Next stop, the New Year...

Christmas 2009 is now behind us, albeit by a few days. As expected, it was very lowkey. We didn't go to any trouble with decorations, but then I personally haven't for several years now. I did string a ribbon to hang the christmas cards we received. Also got a small Poinsettia plant. ( This puts me in mind of a disagreement I had with someone I worked with a number of years ago. They were talking about how they just thought that the red blooms on a Poinsettia were beautiful. I told them that Poinsettias don't have flowers on them...that the red they thought to be flowers are actually leaves. Thought everyone knew that.) but those couple of 'festive' touchs were all we did. Was fine with me. I do love the smell of a tree though. Wouldn't even have to decorate it. I'd just smell it. Yes, I know...I'm weird...

Christmas Eve we ventured up to our usual haunt, The Islander. Shot several racks of pool. I did okay. My arthritis had been kicking up a bit, so I was taking it easy on my hands and arms. Didn't want to push things. Did make a number of shots I was happy with...and some I wasn't. The usual. Weren't very many people there. Glenn said that he's been up there on Xmas Eve when it was dead, and he's been up there when it was packed. 2009 was a dead one.

Christmas day was slated to be another lowkey one. However, Glenn's nephew was supposed to join us for a meal in the later half. Glenn gave him a ring and told him to be over at 4:00. That was a little before noon. My hands and right arm had been bothering me a bit, as well as my right leg and foot. Well, things got worse quickly. They usually do. My hands got so painfully stiff I couldn't use them at all, and the numbness was making my right hand feel dead. My leg and foot were cramping up, too. Had the charlie horse from hell and that kind of forced me into suggesting that maybe we could postpone having Wynn over until the weekend. I hated to even suggest it it being Christmas, but I was kind of stuck. I was in a lot of pain and I couldn't use my hands at all. Kind of puts a damper on cooking a meal. Plus, I knew I wasn't going to be much company. I've been experiencing a screwy sleep schedule for a number of days now (up all night, sleeping some during the day but not much) which can make one kind of 'poopy'. Glenn gave Wynn a call and we pushed his visit to Saturday or Sunday. Saturday was a little better for me, but we decided to make it Sunday. Sunday came and I felt even better, so Glenn called Wynn and told him to let us know if he would like to join us at 4:00. We never heard back. Was all for the best really...I ended up conking out in the recliner, and Glenn wasn't feeling well. I told him he had 'Christian Bale as Batman' voice. So there is my scintilating recounting of the festivities here in Savannah. You can wake up now...

So next up is the New Year. Need to do some reflecting. Some looking forward, too. Think that'll be the next entry. 2010 is going to be a great one....and it's about damn time...

Xmas is nigh...

Christmas 2009 is two...COUNT 'EM TWO...days away. It still doesn't seem possible that the year is at an end. 2010 is on the horizon. It's going to be a great one. After the past few years I damn deserve it. Not going to get into details...don't feel like spending the better part of the day explaining everything. (It's an extremely convoluted tale.) I also don't want to bore the buhjeesus out of anyone.

Glenn and I are planning a mellow Xmas day. As I mentioned in my prior entry, the holidays aren't really something I 'get into' anymore. Was more of a big deal in my youth. Back when loot was "important". When I was at the age where it was important for me to be able to return to school and share that I got that Mrs. Beasley doll, or the Easy Bake Oven I wanted. I did pick up a few small things to give Glenn. Nothing major, but a little something to unwrap. Some of it useful. Some of it silly. Expect there will be football on the tube for the better part of the day. I'm a hockey fan, so I don't have a clue as to the football schedules. Since football is in the cards, I made the announcement that I don't feel like cooking up a big meal like I did on Turkey Day. It'll be hot wings and nachos. Basic bar munchie fair. I imagine there will be the requisite amount of beer consumed, as well. Glenn will be extending an invite to his nephew Wynn. We had him over for Thanksgiving. Glenn is really the only immediate family Wynn has locally. The plan is for Glenn to find out if he's going to come. I need to know no later than tomorrow. I refuse to brave the Kroger after today. Christmas Eve day is historically a nightmare for grocery shopping, so I'd rather not participate in the madness.

