sadness part 2 19 December, 2008

things have been very, very hectic at work lately; my experience from last year is that it’s always that way at the holidays, as everyone rushes in to get a book to read while visiting family or whatever. and with budget crunches taking their toll in ways like additional work for staff to do since our page hours were cut, i’ve once again managed to neglect not only my blog, but yours. sorry about that, again. i’m off work on monday, at which time i’ll make the rounds and find out what’s new in your world.

BUT. i’m not leaving today without airing a grievance.

another day, another year… 12 December, 2008

you really do start to lose count (and interest) after a while.

i can remember growing up, when my birthday was a big deal. for weeks beforehand, it was my focus…birthday means another year older, another year older means one year closer to being a fabulous adult. now that i’ve hit that adulthood, i’m finding it to be less fabulous and more…mediocre, i guess. i’ve just been feeling so very meh today.

on the bright side, 31 isn’t feeling nearly as weird as i thought it would.

so far, anyway.

baby treats me right 5 December, 2008

my sweetie might’ve gotten me a new lappy.

i’d write more, but i’m too busy playing with my new toy. which, i suppose, could be combined with writing more to make for one hell of a multi-tasking session, but writing more would mean i couldn’t get lost on youtube…and i’ve never been able to do that on a lappy before.

rest in piece, crappy lappy of old. you served as well as you could, and for that, you will be ever remembered…

YAAAY NEW LAPPY!!!

blessed and blessed some more 4 December, 2008

i sat down and wrote up the christmas cards today. this is actually pretty impressive for me…typically, i’m lucky to get the cards mailed out in time to reach their destination by christmas day. i’m being good this year.

so there they sit, a stack of cards waiting for ben’s signature so i can get them in the mail. it’s taken me over three hours to get them all written up, and as i was writing them, i was noticing the addresses. california. maryland. kansas. georgia. new hampshire. new york. and let’s not forget the whole slew of addresses right here in the good old north state. a little stack of evidence of all the lives that have touched ours, of all the people we are so fortunate to call friend or family (or, in most cases, both). old friends, new friends, folks we see every week and folks we may only see once a year…all there, and all very dear to us.

ben and i are so very lucky to have so much love in our life. if you guys were here right now, i’d give you a humongous hug…in the meantime, consider yourself mentally hugged.

giving thanks 3 December, 2008

when your whole being becomes so intertwined with that of another that you start considering yourself a certifiably inseparable couple, the prospect of a holiday spent apart can be a little nerve-wracking. so when ben declared that he wanted to go fishing with his dad for thanksgiving, i was less than thrilled, to put it mildly. but hey, who am i to tell him what he can and can’t do? i’ve never been a big subscriber to the whole cult of the bossy wife…

fortunately for me, our friend michelle was also flying solo for the holiday, so while i had to be benless (a sad state in itself), i didn’t have to be entirely alone. i made the turkey, my first time ever prepping and cooking a turkey (and more than likely my last…i can barely handle working with raw skinless boneless chicken breast, let alone 8 pounds of skin-on, bone-in turkey). it turned out pretty spiffy, if i do say so…it was very juicy, and even though i couldn’t find cranberries anywhere, the glaze wasn’t too shabby. i also made mashed potatoes (no link because i used my own recipe) and peas (again no link, thank you green giant), and michelle brought the pumpkin pie and crescent rolls.

so we had a thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat, watched a fantastic anime, and had an overall wonderful day. of course, this meant that her super awesome kitty maya had to spend the day alone, but i think she made it okay.

i’m so lucky, to not only have found the love of my life, but to also be surrounded by wonderful frieds.

so how was your thanksgiving?

light ‘em if you got ‘em 2 December, 2008

the tree is up. by up, i mean that it’s assembled, the branches have been poofed out, and it’s glowing softly in the dark of the evening. we splurged a bit last year and got a pre-lit tree at one of the post-holiday sales, and oh good heavens, worth every penny. no tangled lights, no getting dizzy walking in circles around the tree to get the lights on (or suffering the indescribable pain of hard, pointy, bristly fake pine boughs managing to poke and scratch tender nips, even through layers of fabric)…just the usual chore of making so much plastic and metal look like a tree. and, one less real tree has to die because of the culturally-enforced impulse to put a tree in our living room.

decorations will happen later, when sweetie is home to help.

and oh, the temptation to fall asleep by the light of the tree. i haven’t done that since…well, okay, i try to do that at least once a year. typically more than once. all at around the same time, mind you…the tree, while not always coming down promptly after christmas, has never lasted beyond the end of january (except that one time…). but yeah. good golly, i’m tired. BUT! the puppet show was a hit at the library today, my monthly report has been written and submitted, my display is up and being…well, displayed, i made the registration sheets and flier for my poetry workshop, and i’m done. for now, at least. i really should write up some cards…we’ve already gotten 2 cards in the mail from friends, so i feel bad about slacking.

well okay, comparative slacking. i mean, seriously…it’s only december 2. of course, i say that today, and then next thing you know, it’s december 22…

did i mention i scratched up my arms while poofing out the tree branches? yeah. hurts like a sumbitch, all those tiny little scrapes and cuts like paper cuts. or like when you used to reach into your backpack to get a pencil, finding one only when the tip of it got lodged under your fingernail. stupid pencils.

i hope the trees remember this sacrifice i made when the revolution begins…

(have i mentioned that i’m tired? yeah…)