Hear Hear

This weekend I spent at my mom's house recuperating from my otoplasty correcting my conductive hearing loss on Thursday morning. Everyone at the surgical center was really nice to me and as a special little surprise, the gown plugged into a heating unit, because it's always a little cold in the OR.

Right now, I can hear things I've never been able to hear before, and my ear is still packed with the antibiotic stuff holding everything in place so it can heal. And I have a tiny bone made of titanium in my head (bionic ear!).

I'm going back to work tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on how I feel. Should be interesting, I'm talking much softer than ever because everything is echoing in my ears and I'll be able to hear when people talk to me. Hopefully my brain will get used to it sooner rather than later.

Hanging with TJ

Friday night, I went to happy hour with Glender and TJ. Last week we all went to the comedy club, Witz End, for some live comedy. After drinks and some bar food, TJ and I went down to the little bar he frequents, Red's Pub. We spent the rest of the evening and some of the early morning there, shooting pool with a really cute machinist who taught me quite a bit about pool and even let me win while he was teaching me. TJ played some too (he didn't let me win, but I didn't expect it either). All in all, a good night. And TJ had some advice for me about my machinist which I will refrain from posting here, suffice it to say it was graphic and lewd (and just a bit funny).

Tonight TJ and I went to E-Town with the North Mississippi Allstars. We had fun at the taping; TJ hadn't been to an E-Town show before (not that Glender and I hadn't been trying to ask him for the last two years) and he enjoyed himself. The music rocked the house, and the cute young audio guy, Steve, had a good night as well (he's got nice hands).

On the bus ride up, TJ told me his current gal, who had declined to join him at E-Town, had called this afternoon. She got upset when she heard that 'a friend from work' was going with him and proceeded to grill him about me, was I a woman, did I have a boyfriend, did I think it was a date. He answered noncommittally on all but the first and it just upset her. Now, TJ and I have been co-workers for nearly 3 years, and friends for the last 2. He's cute and fun but we're co-workers. Not going there.

But I still told him, "Of course it's a date."

Big Fun Scary Goals for 2008

In general, I think that New Year's Resolutions rarely work for me, even though I've posted something nearly every year.

The NaNoWriMo folks have been doing Big Scary Fun Goals the last couple of years and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Part of what makes this different (at least for me) is that the goals are quantified and measurable (with the exception of #8). Perhaps this will make a difference.

Here's my list, published on the NaNoWriMo BFS forums as well.

My BFS goals for 2008:

1. Get surgery to correct hearing loss (scheduled in January!)
2. Lose 60 pounds (lost 44 pounds in 2007)
3. Read at least one book a month by the end of the year starting with (in no particular order):
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
• Mockingbird by Charles J Shields
• A Grand Improvisation by Stacy Shiff
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems ed. Roger Housden
• A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry ed. Czeslaw Milosz
• Best American Short Stories 2003 ed. Walter Mosley and Katrina Kenison
• Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Treasury ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
• Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers ed. Joyce Carol Oates

4. Write every day using Writer’s Book of Days prompts
5. Blog at least weekly
6. Finish & Print By the Light of the Faerie Moon (NaNo 2007)
7. Win NaNoWriMo 2008
8. Figure out what career path I want to take

I think those are big and scary enough, and the reading will certainly be fun. Actually putting together this list was fun all by itself.

Happy New Year to all!