• Cupcake
• Lovebird
• Dollface

Pet peeves:

• untrimmed nose hair
• people who say "alls"
• the law that dictates that we can never stock whatever type of battery I need at the moment
• how the title of this blog entry is equal parts perfect and terrible

Dream pets:

• white tiger
• orange tiger
• sugar glider
• miniature panda (if such a thing exists)

It reminded me of three of my best friends — Boy, Pimp, and Cooley. They learned early on that I am a pirate by day and a crybaby by night. That's not entirely accurate. The best summary of my personality actually came from Boy: "easily broken, easily fixed." And my closest friends? They know all the right fixes. It's why we get along so splendidly.

I've actually been broadcasting those magic cures as the subtitle of this blog for many years (unintentionally, believe it or not), but I'll save everyone the trouble of scrolling/clicking and just list them here:

• pizza
• chocolate
• Lord of the Rings
• pirates

Combine multiple items for bonus points (and to stop serious cases of the weepies). Garnish with sock monkeys and kittens.

So Chris, when you sent the boxed copy of The Silmarillion and two huge bars of Canadian chocolate? You fixed me up for at least a week. Jace and Brooke, you both combined chocolate and pirates, so two more weeks were saved. Chicago as a whole keeps me covered in the pizza department, and Warner Bros. just stepped in with Blu-ray discs and digital downloads (hobbits on my iPhone!) to make sure my Lord of the Rings needs were extra satisfied.

All of this is a really long-winded way of saying thank you. Thank you, family and friends and cities and giant corporations for taking care of this silly little girl. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings heaped upon me, and I only hope to be diligent in sharing those blessings with others.

. . . Okay, fine. I also hope that the extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to Blu-ray super duper soon.

Next week, I will do a load of laundry and eat some of my favorite chocolate.

I like my life.

Dad, in case you're spying on me via my blog, thanks for taking the time to help me with this upgrade. Love you!

Coolio.

Much love,
Rachelskirts

P.S. This message comes to you from Movable Type 4! We're halfway there!

Ahem.

Since the writing of January's lone post, I have managed to:

1. complete an entire semester at Internet College
2. pay a visit to the fine folks out East (namely my hunky, hunky boyfriend) and experience Valentine's Day as someone's girlfriend for the first time ever
3. unclutter my closet
4. start exercising on a semi-regular basis
5. purchase and fall in love with a Barnes & Noble nook
6. rekindle my love affair with Sims 3

I know there is a lot of talk of love in there, but I can tell you right now that only one of the things on that list made it into the Cherished Memories folder in my heart. (Hint: it's number two!) (Note: sorry for any gagging I just caused! Eat a cupcake to make yourself feel better!)

P.S. I've been working on upgrading to Movable Type 5 while simultaneously designing a new look for Rachelskirts.com, so I do apologize to the five friends still lingering here for the scant number of updates recently.

P.P.S. Ten points to the person who finds the hidden Gilmore Girls reference.

The tiger. I heard rumors that 2010 is the year of the tiger (according to the Chinese), and since I spent the last month of 2009 watching Mythbusters, you'd think I'd be eager to verify that fact before posting it to a public website. Wrong! I think every year should be the year of the tiger. I've been answering the "what is your favorite animal?" question with "TIGER!" ever since my mouth would cooperate with my brain well enough for me to pronounce the word with any degree of clarity. From here on out, every year is the year of the tiger, and you are going to love it.

A clean slate academically. When DeVry University contacted me about their online program and told me of their policy to transfer in past credits without a past GPA, I almost cried. Despite years of floundering in the traditional college environment because of my own faults — poor time management, lack of motivation, and a bad habit of not going to class — and other factors, I will legitimately have a shot to graduate at the top of my class. That is music to my ears.

Writing more. Watch out, all you half-filled journals tucked away into secret corners of my room. I'm coming for you.

Reading more. I'm starting off the year by reading Stephen King's On Writing, which is bad news for the two birds I'm about to kill.

Loving more. Guh. I know. Being bitter and cynical lends itself to some great Twitter jokes, and I'll probably return to that in 2011 (or in February, to be honest). However, I'd like to give that whole "being kind-hearted and sweet and generous" thing a shot, if only so I can mock it later.

