A brand New Year...2009

Ahhh...2009. New year, new (or not so new) dreams.

2008 was a great year, by and large. It saw my daughter finally come home; it also saw the relationship between Dennis and myself solidify to the point where I can sincerely see us together forever. There was always that hope there but it was just a little too grandiose and amazing and HUGE.

Dennis even made notice of the change when he told me the other day that he remembers the day that I couldn't look forward a month, let alone a year, let alone FOREVER. Oh, I was reveling in the moment, that is a fact. And I always had HOPES. But I just wasn't ready to risk jinxing the whole thing by setting the bar too high.

That day has passed.

At some point in 2009, probably in the Fall, we will Handfast and make our private commitment a public one. The details have not been worked out yet but they will be. All in good time. I won't be rushed or stressed about it, the most important part of the ceremony is LOVE and we already have plenty of that.♥

2008 also saw the financial ruin of America. *sigh* The odd thing is though, that my life really hasn't changed much because of it. I had to cut some extravagances out (like my trips to the salon) and create a budget that my household can stick to but really, that is just responsible spending - something I (and everyone else in the country) probably should have been doing all along. When folks live beyond their means, debt happens. Plain and simple. And when debt spirals out of control, *BOOM*, it is only a matter of time before the things it engulfs implode...

My bankruptcy, when I filed for it was actually in hindsight, the best decision I could have made. It freed me up from the past that I was unconsciously dragging around. I ignored the collections notices etc. for the most part but they and the debts behind them were still following me around, but no more. Good riddance to bad rubbish - once and for all.

2008 also nearly brought down General Motors which forced me to ask the question "do I jump ship now, or hope that I can weather the storm?". I chose to weather the storm and came to the comfortable conclusion that even if my job isn't here tomorrow, things will still be ok because I am a valuable commodity - a truly marketable individual who possesses skills which will still be needed in another industry in the event that my current industry fails. Knowledge (in the form of practical experience) really is power, and I have it.

OJ Simpson got his just desserts in 2008 too. FINALLY. More proof that Karma is The Awesome™.

Even Adam Walsh got his justice in 2008. Further proof that all dark deeds will come to light eventually.

We also elected ourselves an amazing new president in 2008. Barack Obama inherited probably the most monstrous mess in the history of all messes but he also ushered in a new era of HOPE. It will be a bumpy ride for him and I hope the American people can afford him a little patience because it is going to take a good long while to clean up this disaster. He is a smart man who surrounds himself with smart people. Thank the stars that 2009 will finally be the year that intelligence is "in" - we are sure gonna need it!

There is good and bad in every year really but I finally started to believe, really, truly, believe (as opposed to playing someone who does on the Internet) in 2008, that it is not what happens in any given year that defines us (or the year, for that matter) it is how we react to what happens to us.

2008 is the year that my inner pessimist was finally put in it's place. Somehow, someway, I think I finally found peace.

2009 will be the year that I will finally learn to keep it.

Happiest of holidays

Well. This past two weeks have been a bit of a blur, where to start...

First off I suppose I ought to mention Dennis and myself taking a trip to Oregon. We drove and actually had very little trouble with the trip despite the snow, ice and freezing rain which was in and of itself amazing considering that we chose the weekend of the worst winter storm in 5 years to take it! My little car was quite the trooper (YAY! Hyundai!) and we only required chains for a small stretch of time on our way out of Oregon.

It was gorgeous. And Dennis’s first meeting with his dad and paternal family went beautifully. Honestly, I think I may have felt more at home at first then he did as that side of his family is as loud and huge as mine is. And everyone was so lovely and friendly - and musical! There was even a jam session at one point in the evening with Dennis on bass, a cousin and younger brother on guitar and alternately his dad and youngest brother on drums. It was amazing. And grandma makes quite the Divinity and homemade caramels! Yum! We even had opportunity to taste a locally brewed holiday beer too, complements of another cousin I believe, which was delicious.

We also made it out to the Spruce Goose. It was in California for a while and Dennis has been wanting to see it for ages but as soon as he was old enough to go and see it himself, it was moved out of Long Beach and up to Oregon. D’oh! But now, finally, he has seen it. And TOUCHED IT! I’ve got proof - I took pictures!

And speaking of pictures, I have a ton of ‘em, period. I took more pictures of snow and us in it than are probably necessary but what the hell. You only go on your first vacation together once. ♥

A couple of road trip stories of note:

Olives!

On the way up, we saw a sign for The Olive Pit which advertised free olive tasting but we were in a bit of a rush to get to our hotel in Stockton and neither of us were very hungry, we decided not to stop and check it out however, seeing as it was dinnertime on the way back when we passed it, we stopped. The olives were delicious! And the garden burger I had topped with olive tapanade was scrumptious. We even purchased a magnet which says "Olive you" on it while we were there.

Sacramento. Oh, woe is you.

