it starts just where the light exists

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Our New Year's Eve was quiet, peaceful, and a lot of fun. Mike and I had talked about going out and doing something, but by the time yesterday rolled around, all we wanted to do was stay in and enjoy each other's company. Even though we had initially planned on going to bed early, we ended up catching up on the current season of CSI, pausing right after midnight to wish each other a happy new year, and by the time we went to bed, it was after 4.

2008 was an interesting year. I lost friends, made new ones, had enough medical procedures to last me a lifetime, survived two more semesters of school, learned some things about myself (both good and bad), and tried to continue on my path of improving myself and finding a better balance. I'm looking forward to continuing that path in 2009, hopefully with even more success.

I voted this morning, just like I did in 2007, 2006, 2005, and the last presidential election. Four years ago I worried that another term for Bush would damage America even more, and it did. Mike and I were at the polls before they opened this morning, and it was encouraging to see so many people in line with us. Regardless of which candidate they support, I was happy to see so many people in my area taking the time to come in and vote, even if it meant standing in line for almost an hour. I'm anxious to know the results of today's election, and I'm anxious to see how the next four years go. I doubt I'll be staying up to see who wins, but I plan on checking first thing tomorrow when I wake up.

I don't know whether or not this further cements my "crazy dachshund lady" status, but I just ordered these for the pups from Dachshund Delights. Jordan's will be yellow, Maddy's will be red, and Max's will be blue. The lady I spoke with is very familiar with DRNA and more specifically with Jordan's foster mom. She even remembered Jordan, which, of course, won me over as a customer for life. Even cooler - when I get around to ordering harnesses for the pups (either the hug-a-dog or the hold-a-dog), they'll give me a discount because I adopted Mister Jordan.

I still think it's stupid to mess around with the time, but as long as we have to keep doing this, I'm going to continue to enjoy the extra hour. I do love checking the clock and seeing that it's earlier than I think it should be all day. That part of DST I don't mind one bit. In addition to sleeping late, I FINALLY got the floor by my side of the bed cleaned up, something both Mike and the puppies are happy about - Mike because he no longer has to worry about breaking his neck walking around the bed, and the puppies because now they've got a straight shot to the kennel. We all have our own reasons to be happy about the extra hour yesterday.

"Fringe" caught my interest when I first heard about it, primarily because of how similar it sounded to "The X-Files." It doesn't hurt any that it has Joshua Jackson in it, either. I meant to check it out on Hulu but kept forgetting until this week, and once I saw the pilot, I was hooked, for a few reasons.

The subject matter: "Fringe" deals with unusual events and is similar enough to "The X-Files" to fill that void for me. In fact, I kind of like "Fringe" a wee bit more because it doesn't just leave things dangling as paranormal events, it delves a little bit more into the scientific possibilities behind them.

Joshua Jackson: I used to grit my teeth through Dawson's Creek just for Pacey, and now I can see him every week (sort of) without having to listen to Paula Cole too. (When I called my sister this week to squeak excitedly at her about the show, her first response to the Joshua Jackson point was, "Ohhh. But...isn't he getting kind of old?" He's two years older than I am. I SUPPOSE some people consider 30 "old," but I'll continue to think that it's not.)

The level of detail: I love the little things that are woven into the episodes - clues to the next episode, the repeated appearances of The Observer (even before the episode where he's a major player), subtle references to Massive Dynamics, etc. - and the attention to detail outside of the episodes as well, to include a pretty comprehensive Massive Dynamics website.

I'm not crazy about everything on the show, but I like it enough that I'm glad it was picked up for a full season, and I'm very interested in seeing how the bigger "Fringe" picture comes together.

I'm pretty sure my pups are allergic to something in their food. I plan to have them tested for allergies when I take them all in to have their teeth cleaned in January, but in the meantime, I'm trying to eliminate some of the more common allergens from their diet (starting with corn and wheat), and in my quest to take good care of my dogs, it appears that I may have stumbled on the smelliest dog food evar: Purina's Pro Plan salmon and brown rice formula. I knew it was going to be a smelly food when I grabbed the bag off the shelf at PetSmart and caught a whiff of salmon, but that didn't prepare me for how strong it would be after I actually opened the bag. The dogs love it, of course, but their breath right after they eat? HORRIBLE. I'm currently mixing the new food half-and-half with their old food to transition them to it, and I'm a little worried that once they start eating just the new food, I'll have to try to explain to them why Mama doesn't want kisses until after they've had a bowlful (or three) of water.

I have a midterm to take after work today, so I'm busy studying, procrastinating, and panicking, although not necessarily in that order. 100 questions - all multiple choice or t/f, thankfully. The class average at this point? 51.8%. Holy shit, that does nothing to make me feel any more confident about this thing. What this means is that really all you'll hear out of me till at least 5pm is, "Meep! Exam!"

According to this article from MSNBC, the Virginia State Board of Elections voted yesterday that Virginians aren't allowed to wear clothing, hats, buttons, or "other paraphernalia that directly advocate the election or defeat of a specific candidate or issue" on Election Day this coming November. I haven't been able to confirm this yet with the Board of Elections - I didn't see anything on their website about it, and I've been on hold for over half an hour to try to speak with someone about this - so I'm interested to hear what they have to say about it whenever someone finally picks up the phone.

Personally, I don't see how a t-shirt or button is any different from walking in with literature that I've been given by one of the people outside the polling place. If someone is going to be intimidated by a candidate t-shirt, that's a pretty sad state of affairs, and if someone is going to get pissy with another voter because they don't like who or what their "paraphernalia" is promoting, that is even sadder. When did it become necessary for the government to act like a babysitter to adults?

My eyebrow ring fell out sometime between when I went to bed on Thursday and when I took a shower Friday morning. It's still AWOL, so I haven't had one in since Friday, and so far no one has noticed it until I call their attention to it. My family and co-workers may not notice anything different, but I feel like I'm missing a limb. It feels really weird to dry my face off after a shower and not have the towel tug on my eyebrow anymore. I tried getting a new ring over the weekend, but after a painful attempt to put the new ring through the hole in my eyebrow, I realized that one shop's idea of a starter eyebrow ring is not necessarily the same as another's, so I had to turn to the internets for a new eyebrow ring - one that is the correct gauge this time. I got an e-mail yesterday letting me know that it had shipped, so I'm going to be haunting the mailbox this week, hoping that I can finally have an eyebrow ring in again by the time the weekend is here.