Dear Loki

My Sweetest Boy,

Dad just called. He has the funniest way of telling me bad news. He told me that last night you had passed away. I knew it was coming, so I thought I would have been able to handle it a bit better than I am. He told me you were curled up next to him, like you always are, watching TV with him. You went to sleep and you just...didn't wake up. I waited until I had hung up the phone before I started to sob and my heart is breaking as I type this.

I remember the day I got you. You were the loudest one in the cage, yowling above all of your brothers and sisters. I wasn't sure if you were the one for me until you started to climb the walls of the cage to get to me. I knew then and there that you were the one for me. You were so tiny and cute, with your tiger stripes and great big eyes. I remember how calm you were on the ride home. You barely cried, which is unusual for a cat. You were content to just take it all in. Little did I know then that you would be quite the trouble-maker when you got older.

Your first night at home, you got stuck behind the mattress and couldn't figure out how to get back out from it. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen, even until this day. The expression of sheer confusion on your tiny face was so precious.

I remember when you had your claws taken out. You just laid on the bed, with that same bewildered expression, staring at your paws. I remember your meow. You were always so demanding when you wanted attention, the loud yowls and yaps that came out of you were so distinct. I remember you and Dad seeming to have conversations with one another. You loved when people talked to you. You would talk right back and then head-butt them to demand they pet you.

You had more personality than any cat I have ever had. It was extremely hard to leave you with Dad when I moved out, but I figured it was for the best since you loved Dad so much. That was the only home you had ever known and to rip you away from it would have been cruel. But you always knew me when I came home.

The last time I saw you was right before Christmas. You were so weak but you still came to see me. You tried to meow at me but it didn't quite come out right. My heart broke when I saw how skinny you had become because you had ceased to eat. You had always been a tank of a cat, so to see you that way ripped my heart out. I remember you wanting to get on the couch with me and you snuggling up to me, the way you always did.

I'm so grateful that I got to see you one last time before you said goodbye to us mere mortals. I'm so grateful I was able to pet you and snuggle with you one last time. I'm so grateful you hung on for that long. Some small part of me thinks that you hung on to see me, but I'm sure that's just the wishful thinking of a grieving heart. But either way, I am grateful.

I will miss you, my sweet tank kitty. I will miss your smell, your meows, and your head-butts.

Love Always,
Momma

I Will Try

I was reading Paula Deen's website (love her) and she had a post about New Years Resolutions. She said that she thought making those was setting oneself up for failure, and I tend to agree. So, she thought rather than making resolutions, she would make an "I Will Try" list, and I like that. I think that's a much better idea, so I will endeavor to make my list of "try’s". Here goes:
 

1. I will try to take joy in the small things in my life. This past year I have had trouble finding joy in the small things that surround me. I haven’t stopped to look around and say “Wow…this isn’t so bad”. It’s something I have always been able to do but it got a little lost this year. However, slowly I am starting to be able to do that again. It’s easier to laugh and to smile than it has been for a long time.

 2. I will try to focus more on my well being, both mental and physical. This past year I have noticed that I focused more on what was going on AROUND me rather than what was going on WITH me. I have found that to be an unhealthy way to live my life. So, this coming year I will try to look inward more often and get in touch with myself a lot more (don’t be dirty...sickos). I need to be able to understand when I start withdrawing from the world and when I’m staying inside my own head too much. It’s something I have always struggled with.

 3. I will try to express myself more. I tend to keep my cards very close to the chest when it comes to what I feel or think. Sometimes this is a good thing, but more often than not, it turns out to be something detrimental to me. I have gotten burned so badly in the past for being open about how I feel that it has caused me to be very reserved in my relationships with people. However, this coming year I will try to let down the walls some and let people in. Because if you don't let people in, you could be missing out on something or someone truly wonderful. And Lord knows, everyone needs something wonderful in their life. I know I do.