What does today hold? Well, as I mentioned I'll be hitting the Kroger for a few things. I baked a ham over the weekend and I've now got a great meaty ham bone I plan to make a pot of pea soup around. (I've got a fantastic pea soup recipe that I grabbed from the Food Network web site.) Got a lemon bundt cake to make, too. I should just go ahead and refer to it as a lemon 'butt' cake cause some of it's going to end up as part of mine. Ya know, can't say that I can recommend to anyone to stop smoking right before the holidays. Balloon city. Well, I guess it could be worse. I haven't been chowing down that bad. The one thing I can say (with heaps of satisfaction) is that I haven't smoked since October 10th. I'm nearing two and half months without a cigarette sticking out of my face. Just stopped cold turkey. I do occassionally crave one (when I'm drinking coffee, when we're shooting pool at The Islander), but not to the point where I would consider sparking one up. Anyway, the holidays are pretty much a time of increased calorie consumption for everyone, and I'm no exception. Activity is the key for me. Haven't been the most active. Have been heading out for walks here and there (love taking walks), but not as much as I would like or as much as I should. A number of months ago, Glenn's mom gave me a bike she had here in Savannah at Glenn's brother Jeff's house. It's a great bike, and I'm really jazzed about starting to ride it. It's good to go but for one thing. The seat. It's got a racing seat on it. A narrow, hard, wedgie inducing seat. I've always had a wide caboose, so before I start peddling around I need to get a new seat. Did some looking online to see what's out there, and how much they cost. Not as expensive as I thought they would be...$15 to $20 bucks. A new cushier, wider, butt friendlier bicycle seat is really the only thing I need to get me riding around. There is a great bike path that passes through the entrance to the condos. I've walked sections of it on a couple of my walks...walked to the end of it in one direction, and have yet to explore the other direction. The unexplored portion looks like it passes into a pretty woodsy and viney area. Looking forward to that. At any rate, there are some good trails designed for bike riding. Earlier today Glenn was asking me what I want for Christmas, so maybe I'll ask for a seat. Anyway...

Okay, the grocery store at some point today, but what else? Probably some house cleaning..woo hoo... Maybe I'll get out for a walk. That talk about needing to be more active has motivated me.

This 'n That...

It rained yesterday. The weather folks said it was going to. I’ve been sleeping short nights still, so when I slept until 1:00PM, I knew it had to be raining. Or extremely overcast...one or the other. At any rate, it was a nice dark grey out and I rolled out of bed later than usual. Ventured out for a coffee and the paper...a usual daily activity. (Yeah, the sky was definitely ‘miffed’, and obviously headed toward ‘angry’.) Listened to NPR in the truck. A head scientific honcho for the ‘Collider’ was being interviewed and a layman’s guide to quantum physics, proton smashing, magnetic fields, etc. was being laid out. He did a fairly good job at going over the basics, but there are still elements of it all that would just go over people’s heads because ‘simplified’ articulation would be difficult. The fact that it’s an hour show (minus break times) also figured in. I know the basic workings of the underground apparatus and that’s enough for me. I find it all very interesting, but a sleep fogged brain that hadn’t had its first dose of caffeine prevented me from wanting to listen in a more cerebral fashion. They accepted a couple of callers and, of course, one of them queried the ‘honcho’ about the rumor of possible small black holes being created by the...guess I’ll call it a ‘machine’. I know the possibility of that happening are very minuscule, but he (the honcho) started in with a lot of technical jargon without really addressing the question, and “OH LOOK...we’ve run out of time.” I’m all for the advancement of science...as long as it doesn’t create anomalies that start eating away at the planet...

Today? I haven't been to bed. Yawning, but not tired. No, it doesn't make sense, but...well...there you go. Was still pretty grey as morning dawned, but it appears to be gradually clearing. The glare of impending sun. Hope the gloom fights back to domination. It's so peaceful when its gloomy outside. Not quite sure what today will hold. It's almost 1:00PM now. There is another quiche to be made. Pork butt to be roasted. Kitchen detail. Plus, this over due blog entry. I had made a pact with myself that I would keep up with my blog. Brain chatter, although a wonderful and productive thing for me (usually), has been keeping me in a rather disjointed state. Unable to focus completely. 'Stream of consciousness' writing has always served me well, so I'm going to try and take that approach.