We were running out of gas and figured that Sacramento would be a great place to stop because it is a big city and ought to have Chevrons galore. Well, not so much. In fact, it took more than a mile of driving to come across a gas station, period and it was a Shell station. We filled up anyways though because we really needed the gas and then spent another 15-20 minutes trying to find an on ramp. Dennis says that the only reason Sacramento is our state capital is because people stopped there on their way to somewhere else and never figured out how to leave and he very probably may be right!

The saving grace of Sacramento turned out to be the Shell station attendant. He gave Dennis a free cup of coffee which was very nice because even though it was an old pot which was due to be dumped out soon, he still could have charged for it and we’d still have paid for it so it was very nice of him to be so generous. Way to go Shell station attendant! You single-handedly saved the capital city’s reputation in our minds.

Moving along to Christmas...

It was lovely. We spent the Eve at my brother’s house and after the initial shock of finding out that the meal prepared was seafood, my sweetie was a bit relieved to find out that swordfish was on the menu. After having such a great experience with it at The Express holiday party, he felt confident enough to try it again and found that it was not just a fluke - he really does like swordfish. Huzzah!

It was also fantastic to have Katina at our holiday celebration. She got a number of lovely gifts including my favorite which she received from my cousin. It was a bracelet with cinibar and other interesting beads interspersed with Chinese coins. It was a very thoughtful gift.

Dennis and I also got a number of gift cards to our favorite restaurants and movie passes for the local theater from my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. Sweet! And the cards were made out to both of us which was very nice. It would seem that they truly like him a lot.

Christmas day was spent with Dennis’s family and it was also very nice. We had the traditional brunch at Grandma’s house and also the traditional opening of the "what is it" gift. Sadly (for everyone else), Dennis guessed the first one before anyone else even had a chance to take a good look at it. I do believe that HE enjoyed it though!

Later, we had dinner at Dennis’s mom’s house. She was very sweet and prepared a tomato and mozzarella salad with basil in it for me as the rest of them were having prime rib. It was delicious (the tomato salad!) and we even got to take some of it home to enjoy the next day. Yay!

All in all, I must say that this was probably the best Christmas I can remember. The last few with Dennis have been lovely of course - he makes me so, so happy - but it was so wonderful to have Katina home and she was just the icing on the already beautiful and perfect cake.

Randomness and stuffs...

HUGE JOY!

And I can't believe that I didn't post anything about it until right this second!

The Daughter™ got PAROLED!

It's been a wild week since she got let out. First there was the hearing. Man, was that a nail-biter. Fortunately, that evil woman from the Board was not there. Thank the stars! Still, when the New and Improved Board recommended her release, I was still in a bit of shock. We'd been waiting for so long and it didn't feel real for a minute...

It sure felt real five hours later when they finally had her paperwork together and had finally reached the placement home though, because when she walked out the door to the facility she screamed a happy scream. WHEEE!

So she's been in the placement home since the 17th (she will be there for maybe 45 to 90 days?)and is doing really well. All of the ladies there are really nice and they seem to be looking out for her. Most of them are my age (or older) in fact which I guess is kinda good. Older people tend to be more mature and less apt to be unable to control themselves. Anyways, they all seem very nice. They even have the Internets which is very cool. I get emails frequently and I like that a lot. :-)

Awesomeness!

On the heels of The Daughter™'s release comes another very good thing:

Dennis and I can finally start planning our handfasting!

We are looking at Spring Ojai for the date and toying with the possibility of asking Gryphon to let us have it performed at their encampment. We are also thinking about colors and theme. I like the notion of using different blues and blue-greens and an ocean-esque/beach-y theme.

Calm. Peaceful. Serene. Loyalty. Fidelity. Truth. Openness. Endlessness. Romance. Forever. Blue says all of those things to me.

And the ocean is very important to my love - and to me too, really. While I don't necessarily desire to be on it like he does, I do enjoy being next to it and being able to see it, especially at sunrise and sunset or to be able to sit beside it on a warm evening and listen to the waves crash.

So much to do, not very much time to do it and even less money to do it with! Thank the gods that LOVE is free!

Good riddance.

The sweathog neighbor I was bitching and whining about a bunch of months ago? GONE! No more leaving her clothes in the washer for six hours, no more hanging out in the laundry room smoking, no more hanging with questionable people (mostly of the male persuasion) on the porch into the wee hours of the morning, no more piles of cigarette butts EVERYWHERE. YAY!!

Supposedly she left to go live with her boyfriend. I wonder how he's gonna feel when her other boyfriends are still calling her 24/7 for some Horizontal Lambada Action™? Oh well! Not my problem! *Squee!*

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Every once in a while, I get one of those email forwards from someone that points out how old I am by reminding me of what has changed over time and this time, the sender was my mom. She was lovely enough to fire off one about what all has changed over the last 100 years and while most of the stuff on it was amusing, I must tell you that I was outright

:::HORRIFIED:::

to hear that 100 years ago, women washed their hair only ONE TIME A MONTH and that they generally did it with a little borax or perhaps an egg yolk.