 4. I will try to spend more time with my family. This last year I didn’t spend that much time with my family, and I regret that. I am so lucky to have the wonderful parents that I do. They have been unwavering in their support of me and I feel like I may have taken that for granted a bit this year. That stops. I will try to go down to The Villages every other month or so to see my father and spend time with him. He has been such a wonderful father to me and has always given me his quiet strength. He will never know or understand how much that means to me. I will try to make my weekly visits with my mom a concrete thing, not just a “maybe” thing. As much as she drives me crazy, I would be lost without my mother. She is the one person on this planet who knows me inside and out. No one else gets me the way my mom does. Whether she knows it or not, she is my BEST friend. I can tell her anything and I know she won’t judge me. They always say that a mother’s love is unconditional, but my mom embodies it. She beats herself up for such minor things and forgets to focus on what an amazing woman and mother she is. So this coming year, I will try my best to make sure I remind her of that. I will try to spend more time with my extended family as well. Recently, my cousin Kristina and I (hi Krissy!) have reconnected after many years and I feel like I have found a friend in her. She and I, despite growing up and not getting to know one another, are remarkably similar. We even make the same facial expressions. Bizarre. I want to have that family unit that we didn’t have when we were kids. I want to play with her adorable son and have him know who I am. Hell, it’s the closest I’ll ever come to being an aunt so I want that little spud to recognize me! Family is all you have left, in the end.

Now, for the things I have accomplished and learned this year:

1. I learned to be an independent woman. For years my identity had been that of whoever I was in a relationship with. However, this year has taught me to find out who I am and build from that. I learned to stand on my own two feet and be ok with that. I learned how to NOT constantly lean on others for my emotional well-being and to start building myself up. I am proud of how I handled the things thrown my way and I learned how strong I truly am.

2. I found a job I truly, truly love, and I've never been able to say that before. I love pretty much everything about my job. I never get up in the morning dreading what kind of day I will be having. My boss is an awesome guy who actually cares about his employees (all two of us) and gives the legal profession a very good name. I adore my co-worker to bits and I really find fulfillment in helping people when they need it most. It breaks my heart sometimes to watch them come in, most of them looking like they’ve just been hit in the face and didn’t see it coming. I love that, in some small way, I am making things better for them.

 3. I learned to not LOOK for things. Because when you are looking for things, it can often-times blow up in your face. Some things should best be left to the Grand Design. I have found that if you just sit back and allow things to happen, they do. And most of the time, it’s totally not in the way you were expecting. I have always believed that things have a way of working out how they are supposed to. It’s sort of a family belief, actually. Both of my parents have always told me that. And more and more, I am finding that to be the case. On this same token, I have learned that I cannot control everything in my life. Sometimes, things are just out of my hands, which was a tough lesson for me to learn, considering I can be a bit of a control freak. Yes, that was a hard pill to swallow. But I found that by just…letting go that I could be a lot happier. Now, granted, there are some things which I am still freakishly controlled about. But for the most part, I have loosened up quite a bit and learned to start accepting things as they come at me.

I went through a lot this year. It has truly been a roller-coaster for me. And anyone who knows me knows that I despise roller coasters (well, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad are ok). But through all it’s ups and down (and there were PLENTY) I seem to have come out of it with most of my sanity intact, and that is fine by me. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and I have learned one hell of a lot. And how can one learn unless one screws up from time to time? So, that being said, here’s to a New Year and New Beginnings!
 
Cheers!
-A

A Happy Accident

I do believe the past week or so can be summed up in a handy dandy little list - with quotes!

Christmas Eve: Went shopping with Fallon. Yes, yes I know. "Who shops on Christmas Eve???" you say. Well..we do! And honestly, it wasn't that bad. We went early and beat most of the rush. Started out at 9am and ended around 1 or so. I loved spending time with her. I got the best Christmas present. And it came in a rather pretty blue box...bwahahaha.

Favorite Quote: "I don't put my junk in your trunk!"
"Really..did you just?"
"Yeah...I totally did..."

Christmas Day: Woke up in a spectacularly Christmasy (yes, it's word) mood. I was buzzing around the house, getting everything ready. I even drove all the way to my mom's house blasting "Christmas Vacation" and belting it out at the top of my lungs. Oh yes friends, BELT-ING. But you know what? If you can't sing terribly in your car, then where can you? What kind of people would we be if there was no belting out of songs in the safety of your vehicle? Hmm? Exactly. Got to mom's and proceeded to cook and open presents. I got some great stuff. My mom LOADED me up with snowmen this year. It was great!

