Dear inclement weather,

Cut it out, please. (I said please!) I really want to get to L.A. to visit Hallie because I miss her and the amount of vitamin D my body is screaming out for is astronomical. My (probably) SAD would and I would forever be in your debt.

Your truly and respectfully,
Melissa

"You know that point in your life

when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone...You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place."
[Garden State]

"We like to watch you laughing.

You pick the insects off plants. No time to think of consequences."
[MGMT, "Kids"]

And now

I feel less flexible than I was. I also think I pulled something in my back while stretching. How's that for irony. No worries, I am sure it'll go away soon.

Day 2

of my new stretching routine complete. I am sick of being super non-flexible. It gets in the way more than you'd think! Right now I can reach to about 2 inches from my toes.

"Laugh Curtain old boy!

It's a great joke played on us by the Lord, or fate, or nature, whatever you prefer. But whoever or whatever played it certainly had a sense of humor! Ha! The gold has gone back to where we found it!... This is worth ten months of suffering and labor - this joke is!"

On deck:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and/or reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. :)

I'm about to watch

a potentially horrible 88 minute movie with Johnny Depp called "Nick of Time."

...I am judging that it will be bad BECAUSE it's 88 minutes. I mean, I saw "Jumper" with Hayden Christiansen and THAT was 88 minutes and was absolutely horrible.

If there's not enough material to make it to at least an hour an a half, then why bother making it a movie at all. [That statement excludes animated children's movie, or actual honest to goodness shorts.]

On second thought, I probably shouldn't talk about the fact that I've seen "Jumper." It's THAT bad.

I'd say

2011 is starting off rather nicely.

Throwback! Boy bands of the 90s featuring: LFO

But then I think about the time when we broke up before the prom and you told everyone that I was gay. Okay. Sometimes I walk around the town for hours just to settle down, but I take you back and you kick me down 'cuz that's the way uh huh uh huh I like it.

Spiced Praline.

Boom. Roasted.

See also: Mary Jane Watson from the Spiderman movies.

It's a two post day.

Why you ask?

Because I am thinking way too much for my own good, missing my friends and family back in Wheaton, and pondering some of the friendships that I feel drifting away.

Some of those friendships are going faster than others. They seem to be high tailing it out of here and I can't quite figure out why. There are a few in particular that I never in a million years thought would end up like this.

Was it something I said? What it something I did? Or is this one of those "It's not you, it's me" scenarios? Either way, pouring over these things never does me any good, and brings me to tears more often than I'd like to admit. I try to be tough, but let's face it: I'm a softie.

To the friends that are sticking around and are wonderful: I am so thankful for you. For the ones drifting away: I wish you wouldn't because you're still important to me. Those that are drifting at a quicker pace: I'm sad things have turned out this way. I already miss you and am hoping things will turn around.

Well, I guess that's enough Debbie Downer for one night. Sorry about that...

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos."
Charles M. Schulz

This year

I will actually work out. I am keeping track on my calendar to guilt myself into it until I start to enjoy it.

Aunt Maude's

is a restaurant in Ames that I've been hearing about from the beginning. I've never been there in the four months I've lived here until tonight.

We had our annual holiday dinner for work at Aunt Maude's this year, and let me tell you: this could be my new favorite place. We had pre-dinner drinks and appetizers (for me a Gin and Tonic and some of the smoked salmon artichoke dip) and mingled and then sat down to dinner.

First came the salad, which had a red wine vinegarette and shredded Parmesan cheese. It wasn't drowning in dressing, but it wasn't too dry either, which was nice.

Then came dinner.

Three words: Main Street Chicken. Holy moley!!

The description on the menu ("Main Street chicken: Tomatoes, Scallions, Mushrooms, Spicy Garlic Butter Sauce, Wild Rice Pilaf, Seasonal Vegetables") doesn't even do it justice. First of all, the Spicy Garlic Butter Sauce with the diced tomatoes, and scallions on top was to die for. The chicken was tender and juicy, and with the sauce it basically melted in your mouth. I don't normally like Wild Rice all that much, but this Wild Rice Pilaf was the perfect light, fluffy grain to go with the chicken. The seasonal vegetable was corn, which was also delightful. I am pretty sure it was cut directly off the cob. So delicious.

After dinner came dessert, of course! While almost everyone else got the peanut butter cup cheesecake, I went for the vanilla creme brulee, which was delightful. Basically, I needed to be rolled out to my car at the end of the evening.

If you're ever in Ames, you better come see me, for one, and if you do, I will take you to Aunt Maude's and we have a jolly good time eating and drinking ourselves into a delicious meal stupor.

Muscle relaxers for my neck

equal extreme drowsiness and going to bed at 9pm. I'll probably wake up at 1am though when they wear off and need to take another. But sleep is sleep, I can't complain.

Dear body,

I think you got it wrong. Yesterday wasn't opposite day!! When I said I wanted this neck pain to go away I definitely DID NOT mean I wanted it to get worse.

For that, I am taking you to a doctor. Yes, a doctor. Cry all you want, you did this to yourself.

Yours truly,
Melissa

Dear body,

This is not how I wanted to start this year. Serious neck pain is unacceptable. Please make it go away so I can resume my exercise regimen.

Please and thank you.

Yours truly,
Melissa

So not ready

to return to my lonely corner of the world.

Happy New Year everyone!

In 2010 I:
-Applied for more jobs than I ever imagined I would
-Fell down an entire flight of stairs...TWICE.
-Watched a lot of the AFI top 100 movies
-Performed in the Vagina Monologues
-Interned with the Heart of Illinois United Way
-Published the 2010 edition of Broadside as Editor-in-Chief
-Graduated from college
-Celebrated the finale of Lost
-Saw one of my best friends get married
-Spent the summer working at Target
-Was offered and accepted a job with Wiley-Blackwell
-Moved to Ames, IA
-Started living completely on my own for the first time

I don't normally make new years resolutions, but I do like to think about things to make a general game plan, so here's what I came up with:

-Eat healthier
-Exercise more and shoot for 3+ times a week, but don't beat myself up if I don't (which shouldn't be too hard considering I barely exercised after I graduated from High School)
-Read some excellent books
-Keep in touch with friends

Otherwise, I am just going to keep on keeping on. It's time for bed. I am feeling so grateful for my family and friends. I am thankful for what the past year has brought me and am really looking forward to what the year will bring me.