Shane Life

It’s downright chilly outside.

OK, I just felt like I needed to post something and that’s all I could think of on short notice. There is a lot going on, but I have been crazy busy at my new job and I haven’t had time to blog. I’m hoping to get around to more blogging soon.

Stay tuned.

So for nearly the last two weeks, I have been home alone here. Alli has been in Ohio since the morning of January 10th. It is now January 21st and is easily the longest time that we have been apart since we’ve been married.

When she departed almost 2 weeks ago, she was originally scheduled to return less than a week later. However, complications with her grandmother’s illness kept her and her mom out there a little longer. In addition, the winter storm we received last night isn’t helping matters any, since flights into and out of Chicago-Midway are delayed. She was kept on the ground until just after 2:00 p.m. EST for her flight that was supposed to leave at 1:00. The problem is that she was scheduled to catch a flight in Chicago at 2:00 p.m. CST (20 min ago) and it just left. On time.

Ugh.

Anyway, so I’ve taken stock of all the remaining flights from Chicago to Kansas City. Thankfully, there are FIVE more. Only one is delayed. She had been told by one of the Southwest agents that the 3:50 (the next flight, which actually departs at 4:10) was full, but hopefully she’ll be able to get on that one so she’ll be home by 5:35. If not, there’s a 4:25 that arrives only 20 minutes later.

After that, we’ve got three more chances to get her out of Chicago and into my arms.

I pray she gets home today. I don’t think I could take another day by myself. I find that I talk with Dreyfuss as if he could have a conversation with me (sidebar: wouldn’t that be awesome?). I’m listless and I dawdle at everything. I eat out way too much (what’s the point in cooking for one?) and when I eat at home, I have only one meal: grilled cheese. I could make other things, but it’s too much work.

I really miss her and I hope that the next time that we spend this much time apart is, well…NEVER.

What’s amazing is that TONS has happened since she left. My desk got installed. Our bed was delivered. Our curtains got done. She’s going to be coming home to a much different house. Which reminds me…I’d better finish cleaning.

UPDATE: She made the 3:50 (which leaves at 4:10). I am so excited!

Alli’s been in Ohio since Wednesday morning with her mom because her grandma is in the hospital. I know how much Carol appreciates Alli being there, but I sure miss her a lot. Dreyfuss acts so strange when only one of us is at the house for extended periods of time. It’s funny, but weird…he’s really perceptive for a mutt. I got kind of sick on Wednesday and worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday (our new bed was delivered Wednesday, so I needed to be there for that).

I like working from home, but it will be lots more enjoyable after THIS Wednesday when my new office is delivered. For Christmas, my parents purchased me a custom California Closets built-in workspace and I can’t wait for it to get here. My office at the house has been in some serious need of some love ever since we moved in and I’m psyched to get it. Alli also got me a new chair for Christmas to go with my new desk. It’s going to be awesome. In fact, I’m planning on painting the walls today. I’m considering doing this really awesome chalkboard wall calendar that I saw on Martha Stewart’s site (go ahead and make fun - you’ll be jealous when I get done), but I am way behind on just getting everything cleaned out. It’s kind of a trainwreck in my office. For a long time, it’s been the catchall of the house. I’m excited to finally have a place to store everything.

Not much else has really happened. I’m still feeling the effects of my illness and the holiday party for my new company was last night. It was very nice and I’m enjoying getting to know my new co-workers better. Once my room is done, I’ll post pictures…it’s gonna be LEGENDARY.

Oh, how I wish I had better news, but the Chiefs looked like playoff pretenders last night. It was an awful display of football by both teams and I still maintain that Herm Edwards is at fault on the Chiefs side.

We watched some of the post-game press conference and Jason Whitlock wisely asked, “How do you turn an offense that was tops in the NFL over the last 5 years into a group that can’t get a first down in an entire half?”

It’s baffling.

And what was unbelievable about the whole thing was that Herm had made a huge deal out of how he would bench Trent Green if he played poorly. Green did exactly that. He didn’t get benched. Now, I don’t think Trent Green can make his receivers catch the ball (Kennison and Gonzalez: 2 drops each in the first half), but Huard could have given the team a spark in the second half when they were only down 9. Ty Law finally showed up and completely owned Manning again (he has 9 career INTs against Manning…that’s insane), but in the end, the defense was just run down because our offense couldn’t stay on the field at all.

It should be an interesting off-season. Here’s hoping they fire Mike Solari.

Even so, it was a fun day. Lots of poker and football. Good times.

I really liked Brian’s post about his favorites of 2006, so I thought I would drop mine onto the internets.

Favorite Book: This is a tough one. I’ve read more books this year than in any year past. If I wanted to seem all intellectual and whatnot, I’d say that The Tipping Point was my favorite read. And truthfully, it was my favorite non-fiction read of the year. Great writing and a fascinating book. However, I would probably say that my favorite book of the year was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Call me cheesy or whatever, but after reading all 6 Harry Potter books this year, I finally see what the big deal is. While I held high acclaim for several books this year (I had about 8 that scored higher than 9 out of 10 on my scale, including The Historian, which I called “the best book I’ve read in the last 5 years”), I can’t think of a single book outside of the fifth in the Harry Potter series that I enjoyed more.

Favorite Movie: OK, so the year’s not yet over, but I’m going to need to categorize my favorite movies…

Favorite Comedy: There were not a lot of terribly funny movies out there this year. Out of the few, I had a great time watching both The Devil Wears Prada and Little Miss Sunshine. Very different movies, but both were a lot of fun. However, my favorite comedy of the year was Stranger than Fiction. Honorable mentions for Clerks 2 and Thank You for Smoking.

Favorite Drama: Another tough one. I would like to retract my earlier statement that Leonardo di Caprio did not deserve two Best Actor nominations. After seeing Blood Diamond, I realized that he deserved every bit of them. Blood Diamond is excellent as was The Departed. I would give a slight edge to The Departed only because Jack Nicholson is so awesome in it.

Favorite Action: Casino Royale. Hands down.

Favorite Animated: Cars. Pixar does what only Pixar can do.

Favorite TV Sitcom: The Office is my clear choice here, but it is followed closely by How I Met Your Mother, which Alli and I have dubbed “the new Friends”.

Favorite TV Drama: Lost has really lost a lot of steam. Even at the top of its game, I don’t think I would enjoy it more than I am enjoying Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip these days.

Favorite TV Reality: Top Chef. Always Top Chef.

Favorite TV New: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Perhaps my favorite show on TV right now. Honorable mention for the late Six Degrees.

Favorite Album: Either St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley or Continuum by John Mayer.

Favorite Event: Changing jobs. It was really hard to leave PSI, but it’s been a great experience so far. I’m really liking my new position. Also, the Chiefs making the playoffs is up there.

Favorite Home Improvement Project: I would probably say the tiling project if Alli and I hadn’t decided to make our bedroom a priority. We just got a bed, nightstands, new lamps, and drapes. Totally changes it (although we haven’t gotten the bed yet). Now we just need a new mattress.

Favorite Trip: VEGAS BABY.

Favorite Poker Night: Coming back from being desperately short-stacked to winning in the longest heads-up match against Darin at Jason’s house.

Favorite Restaurant: Pizza Shack. Would have been Chipotle if not for an AWESOME 30th birthday outing.

Favorite Present: Easily my painting.

That should be all for now. Here’s to a great 2007.