Favorite Quotes: "You see that box? You see the effort? Yes.."
"Yes mom - the pine cone was a nice touch"

Christmas Day night: Went down to St. Augustine to see the Festival of Lights. I have lived in Jacksonville most of my life and I have NEVER been down to see the lights before. Crazy! Anyhow, the lights were beautiful. They took my breath away. The square had a HUGE Christmas Tree in the middle of it. There were also tons of people, helping feed the needy. That really touched my heart. To see those people giving up their time on Christmas to help those less fortunate than they are. I think that perhaps next year I want to do something like that. I am extremely fortunate and I feel that my time could be better spent by helping those who need it rather than stuffing myself silly. But I digress. Had the world's strongest martini. Holy Moses. It was STRONG. But tasty nonetheless! I had a blast down there and feel incredibly lucky that I was given that opportunity.

Favorite Quotes: "Whoa! It's like drinking gasoline! It burns all the way down!!" Ha. Ha. Ha.
"Oh my god...you're like a Hobbit! I just want to pick you up and say 'look how big you're getting!'"
"Look! It's snowing in Florida!"

All in all, I had really great holiday. I hope everyone else had a great Christmas! Now - New Years!

-A

On Faith...

Over the years, I have been on a constant search for something that moves me, in a religious sense. Something inside of me has this yearning to feel something bigger than myself. I have always known that it exists, I just have never been able to put my finger on it. Lately, I have had an even stronger urge to find my faith, I suppose. I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine about faith. They were so passionate about what they felt about God that it truly moved me.

Sometimes, when I get bogged down in my life, when my heart hurts and my soul cries, I look skyward and ask "Why?". I find myself standing outside, where I feel closest to whatever it is that is out there, and just letting myself be. I want to find that calm within myself to be able to listen to what it has to say to me. I think that's the time when people truly hear what needs to be heard. That time of peace and calm that is so hard to come by in this day and age.

I know it's hard for someone like me who questions everything to take certain things on faith. I so desperately want to. I yearn for it and I want to feel that connection with something so much greater than myself. I want to have that kind of relationship that some of my friends do.

I don't believe things happen by chance. I have always felt that things happen for a reason and things are placed in your path when they are supposed to be. So perhaps this yearning I feel and this desperate wanting to find my faith is God's way of telling me something. I just need to figure out what it is.

You always hear about people saying that they felt God calling to them and that was what brought them to Him. Up until now, I thought that was a bunch of hogwash. But now...now I'm starting to rethink that former opinion of mine. I think there is only so much research you can do and there are only so many books you can read before it truly comes down to that proverbial leap of faith.

I think it may be time for me to take that leap....

-A

Picture Post!

Without further ado, I present - PHOTOS!!

First, I'll begin with The Villages:

 

Out of my window at Dad's

 On the road..

 Country roads!

 My favorite trees...

 There was NO ONE on the roads!

Next, we have my Christmas decorations! I love them, even if I'm not feeling especially jolly..

 As you can see, I have a theme of Grinches and snowmen. One of my favorite Christmas movies is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". And snowmen just make me smile. :)

 One of my Christmas presents to myself was this Buddha. He holds a candle and I find him extremely peaceful to look at. 

 This is Jane. She is one of my oldest friends. She is in town for a few days and I am so happy I got to see her. She is one of those special friends you hold onto no matter what. I have known her almost 15 years and I wouldn't trade her friendship for anything in the world.

-A

Take Comfort...

So I'm back from The Villages. I had a really good time seeing my dad and just getting away from things. It brought a lot of clarity. And Tron. It brought Tron as well. But I'll get to that in a minute. First things first.

As I said in my previous post, the drive was incredibly peaceful. I loved going down the back roads and seeing the lesser-known parts of Florida. It made me fall in love my state all over again. Sounds corny, but some of the landscapes were truly beautiful. The farmlands with the huge pastures. The orange groves for miles. The bear-crossing signs. All of them made me smile. I can't wait to go another trip and see something different. I think that's what brought me the most pleasure, seeing the new things. Seeing something different from the everyday highways of Jacksonville. The little towns I passed through were incredibly rural and poor. But I saw people walking down the street, happy. I also saw about eight hundred trucks...but I digress.

The Villages! Still perfect. I have some pictures because I got a lovely new camera for Christmas from my dad, which was really nice! I took a few pictures on my way out The Villages so I wasn't able to take pictures of the Town Squares. I really wanted to, but alas, it was not to be. Oh well. Next time.

