Farewell...

My goodness... where did November go?  In 10 minutes it will be December in my part of the world.  One measly month left of 2010.  25 days until Christmas. Seriously, what the heck happened?

Do you remember sitting in school watching the clock practically go backwards, time was moving so slow?  Or those long summer vacations that in the beginning, all you could do was whine, "Mom, I'm booooooorrrrreeeed."  To which she would reply, "go outside and play."  I would wander outside, still "bored" although I did always find plenty to do.  But those days seemed to go on forever... for the most part.  I do remember my parents having a very hard time getting me out of the pool when it was my bedtime.  My lips would be blue - or so I was told - and I did not want to get out!

Why does time... or the perception of time passing... speed up like this?  The older we get, the faster it goes.  Or so I hear. 

Does there come a time when time slows down again?  Will I appreciate it then?  Or will I be tapping my fingers, glancing at the clock every few seconds wishing that it would move faster?

Sigh

For now... I just want to say farewell to November.  It's been a HELL of a month for me.  I'm ready for it to be gone. 

And here's to December being a much better month... and here's to hoping I can appreciate the time as it passes instead of looking back, like I am now, wondering where it went. 

Heeelllllloooooooo December!

Survey Says?

It seems like with the advent of email, Facebook and other electronic communication, the written word is a rare occurrence these days.  I have especially noticed this at the holidays... I used to receive tons of cards, but that has dramatically declined over the past 10 years.  I still like to send them out, and I admit some years I send them to a shorter recipient list (read: family only) than other years.  But I like to get them out to as wide an audience as possible... I just like to let people know I'm thinking of them. I should do this more often than the holiday season, I know, but sometimes that just is what it is.

So... what about you?  Do you send Christmas or Holiday cards out?  Do you send them to a large amount of people or a short list?  Do you include a note?  Or have you decided it's a waste of time and (stamp) money?  I want to know...

When it Rains, it Pours

It really hasn't been a great month.  Last night I was so chilled, I couldn't get warm.  I should have known that was the sign for me to be sick.  I'm almost never cold!   Yep, woke up with such a sore throat, I had to immediately get up and take some Advil just to try to go back to sleep.

And I'm burning through the tissues, again!

I hope you are all staying away from these lovely germs floating around!!

Happy Thanksgiving (USA)

It's Thanksgiving, here in the USA.  At our house, it's pretty much business as usual, except...

There is a rather large turkey in the oven, stuffed well.  The smells are starting to permeate the house just enough to give you pause and inhale deeply.  It will only get better.

The kids are in The Boy's room, watching music videos - rather loudly I must complain - and drinking a coca-cola slushie I made for The Girl.  The Hubs was up in the kitchen dressing the turkey early, and now he's relaxing downstairs at his computer (or TV, I have no idea) waiting on the clock to come up and baste.   All of them previously had a discussion on how prepared they were with their loosest elastic-waist pants on... ready to devour all the goods later.

Me, I'm in my lounge-about clothes, lounging about in bed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV with my fat furry pal Sparky. 

Sparky seems to be the only one around who will watch the parade with me.  Or, maybe he just wants to lay ON me.  I suppose that could be true.

But since he can't stay on me and have me type at the same time, he'll have to settle in for his pre-turkey nap next to me.

Of course, the rest of us will be looking just about the same in a few hours, after we've eaten. Except the purring will be replaced with the sounds of too-stuffed groaning. 

In all seriousness, though...

I am so thankful for today.  I am thankful for the mouth-watering smells coming from the kitchen. I am thankful for the energy I will have later when making all of the side-dishes and preparing the desserts (for much, much later).  I am thankful for my two kids in The Boy's room and that the fact that they are annoying me means that they exist in my life, and that is wonderous indeed.  I am thankful for The Hubs who has had a very hard month this month, and that he is so much better than he was at the beginning... better "enough" that he is making the turkey - one of his favorite things to do... and I know he will be 100% eventually if we just stay patient.  I am thankful for my extended family and have been thinking of each of them and playing out in my mind the things they may be doing today with their proximity-close family and friends.  I am thankful for my friends - near and far -  who have stuck by me through a very rough month, and continue to give me support and comfort.  I am thankful for friends who have "disappeared" who have recently reappeared in my life.  I am thankful for my husband's and my work places... and that we have so much enjoyment working where we do, as well as some very supportive co-workers, bosses and friends - that is just amazing to me.  And I am thankful for my furry children... all of whom chose US to be their family.  They have brought me great comfort and happiness for years and I am thankful for every moment I have had and will continue to have with each of them. 

May you all have a wonderful, gratitude-filled day, whether you are in the USA celebrating Thanksgiving, or in Canada, the UK, Africa, Australia, South America or anywhere else reading this right now.  Do me a favor... go up to someone (two-legged or four-legged - or anything living and breathing) and tell them, out loud, with a hug if possible:  "I am grateful for you."  That's all.  No need to elaborate.

Just do that for me today, please.  Will you??

The Straw

source

I have to say that my life and the world around me has been... challenging... of late.  Without going into too many personal details that I'm not yet ready to share, suffice it to say that there are many beings, two legged and four legged alike, that have some serious health issues. I have been dealing with one for several months; two others for the past month and I found out about one today which has broken my heart.

You know how you can keep things together until someone asks you sincerely, "How are you?"  I was doing fine. A few tears here, a cranky comment there. 

Then, tonight while eating a simple pretzel with some dip... not even a hard sourdough type pretzel... I bit into something that wasn't pretzel.  I spit it out to see that it was a piece of my tooth.  Half of one of my teeth, to be specific.  Yes, I broke my tooth on a friggin' pretzel.

That was IT.  It was the straw that broke this camel's back.

Life just sucks right now.  I'm sorry. It just does.