2009 Holiday Letter

In the immortal words of one Superhero Sidekick, "Holy Amazing Year, Batman!"

This past year has been one of the most fun years of my life! This was a year of travel & transformation for me.

From the OK Corral in Tombstone, to tattoo parlors in Savannah, Georgia, to partying like a rock star decked in gold sequins in Denver, to being a part of the coolest wedding cake cutting/fight in Vegas, to the Happiest Place on Earth, I travelled more in 2009 than I had in my entire life combined!

In March, the inaugural Argyle Sock Adventure Club adventure took place. The Argyle Sock Adventure Club is the brainchild of my gal-pal Suzy-Q and me. It is the result of a very awesome conversation that went like this:
"Wouldn't it be amazing to take a road trip to some touristy spot?"
"Oh my God! Yes! And we should TOTALLY wear argyle socks!"

Our first trip was to Tombstone, since I had never been and Sue wanted to make her inner-9-year old happy by dressing up as saloon girls.

Too bad we almost didn't make it beyond the gas station, since neither of us bothered to get directions... But we did have plenty of snacks (thanks to me) and great tunes (thanks to Sue) to get us there.

In April, I made it down South, y'all!

As the Maid of Honor in my last wedding ever* - besides my own - I got to plan the coolest destination bachelorette party EVER!

You see, my bestie of a million years, Nanna, picked Savannah not because it's an amazing city overall (it is), or for it's food (which is drool-worthy), or for historical purposes (it's so historical, at that!). Nope, Savannah was her locale for one person and one person only (Not Paula Deen or Ruby): Kimberly Reed.

Kimberly Reed is a very gifted tattoo artist and Nanna wanted her to do her tattoo to commemorate her (upcoming) marriage. As Nanna researched this artist and her shop and the City of Savannah, Nanna realized this was a great opportunity for a girls' weekend bachelorette party. So, with dates and location nailed down, I was set loose to do what I do best: organize and plan. With very little work (now that I think about it), I was able to secure a picturesque townhouse for a weekend and planned a couple of nights around food, fun, and porn (it was a bachelorette party! Don't judge!).

Of the nine of us, three left Savannah with a bit more body art than when we arrived. Of course, Nanna got her beautiful piece and her sister, Susan, got leaves added to the piece both she and Nanna have in honor of their mother. The only other crazy brave willing girl to go under the needle was... me! Yes, I got another tattoo and I love love love it!!

Many of you know (or remember) that I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday. It was a fairy angel (that looked like a fairy) on the small of my back. For some reason, the ink around her mouth ran so she always looked like she had smudged lipstick. I had an inappropriate interesting story on why her lipstick was smudged, but the intention originally didn't call for smudged lipstick, I assure you!

Well, 10 years after I put her on my back, I decided to get a new tattoo which resulted in covering her. The idea and design was mine but the artwork was drawn and tattooed by Ricky McGee at Anonymous Tattoo.


As you can see, it's a steel locked heart. After some of the stuff my heart has been through, I decided I needed to put that sucker under some protection! Since I've been known to give my heart to any shmuck who looks twice at me, it's best to keep it protected until I can find someone who can treat it the way it deserves.

Since there's a key for every lock, it's not surprising that my next tattoo is going to be a key. After all, I'm the holder of the key to my heart and it's mine to give (Yes, I get very deep with the meanings of my tattoos!).

About a month later, the wedding was upon us and I packed my bags for Denver. The theme of the wedding was a Rock and Roll Concert, and holy hell, that was one kick ass wedding! When I talk about Nanna and Hans' wedding, I always start it out with, "I'd never been to a wedding where the bridesmaids got more out of control than the groomsmen..."

From tequila shots in the lobby with the bridesmaids to stogies in the rain with the groomsmen, I acted every part the rock star.

Let's just leave it at it was a memorable weekend to say the least...

After letting my liver heal for a few months, I decided it was time to test its regenerative powers again - with a trip to Vegas! This trip was for another wedding... but not everybody attending knew it!

