12,412,678.06

The approximate number of calories I have consumed since December 21st.

Long live peanut butter balls and sugar cookies.

Ho...Ho....HO!

Merry Christmas from Illingworth Manor...













May your Christmas be Merry and Bright!

P.S. Here's Minnie hoping Santa doesn't forget about her....

Welcome to Office High

I graduated from high school over 14 years ago. As much as I feel like high school was just last week, it also feels like a distant memory. Like I need to squint to remember it clearly. And this is ok with me. Being an adult, while overrun with bills and responsibilities and giant life decisions, is at least free of the need to be popular. The need to achieve status among the elite. I've come to a place in my life where I don't care (all that much) if you like me or not.

Until yesterday.

For a few weeks now I've known some information about a friend that not many other people know. I was asked to keep this information a secret for a few weeks - and I did. It wasn't my news to spread. Yesterday, this information was finally revealed to our mutual friends. Most of these friends shouted YAY! and CONGRATS! since this information is of the good variety. Although one friend received the news by saying, "Jo knew before me? SHE KNEW BEFORE ME!!!"

Later in the afternoon this One Friend and I were discussing the information when she looked at me and said, "I can't believe she didn't tell me first. I can't believe she told YOU before ME." Like somehow it should be obvious that I rank WAY below her...and that I should know that it was obviously ridiculous for me to know information first. Information of any kind. Like I should know my rank in the office friendship queue - and stay there.

I can't explain why...but this stung a bit. Like the popular girls telling me with a smirk that the last seat at their lunch table was taken.

Thinking...

Don't you hate it when you've been so sick that you've had to blow your nose every 32 seconds and now it's raw and cracked and irritated but you finally have some drugs thanks to the shiny walk-in clinic where all the mean people work and you are starting to feel better although you still have to blow your nose only now it's not every 32 seconds but more like every 32 minutes and more of a maintenance than a nuisance but now that you aren't blowing your nose so often when you do actually touch cracked nose to scratchy tissue your ears EXPLODE with a force only matched by the pushing and shoving at 5am at Best Buy on Black Friday.

I hate that.

Also, I'm wearing a long sleeve t-shirt today (my fav) and a wool sweater (it's cold) but the sleeves of my t are quite longer than the sleeves of my sweater so I look a bit like a six-year-old with a ten-year-old sister who hasn't grown into the hand-me-down t but has already grown out of the last season sweater.

I hate that too.