Beaded Gift

#1 - The beaded Christmas gift of he and I made by the oldest of the sweet man's daughters.

#2 - Finishing the "move the TV into the basement" project at the sweet man's.

#3 - Telling him to go upstairs with his oldest and spend some alone time together as it looked like she needed it. He said, "That's a good idea," and she smiled and took his hand and led him upstairs.

#4 - My brother lent some cross-country skis to the sweet man for his daughter that doesn't have any.

#5 - News of a possible winter weather advisory because it would be really awesome if we had enough snow for a couple things I have planned later in the week. The first is my Christmas present to the sweet man's girls - to go snow tubing.

Bowl Cousins

I often have a hard time getting my cousins out of bed when they visit and we have morning plans. This AM I woke them up playing my new (to them) song on guitar and one of them jumped out of bed after I was done, hugged me, and said my songwriting has come a long way!

Then we went to yoga class – for free – because afterwards we helped the owner of my studio move some supplies (blankets, bolsters etc.) for the remodeling project.

After that we met the sweet man for lunch (first meeting for them) which went splendidly. Soon my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew arrived for my niece’s first bowling experience. The ball was of course too heavy for her but it didn't matter.

“Hi,” the sweet man as he sat beside me at bowling.
“Usually when you say that it means you want to kiss me.”
“I do want to kiss you.”

Talking over Christmas plans with my sister-in-law I tell her I'll be spending a few days at the sweet man's house. "I'm so happy, she's such a special person and sweet sister to me," she says to him and I see just a hint of tears in both her and his eyes.

Broadway for Kids

On rare occasions I get restless legs when I'm at a performance. Today I wondered for the first time if it had a correlation to the carbon dioxide in the room. I really wanted to enjoy the musical but I was distracted by my ansy legs. Then someone opened the door of the auditorium to let in some fresh air. Soon enough they relaxed. I'm not sure there is a correlation, but now I'm curious about this possibility.

I was at my first school event with the sweet man's kids, a musical theater. I met him at the school and learned how the pick up process goes at the end of the day, then we went out to dinner nearby and returned for the performance. I actually really enjoyed it and found most of the acts engaging. They did a scene or two from 8 different musicals so that lots of different kids could have starring roles. This worked well and kept things moving.

The sweet man's daughter clearly was enjoying herself and happy to be there. Her Dad waved at her when he first spotted her on stage. He better enjoy that because she is close to being the age when that would be embarrassing, not quite yet I guess :).

One of the other kids in the play is a son of a guy I play soccer with. It was so sweet when he came on stage to watch how he'd sneak looks at his parents, making sure they were watching him.

I'm really glad I started off on a positive note with their mother. Our interactions are minimal, a mutual friendly wave in today's case, but it genuinely did feel that way - friendly.

After the play I went back to their place, the girls climbed into bed and I read the three of them The Neverending Story. I started reading it to them on the long car ride over Thanksgiving. We only got to page 260 out of 400 though, so we still have a bit to enjoy together.

Last Butternut

#1 - The last of the prolific butternut squash that grew from the compost was made into Moroccan Butternut Squash soup today.

#2 - My Dad happened to arrive right when the aforementioned soup was ready so we ate it together.

#3 - I am reminded as I sit here and search for gratitudes unique to a personally uneventful day to think small. As I scan my day I'm reminded of the dream my alarm awoke me from. The characters in my dream were from my favorite show in high school - Beverly Hills 90210. A show that almost seems like it does not belong here because it does not fit my current image. But then again, this also shows how much of a typical teenager I was, and sometimes being typical just makes life easier.

#4 - I'm grateful that it is unusual for television images/characters to cross my mind, because I just realized, it's been 20 years since I stopped watching television! I'm still exposed around other people some, but I have college to thank for changing that aspect of my life. There were just too many other interesting things to do. And I certainly spend enough time staring at screens on the computer.

I've also been thinking about this as I may watch a movie with the sweet man this weekend. In the 9 months we've been dating, we have watched one movie together. I've had four movies I'm interested in on suspended request at the library for months, but I always think of other things I'd rather do with my time. This weekend I am ready to watch one.

#5 - My niece seems to really be engaged/captivated by art activities. I signed up today for an ornament making class to take with her through community education.