Merry Christmas

I LOVE Christmas. I love to SHOP for Christmas presents (and normally, I'm not a big fan of shopping), I love to WRAP Christmas presents, I love to GIVE Christmas presents! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE to DECORATE for Christmas!!!! When I wasn't traveling, I would start the day after Thanksgiving (this is a must, since Thanksgiving is a holiday all on it's own), and I'll decorate for two weeks!!! I have boxes, and boxes, and BOXES of Christmas decorations. Lights, beads, tree, ornaments, table cloths, the works!!!!
Although this Christmas hasn't been as Christmas-y. Mom had her knee surgery back before Thanksgiving, so she hadn't decorated at all (and who do you think I inherited the C-mas decoration bug from?), plus, it rained today. Not even CLOSE to being cold enough for snow. Bummer. Then, to top it off.....my parents and I have this tradition of after presents, we get dressed, and then go to breakfast. The last, I don't know how many years, it's been at the Holiday Inn. This year, the HI restaurant was CLOSED for breakfast!!! CLOSED! Don't they know there are holiday traditions at work here??? How could they be CLOSED for breakfast! We ended up eating at the Waffle House. Not bad food wise, but still.....not the same.

*sigh* Over-all though. A not too shabby Christmas.

So Merry Christmas all my friends.

So, this is LillyBelle. For those of you who don't know, I did not name either of my cats. They came to me with these names. Lilly is a good name, but Cleopatra (cleo for short) would have been great for her because she looks like she has black eyeliner on, just like Cleopatra! LillyBelle is a typical cat---affection on her terms, and her timetable only. Her sitting under this umbrella was just too cute to pass up (even with the shiny possessed eyes!).

So, I apparently never followed up with my "set up" S. For those friends of mine interested and following this dramatic part of my life, her ya go: We had lunch on Sunday after church. He was right, he doesn't photograph well, and the reality was better. He's a nice guy and easy to talk to. He's looking to get back closer to home. He's very close to his family, which believe it or not, is actually a plus. I'm very close to mine. We had a good lunch, and good conversation. Not heard from him since. Then again, it's 4 days to Christmas.
Who knows what's going to come of this. I leave for California in January for 3 months. . I mean, bless his heart.....did I really give him a chance?
Well, yeah, I think I did. Mostly because I had a better time than I thought I would. His biggest drawback? He's divorced. That's a problem for me. Unless she was cheating on him, divorce and then remarriage is a big no-no for me. (it's that whole religious thing you know).

Ok, so....4 days to Christmas. Have you finished your shopping yet? I haven't. Mom noticed today that she doesn't hardly have any packages under the tree. I slipped and told her I hadn't bought hers yet. Oops. Of course, it's her own fault, right? Everytime I'm out and about, she's with me. Not my fault she had knee replacement surgery and can't drive yet.
Yeah......she didn't buy that excuse either.

Well, here we are another day, another post.

My Marley

Well, apparently, you can only post one picture at a time. Or at least, I haven't found the magic button that lets me do more than one. So, we'll do them one at a time for now!
This is Marley. He was my first real pet after I finally, finally graduated from college. He was about 7 when I got him. I'm his third owner, and I'll be his last. I love this critter. He's very friendly, a lap cat of sorts. He can never get enough ear scratching. He can be pretty vocal when he wants to be. Especially if the food starts getting low in his bowl! But he's mine, and I wouldn't trade him for anything.
I'll post about my other kitty tomorrow.

Which by the way, I seem to be posting nearly every day. Don't get too used to this. I apparently have way too much free time on my hands.

 

This is Beth and Eric. Eric was one of the girl twirlers! Beth was one of the girls being twirled! 

Did I mention dancing the night away? All the guys were good dancers. They really know how to twirl a girl! 

This is me with my very good friend Matthew. Matthew and I have been friends longer that either of us care to admit to.

This is me at my birthday celebration recently. I haven't truly celebrated my birthday for years. But this year, since I was in such a great place, with such great friends, out I went. To dinner (Italian restaurant), for drinks (English bar), and dancing (live country music) the night away.

Premier Blog

I labeled this blog site as "what's in a name?" Mostly because I had no idea what to name it. Then I had the thought "who cares what it's called? It's not like thousands of people will see it and be moved by it. Only your friends are going to go there. Really.....What's in a name? I think that might be from Shakespeare. But I'm not really sure about that because I haven't read Shakespeare since about the 9th grade, and then it was only because they made me.

I have no idea what to blog about. I've traveled home for Christmas. My Aunt is trying to play matchmaker. At 35, and still single, this is what happens. People set you up. Or they try to. Alot. I get to meet this guy tomorrow. I've been e-mailing this guy, "S" for a few weeks now. He seemed nice enough. His emails were always funny. We finally start talking on the phone. Our first conversation happened while I was driving from Chicago where I had been working temporarily to home. So I'm in my car, talking to this guy while driving 75 mph.....in snow. Maybe not my most brilliant moment. Still, he seems like a nice guy.

By the way, if you ever have a chance to go to Chicago GO. What a great town. I'm not sure I would recomend it in January or February.....especially if you're from someplace warm like Arizona or Florida, because it gets C-O-L-D there. Go in the summer. Navy Pier has fireworks every Wednesday and Saturday.

So, this is my first blog.....ever. What do you think? Don't know how often I'll post. I travel alot with my job, so, you'll probably be reading alot of posts about that. And about my social life. Or the lack thereof (especially now that I've left Chicago. I had GREAT friends in Chicago--seriously if the opportunity arises GO!) I will also try to post pictures. Just as soon as I figure out how.