Having the Talk

There has never been a good outcome for me when someone (whether friend, family, co-worker, or boss) has told me, “We need to talk.” When I hear that I want to run right home, crawl into bed and pull the covers up over my head!

My mother had a unique way of bringing up a problem. She would say, “I have a bone to pick with you.”

I love the new silent instruments

Back when I was in school, taking band, there was no such thing as a silent electric instrument of any kind. At least, not that I’m aware of! When a kid decided to learn how to play an instrument, everyone in the house got to listen the that kid practice, whether they wanted to hear it or not! I was really pleasantly surprised recently when I learned that almost any and every instrument ever made now seems to have a silent version – like the silent electric yamaha violin at WWBW that I found online a few minutes ago. I think that it’s fantastic that now people can learn how to play an instrument without driving everyone in the house crazy!

Merry Christmas to all

Today we had a good, large, family Christmas dinner at a local Masonic Lodge dining hall. All of the extended family members that could attend brought food to share, and nobody went away hungry. Much to my surprise, there were no family fights that I was aware of, and everyone had a good time. We sang a few songs (Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and played a few games. We exchanged a few gifts here and there. Everyone chipped in with setting up the tables and buffet, and everyone chipped in with the dish-washing and cleaning up.

My mother said she thought it was a lot more work than when the dinners were held at someone’s house, but I completely disagree, since the dinners have been held at my house every year for the past six years. This year I didn’t have to run around the house in a panic, cleaning, de-cluttering, and worrying about the pets being upset, or about my things being broken (or stolen) by someone.

I really hope that all future family dinners will be held there. I liked it a lot.

Sometimes I just want to scream

Don’t get me wrong, I love Alicia, I really do. But when we get together, all she can talk about is herself! She doesn’t even ASK me how I am, or how my family is! She talks about her work, her vacations, her new real estate checklist template app that she downloaded on her cell phone, and even how she is switching brands of pet food because her vet told her that the brand she was using wasn’t as good as the one he sells there at his office.

Sometimes I just want to scream “will you please be quiet for just one minute?” when I am around her, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Sometimes I wonder if she is simply afraid of silence. I enjoy companionship, but I also enjoy silence from time to time.

Christmas Blessings

This past week has been crazy busy. I had to finish up shopping, get my tree up and decorated, and bake 20 dozen Christmas cookies to give to my close friends. We have a small group of friends and family who like to exchange cookies each year, and everyone loves my little gingerbread men and women. So I have an entire afternoon dedicated to baking gingerbread men and women today.

I guess it’s too late to send out Christmas cards. I’m sorry I blew it, but I do hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Dinner with Wendy

My girlfriend, Wendy was so bummed out today after sending her kids back to their dad that I invited her to dinner and some girl talk. Wendy has two kids but their dad has custody of them during the school year and they come to visit Wendy on holidays and for two months each summer. So the summer vacation is over and they had to go back.

They are great kids – they seem really well adjusted, excellent manners, very lovable. I wonder if they will stay that way or if being in the public school system will corrupt them. Wendy worries that once they are under the influence of other kids and get peer pressure that they will pick up a lot of bad habits and bad language from the other kids. I’m afraid she’s right, but that’s why parenting kids when they are school age is still so important – you have to be ever vigilant.

My mother

My mother came over yesterday and helped me clean out the spare room since the roommate moved out the night before. I am making enough money right now to not have to worry about having a roommate anymore anyway and my mom said if I need help she will help. That way I don’t have to worry about anymore problems like the last one. I am sooo happy that her and her animals are gone !

PS
Done

Alaskan vacation

I have been wanting to go to Alaska forever. I have family there and have never gotten to visit them. My cousin has been trying to get me and the rest of my family to come up for a long time. We have considered it off and on, whether to just go up for a visit or to take a cruise while we are up there. We even looked into alaska hotels to see if we could find one that is near enough to visit family, but also to just enjoy the trip.

This lodge style hotel is just what I am looking for if we decide to go up. I want the full experience of the Alaskan “frontier” style vacation. This kind of hotel embodies that style to it’s fullest.

This is the kind of views you can expect to see in Alaska. I cannot imagine a more beautiful place on earth to visit, I asked my cousin how she could deal with the extreme cold during the winter and she said” The perfect summers make the harsh winters totally worth it”. Can you imagine a “perfect summer”? The perfect temperature all summer long without being too hot at any point is definitely worth experiencing. As much as I love to ski, I don’t think I would ever brave a winter vacation there though. That would be a bit too cold for me.

Better late then never

I just wanted to wish everyone a late Happy 4th of July. I have been so busy this weekend that I didn’t have time to get on here until now. We had a blast and BBQ’d everyday, either here or at a friends or relatives. We didn’t stay home at all. The fireworks were awesome as usual and we of course, had some of our own to light off as well. I hope that everyone had as great a weekend as we did.

New guitar

Well my honey wants a new guitar. There is a BC Rich Warlock he has his eye on and has actually been drooling over it. I think it is hilarious because he is like a little child about it. He wants his new toy very badly. I am seriously thinking about buying it for him for Christmas, if he hasn’t already gotten it by then. I can just see his face now when he opens it. It will be priceless.