Life in Beta

This Christmas was by far the best I’ve ever celebrated in my entire adult-life. Everything was just perfect. I was able to spend time with everyone I love, and our visits were full of happiness and laughter. I really couldn’t have asked for more; for the first time in years, I really felt the Christmas spirit. (I think everyone else did too.)

As you can probably tell, Benny had a fabulous Christmas too!

I got so many amazing gifts. I can’t really list them all but a few of my favorites were a pair of Birkenstock sandals from my hunny (I’ve always wanted a pair!), a grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer, homemade flannel PJs made by my mother, and an amazing Pashmina/silk scarf my future in-laws brought back from Italy! There were too many other wonderful things to name too. Even better, everyone seemed to really enjoy the gifts Mike and I picked out for them! Watching Ben’s face this Christmas was priceless too. Santa done good this year. Ha!

Hope everyone else had a fabulous holiday as well. Now I’m attempting to catch up on emails and work and generally trying to transition from vacation-mode to work-mode again. (Not easy!)

P.S. I still have sponsor slots open for January! Check out my sponsor page for more info.

I keep sitting down to write an update, but fail miserably at it.  It’s not that I don’t have anything to say; I’ve been busy and there’s plenty to write about. It’s almost a case of the exact opposite: life is so busy that I’m to exhausted to put a coherent thought together. Forgive me if this post is nonsensical. I thought I’d make an attempt to post something…

I’ve been back in Erie for just over a month now. I’ve gotten to experience everything from 80-degree weather and sunshine to freezing temperatures and snow flurries. In other words: it has been a typical spring in northwestern Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten what “typical” weather in this part of the country entails, so I’m getting used to the bipolar temperatures all over again. I’ve refused, however, to unpack a coat, so I’ve compromised with wearing hoodies when it gets cold. (And shhh, don’t tell, but I’ve borrowed my mom’s jacket off the coat rack a couple times when I had to take Gracie outside in the middle of the night.)

Speaking of Gracie — she’s adjusting to her new home pretty well. She’s trying very hard to make friends with my parents’ dog (a 12-year-old Akita/German Shepherd mix named Kodi). She likes to lay down next to him and attempt to snuggle, but he just jumps up and walks away, startled.  She always steals his treats from him too (little brat!) but he’s a gracious old gentleman and lets her have them without the slightest grumble or growl.

My new job is making me happy. It has me exhausted and I love every moment of it. Even when everything else seems to be going wrong, the one thing that cheers me up is the satisfaction I get from my work. Finally learning C# has been so fun and it’s made me want to delve into all sorts of other projects. I find myself writing code for 8 hours at work and then coming home and putting in another 2-3 hours some nights. I’m learning to appreciate the wonders of jQuery and next I’m hoping to dive into some Objective-C so I can work on some iPhone apps.

Yes, I realize that my geek is showing. HARDCORE.

Random other stuff:

… After seeing this advertisement for Tawapa jewelry in the latest issue of Inked magazine, I decided to start stretching my lowest ear piercings. (Random and crazy, I know.) I have 14 gauge tension hoops in now (which hurt like heck, I might add). I’m not sure if I’ll stay at 14 or go to a 12 gauge. I have no plans to stretch further than that, though. (So don’t freak out mom! Ha ha.) Those lovely Seraphin earrings come in gauges as small as 14g, so I’m all set.

… I’ve been driving the 300ZX almost every day. I don’t know why, but I never felt totally comfortable driving it in Nashville. I guess because I knew if I got lost in the Element, I had a built-in GPS system, but in the Z, I’d be crap out of luck. (Not that I ever really got lost? But whatever.) Anyway, she’s getting some mileage put on her now and I’m enjoying it immensely.

… I’m still a-knittin’. On evenings when I’m not working or out, mom and I sit and watch TV and knit together. I have a sweater-vest almost done for Benny and I finished a pair of socks for myself. Unfortunately I must have spaced out when knitting the second sock because it’s about an inch longer than the first sock so I need to tear it back and fix it. (Duhhh.)

… I am home sick for Nashville almost every day. I’m happy here and I love being with my friends and family, but I miss my “family” in Tennessee too. I’m stuck living with family till the house in Tennessee sells, so I’m in this strange state of limbo where I feel like I don’t actually belong anywhere.  I feel like some sort of homeless nomad, which would theoretically be really cool except that I can’t actually embrace the nomadic nature of my situation because of the mortgage and utilities that I’m solely responsible for, again, till the #@$% house sells. (Yes, I know I was stupid for allowing myself to get stuck with that in the divorce — I’ve had dozens of people tell me as much — but what’s done is done, so leave it be.)  I think once I finally find a place to BE, I’m going to feel a lot more settled. In the meantime, my loved ones have been doing their best to make me feel at home, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

It’s good to be surrounded by friends and family again, and it’s good to be loved. <3

I’m 28 today. Twenty-freakin’-eight.

I feel like I’m still about 17. Where did the time go?

I haven’t had my first gray hair pop up yet. Then again, Benjamin at Tangles keeps my hair dyed so masterfully that I’m not sure I’d know if I had any. (Seriously, that man works wonders.)

In the last year I have managed to develop my first wrinkles though — two of them, right between my eyebrows. I distinctly remember the first time, about a month ago, that I touched my face and felt the lines and realized that they remained creased no matter how I contorted my face. Crap. Of course I’d get scowl lines instead of laugh lines. Bring on the Oil of Olay!

(There’s a strong possibility I may be hallucinating these “wrinkles”, but I’m taking preventative measures.)

Despite all that and despite the fact that 28 is frighteningly close to 30 (we won’t talk about that), I’m pretty excited about this birthday overall.

First off, though this will sound superstitious and stupid, I find that even-numbered birthdays (which are also even-numbered years, in my case) always go better than odd-numbered birthdays. I’m going to run with this theory and declare this an awesome year.

Also, I’ve decided that the age of 28 makes you sound like you know something. (What? I don’t know. But something.) That is, in your late-20′s you seem old enough to be an adult and be at least somewhat an authority on life, yet you’re still young enough to be stupid and have fun on the weekends. I like that.

(As an aside: When I was a kid I believed I would “know it all” by the age of 30. I think I’m waaay behind on that. Maybe I’ll shoot for about 80…)

How am I celebrating? Quietly, with my dog and cat and dear friend, Mike, who drove down all the way from Pennsylvania today. I made a roast in the crockpot and I think maybe we’ll go out for dessert and drinks (’cause let’s face it — baking your own birthday cake sucks). I like quiet birthdays anyway.

Rumor has it, though, that the knit shop girls have more planned for us February-birthday-girls on Saturday. Which means a heluva good time! Those gals are crazy and I love every one of them like family.

Anyway, before I go off on a mushy-tangent… Yes, I am 28 today. And it is going to be a good year.

I’ve gotten some of the coolest birthday cards in the mail this week. My friends know me way too well! It’s also lovely to know I have friends who take time to pick cards that really suit me to a “T”.

I got this fantastic card from Erica, which describes our friendship perfectly. I thought I’d share it with you all because most of you could appreciate this, I think…

No matter what the time of day,
we always have so much to say –
we talk, we twitter, text and gab,
we chit, we chat,  we blog, we blab.

We tell it straight, we tell it true,
you email me, I IM you,
on our cells or at the mall,
or writing on each other’s wall…

From “Hi – hello” to news that’s global
face to face, online and mobile,
up to date, and in the loop,
we know what’s what, we scoop the scoop…

There isn’t much that we don’t share,
because we can, because we care,
our next topic to discuss?
this world needs more real friends like us!