Always Anna

Last night’s holiday party did me in – I spent most of last night and this morning on the bathroom floor, praying that my stomach would stop revolting against me. Stomach? You should be used to vast quantities of sparkling wine, mixed vodka drinks, and mudslides by now. I know I didn’t eat dinner last night, so maybe you have the right to be mad at me. But to make me miss two holiday parties tonight that I know are awesome? That’s just mean.

As I sat on my couch feeling sorry for myself earlier this evening, I realized that one thing can always cheer me up. I popped Love Actually into the DVD player, laughing and crying my way to a less pitiful mood. This scene in particular always makes me laugh:

I mean, how can anyone see that and NOT want to snuggle up with Hugh Grant? Love it!

You know how I love buying presents?  Well, here’s some proof – I signed up last month to participate in a holiday gift swap, called ”Give what YOU want.”   

My swap partner, Jaimi, lives in California, not far from where I grew up – how fun is that?  After she confessed to LOVING this pin, I decided to send her a red rose themed present.  Because, hi, themes are FUN!  Here’s what I sent:

Cute, right?  I’m not going to lie, I wanted to keep these things to myself.  But boy, am I glad I sent them out, because karma has rewarded me!  The gifts I received are so cute and wonderful, and so perfectly ME. 

First off, how cute is the wrapping?  

I love that Jaimi took the time to wrap up the presents so nicely.  Aren’t the geometric shapes great?

And then I opened up the gifts…

A slinky and magnetic toy to distract me at work!  Handmade stationery!  Fun bookplates!  Cute jewelry!  And some amazing handmade stickers shaped like tickets!

I’m just so happy.

Two weekends ago, I was out to dinner with some friends when we started talking about the upcoming presidential election.  When asked who I planned on voting for in the primaries, I was embarassed when I had to reply, “I don’t know yet… I haven’t really paid much attention.”

After the 2004 election, I just couldn’t deal with continuing to focus on politics.  I was drained, depressed, and angry about the path that our country chose to go down.  Knowing the risks, knowing the stakes, people across the country made it very clear that choosing a leader for the country was a popularity contest.  Do you know how many people said things to me like, “Well, I don’t know if I approve of Bush, but… well… I just don’t really like Kerry.”  Excuse me? 

I’m still fired up about it, actually.  It’s just been easier for me to let it lie dormant, because I can’t spend every day crying for the future of my country.

What brings this up today?  Well, I actually started out the morning crying, when I read Clink’s post about Jamie Leigh Jones.  A female employee of KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, was brutally gang-raped by coworkers while working overseas in Iraq.  She did all the right things, reporting the attack and getting medically examined, only to be locked in a freaking metal box and guarded.  KBR “lost” the evidence that the medical team collected and has been trying to cover the whole thing up. 

I really can’t say it any better than Clink, who said:

Boys will be boys, eh? Isn’t that the mentality?

And boys will certainly be boys when they know they can get away with anything – gang rape, killing innocent civilians – all without repercussions.

Excuse me while I go rock back and forth in a corner.

I’m angry.  Angry and horrified and sad and depressed.  How can things like this happen? 

Politicians, get ready for a boatload of emails from me.  I’m officially politically active again. 

For more information on Jamie’s story, read the ABC News article here.  And visit her foundation website, which aims to “provide help and relief for individuals male or female who have suffered injury or harassment in the corporate or small business world in the United States and Abroad.”

I almost hyperventilated when I tore the ad cover off of my new Sports Illustrated yesterday, revealing that Brett Favre has won the 2007 Sportsman of the Year honor.

Alan Shipnuck writes in the article, “He has rarely been flawless… but he’s always shown up.  Through pills and booze, through cancer and car crashes and heart attacks, he has played on. … It is for his perseverance and his passion that SI honors Favre with the 54th Sportsman of the Year award.  But there is more to his story than on-field heroics.  On game day the whole of Green Bay may live and die on Favre’s rocket right arm, but his greatest legacy lies in how many people he has touched between Sundays.” 

Brett, I love you.  And I admire you too!

It always entertains me when people complain about how many gifts they have to buy; how they don’t want to deal with the malls; how this time of year is so expensive; how much they HATE buying gifts for everyone they know.  After listening to them rant, I always say, “Really?  I LOVE holiday shopping!”  Reactions range from disbelief to shock to responses of, “Really?  Will you do my shopping for me?”  And let me just say now – if you give me a budget, some info on the person, and money, I will definitely gift shop for you!

For me, gift shopping is more fun than shopping for myself.  When I’m shopping for myself, I get easily frustrated.  Maybe because I have a too specific idea in my head of what I’m looking for – when I can’t find exactly what I want, I get cranky and tired.  (The exception to this is, of course, when I’m just wandering around and happen to find something I love.)  But when I’m present shopping, it’s all different.

I love tooling around online for ideas, looking for the perfect gift in craft bazaars, and stalking the accessories and home goods sections of Marshall’s or TJ Maxx.  I love Secret Santas and Yankee Swaps and online swaps.  I love the look on peoples’ faces when they open their gift and can’t believe they now have something they’ve always wanted.  Or even better, when they realize that you’ve found something that they never even knew they wanted, but now know they can’t live without.  Oh, and when you give a gift that makes some kind of inside joke, and they know exactly what it means?  That’s the BEST.

I love this time of year because it gives me the opportunity to make my friends and family happy.  And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that I can help with that.

Happy Holidays!