what a difference a year makes

this time last year, everything in our lives was different, except our dogs, our friends and our los angeles address. other than those things, everything else has done a complete flippity-flop, and i, for one, am exhausted.

for instance, this time last year, we'd already thrown a christmas party at our l.a. place for the locals. we served tamales from flor morena (closed down). we played music on the mister's ipod (dead). people called us on his treo (also dead). i had time to do things like go pick up tamales (now i don't even have time to shower).

in palm springs, even crazier changes. we had a house (sold). we had an amazing christmas tree with carefully-art-directed ornamentation (in storage). we even have different cars now.

of all the changes, the one i am most at odds with is the change in the amount of time we have to do things like get into the holiday spirit. if it hadn't been for the four hours i spent at the dentist yesterday for my one-hour tooth whitening (please do the math), i would barely know it is the holiday season. luckily, dr. joe plays the all-xmas-music-all-the-time channel in his office, and i must say that vanessa williams is underrated as a singer.