2009: Hope it'll be mighty fine

Wow, it's been nearly a month since my last post! I wish I could say I was busy doing all kinds of interesting things, but I've mostly just been lazing around, enjoying some down time at work and catching up on DVD/TV viewing due to being snowbound for some time. I couldn't say there are any real "highlights" of the last few weeks, but here're some quickie updates:

1. Was snowed in for 10 days. Well, technically, I should say that I was carless for those days; I live on a hill that gets little direct sunlight, and always has cars parked on both sides, so when it's snowy/icy, I don't even bother trying to move the car. Luckily, I was still able to get around town by foot or on the bus.

2. Had some time to finally start watching "The Wire," Season 1, which comes highly recommended. And it definitely lives up to the hype! I must admit I eventually had to start watching it with English subtitles on -- after I had to stop and rewind a scene for the third time to try and understand what folks were saying. I guess I'm just not that fluent in street/cop/thug speak.

3. Bundled Buster into a kitty harness thing, and then took him out into the snow with my sis. Poor guy was mostly terrified, and partly fascinated. He basically meowed and pawed at the back door of my building, trying to find his way in. And, we discovered later, he peed on my sis' $80 custom Seahawks jersey. Yikes!! Thankfully, it was pretty easy to get the stain and stench out..

4. Got a Blu-ray DVD player, yay! Though...I'm still waiting to receive the HDMI cable I need to see true HD. I ordered it off the Amazon Web site on Dec. 19, but as of today (Jan. 8), it still hasn't arrived. Sucks.

5. I bused to Fred Meyer (local grocery-type store) one afternoon to stock up on some food. Though it was a weekday afternoon, apparently everyone was paranoid about the impending snowstorm our media had been teasing for a few days, because the place was PACKED! I stood in line with my basket for probably 15-20 minutes. Behind me was this family with a teenage daughter who must've had some sort of developmental issue, because she kept yelling things like "CHIPS!" and "COOKIES!" and something about someone named Kai. Then she started rocking and kept nudging me...fun. And I even heard her dad saying "Stop hitting me. Please don't hit me!" Yikes.

6. Have unlocked about 60 of 63 songs in Rock Band (guitar, medium level).

So I'm cautiously excited for 2009. 2008 was a decent year -- I could say the usual "thankfully my family stayed healthy," "thankfully I stayed healthy," "thankfully I still have a job" stuff, but overall, I must say it was a bit blah. I'm definitely hoping for a little more excitement this year!