Went to bed waaaaay to late last night. I couldn't get sleepy due to cup of coffee and can of Pepsi I had after 9 p.m. Dumbass.

See, my New Year's Day ritual has always been to get up at 8, to watch the Rose Parade live. You know, like they don't re-broadcast it over and over all freakin' day long. I have to watch it live, or my entire year will suck. (I neglected my ritual one year, because the ex-convict I had stashed in my apartment wasn't from Southern California, and didn't appreciate the loveliness that is the Rose Parade. We went to Venice Beach instead of watching the parade. He ended up stealing my car a few weeks later...) I'll never neglect my ritual again.

So, 8 a.m. rolls around, the alarm goes off and I turn on the TV. At which point, I decide I'm much too tired to wake up and watch the parade. However, I'm too OCD to turn the TV off and go back to sleep. So, I doze. I wake with fits and starts. My cat Goldie, gets in on the act. She meows for me to get up and fix her breakfast. I shush her and swat at her, so she'll leave me alone. The next time I open my eyes, and she's about a centimeter from my face - willing me with her mind... Errrrgh.

I finally did wake up and have coffee and bagels. I took down the tree and started cleaning the hall closet. Watched a couple of "Monk" episodes. (Cute show, but lemme tell ya - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is NOT the stuff of comedy. Not at ALL).

So, my home is still a wreck (but the hall closet looks fabulous.) And we're getting ready to take my mother to dinner. I need to stop in at the drug store first, and pick up some Zantac75. I think I either have GERD or an ulcer. I was in such pain last night, I thought I might have been having a heart attack! Just a bit ago, I ate a garlic-stuffed olive, and the stinging coming from my esophagus was quite remarkable....

I wonder if I won the $71 million lotto last night. Geez. I could be sitting on a POT FULL of dough! That'd be a cool start to 2004.

January 01, 2004