My dad and I went to see Tron and it was incredible. The effects were so...awesome. That's really the only phrase that I can find that will work. But even that pales in comparison to the actual effects. The world they were able to create was so beautiful and breath-taking. Not just the grid (anyone who has seen Tron knows what the grid is), but off the grid as well. The clouds in the electronic sky...my god. When they were on the freight train I got a tad misty. Not because the dialog was so profound, but because the scenery was just....beautiful. Everyone needs a little beauty in their lives, even if it's on a movie screen.

I think maybe that's what is lacking in the world today. Beauty. And not to get all hippy on you, but some things just need to be appreciated. I saw so much beauty when I was driving. The leaves changing colors (yes, they change here in Florida, thanks), the willow trees lining the streets, the lakes shimmering in the mid-morning sun. Sometimes I think I miss these things in the hustle and bustle of my everyday life. And it was comforting to me to know that in everything that happens in this world, there are still places like that. People can get jaded in their lives and sometimes need reminding that there are things to appreciate and take joy in. I know I needed to be reminded of that, and I was.

So take comfort loves. Life can still be beautiful.

-A

FORK!

This weekend I had some much needed girl-time with my Fallon. She and I went shopping and I bought myself two new pairs of shoes, seen here:

Those would be my Jessica Simpson shoes. LOVE them.

And THESE are my new BCBGeneration shoes. Oh my goodness...they are so cha-cha.

I know they look very similar, but they really are different. I spent a stupid amount of money on them, but I don't care. I deserve my cha-cha shoes and I shall have them! So there. I even brought a pair down to the Villages with me! After shopping, we returned to her house and proceeded to bake for seven hours. Yes. Seven. Hours. But it was fun. Some memorable quotes from that baking odessy:

"FORK!"

"Oh, I see you have turned that into a verb. Well done...well done..."

"Now would be the time for you to yell 'ASSIST!'" 

"What the fuck is Divinity?"

"What do you mean 'hard ball'???" 

"Wait...now 'soft ball'????"

"Yoda seems to be missing an eye...perhaps we should make him an eye-patch? Pirate Yoda? Anyone?"

And the number one quote: "Oh my god I love this song!"

Ahhhh, good times. I really needed that day to remind me again that I have so much in my life to be happy about. I hope you all have a friend like mine, who can say she loves each song she hears and actually mean it. And who can turn nouns into verbs and it actually WORK.

So, here I am in the lovely Villages. The drive down here was so peaceful. My GPS took me down some back country roads, so I got to see of the more rural parts of Florida. It was just me, my music, and the road. If I had known driving by myself could be so therapeutic, I would have done it a lot sooner. This was actually the furthest I have ever driven by myself. Every time I have gone on a long road-trip, I have driven with someone. Now, I may just want to always go by myself. This has made me want to drive cross-country more than ever. Perhaps one day. It got to a point where I didn't want to stop driving. I just wanted to keep going and keep thinking. It's surprising where your mind goes when it's given the chance.

Anyhow, tonight my dad took me and his lady-friend Marilyn out to dinner. It was so cute to watch the two of them as we all got progressively drunker. Yes, friends, I got drunk with my dad and his girlfriend. Awesome. Oh well, it was all in good fun. The dinner conversation wound down to talking about farts and the new blankets that absorb the smell of them. Genius!

Who says Southerners have no class? Pssh.

That's all for now from The Villages. More tomorrow.

-A

Ribbon?

Folks, one of the cats in my house is either insane...or a genius. I can't decide which one it is yet.

Yes - this is a post about my cats.

Anyway.

I came out of my room a few minutes ago to grab a soda from the fridge when something sparkly on the dining room floor caught my eye. I toddled on over to see what it was, to find this (I apologize for crap pictures. Only camera handy was the cell-phone. Fail):

Observe the evidence. That above is my box of wrapping paper, laying haphazardly on my floor. I'm lazy and cheap so I buy the boxes with the shit already matching. Kick ass. Strewn across it is some ribbon that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. I was confused. So I followed the trail of ribbon...

 

The ribbon was wrapped around the dining room chairs on the left side of the table. I was intrigued. Please disregard my scarf and tape dispenser (yes, it's a high-heel tape dispenser. Be jealous). Another hazard of living with destructive curious felines.  I followed still...

 

Folks, that ribbon was wrapped ENTIRELY around my dining room table and chairs. I have no idea HOW it happened or when this event took place.  But needless to say, I am mystified.

Entirely.

Who says living with cats is boring?? Pssh.

-A

Brigher Day

Well, that last post was certainly depressing. How about we lighten things up a bit, hmm? Splendid idea!

