But I’m so used to staying up late that I can’t do it. It’s not that I’m not tired (I am) or that I don’t have to get up early (I do), it’s just that I don’t wanna (and apparently I am 10).

We are leaving in 3 days for Florida and I am excited. I need this vacation. I have a ton of stuff to do to be sure the house is ready for my mom to come stay with the boys; you know, dreadfully important things like restocking tp and writing instructions for the coffee maker and tv, plus trying to pull some kind of dog whisperer thing on daisy to get her to behave while we are gone.

Which brings me to a very important subject: my mom is a total dogist - she has something against black labs…my brother’s and mine. It’s sad, but my mom is a doggie racist. She of course denies it, pulling out the ever popular “some of my best friends are black labs!” but we know the truth. She claims, once called out on it, that she loves labs of all colors, but we see the way she flinches when daisy jumps on her or when milo licks her. We SEE. She tried to say she’s simply wary of our dogs, given that daisy likes to jump and is a 60+ pound puppy, and that her ONLY issue with milo is that he broke her finger, but we see through her crazy lies. She is a dogist.* {I am so ashamed}

Anyway, so my mother, the dogist, is coming to stay while we are gone. I dare say that she is truly more concerned with my over-loving, rambunctious pup than she is about spending 5 days with my boys. I just hope she recovers by the time we are ready to go somewhere again next year!

3 days seems like a long time, but really, once you take the list, add cleaning, laundry, writing blog posts, eating, sleeping and parenting in, I pretty much have about 14 minutes and 27 seconds to get everything done.

Doesn’t matter though because in 3 days? I’ll be packing my bags to go to FLA for 3 full days, 2 partial (travel) days and 4 nights of adult time. (during which we will likely bask in the glow of uninterrupted sleep).

Speaking of sleep….

*my brother and I are having way too much fun teasing my mom about not liking our dogs. Hehe.

Courtesy of Sweetney, I bring you the New Year’s quiz, on this, the eve of the new year. (And hope I can actually get it done before midnight - geez, it didn’t seem that long just reading hers!!)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Redesigned my blog. A number of times. For fun.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

No, and, uh, no.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My cousin Michelle had a gorgeous little boy!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. There have been a number of deaths around our family this year, including the shocking and unexpected deaths of my aunt and uncle only months apart.

In addition, we had to put down our dog of 14 years, lost our 19 yr old cat, and had to put down our 16 year old cat.

5. What countries did you visit?

Canada

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

MORE OF: Confidence, joy, laughter

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Oh, I suck at dates, but events will remain: funerals, memorials, putting Riley to sleep, being in NYC.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Learning to sew.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not being able to turn my business around as fast/easily as I wanted.  Having to send Maggie back to the breeder because she really just wasn’t the dog for us.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing major - colds, flu, minor things.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

iPhone 3G

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

my sons‘

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

my sons’  (we all have our days!)

14. Where did most of your money go?

bills, food, gas, care of growing boys, paying down debt

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

my iPhone, my new puppy

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier, in general, but it has been a sadder kind of year
b) thinner or fatter? fatter, by far!
c) richer or poorer? poorer, but fixing it.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

relaxed and had more fun

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

worrying/panicking/stressing

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Visiting with extended family before and after; spent the day as a family on Christmas Day.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

with a small black dog named Daisy

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Just one?! My favorites of 2008 have been TrueBlood, Entourage, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist & Gossip Girl

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Not that I can think of - I really don’t tend to spend much energy hating people.

24. What was the best book you read?

I read books ALL the time, so there are many. I truly enjoyed the Twilight series, the Sookie Stackhouse books, My Best Friend’s Girl, The Other Boleyn Sister (+other stuff by that author)…

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I got some great cds from livi lou that have great stuff on them

26. What did you want and get?

new car

27. What did you want and not get?

SLEEP. the newest MacBook, world peace, the winning of the lotto

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Dark Knight

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 35 - spent the day doing what I wanted and being with family/friends.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Not having to worry about money/business

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Comfort + whatever fits and looks somewhat decent.

32. What kept you sane?

My husband and children, my “internet” friends, my “real life” friends.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

This one is hard…Obama because I admire him; various celebrities just for fun (I am a gossip mag freak)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The entire election was a amazing process, but the gay marriage issues were most stirring.

35. Who did you miss?

Those we lost

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Not sure of dates met, but getting to know other bloggers through blogs, email, twitters has been a fabulous experience. I’ve friends that I am happy to call mine because of this wonderful technology.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Life is short. Sometimes shockingly so.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I can’t think of one that sums it up; music plays an extraordinarily important role in my life, but I suck at quoting lyrics on the spot.

Honestly, while there have been some amazingly wonderful things that happened this year, and there are MANY things and people I am grateful to and for, for the most part? The year has kind of sucked from beginning to end. From brain tumors to deaths, to a recession, to cancer scares and stolen cars, I am very glad to say goodbye to 2008.

No….IT’S ALREADY HERE!! (props if you can guess the movie from which those lines are stolen)

Almost done shopping. I am so far behind. A few years ago, before having 2 kids, I would have been done and completely ready for the holidays in November. Now, the organization, time management and holiday skills have been sucked from my brain by those two short people that share the house with us.

Tomorrow is my staff holiday dinner. I’m hoping to have time to make their presents tomorrow after I finish up the shopping. it’s not looking good for me.