...and he kicked him in the ding ding!

So it's the last day of the year. I've just been kind of sitting here going through things as I'm "cleaning house", which really just means that I'm digging around in the files on my various computers and trying to organize/sort. I remembered that I was going to post a couple pictures of my winter running, so here they are. Actually, no one was home, so I had to set the timer and just get a picture before my run. I have no proof that I didn't snap these and then retreat to the warmth of the house, so you're going to have to just take my word for it. The first one is simply me, the other one is what I wear when the wind is a bit too biting and I have to transform into the winter ninja.

It's still hard for me to believe that I'm not only voluntarily running miles at a time, but the fact that I'll take off down the road while it's snowing still doesn't seem to register as sane to me. The dogs sure do love it though, and it helps me by giving me something other than the cold to concentrate on. They love to explore as we go, running through ditches and such. I have to make sure I have enough wind to call them when we go past another farmhouse though, because they tend to want to charge into the yard as if it were theirs. At least they heel easily enough. I have a habit of calling them "dummies" all the time, but they catch on to some things pretty quickly. They get all worked up when they see me come out in my gear because they know we're heading down the road and can't wait.



Anyway, I suppose I should finish this up for now and start back in on the geeking. I have a bottle of Gewürztraminer to crack into, a movie and a couple episodes of The Sopranos to watch. That reminds me, my roommates treated me to a dinner celebrating my degree at Martin Brandenburg Restaurant in Waverly, IA. While we were there, they presented me with a gift of a portable cigar case, which is awesome because I've actually smashed a cigar or two on accident. Inside was a limited edition Sopranos cigar, which I also intend to smoke tonight - most likely while watching the episodes I just rented.

I also have a new story idea that popped into my head the other night. I might just start jotting more notes down on that tonight, because if I start getting something together during break, I think I could use it this coming semester. There are also a couple CDs I'd like to give a quick listen to before the night's over. I've got so much to do, I hardly know where to start.

I usually like to imagine my New Year's Eve as sort of setting a theme for the year to come, and this one is going to find me sitting alone at home in comfort doing things that I like to do. I have a feeling that even though this coming year is going to be a busy one, I'm going to be spending most of it in solitude tapping into my creative side a bit more than I'm accustomed to. I can hardly wait. I'm going to kick this year in the ding ding. Hope you kick yours too.