The holidays are here. I grew out of the whole ‘Christmas Spirit’ deal a number of years ago. I have gotten the occassional tree (really dig the smell), but in terms of big celebrations and gift giving? PFFFFTTT!!!! (I’ve got a Facebook friend in Belgium...she utilizes that as her online declaration of apathy or disgust, so I’m borrowing it.) Not to say that I am disgusted with this time of year, but exchanging ‘material objects’ just doesn’t hold the same weight that it did when I was little. Boy, when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to see the loot I would get on Christmas morning. Think I was usually the first person awake. To me, in many ways...no, in MOST ways, Christmas was designed for kids. I know a lot of adults who self admittedly ‘become kids again’ at Christmas time. However, I think it’s pretty universal that when kids age up they cease to believe in Santa Claus who is at the heart of the season for a lot of people. Yeah, there’s the whole ‘religious’ side of the season (wise men, stable, baby Jesus...that stuff), but Saint Nick is the universal face. Personally, Santa Claus always creeped me out as a kid. Santa Claus and clowns. Yeesh...I just felt a wave of the heebie jeebies. As a kid, you couldn’t get me to go near one of the mall Santas. “Lisa, d’you want to get your picture taken with Santa?” Uhhhh, that would be a big fat NO! I’d quicken my pace whenever I saw one of those guys. Would just want to breeze on past. It became a running joke with my dad. Any Christmas we were at the mall together, he would put a hand on my arm and say, “Hey look, Lisa! It’s Santa. Let’s go get a picture with him.” I, of course, would go the other way...ha ha ha...very &$%#!* funny. I bet if he and I went to a mall right now, he’d do the same thing. I’m in my forties now and I still find the whole idea repugnant. Hehehe...

2009 went by fast. Well, I take that back. Sort of. In some ways it sped by, but in others...not so much. During this past year, I had some really great things happen. On the other side of the coin, it’s been very stressful and that’s been tough. I've been making a major effort to think about the positives. Not just the positives over the last year, but the ones that exist in the current day. The current moment. Health issues? Yeah, I got some...Hyperthyroidism (Graves) and RA being the chief ones. They both suck, but I manage. Hey, it could be worse. It could always be worse. There are other things that I won't go into, but I've dealt with more than my fair share of suckage over the last bit. There is an end to all of it, but its just been the void I've been bobbing around in that hasn't been fun. Moving out of Los Angeles was huge. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of good times and some great experiences out there. I was able to do some things that I seriously doubt I would have done if I had stayed in Georgia. I worked in the entertainment industry for fourteen years. I got involved with a theater company where I became a produced playwrite, directed, produced, designed lights. Made some really great friends there, some of which I will have for the rest of my life. But the shine dimmed. It just became heavy...stressful. It was draining the life out of me for the last few years I lived there. Had decided that I wanted to move to Savannah some time ago. Then I got back in touch with Glenn after 20+ years; he lives in Savannah; things just kind of unfolded...and here I am. Still stressed, but not nearly as much as I was. Things are good. I'm happier than I've been in a loooong time. Things are about to get better, my stress will be relieved, and hopefully the severe writers block I've been experiencing will subside. I've got several projects in the works, and they're not going to write themselves.

Hmmmmm...ah! Movies. Rented a couple of movies the other day. The first one I really wanted to see. "Coraline". I have the book, and read it well before it was even announced that they were making a movie version. Was kind of relieved to hear that it would be a fully animated piece since the book is a bit abstract. I know moveis have come a long way in the effects department, but animation and clay-mation have, too. Tim Burton really brought the impressiveness of 'stop motion' film making back into vogue with 'Nightmare Before Christmas', and 'Corpse Bride'...so I was hopeful for 'Coraline'. (Another Gaiman film that is just spectacular is 'Mirror Mask'. A beautiful combination of live action/animation/stop motion...an artist Gaiman has worked with on his books directs and conceptualizes this one. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.) Glenn and I collected our provisions and started watching the 3D version on one side of the DVD. It said it was best to watch in a dark room and that it would take about five minutes for our eyes to adjust to the 3D aspect. Well, there were 3D moments that were just not viewable, so we popped the disc out and flipped it to the other non-3D version. Much better. Glenn hadn't read the book, so he didn't have any reference point for how the movie compared. I must say that the movie was pretty true to the book. Over all, I'd say it was well done. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Think Glenn thought it was cute. He seemed to enjoy it. So, do I recommend 'Coraline'? Yes. Yes, I do.

The other movie was the new 'Star Trek'...(sigh)...I had many issues with this one. Yes, alternate time line...blah, blah, woof, woof. There were just so many things that didn't jive for me. The only characterization I liked was Karl Urban as McCoy. Personally, I thought it was pretty to look at, but I wasn't really wowed by the 'interpretation'. I could go into greater detail about what I didn't care for, but I shall stay reticent. Moving right along...

Well, I've rattled on for a bit here, so I think caffeine and solid food stuffs are in order. Then...quiche creation...