quick update

So, Christmas went well! Spent time with family that I haven't seen in a while, and had a good time. I miss having family around. I think. Maybe I should count my blessings.

I still haven't finished the book I got from Thomas Nelson. I'm plodding my way through. I'm a slow reader to start with, and with the time of year...and a stack of other books that I'm reading, it's taking me longer than I'd hoped. I'll get it finished eventually.

I'm watching the Sound of Music right now. I have no idea how many times I've seen this movie, and I still love it. The frustrating thing is, I still can't recite my favorite lines correctly. But I can sing almost all the songs. I guess that's the important thing.

Grinchy Christmas

Well, tomorrow's Christmas eve. With the way the economy's been this year...especially my personal economy,this is my motto this Christmas...

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"

Of course, I know the true meaning of Christmas, but our holidays have always been filled with packages, boxes and bags, too. So, this is a little different this year. I'm trying not to let it be depressing, but we'll see how it goes. If the Whos can do it, so can I.

Christmas trees and Cats

From where I sit, I see eleven Christmas ornaments scattered around the room; one floating in the water bowl...the cat's favorite place to leave her toys. The bottom branch of my fake tree (new last year) is bent backwards all the way to the floor. It appears that someone tried to climb it. Every morning, I gather up ornaments and put them back on the tree, and every evening when I get home from work, the bottom fourth of the tree has been denuded once again. This is Callie's third Christmas, and she's learned to "play" only when I'm asleep or gone. When I'm home, she ignores the tree. The tree bores her. She says, "Tree? What tree?" That sneaky little feline. I really need to figure out how to make her stop this madness. It's making me weary. Suggestions are welcome.

I know this is largely hormonally driven, but the news that Google has taken their new web browser, Chrome, out of beta, and that they already have 10 million users (which ranks them #4: IE, Foxfire, Safari, Chrome), makes me want to cry. As a web designer who already has a plethora of platforms to check to make sure their site is rendering as it should, this just adds one more to that pile. Just give me a moment to curl up under my desk and feel sorry for myself. I'm sure once I crawl back out, I'll find that it's not as bad as I imagine.

My First Freebie

My first free book from Thomas Nelson is on its way! It's called Think and Make It Happen. I thoroughly intend to "discover my true potential." Stay tuned.

We had a late start for work this morning due to snow & icy roads. Gotta love that! I used that time to go for a run. It's so hard to get out there in the winter – it's dark when I go to work and it's dark when I get home. I had a chance to get out this morning while it was light, so I took it. I piled on the layers and stepped into the snow.

I spent the first miserable mile and a half in a mental battle. The wind was icy cold. My chin and cheeks were going numb. I had to pull my thumbs out of my mittens and tuck them under my fisted fingers to keep them warm. My nose was running. I wanted to go back home, fix a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows, and relax. I made a bargain with my whiny self; just run to the house (there's only one house along this particular trail), then you can turn around. And in the meantime, shut. Up.

It was a deal. And that's when I noticed that the falling snow looked like glitter flitting all around me. The river was a current of liquid gold with the reflection of the overcast sunrise. A hawk rode the wind currents overhead. I got to the house and turned around. I had warmed up and the wind was now at my back. My whiny self apologized profusely as I brushed a snowflake off my eyelashes. Running really has become one of my favorite things, even though it never gets easy to get out the door. I'm sure all that will change, though, once I "discover my true potential."

I'm back?

Thought I'd toss a post up here and see whether I want to get back into this or not. I think I need a plan for this space, rather than spewing random thoughts from my everyday life. Because, let's face it, I don't always have thoughts. Sometimes I'm just too busy to have thoughts...unless they're negative. (Somebody at work is not pulling their weight, somebody at work is yammering constantly when I'm trying to be productive, somebody at work isn't talking to me as much as I wish they would...it's always something. Wah, wah, wah.) And who wants to read that all the time? I sure wouldn't. So, this is something to consider.

The reason I'm writing today is because I saw that Thomas Nelson will send bloggers a free book if they will write up a review to post on their blog, as well as on a public review site (like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.). I've done book reviews for work in the past. Sounded like a great way to get some free books, and to do a little focused writing. So, Grit & Grace is resurrected. We'll see where this takes me.