My First Moral Dilemma (No, not ever)

Only for this year, and only regarding my New Year’s Resolution.

Something popped up in my Facebook news feed yesterday that got me a little excited:

I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly this means.

One Reason Why I Hate My Apartment:The Laundry Room Drama Unfolds

I came home last night to this piece of work shoved in my screen door:

Dear Tenants:

There have been some strange activities taking place in and around the laundry room. People who do not live in our building have been seen coming and going from there, and doing laundry does not seem to be their activity.

To discourage this activity, the laundry room will have shorter hours of operation and will even be closed at times. I am sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause.

In addition to restricting the laundry room, I would appreciate you being aware of any strange activity that you see in this area and report it to me, or even the police if you think it necessary.

Please call me with any questions, concerns, or comments.

Thank you,
[Property Manager]

Uhhh... what?

It Is My Birthday: Financial vs. Physical Health

Probably my favorite birthday episode of The Office is the "Lecture Circuit" episode (S5:E16) where Dwight and Jim have to throw together a belated party for Kelly without the help of the Party Planning Committee.

Jim: Why have you chosen brown and grey balloons?
Dwight: They match the carpet.
Jim: What is that? It is your birthday... period.
Dwight: Just stating a fact.
Jim: Not even an exclamation point?
Dwight: This is more professional. It's not like she discovered a cure for cancer!
Jim: I can't believe how bad this looks.

Although Kelly is slightly horrified at what they come up with, I would tend to agree with Dwight. I'm not big on making a big deal of my birthday, and have been plotting which probably-fake-but-still-semi-plausible age to give if anyone at work somehow found out it was my birthday... and then asked how old I was (I know, it sounds a little silly once I see it spelled out... Renata and I came up with 38, if you're wondering).

I won't get to see anyone's reaction today, however, because I am currently sitting at home sick.

My Nothing New Debut!

Renata and I went out for my almost-birthday brunch yesterday (thanks, Renata!!), and I realized it was my first day out this year, and possibly ever, wearing nothing that was purchased new!
Minus the underthings.

Of course I had to have her snap a picture on her phone.

Check me out:

One Reason Why I Hate My Apartment

Really, just one??

If you know me, you know I hate where I am currently living. This is due to the surrounding company more than anything else. Case in point:

I just got home from work about 20 minutes ago. I thought, this would be a good night to do some laundry. It's really piling up, I've got a friend coming to stay with me this weekend, and another one moving in with me next week. (Uhhhh.. we can get to that later...)

So I went to the laundry room to see if there was a machine available. The door was locked. No problem, I said to myself, I will go get my laundry room key and open the door. But hey, I don't hear a machine running, so that's great! I can probably do two loads at once!

I went back with my key in hand. I stuck it in the door and turned the knob. Nothing.

What?

My Year-Round Fail-Safe Gift-Buying Guide, Part 2

If you'll recall, I previously gave you my fail-proof guidelines for purchasing gifts.

As promised, here are the four items I gave as Christmas gifts this year, and why they were excellent choices:

The Practical/Sentimental

For: Carly 

What it was: Mickey Mouse bag clips

Cost: $4.46 (with Annual Pass-holder discount)

Why it was a good gift: Carly needed bag clips. As I was strolling through the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney, I stumbled upon these. Hey, Carly needs bag clips, I thought, and these have Mickey Mouse on them! And who doesn't love Mickey when he's actually being practical for once? She was excited, trust me. 

Nothing New

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that 2012 finds everyone healthy, happy, and prosperous.

Ok, back to my usual cynical outlook on life: Who cares? January 1^st is no different than May 1^st or July 17^th. It’s just another passing day on the calendar. The only difference is you need a new calendar in order to get to it.

Nonetheless, I do usually make some kind of resolution for the new year. One year I gave up soda. One year I gave up meat. One year I gave up chocolate, one year ice cream. I was stellar at each of these commitments, and I am not lying when I say I made it through the entire year successfully each time, and usually continued on past midnight New Year’s Eve. (I still don’t really drink soda, though I would not refuse it on a special occasion, and am anticipating a glass of ginger ale as I sit here waiting to board a flight back to LA.)

Although I did, per usual, go a bit overboard with the holiday treats this year, something else has been weighing on me lately (pun not intended).