Worrying less. My father once worried about my shoelaces coming untied when I was wearing velcro-laced shoes. I do not want to live like that. So many things are out of my hands, and I should shrug them off and focus on the things that really matter in life. LIke finding out if I can legally own a pet tiger in Chicago.

Financial stability and freedom from credit card debt. FINE. I CONFESS. I am a really great shopper. I was a really stupid shopper when I lived on a college campus and refused to eat at the cafeteria. (It is possible to max-out your credit card buying only Pop-Tarts.) I also work at my church and get paid in pennies and pats-on-the-back, so all this means that I need to pay close attention to how I spend my money in the present and the future if I ever want to buy a car, a Nikon D80, or a one-way ticket to New Zealand.

Board games and gym memberships and Turtle Mochas and hugs. These are a few of my favorite things. (The gym membership is one of my least favorite things, but it might be the golden ticket to surviving swimsuit season now that I have my eye on a really cute bikini.)

I would like to send hugs to Lovely Anomaly and my adorable boyfriend for helping me get that board game resolution off to a fantastic start.

Every morning cartoons. It sure would be easier to love people if I started every morning with a good breakfast and cartoons. Sadly, that requires waking up earlier than I normally do, which is what makes this challenging enough to qualify as a resolution. (I can't believe you fell for that logic!)

So there you have it. 2010 is going to be the best year ever.

You know Sassy and Salem and Garfield and Fluffy
Felix and Catbert and Heathcliff and Scratchy
But do you recall
The most famous kitten of all?

Mr. Kittypants, the bow-mouthed kitten
Had a very funny mouth
And if you ever saw it
You would want to send it south

All of the other kittens
Used to laugh and call him names
They wouldn't let Mr. Kittypants
Join in any catnip games

Then one fuzzy Christmas Eve
Rachelskirts came to say,
Mr. Kittypants with your mouth so weird
Won't you try to grow a beard?

Then all the kittens licked him
As they purred and meowed with glee
Mr. Kittypants, the bow-mouthed kitten
You'll go down in history!

What will it shout?

1. Rachel is driving the speed limit, you loon!
2. Standing in the middle of the street is a really dumb way to send any message other than "hit me!"
3. Yelling at strangers is a really dumb way to send any message other than "I am a loon!"

This lovely ride of mine will obviously find a concise and witty way to say that, too, so I don't sound quite so much like a scolded child throwing a tantrum.

Man, the future is going to be great.

Do count on us sounding really sharp because our new mic is definitely all it is cracked up to be.

Of course, all this depends on whether or not I survive the next twenty-four hours without shoving sporks in my own eyes.

Send hugs. And chocolate.

• My perfectionism will be the death of me.
• I cannot bring myself to care about my health as much as I should. That might also be the death of me.

On a happier note:

• I just remembered that I picked up an Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley movie on VHS for $.25 at a book sale a few weeks ago.

For some reason, this popped into my mind today and then made me think of bucket lists. If you're unfamiliar with the term, a "bucket list" is simply a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket."

I've been wanting to write up a bucket list for many years now, but as I mentioned the other day, I'm still trying to narrow down my passions, what motivates me, and what matters to me. That's an incredibly easy thing for some people, but I am not one of them. I remember feeling like a deer in headlights when I realized I would have to pick a college major and that there is no such thing as a career path that encompasses piano-playing, math, history, writing, and graphic design all in one job (especially since I would rather chop off my own limbs than become a teacher). Having multiple interests is fun, but choosing between them is definitely not.

Anyway, dear friends and strangers, what are some things you have on your bucket list? Have you done anything from that list yet? Do you plan to accomplish anything from the list in the next year?

If you have a bucket list (or something similar) posted somewhere online, leave the link in the comments because I'm dying for ideas and inspiration, and oh yeah, I'm just really stinkin' curious.

Callie spends most of her time sleeping in the sunshine, when she can find it. When I am filthy rich, I plan on doing the exact same thing.

I do not understand "dog people," and I never will.