnosed with Multiple Schlorosis. I was probably the last of the kids to know.

M.S. used to be the thing I tried to read books for in elementary school. It was something the President had on the West Wing. But now it's hit close to home. I find myself reading about it in my freetime. I look up words I've heard on TV or that were mentioned to me in a story I did about a race car driver who also has M.S. I'm grateful that a diagnosis was found quickly, and that it seems to be treatable.

But at the same time, I'm also dealing with an extended case of the Mondays...

Tivo still a good thing...

As many of you know, I have the greatest invention on the history of the planet -- the Tivo. For the last two days I've spent the last week catching up on a lot of things that I've recorded in the last few weeks since I will have to wait to see the LOTR: Return of the King until next week.

I watched the HBO movie event "Angels in America," and was underwhelmed. I found myself thinking it went on too long and actually stopped watching the second part early. I usually like HBO produced things -- I was a big fan of "Band of Brothers" -- but this just wasn't too appealing to me, and no it wasn't the subject matter.

I did however enjoy the "Battlestar Gallactica" on Sci-Fi, even though it was nothing like the cheesy epic I grew up watching. I had issues with it -- Starbuck is a woman?!?!?!?!?!?! -- but it was good mindless entertainment. It's not Star Wars, but it's still worth a watch as it's repeated 231 times.

Well I need to get ready to go to eat dinner with a job candidate.... and delete some stuff off the tivo

until next time.

WEEKLY UPDATE

Boy, this posting only once a week is getting to be a bad habit. You'd think there was more going on with my life keeping me from getting on this once a week, but there isn't. My typical, work-eat-sleep pattern goes on and on.

You see, we were quite slack getting vacations scheduled. Maybe it was because everyone is really nice, and didn't want to take trips that would inconvience people. Maybe it was because we are slack ass managers who don't keep on top of people. But now I'm paying for it. The result is me being quite exhausted.

I went to bed on Saturday night around 4:30 a.m., which is still pretty late for me. I woke up Sunday at 5 p.m. It was dark. I followed that up by waking up Monday at 2:45 p.m. I think sleeping is one of those things you can get TOO much of, but who am I to argue with my body. I was tired.

Now I regret the things on my list of things to do that are still there. Car doesn't have new oil or wiper blades. Dry cleaning is still in the laundry room, etc. I'll get to it tomorrow, maybe.

OK, for you Dallas-area readers... I'll be home for Christmas on Christmas Day and leave for South Carolina on Dec. 30, if your around and want to get together, drop me a note and I'll e-mail my contact info. If you don't, well we won't be seeing each other.

Until next week... or next time.

Christmas deals

Some of you may know that my sister works in retail and gets lots of deals. I share this one with you. Deals