I adore Raising Hope -- it fills the empty sitcom hole in my heart left by My Name is Earl.

Any night that includes Manhattans, The Dude, and desserts from Portos is a good night.

I'm used to girl groups being more distinct and looking busier than boy bands. Which is probably biased selection more than anything else, but there you go.

Yeah, the only one I can distinguish at a glance is Nicola Roberts, because she's a redhead. I can't even pick out Cheryl Cole without some scrutiny.

Good...um....afternoon, y'all!

My friends came over and it was lovely to see everyone and I decided at 11pm I wanted champagne and didn't see any reason to wait. And then everyone decided to have some, and everyone left by 11:45pm. Hah! My friends are old.

This morning I woke up at 8-somethingAM, and got coffee with the Girl, and then went back home and napped for a couple hours. Now catching up here and deciding what to do the rest of the day, other than finish cleaning. I view the new year as starting on 1/2, since today is a holiday, it's the "get ready for the new year" day.

Talk in the front room has turned to manly sexual boasting. I wish I had recorded some of it so you could laugh along with me.

....manly sexual boasting of like, 15 year olds?! I want hilarious reports. Well, even if adults, I want hilarious reports.

Like, so full of cassoulet that we skipped the cheese course entirely in favor of more salad. (As a palate cleanser so we could eat more cassoulet.)

Wow, passing the cheese course? I want some of that cassoulet.

So I lost a set of car and house key and Y membership tag in the field tonight, oops?

Ooh, crap, i hope it's easily recovered in daylight!

[OMG i just had to pause catching up because we heard a bagpipe. There was a random ragtag bunch of people carrying big scottish flags and meandering down the sidewalk with a bagpiper. We have no idea why]

Late first-footing?

(Is the lead guy a brunet?)

I was taking the meara approach and treating today like the holiday it is - staying in my pajamas, giving myself a facial while watching Farscape, that sort of thing - but I decided I'd better go ahead and get this application ready to mail before I lose the transcripts that have to go with it. It's an application to take an exam to qualify for a job with the state that currently doesn't have openings near me but I hope might some day.

OMG it took me hours to get through it all and make sure I had the dates formatted correctly and didn't answer questions I wasn't supposed answer. Even getting the app and (sealed in their own envelopes, of course) transcripts stuffed into an envelope that I bought especially because it was supposed to be the right size was a chore and a half. So I am done, no more productivity today. More Farscape and maybe a cocktail.

Um, less all about me, I also love Burt&Virginia on Raising Hope.

GUESS WHO JUST CALLED ME??!!! MISS LOUISE!

She's alive, had just changed phones a year ago. She's doing well, still in the senior apartments downtown and loving it (she has a view of the harbor.) She's got a new great-grandbaby who she adores.

I am SO RELIEVED to hear from her! Told her I'm going to be calling now that I have her number.

Yay 2013!

Yay, Miss Louise!

Oh, yay! That's great news.

Wonderful news!!!