Updates

Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged. It's amazing that a two-week vacation left me with less spare time than when I actually commute and work! Here's a quick summary of the holidays in expanded bullet form, **whatever that is:

• Had a great holiday with my family; wonderful gifts, loving family, and we went to see Marley & Me on Christmas Day. I had no idea that so. . . many. . . people went to a movie on this holiest of days, but I suppose it's no worse than spreading our broad backsides on the sofa and watching TV. Great movie, but that was expected. If you haven't seen it, be sure to take plenty of tissue when you go!
• Partially cleaned the attic--which means I got rid of a few things and moved some other things around. I made three trips in the SUV to the recycling center, mostly to unload cardboard. As it turns out, D's mockery has been right on target: I actually have been hoarding empty boxes for years. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but the result was no walking space in the attic and very little additional storage because the space was all occupied by boxes full of nothing. One of these days, I'll actually go through the rest of the stuff in the attic. I think there may be more disposables mixed in with the treasure. :-) I am having to eat crow as I did believe that D had more stuff up there than I. I was woefully wrong (again).
• Partially cleaned my office area. My little work area is kind of an ante-room to the attic, and until I blocked it off with a baby gate, Dakota used to head up here to use the bathroom. Yep, pretty gross, and definitely not good for the laminate flooring....ewwww! At any rate, the junk is either pitched or stored; the place has been dusted and vacuumed and gettin' ready for tax preparations. The impetus for all of this activity? My brother gave me a new office chair for Christmas, so I really needed to spruce up the office to show off the new furniture!
• Battled a cold or sinus infection or something. Not sure what was going on, but I felt pretty lousy with a stuffy nose, pounding head and fatigue. Dayquil rocks, by the way.
• Went with D's family to Vegas, babeeeee. I'm getting much better at Blackjack and had great luck at video poker. For me, losing only forty bucks or so is a good thing! Vegas was very crowded when we arrived, but the mob scene thinned out after January 1. Apparently, the sinking economy is hitting very hard there. One of the highlights of the trip--third row center seats for Bette Midler's show at Caesar's Palace. I've been a Bette fan for years, and this was as good as it gets! The woman is 63-years-old, and she looks fabulous and still sings, dances, and shticks like a 20-something. We also saw the Cirque du Soleil show "Ka." Personally, I think "O" is better, and a couple of folks have said "Mystere" is the best of all. Well, ya can't go wrong with Cirque du Soleil! Maybe we can can see "Mystere" next time..... and next time may be coming soon, as CHER is returning to Caesars! D and her sister & family all want to see Cher, so let's hope we head back soon.
• Back to work yesterday and the long hiatus was good for the soul: I was actually glad to be back in The Routine. I like my co-workers--no drama there--and I enjoy what I do. But everybody needs a break now and then, and this one was just perfect.

Happy New Year everyone. This is gonna be the start of somethin' good!

** 'Expanded bullet form' apparently means it's okay not to use formal sentence structure, amd that it's also okay to ramble on at great length.