December 30th, 2006
December 23: Woohoo for new lens!!
December 24: I’m glad that as an adult I can now get to sleep on Christmas Eve, rather than being up until 2am and waking up at 6am too excited to sleep anymore. I’m also glad that as a child I did have those sleepless nights, because they were special.
December 25: Even though they live far away, I’m glad I have a family to talk to, rather than having none at all.
December 26: Thank goodness for leftovers.
December 27: I’m pretty sure that once I get busy with work again, I’ll be grateful for the down time this month has given me.
December 28: Yay for friends who give you bootleg copies of smut!
December 29: Even though he drives me CRAZY sometimes, I’m glad to have John in my life.
December 30: Thank goodness we can get a co-signer on a loan. We’d never be able to afford a new car otherwise.
December 31: I’d grateful for the insight this project has given me. Thanks again to TaryAnn for starting it!
December 27th, 2006
Benji says “Goooooooo!!!” a lot now. It’s really cute. 
Isaac is still just as cute, but didn’t hold still long enough for decent photos today.
December 24th, 2006
I took a nap for an hour today and had the WEIRDEST dream I’ve had in a while.
I dreamed that I had a baby… and I forgot. Like, for three months. Forgot I was pregnant, forgot I had the baby, everything. Meggie came over and she says “How’s Nitta (Pronounced ‘nee-tah’)?” and I replied “… Uh. I don’t know. Let me go check.” So I go in to see her and there she is, 3 months old or so. Obviously someone was taking care of her, but damned if I know who. So I pick her up and she gives me this “WTF?” look, then she starts crying. Of course. She has no clue who I am! So I give her… (wait for it) some Cheerios, which she snatches up and eats them like she’s starving. I walk back out with her and this stupid expression on my face and tell Meggie “She’s eating Cheerios. I guess I should feed her more often.” to which she replies angrily “Yeah, James (my dad) thinks so too.” I just sat down and thought “I’m a mother. A really BAD one!”
December 24th, 2006
Okay, here are the photos of John’s poor beaten truck. This has been reported to insurance, but since it was reported on a weekend before a holiday, we got the customary “Someone will get back to you in a few days.” response.
The last photo is the bumper damage from the guy rear-ending us a few weeks ago. John drove it home, but the front bumper is pressing on the tire. The tag office rated it at about $700, and bluebook rates it at about $1280. If the repairs to it cost more than it’s worth, insurance will just pay the total worth rather than the repair cost. It’s highly likely that the little green truck will be totaled out. That leaves us with two options. He can either take the money and repair the truck and continue to drive it, or we can look at getting a new one. John’s dad had offered to cosign on a loan for us so we can get a new car, but John loves that truck dearly. I’m pretty sure that it’ll come down to a new one because the truck has 240,000 miles on it. We’re looking at getting something small and reliable that will last us forever. I wanted a Mini Cooper. They are less expensive than you think, but John says they look rich and ar targets for theives. So we’ll probably end up with a Honda or a Toyota of some sort.
December 22nd, 2006
John just called me to tell me he’d just t-boned some idiot 18 year old girl who crossed two lanes as he was trying to merge. I’m PISSED, but he’s holding onto his temper stunningly well. I have no idea what the truck looks like (our only vehicle right now), if it’s drivable, if they called the police or who was at fault. He’s fine, she’s fine. This is the second wreck he’s had this month (someone rear-ended us 3 weeks ago). He also got his truck broken into 5 weeks ago! If God exsists, He’s trying to tell us something.
December 22: I’m thankful that my man is okay. I’m also very thankful that I’m not there, because I’d have my hands around that young idiot girl’s throat.
Will edit to add more as I hear it.
EDIT: John just called back. The police were called. They showed up and cited IdiotMerging2lanes Girl with “Failure to yeild to oncoming traffic” and gave him nothing, so she’s at fault. Yay for not having to pay her repair bill and higher premiums! John says the truck may not be drivable because the hood is squished and something pressing on the tire. His dad is on the way up there now to evaluate the damage and lend us his Cherokee.
EDIT 2: John drove the truck home. The wheel scrapes the smushed bumper if he turns right too far, and the hood has a nice ridge in it on the right side. The tag office just estimated the truck’s value at about $600 (it’s a ‘90 with 240,000 miles on it), chances are good that this will be more than that to repair. Not sure how insurance will rate it yet. If they total it out, it might just be cheaper to get a loan on a new Honda or something that we can both drive.
December 22nd, 2006
Okay, here are the final cards, just ordered a few minutes ago. I took Willowrain’s suggestions and changed the transparency layer to something more yellow and changed the font color from black to a browish color to match the tone of the card. I also added my e-mail. It’s not a bit cluttered at the bottom, but it did need my e-mail on it.
Meggie replied to my dream by saying that when she does have babies she’ll be sure to have me do the pictures, but she promished to be back in the US for that. I got all squishy inside at her reply. I mean, there’s just something sweet about imagining your little sister with babies. John and I are planning never to have any, but it makes me feel nice to know that one day I will be ‘Aunt Heffer’. Hopefully she’ll live somewhat close so I can come over and take loads of pictures of my neices (or nephews) for her.
December 21st, 2006
Here’s the final card design. I did a bunch of different fonts and just hated them, so this is it. I taked to Atari (my graphic designer friend who also did my logo) and he said that I should always always use the logo for brand recognition. He made a few other points and overall it looks a load better. These will be printed as magnets so hopefully people will stick them on the fridge (or better, a work fridge) and see them everyday rather than just leaving them somewhere to get lost.
Last night I dreamed Meggie was pregnant and we were trying to work out an overseas trip for me for a while to do maternity and newborn shoots. It was sooo weird. I woke up laughing at the thought of her pregant because she’s such a career girl. She’d be so mad because a pregnancy/baby would seriously slow her down.
December 19: I am very glad that 2007 is finally rolling around and I can start using my awesome appointment book. It rocks.
December 20: I am glad that I can ask a question (cards) and get a shitload of answers.
December 21: I am thankful for John’s family. They think highly enough of me to send ME a check with his for Christmas. That’s never happened to me before.
December 19th, 2006
I forgot to mention this, but DITL is having a Best of the Year special this month. You get to vote for the best of the best, the winners of th eentire last year. Who do you think had the best entries? You don’t even have to me a member to vote! Yes, I am able to be voted for this time, but I won’t win any of the prizes (except for some ego-boosting).
