Reflection on Christmas Eve

So it is the day before christmas. We aren't going to be home tomorrow. I don't exactly know how to handle it, well I should say, I didn't know how to handle it. You can't look at something like this and say 'oh its the first time I won't...*fill in the blank*' You need to look at it like this: 'This is the start of something new. Sure I won't be home, but I get to start doing *fill in the blank* here.'

For instance: I get to spend Christmas with Andrea. We are starting a new life down here in Wichita, and it will be great. We don't have to worry about running to each others house and having three meals on Christmas. Yeah, it was fun the first couple of years. But we did it for seven years in a row. Between that and Thanksgiving, we could easily put on five to seven pounds each day respectivly. Now? Now we have a cornish game hen for Thanksgiving with stuffing and potatoes. Just enough for the two of us. Tomorrow night? Are we having turkey? No. Are we having ham? No. Are we having turkey ham? No. We are cooking steaks. That is right, STEAKS! Cheap strip steaks. That could be a new holiday tradition right there. Steak for Chirstmas dinner!

Yes, we are both going to miss being with our families tomorrow, you really can't lie about that. But this was much eaiser, plus I couldn't get time off of work. I'm telling ya, moving away has it's advantages. You can do whatever you want and start a new tradition.

Life soundtrack: a la Trace

So my friend Trace put this idea of a life soundtrack up on his blog and I decided I would borrow (because steal sounds so mean) that idea and do this myself.

Opening Credits: Mad World by Gary Jules (known to many from the movie Donnie Darko)

Waking Up: Without a Face by Rage Against the Machine

First Day at School: Leaving of Liverpool by The Pub Runners

Falling In Love: The Rover by Led Zeppelin

Breaking Up: Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley (with Alison Krauss)

Prom: Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine

Life's OK: Ozone Baby by Led Zeppelin

First Meeting of Trusty Sidekick: The Fool on the Hill by The Beatles

Breakdown: Jen Doesn't Like Me Anymore by Less Than Jake

Driving: She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy by Kenny Chesney

Flashback: Black Math by The White Stripes

Getting Back Together: L.A. Woman by The Doors

Wedding: Folsome Prison Blues by Johnny Cash

Sex Scene: Takers and Users by The Business

Birth of Child: Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n Roses

Personal Theme Song: The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band

Life Long Nemesis’ Theme Song: Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner by Fall Out Boy

Dream Sequence: Flowers on the Wall by The Statler Brothers

Final Battle: (Ghost) Riders In The Sky by Johnny Cash

Death Scene: Dazed and Confused by Led Zeppelin

Funeral Song: Know Your Enemy by Rage Against the Machine

Dance Sequence: Marie's Wedding/Loch Lomond by Blackthorn

End Credits: Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones

So there you have it. The soundtrack of Michael Litzner's life. Now go out and by the album to support your local starving artists.

A new year...and a new me??

Okay, so I have decided that at the start of next year (that is right, January first) I am going to shave my beard. I think this all got planted in my head when we had some district managers visit our store. While one of them was talking with the deli people, we got talking about shaving because Travis had shaved that morning. And then one of our executives said, 'I wonder what Mike would look like without the beard.' And it is going to stay shaven for the entire year. Why? Just for something different. This is a huge difference. The last time I shaved was when I first came down here to visit Andrea before I went back to work on Mackinac Island for the second year...so April 2005. So it'll be about twenty-one months. And in that time frame, I had three (yes THREE) different styles. The well loved chops. I had several women comment on them on the Island. One of which told me that they were sexy (she then ran to catch up with her husband and two kids). I also had one woman say "That is a man after my own heart" on the way to ferry. That completly threw me off, but it was a great inside joke that summer between Trace, Katie, Steph, and I.

I sported a full beard from October until April when I went to...
The full mutton chop. Even more fun which turned more heads when I wasn't at Cowtown. I liked this look, and so did people I worked with at Cowtown and Target. I have one woman I work with at Target who started calling me 'Sideburns'. Totally cool, and she still calls me that even though I have grown back the full beard.

So after I finished up work at Cowtown at the end of October, I went back to sporting...
Yes, back to the boring full beard. Now I just look like a well educated college graduate who works at Target. Ho-hum. But yeah, I'm shaving January first.