It was a typical Monday with its usual sturm und drang but not without its mirth inducing moments that balanced out the day. Here's a few highlights:

-There were gentle and frankly innocuous snow flurries as I headed out to work today. Not cold, not wet, not fat generous hunks of frozen condensation. Simply a little shake of salt to freckle one's collar at the start of the day. It was nice.

-My first fun e-mail was from the Dog Whisperer. She said she read a recipe that recommends making popcorn in bacon grease instead of oil. I am dumbstruck and thrilled by the notion. It is apparently delicious. How could it not be?

-I have a contract from an independent rep firm we are working with. It's a small and fairly straight forward document but I still must run it by our legal department. As bureaucracy goes, I need to complete an internal form outlining the details of the contract in order to have our legal department review the actual contract. After an hour I realize I am essentially rewriting the contract on our internal document and the redundancy of this silly exercise makes me go out and get a very large cup of coffee.

- Hollaback Girl reminded me that the 2007 Chinese New Year is the year of the pig. This could in fact turn out to be a very good year after all.

-I had the "H.R. Pufnstuff" TV theme song stuck in my head all day. I am finally relieved of the incessant routing of this ridiculous song by Jewels, who instead sings the "Love American Style" theme song enough times to firmly plant that jingle in my brain where it still resides, tormenting me.

-My boss introduced me to some rap music she likes and at her insistence, I listened to two selections on her iPod. And I liked it. Me and Norma: Getting Jiggy Wid It.

- The Dog Whisperer sent me a link for a hilarious website called "Things My Boyfriend Says" (I have just added this to this blog under "Men Are Smart Asses.") The one that made me laugh the most? Under the heading "Coors Light" was this comment: "If you gave me a car made of diamonds and blow jobs all day I still wouldn't drink that beer."

-A client sent me a list of "The Rules" for men. The highlight of this was the rule that stated, "If it itches, it will get scratched. That's what we do."

[Well, yes, I did actually work today. Thanks for asking.]

-I went to kickboxing after work, dragging my ass in the gym with dread and fatigue. Yet, 15 minutes into the class, I was revitalized and sorry the class was only an hour. I had a strange and glorious second wind tonight and even my partner, Ella, a large tough woman who works as teacher in a Bronx public school said, "Damn. You're hitting hard tonight, especially for a little white girl." That made my night, though white yes, little--uh--no.

-And as I toddled out in the evening air towards the subway, I was struck yet again by the gentle powdering of wayward flakes of snow. They weren't really committing to a larger role by offering to stick on the ground or on the tree branches, but they were checking things out on our level. And by chance, bringing the day full circle.