I thought that since I am so down right now, I should remind myself of some of the things that make me happy. These are in no particular order. I'm just writing them down as they come to me.

Music makes me happy.

My cats make me happy.

My family makes me happy.

My friends make me happy.

Cooking makes me happy.

My job makes me happy.

Blogging makes me happy.

Reading a good book (or blog!) makes me happy.

Decorating makes me happy.

Really bad reality TV makes me happy.

All of these things and more make me happy and bring a smile to my face. So no matter how bleak I may feel, I know I can turn to any of these things and they will lift my spirits and make my day brighter.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to turn Katy Perry up and file some docs with the court.

-A

Nightmare Before Christmas

Good evening, blogging universe. I'm typing to you from the comfort of my bed. I'm snuggled into my comforter and using the laptop as a heater. I have a lot I want to say, but I'm not sure how to put it into words. PW's advice on this would be to talk like I'm talking to my sister. Well, I don't have one of those nor do I have a brother. So, I will try to edit my stream of thought into a coherent form.

As Christmas approaches, I am starting to become depressed. I used to love this time of year. But something has changed and now the Christmas lights don't make me excited. I don't get that warm feeling when I think of Christmas movies or wrapping presents.

Note: I am one those freakish people who LOVE to wrap Christmas presents. I treat them like little pieces of art. The wrapping itself is like a tiny present from me.

Anyhow. None of that is making me feel warm or excited. I'm pretty sure I know WHY this is, but I won't get into that here. Not worth my fleeting moment of catharsis to go into that. Regardless, I am sinking into a depression and it's making me rather sad, as depression tends to do. The thought of Christmas just isn't appealing to me this year. Last year, around this time, no matter how much I hated my job or how miserable it made me, I was buzzing around the house, making goodies and planning a Christmas party and a gift exchange.

Where did that girl go? Where did I lose her? I adored doing those things for my friends and making them happy. I loved cooking with my friend Theresa, making meatballs and cheese-balls and god knows what else. I was like Jack in "Nightmare Before Christmas" when he discovers Christmas Town. "What's this??" The wonder and the delight. That was me, every year. And yet now - I have no desire whatsoever to do any of those things. I have no delight and I have no wonder. The only thing I seem to want to do is curl up in bed and not come out of it for a long time.

It makes me want to cry at what I feel I have lost. I feel like I have lost my child-like wonder and delight in the season. It never used to fail me, no matter how down I was or how stressed out I was. It was always there, letting me see the Christmas lights and the warm glow of my tree. I put up my tree this year and took little delight in it. I've put my tree up by myself and I always found it to be a fun experience. Not this year. I put it up with the enthusiasm of someone doing their taxes (no offense to those who take delight in doing their taxes).

If I have lost that part of myself that is able to take pleasure in the most simple of activities, I will be extremely sad. I have always felt that it was a fundamental part of who I was as a person. The person who could always find a way to be bubbly and excited, even when things were looking especially bleak. I was always the one who looked on the bright side when others saw gloom and doom. And now...

Now I don't see the bright side. I just see lights and a tree without meaning to me. The ornaments don't hold my attention the way they once did. God, that's depressing.

I thought that if maybe I wrote all of this down, I would start to feel a bit better. Work through my thoughts, as it were. But, unfortunately, working through the thoughts has left me feeling even more bleak and hopeless. Maybe this weekend I will go wander through the Town Center and see the tree. Maybe if I watch the shoppers and see them buying things for the ones they love, my own heart can be lifted.

Because right now it needs it. Desperately.

-A

Proper Grammar

Just a tid-bit. I am a spelling and grammar Nazi. It literally makes me angry when people do not use proper grammar and/or spelling when they write something. If you are going to write something for more than one person to see, please make sure you spell shit correctly.

For example: (and this may gross some of you [haha, some of you] out) In the ladies bathroom stalls in my building, someone has posted signs on the inside of the doors for us to read whilst taking a tinkle. They say:

"If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be sweet and wipe the seat".

Cute.

However, some lovely lady decided to add an addendum to one of these signs. It reads as follows:

"Hover rule number one - left (sic) the seat and you don't need to wipe".

First of all, who takes a pen with them into the bathroom? Who thinks to themselves - "Self, I need to add a note to that sign, just that one sign, not the others, to inform some lucky woman of the first rule of hovering"?

