The New Normal

If I’m lucky some of you have probably been wondering where I’ve been for the last few weeks. So, for the hearty few that have stuck with my poor, ill-fed blog lately, I’ll fill you in. First off, I had a number of crushing writing deadlines to meet in the month of December and that kept me a little busier than I liked. Come to think of it, it was probably the hardest I’ve worked since I made a go of this whole stay-at-home-yeti thing three years ago. Seriously, it was a pretty punishing schedule for any time of the year, but, when you toss in the holidays and all the craziness that that entails, well…lets just say I’m glad it’s over.

And though Greta was devastated at the fact that we couldn’t leave our Christmas tree up all year long, I’ve never been happier to put it all away. I know I sound like an old Scrooge, but, the clutter of Christmas really stressed me out this year. All I wanted for Christmas was a clean, clutter free house to work in…and an iPad Mini. Preferably in black.

Luckily for me, I got both, and once the tree and stockings were packed away in the garage. My daily workload shot way up. So, yay for me. Of course, anytime I get a lot of work done I can’t help but feeling guilty for ignoring Greta. Yes, she loves to play alone in her room with her Barbies and My Little Ponys for hours…but, I still feel bad anytime I’m knee deep in work and she’s craving attention. So, we worked out a little deal most days. “Let Daddy work for thirty minutes and then I’ll come play Barbies.” I’d say. “That’s not a good idea.” She’d say. “Here’s a better idea…FIRST you play Barbies in my room, then you work.”

You can guess who usually won that argument.

Anyway, despite the distractions, I did manage to meet all my deadlines and even squeeze in a very last-minute, whirlwind trip to Dubai and the Maldives to cover the inagural flight of flydubai’s new non-stop service to the Maldives. The trip was amazing and though I’d like to say I got loads of sleep on the beaches there while the Indian Ocean lapped at my feet, my time on the beach was limited to a few dips in the water and one long nap on my private deck. Yes, we had private decks with full ocean access…swanky, huh? And though the trip was magical and it was strangely liberating to not have to worry about carseasts and sippy cups for a few days, I came home with loads more work, so, it’s back to crazy town any day now. Actually, the deadlines are a little more evenly spaced this time around, and there’s not that pesky old Christmas/New Years crush to jam me up. But, we do have loads of birthdays, an Oscar party and Greta’s fourth birthday party to plan, so, the next couple of months promise to go by in another crazy blur of activity.

So, if you don’t hear from me for a while, know that I am juggling the twin joys of my life (parenting and writing) the best I can and that somewhere a Barbie is being played with.

Oh yeah, and about my new iPad Mini. It’s wondrous! I don’t know how I lived without it all these years…almost makes me want to add it to my list of “joys in my life”. But, then I think Mrs. Yeti might start to feel a little bit slighted. Aw, screw it, I’m adding my Mini to the list, Mrs. Yeti too. Who says you can’t have four joys in your life?

Oscar Nominees 2013

Wow, what a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, The Artist was winning pretty much everything it was nominated for, but, this year the Oscar race is wide open. Which, in my mind is always much more exciting. Equally exciting was the nomination telecast itself, which was hosted by the dreamy Emma Stone and this year’s Oscar telecast host, Seth McFarlane.

Yes, you heard me right, the reading of names from a prompter was actually very exciting this morning! Funny too! I laughed out loud several times, but, my favorite moment was when Stone announced the Best Supporting Actor nominees. After every name she said: “Nominated Before.” And they were! The category is full of previous winners. Crazy! And hilarious to make fun of it too. Honestly, I was a bit worried about Seth McFarlane hosting the show this year, but, if he’s as funny and original as he was this morning, then, bring that shit on, baby. He was on fire! And, he even scored a Best Song Oscar nomination for his movie Ted.

Anyway, most of the major nominees are names we’ve been hearing all season, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Argo and Les Miserables all did really well in several categories, but, the biggest coup in my mind was all the Oscar love for Amour, which scooped up nominations for Best Foreign Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture! Wow! I can’t remember the last time a foreign film did that well. Good on, you guys!

Also very excited to see Naomi Watts score a Best Actress nomination for her fine work in The Impossible, even if poor Ewan McGregor got overlooked…again! Grrr! Also totally overlooked was John Goodman, who shone in at least three major movies I can think of and would have made a perfect rookie addition to the Best Supporting Actor category. Also totally robbed was John Hawkes for his superb work in The Sessions. He was awesome (as was his co-star Helen Hunt, who did score a nomination this morning for the same movie). If you ask me, I’d say Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) stole more than a loaf of bread this time around, he also stole John Hawkes Best Actor nomination. Sorry, Hugh, you were great, but, I’m just saying…

I was also stoked to see David O. Russell back in the Best Director race after losing out on a DGA nomination early this week. In fact, the only holdovers from the DGA’s nominations are Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg. I can’t even remember the last time the lists were that different. And though I’m sorry Ben Affleck didn’t score a nomination for directing Argo, I was excited to see Russell back in the running as well as the Beasts of the Southern Wild dude and Michael Haneke for Amour. Neither of which I’ve seen yet, so, I’d better get busy!

Anyway, in the end, I think I’m rooting for Silver Linings Playbook the most. The movie is fantastic and has really crept up on me over the past few weeks since I saw it. Like a lot of my favorite movies, it really sticks with you and that’s always good. Also, it scored nominations in every acting category, as well as nods for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, which is a good sign. Especially in year with no clear frontrunner. So, go, Silver Linings Playbook!

Dying to hear what movies you loved or hated this year and, more importantly, what you thought was overlooked. So, feel free to comment away. And to see a full list of this year’s nominees, click here.

A Merry, Much-belated, Christmas (2012)

Yeah, I know I’ve been away for far too long, but, between Mrs. Yeti launching her Library Store on Wheels and me trying to stay on top of a number of writing deadlines, the past few months have literally been a blur. A good blur, a fun blur, but a blur nonetheless!

We were so behind on things this year that we didn’t even send out Christmas cards till December 30th — I say if they are sent out during the month of December, they still count! — and barely even got in to see Santa before he went home to prep for Christmas Day, so, the fact that I’m even posting Greta’s Santa pic is kind of a mini achievement in itself. I’d celebrate with a drink, but, I have too much work to do and drinking would just put me to sleep. But, trust me, it feels awesome to blog again (for any amount of time) so, inside, I’m celebrating my ass off.

That said, I’ll leave you for now with this year’s Santa pic. As you can see, he’s the same dude we’ve been going to for the past few years and he rocks. Greta actually talked his ear off this time too, it was very sweet. And though Greta didn’t get the Barbie kitchen she asked him for, she loves the IKEA one Santa brought in its place. And as she said when she first saw the IKEA kitchen under the tree on Christmas day: “Santa didn’t bring me the Barbie kitchen, he brought this one instead. But, that’s OK, I’ll just put stickers on it.”

Ah, the magic of Christmas…here’s hoping yours was fun too and that the year ahead is good to us all. Happy belated Holidays, everyone!