I am ever optimistic that 2012 will be a fantastic year. However, the first few weeks wouldn't give any indication to that statement. In no particular order, I give you my list of shortcomings:
1. As a self-proclaimed "dog mom" - I obviously take this job very seriously. Imagine my horror upon realizing that I had accidentally shut my dog outside not once, but twice, in the last week? Yep, I would take her out to do her thing and somehow in the mix she would get left outside... I would be back inside puttering around the house talking to her, and once I had realized she wasn't answering any of my questions, would run to the front door in a panic. Each time I found her sitting patiently on the steps to our house. If we were still in NYC I would be in trouble.
2. January means detox in our house. It started out as a no alcohol thing years ago, but this year has morphed into a no alcohol or solids - that's right - we have been juice cleansing! First off, let me just share a very important piece of information with you... never, ever, under any circumstances start a juice cleanse on New Year's day. Big mistake. The alcohol withdrawal from the previous evening, coupled with all of those green vegetables swirling around in your stomach is a recipe for deep, dark, please make it stop depression. I never realized how much I loved chewing things. My poor husband put up with daily rants from me, as well as a massive melt down - I actually cried because I missed food so much. Guess what we did that tear-fueled night? We ATE something! And it was glorious.
3. My Dutch relations are still shaky at best. It basically boils down to something like: If you are nice to me, I will be exceedingly nice back to you. If you are mean to me, I might very well threaten to kill you on the spot. Yes, I still seem to have that new-found temper brewing inside me. Well, to be honest, how new-found is it now that we can clock the years? An example would be the man walking in our neighborhood who scolded me yesterday for yielding to him while I was on my bike. I stopped so that he could cross the street at a mildly busy intersection. He yelled at me. I couldn't figure it out. So I yelled back in English something like "What is your ^&$%#$-ing problem?" ( Okay, that is actually exactly what I said - and it is really hard to pronounce all of those symbols!) And he yelled back while crossing the street "You are going to get somebody killed if you do that again!" This one still perplexes me.