Eeeew.

Anywho. I went out and got myself a new phone yesterday. An LG LG enV²®. Much to the dismay of my sweetie who absolutely lurves his Voyager and thought I ought to get one. Sadly though, I am just not as impressed with the shiny as he is and a touch screen is not the end-all in my mind.

I'm OLD. remember? Ha!

But I am really enjoying my new phone which according to the Verizon guy at the store is a "baby Voyager" since the only difference is the lack of touch screen and the web TV feature. TV? On my phone? Um...NO. I finally figured out how to answer it last night (since in all my days I've had a "flip" phone which only required opening it) and managed to get rid of that annoying ringback tone madness. The last thing I need to be doing is spending the next two weeks trying to decide which channel to watch on my lunch hour.

I am at the core, a total multitasker and technology does not scare me but I am pretty sure that I do not have time or need for THAT.

I Fight H8.

I know that I promised that after November 4th, I'd make a serious effort to get back into posting so I can look back on my life in 20 years and laugh, and that gods willing, Katina can read what her mom has been up to while she was away but DAMN IT!

I am still pissed off about Prop H8 and I cannot tear myself away from the protests, letter writing campaigns and boycotts.

*sigh*

I just can't sit back and do nothing. In my mind, this is a defining moment in history. A moment which will be scrutinized by the 5th graders of the future. A moment when I cannot simply sit idly by and hope that "they" will fix "their" problem, somehow.

I am not gay.

This proposition does not effect me directly.

My rights have not been compromised.

But like all of those people in the 1950's and 60's who refused to sit on the sidelines and watch, i feel that I must get involved SOMEHOW.

Now granted, given my unique situation with Katina, I really cannot afford to have my name listed on any police reports - not even as a witness - and I REALLY cannot afford to get myself arrested. And it saddens me that I am relegated to a non-visible protest of letter writing, email sending and boycotts of businesses which use their monies to promote hate and intolerance because I yearn to march and stand with signs and demand CHANGE in a loud voice.

But alas, that is not to be.

*SIGH*

So anyways...I'm still out here. Involved in a serious cause I believe in. Involved in politikery, far past the date I set for myself to be done with it. If feels good though, if not incredibly frustrating at times.

Necessary and positive change is afoot, and I am part of it.

Yes. We. Can.

Yea, so, I've been M.I.A.

I'm a politics junkie, what can I say. *shrug*

Pretty much, the last month, I've been glued to America Blog or Daisly Kos or The Huffington Post or *cough* Red State (pardon me while I wash the ick taste out of my mouth but damn it, a girls gotta keep one eye trained on her enemy), completely ENTRANCED by our political process and mesmerized, if I dare say, by the Unholy Train Wreck which is Sarah Palin.

I'll be back after November 4th, and I'm planning to gloat.

Because, you know, writing reviews for hot "new" nightspots is what I do.

Well, maybe not.

And the hot "new" nightspot isn't even new.

In fact? it's positively OLD. But nonetheless HOT.

So we finally made it out to The Sky Room and wow did we have a nice time. As expected, the food was super expensive (which would be why we didn't order any) but the drinks at the bar really weren't all that bad. They did have a $25 minimum - which upon closer inspection was not the actual bar minimum but the minimum if you were using a credit/debit card* and not actually a strait minimum - but for the two of us, that turned out to be four Guinness (served in tall pilsner glasses. Ooooh...CLASSY!) which really, is the expected on a night out anyways.

From the minute you enter the building, it is as though you have stepped back into a different era. The Art Deco decor is classic and lovely and the staff is attentive and pleasent. You are greeted at the elevator by a gentlemen in a top hat (and tails, if memory serves me - there was so much to take in, including Humphrey Bogart in a classic Casablanca stance standing guard in the ladies room!) who escorts you to the dining/dancing room and/or rooftop bar. We didn't actually make it to the rooftop bar on this particular foray but we fully intend to next time.

But on to the best part...

THE DANCING!

They've got a house band which plays "An Eclectic mix of Swing, Salsa, Rock, and Jazz" and play they do! It's definitely an adult establishment. You won't be blasted by any hip-hop nonsense there or be visually assaulted by a bunch of guys in pants slung at half mast (buisiness casual is the dresscode) and it is absolutely all about the dancing. Tables are situated so that you can watch the band and dance floor while you eat - or not eat, as was our case since we sat at a small table near the edge of the floor and sipped our Guinness instead. I think we cut a dozen and a half rugs last night and did a pretty accomplished job of it if I do say so my not all that unbiased self!

We even met a few people who go there regularly for dancing so next time, we may even be greeted by friends!

*Because since I filed for Bankrupcy last June, I no longer have any credit cards. *SIGH*