I met Mina at Nanna's bachelorette party in April and immediately developed a girl-crush on her. She's this tiny fireball of awesome and is just as outspoke as me - but she makes it look so cool! With very little convincing, I instantly became a co-conspirator in planning her surprise wedding. Under the guise of a 30th birthday celebration, Mina and her (now) husband, Daniel, were able to have about 25 of their closest friends meet in Vegas. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon, when we were all gathered in their suite, that the bomb was dropped and Mina and Daniel announced they'd be getting hitched within the hour. Jaws dropped around the room, but I happily passed out directions for the wedding party. The wedding was so much fun, but the cake "cutting" was the highlight. Let's just say, the huge plastic drop cloth made a whole lot more sense once the bride and groom "fed" each other their cake...

In November, I felt as if I won the Super Bowl, because I got to go to Disney World!!!

It would be an understatement to say that Mom has been kicking ass at her new job. Mom is so good at selling stuff to for dead people**, that she won an all-expense paid trip to Disney World! Mom was one of six people in her job classification to be sent to Disney World on behalf of Dignity Memorial. LuckilyMom loves me the most John had to go to school, I was her guest.

We had the most amazing time. Neither Mom or I had ever been to Disney World, so we were both like two kids...IN DISNEY WORLD!!!! We were there for four days and three nights, and by the time we came home that Sunday night, we hurt all over but were high on memories that will last a lifetime.

I would post some of our PhotoPass pictures, but they still haven't arrived!! Believe me when I tell you that we had several to choose from since we made it our mission to stop at every PhotoPass location and get our pictures taken. We made it a game and had a lot of fun posing for the (many) photographers throughout the park.

So, like I said, I did quite a bit of travelling this year! My only regret is that I didn't make it to Alaska to see Lisa like I had planned. It is my goal to get out there soon! I swear, as soon as I win the lottery (and rebuild my bank of time off at work. Wait, if I win the lottery I'm totally not going to work anymore... Whatev), I'll be up there!!

As I mentioned, it was a year of travel and transformation for me.

The transformation took place mostly in the physical realm, but there were some internal changes too.

In January, I joined Weight Watchers (again). From January to August, I lost close to 70 pounds. A pretty amazing feat, if I do say so myself! Unfortunately, I fell off that damn wagon to celebrate my 29th birthday, and I just haven't been able to get back on it since then. I've gained about 30 pounds back of the 70 I lost, but I'm still down 40. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. The good news is I already know what my New Year's Resolution will be for 2010!!!

Another drastic change that has shocked people more than my weight loss is what I did to my head.

My crowing glory has always been my thick, natural curls, but after rocking the same style for close to 30 years, I decided I'd take a chance and see how the other half lives. In August, I got about 8 inches of my hair cut off, dyed it blonde, and started straightening it. I had always heard that blondes have more fun and I'm definitely having fun. I've made quite a few people stop and look twice and that's just fun!

I'm happy to report that I have not added or reduced my furry family in the past year. Elvis and Sinatra still rule this roost and let me live with them. Sinatra is still an asshole, but I'm pretty sure he will be forever. My diggy doo bugg (Elvis) got very sick this year, unfortunately.

Elvis was diagnosed with Valley Fever in March and it has been hell getting him healthy again. He's been on meds twice a day since his diagnosis and we go in occasionally to see where his levels are. Slowly, it's going where it should be but not as quickly as I'd like!

Finally, my 10 year high school reunion came to pass. Just as I vowed last year, I did not attend the festivities. I even went as far as making plans to get the hell out of town, but when everything was said and done, I stayed in town and actually had a fantastic time. I caught up with friends from high school (thanks to Facebook) and found out that I am no different than my classmates. We're all in the same boat and trying to figure out how to be a grown up. It was so nice catching up with old friends, reliving memories, and releasing the past. Boy! That crow sure does taste good.

It is my sincere wish that those reading this are happy, healthy, and well. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know how you're doing. I completely admit that I suck at returning phone calls and emails, but for the really good ones, I'll make an extra effort to return the calls and notes.

I look forward to updating this blog annually (at the very least), but if there is anything worth posting between now and next year, I'll be sure to post it here and if it's really good, I'll hire a skywriter and announce it that way too!

Love always,
Adizzle McKizzle


*This was my 7th and final wedding. I have decided that if anyone EVER asks me to be their bridesmaid in the future my response will be NO! and I won't even feel bad about it. I'm so done with being a bridesmaid that I'm pretty sure I won't even have bridesmaids when I get hitched!

**Two years ago, Mom started with Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetery as a Family Services Counselor. She sells funeral arrangements and services, and cemetery land. And she's damn good at it, too.