I had a whiney post all ready to go about sitting in Newark Airport for five hours while Continental tried to locate the crew for my flight, and subsequently catching the flu and laying on the couch, stuffy and fatigued, for my entire Christmas vacation. But something about watching nonstop footage of a tsunami really makes one grateful for every long, boring hour stuck at an airport, every night that it's hard to sleep because you can't breath and you are slightly feverish, for every piece of toast that tastes like wood.

My New Year's Resolutions: stop complaining so much and be more charitable. I'm so sick of complainers, myself included. And I'm going to make it a point to donate to my two charities each month, rather than just intermittently: City Meals on Wheels and City Harvest.

Ok, that's all for the do-goodiness. Christmas was great this year, despite my flight woes and illness. The best part was watching my mom open her Rod Stewart tickets. Her eyes popped out of her head and her jaw dropped to the floor like some kind of Tim Burton creature. It was hilarious! We managed to totally surprise her, which was awesome.

My dad retired.