Second of all, how on earth did she reach?? Maybe it's odd to me since I have arms like a T-Rex. I do. I'm a midget with short..everything. Thanks dad. But in any case! Did she kneel down on the floor (OMG EWWWWW)? Did she pull the door to her? Why would you TOUCH the door??? I mean, I was reading an article that said when you flush, "particles" *ahem* fly out of the potty. WHY WOULD YOU TOUCH THE DOOR????? *shudder*

And thirdly - "left"? How does one "left" a seat? I'm assuming the poor lass meant "lift" and I tell you it takes every ounce of my willpower not to take a red pen into the bathroom with me and correct this woman's spelling mistake.

Like I said, Nazi.

-A

Stress

Everyone deals with stress in different ways. Me? I just stop eating. And I sleep. A lot. Oh, and my stomach goes absolutely haywire, hence the not eating. Not exactly the best way to deal with stress, but hey, we're all different.

Things have been happening recently that have put me under an intense amount of strain and an enormous amount of stress. Hell, I'm down to 126. Yeah, I just put my weight out there on the internet. Most people GAIN weight over the holidays. Not I! Nay nay, I just cease to eat.

Awesome.

Anyhow, I need a vacation, Desperately. In about a week and a half I am going out of town to go see my dad down in The Villages for Christmas. For those that don't know what The Villages is, it's basically retirement Mecca. A geriatric Disney World, if you will. You have to be over 55 years old to live there and EVERYONE owns a golf-cart. If you don't, well, you are just a social pariah and have no business in The Villages. As my father likes to put it: "It's a drinking community with a golfing problem". Yuk yuk. 

If you're curious, go here: The Villages

Anyhow, this place honestly looks like something straight out of the Stepford Wives. Everything is perfect. I mean PER-FECT. Lawns are all manicured and there is no litter...anywhere. They have more golf courses than I can count, hence the golf carts everywhere. Nobody really drives anywhere (in a car). They just tootle around in their golf carts.

They have Town Squares.

Town. Squares.

Who does that???

They do.

Anyway, I am looking forward to going to see my dad and surrounding myself with old people who drink a lot and play golf and dance in Town Squares. Everyone needs a little dancing in a Town Square in their life.

Seriously.

Thanksgiving and Trees

Time for recap!

Thanksgiving was fun! Wednesday evening we premade the mashed potatoes (which were AWESOME!! Thanks PW) and the Pumpkin Cake. I thought we had a pretty good jump on things so we went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Thursday morning rolled around and I was woken up by T telling me someone was knocking on the door. I panicked, thinking that perhaps we had overslept and Mom was at the door. I looked at my phone and it read 7:55 a.m. I stumbled to the door, muttering and cursing whoever it was that would DARE to disturb my sleep. I yanked open the door (in my PJs and disheveled hair glory) to find no one there. Lightbulb! I returned to bed, glaring at him because he had obviously been dreaming. And decided it was real. BLAST HIM FOR TAKING AWAY THOSE 15 MINUTES.

Anyhow, as I lay there, I realized I did not feel all that good. My nose was slightly stuffy and my throat hurt. Now, normally when I wake up and feel this way, it's because the house had been cold that evening. So, I figured after I took a shower I would feel better, as is usually the case.

It was not.

I watched the parade as we waited for Mom to get there. I hadn't watched the parade for YEARS so it was a real treat to actually see it in it's entirety. One of the last floats made me cry. It was a Winter Wonderland themed float with children dressed in early 1900s clothing and a woman singing "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". I have always loved that story. But that's another post.

Anyhow, Mom arrived and we proceeded to cook dinner. And I proceeded to feel worse and worse. But I muddled through. The cooking went off without much incident. Well, some butter did spill to the bottom on the oven and cause the whole condo to smoke up, but that's ok! Still tasted great!

Berenice and her son came over as did Chip and his wee family unit. All in all, it was a very nice day. After everyone left, I collapsed into a heap and did not move for the next four days. Yay flu! I have learned my lesson - flu shot! I was literally incapacitated for DAYS. Awful. Terrible.

So, yesterday evening I put up my Christmas tree. I was so happy it was up. I love the glow a Christmas tree gives off. Makes me feel all warm and gooey inside. Something about this time of year makes everything seem more..magical. Maybe it's a way for me to hold on to my childhood just a bit longer or perhaps it's just the season itself. Who knows.

Either way, my tree looks pretty.

-A