So I spent my Christmas vacation sleeping, catching up on movies and generally laying about while I wasn’t eating.

And man, did I ever eat. Three amazing dinners to celebrate my birthday — one at Trezo Vino, one at J. Gilbert and one at Blanc Burger. Great meals all, but my waistline is definitely worse for the wear.

My birthday and Christmas were terrific: I got everything I really wanted (except more storage for my computer…I’ll just buy that myself), including two new rad pair of sneakers and a new leather messenger bag for work (it makes me feel totally grown up).

And now, it’s officially 2012. Resolutions suck, but it’s a great time to start anew and set new goals for the year. So here are mine:

• I’m getting back onto Weight Watchers for real. We had some great success with it last year, but I stopped counting points and really lost my way. No more messing around. I’ve got 50 pounds to get to my goal weight. I’m aiming for getting there by the end of the year. Ideally, I’d like to be there by summer, but I want to be realistic too.
• I’ve got two big website launches this year. I want them both to go well.
• I want to find some sense of purpose for this site. Whether it’s WordPress or Tumblr or whatever…I want to post more and have more clarity in my posts.
• I obviously want to improve my work/life balance…whatever that might mean.
• I want to go on another adventure with Alli. It’s been too long since our Italian adventure. It’s time for another.
• Drink more water.
• I’d like to take another crack at reading 25 books this year. It’s been 5 years since I last did it. Look for an upcoming post with the books I intend to read this year.
• Keep being awesome.

Now that they’re written down, I have to stick to them, right? Isn’t that the point of stuff like this? What do you plan to do this year?

I rarely do that, but I was in the mood because I was having some fun with the holiday at work today on Twitter (sidebar, our Twitter account hit the Top Tweets on Twitter’s home page today). So I played an obvious one on Facebook, proclaiming in a status that Alli and I were expecting our first child, which is maybe one of the most obvious pranks possible.

50+ comments and likes. People are cuckoo for babies on Facebook.

And really gullible.

I also really love Christmas music. Every year, I try to find something new. I haven’t been able to accomplish that just this year, but the songs that are on repeat on my iPad are two relatively new indie-artist songs that fall right into my wheelhouse of music that I like all year round.

From The Hotel Cafe’s collection “Winter Songs” is Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson’s Winter Song. So melancholy and gorgeous and just captures the wintertime feeling so well. Love this song. The video is pretty great too.

This next one is a song I’ve had for a year, but only really fell in love with this season. Indie folk dude Sufjan Stevens released a 5-disc collection last year called “Songs for Christmas”. I adore this collection. There are some traditional Christmas hymns, some updated carols and a collection of new songs. This is one of my favorites. There’s no official video, but this is a pretty good piece.

What are your favorite Christmas tunes this year?

We started on the 23rd, my birthday, by taking care of our nieces (and by “we” I mean Alli) for much of the day and having both our families over for some birthday festivities, Oklahoma Joe’s and funfetti cookies. I got a bunch of great presents…really good stuff.

Christmas Eve we spent with Alli’s family at Tyson and her sister’s house. More great stuff and lots of eating.

Yesterday morning, I got the present that I wanted all season: a white Christmas. So much snow! The family got up and did some shoveling — not just our driveway, but two others (and my back is paying for it today). We headed out and braved the roads to hang out with my family for lunch, more presents and really great times. Laughing with my family is one of my favorite things to do.

I made out like a bandit this year, scoring great presents from everyone and still having a wonderful white Christmas.

I hope everyone’s Christmas season has been as good as mine. A couple more movies this weekend and it will be complete!

There are lots of people in this world who have crappy parents. I am not one of those people. I am so blessed to have two people who have loved and supported me throughout my life in ways that I could never imagine nor ever repay. All I can say is thanks. Mom and Dad, you’ve been such a positive influence in my life and I’m so blessed to have been raised by you guys. I know that I wasn’t always the best or most-behaved, but hey, at least I wasn’t Jake.

While today is Mother’s Day, I just want to say thanks to both of you. Dad, thanks for always being so supportive and loving, even from across the globe at times. Mom, you’ve shown strength that I never could.

Happy Mother’s (and early Father’s) Day!

Since it’s free OnDemand, I watched Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby — a movie that my dad claims should be near the top of the list. And it’s a cute movie…the singing and dancing are nice but outside of the nostalgia of the emergence of the song “White Christmas”, it didn’t knock me out. There’s also the added blackface offensiveness, which knocks it back a few notches.

So my list is unabashedly modern but, here’s my top 10 list:

1. A Christmas Story — I love Ralphie and the whole Red Ryder BB gun gang.
2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation — Simply the funniest Christmas movie ever. It’s frankly one of the funniest movies of all-time. It’s the epitome of the Vacation movies. It’s a close contest between this and #1.
3. Elf — The best holiday movie released since Christmas Vacation. Will Ferrell is terrific in the role that defines his career – MAN BOY. James Caan is great as his crusty dad and the supporting cast do a wonderful job propping up Will Ferrell. Physical comedy and a creative story — all the makings of a great Christmas movie.
4. Die Hard — It occurs over Christmas, so it counts. It is the action movie that all other action movies are held up against.
5. Babes in Toyland — I remember this movie vividly from when I was a kid. Annette Funicello stars in an enjoyable movie that has people being miniaturized and sword fighting. Genius. Also, Ed Wynn as Toymaker.
6. John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together — It’s a TV movie, but the music is great. Some of the best Christmas songs of my memory.
7. Home Alone — I’m not a fan of all the subsequent sequels that followed, but the first one is genius. Macaulay Culkin before he went nuts. And if you didn’t cry the first time you saw the neighbor guy reunite with his granddaughter, you don’t have a soul.
8. The Holiday — Sure, it’s predictable (aren’t most romantic comedies?), but Jack Black is a delight and Cameron Diaz is surprisingly endearing. But the movie is worth seeing for Kate Winslet’s scenes with Eli Wallach.
9. Scrooged — A dark take on Dicken’s already dark Christmas Carol, modernized with Bill Murray, who my buddy Kevin once called “the bacon of Hollywood…he makes everything better”.
10. Love Actually — It’s probably a little overly complex…maybe a few too many characters and stories, but it seems to work. Hugh Grant is at his bumbling best and Liam Neeson’s scenes with his kid are great.

That’s right. No It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. These are my choices. They’re my opinion. They’re the flicks I like to watch during this time of year. What movies are your favorite to watch at Christmas?

This year was the first year I was able to play. In 2006 I was in Council Bluffs with Alli and in 2007, I had just had that back thing happen to me and I wasn’t really in any state to play.

I had thought that my absence was perhaps the reason that Gardner had won back-to-back games. I learned today (as they went back-to-back-to-back) that Olathe SUCKS at flag football. Two hours later, I’m defeated, demoralized, cold, wet and REALLY tired.

But it was a lot of fun.

I figure, while I’m still young, I probably should take advantage and still play. My sore body would suggest otherwise.

On this day of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:

• My beautiful, loving, talented wife. She’s my best friend and the first person I want to talk to in the morning and the last one I want to talk to at night.
• My awesome family. All of them, immediate and extended. My family is fantastic.
• My great friends. I’m blessed with a large group of great friends who are a lot of fun to be around. I’m looking forward to our Gardner-Olathe football game this Saturday.
• And so much more…

I hope that this day finds you healthy, thankful, and blessed. Thanks especially to those who serve our country overseas and cannot be with their families on this day.