Holiday Newsletters

I’ve always been fascinated by the Christmas newsletters that arrive with some cards. Since many of my friends have families now, they usually send updates about what each person in their family is doing, including their pets. I always have to laugh out loud when the pets are included. Still though, it’s great that they want to share their achieved goals and next year’s aspirations with all those they keep in touch with. It makes the cards to me a bit more personable then just a holiday shout out.

It depends on how I look at this year, what perspective I take into account and how harshly or fairly I judge myself concerning how long or how short my own personal newsletter would be. So many changes have happened. I have always believed that everything one does, whether it’s a small step or a giant one molds their personality. Everything is a lesson. We just have to step back and learn it.

I hope everyone has had a fascinating year…and that they have great newsletters of their own to cherish.

Let It Snow

I love snow…until it becomes a driving nuisance. But when it first falls and blankets the forests that surround this beautiful state, it’s amazing.

Yesterday, I discovered a great new dessert (well not so much a dessert as a late night snack).  My friends and I were spending our Friday night catching up on some DVDs and shows we had TiVoed. We got hungry and raided the kitchen. Adam usually keeps a jar of cashews (he thinks that when it comes in a stylish jar they taste better), so I grabbed a handful of those to start my munching. While I was eating those, my other roomie Brian asked me to get the Cool Whip for his pecan pie. While trying to juggle cookies, the tub of cool whip and my handful of cashews, some of the nuts fell into the cool whip.  I discovered how good cashews tasted covered in the sugary whipped topping.

And then after the late night binge, I also discovered that I would have to exercise a bit more today to compensate.

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m a day late, but I’m hoping that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

I realized because of a friend’s horrible day how thankful I am for the support system I have. I have friends who truly love me and friends that I love deeply. I’m thankful that they are in my life and I hope that they are thankful for me as well.

I’m thankful for my family, both my immediate as well as my extended members. And I will continue reminding myself on a daily basis just how thankful I am.

 

Better Days Ahead

I’m out of my funk. I’m feeling better these days. I think it was just one of those things, where life happens and you don’t know what to expect and you don’t know how to express yourself in a way that doesn’t cause pity. I’m not really one to wallow in the mire. But I hit a bump in the road and my journey was somewhat thrown off course. But I’m back for the most part.

I don’t want to vent any of those hurdles here. After all there are two sides to every story and it would be unfair to just air my side. But I’m handling things the way I think they should be handled. And with advice and support from some very good friends, I think I’ve handled it well.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I didn’t dress up. It’s not my thing. It did disappoint some of my friends who had various different costume ideas for me. I just never liked doing the dress up thing. However, my buddy Brian told one of the children I was handing out candy to that I was dressed like Grandpa Fuddy Duddy (I was wearing a blazer). So maybe that is what my costume was, Grandpa Fuddy Duddy—by the way, I still have a good 30 years before I’m eligible for the senior citizen discount. But the point was taken and I promised Brian that next year, I would find a costume.

Wrong Pick

My co-workers had been telling me that they want to set me up. None of them know I’m gay (I haven’t told them and if they suspect anything, they haven’t said anything). Curious to see who they wanted to set me up with, I asked. It turns out they want to set me up with a new female physician that just started working in the hospital. They said the two of us would be perfect together. We had the same sense of humor and I was told we would make “beautiful babies”. Why do women always go from dating to marriage (zero to sixty in less than 30 secs)?

I laughed and didn’t ask about it again. A few days later, we ran into her in the cafeteria. And so we were introduced. She is beautiful! She works out by jogging and swimming (so her body is perfect). She has an amazing smile (perfect straight white teeth). She looked me straight in the eye during all our conversations and even touched my arm a few times while we talked. She has a great voice too, soft with just a hint of southern in it. And she made me laugh. The only thing that was wrong is…she isn’t a man.

If I were straight, I would have fallen in love in less than thirty seconds (zero to sixty in about fifteen).

Achy, Sniffly, Coughy

I came down with an illness. I don’t think it’s the swine flu. I think it’s just an over-rated cold. I have the sniffles, but no snot. And I have a pretty harsh cough.My body is also achy.

I’m sure it’s all part of the change in weather. I get this way when the temperatures change.

I’ll get better. My roomies have been pumping orange juice into my system. And I think over the last few days I have eaten more soup than I have within this last year (thank you Brian).

I hope everyone’s health is good!! Not good, but great!!

Exhausted

Have you ever felt exhausted by everything that you have to deal with or think about? All of it seems to come at you all at once, like a speeding tennis ball and you can’t seem to position yourself aptly to hit the ball back?

I’m feeling like that now. Everything happening all at once. I know that I’ll eventually get the chance to swing at that ball and get it back over the net. But for right now, it’s coming too quickly.

I’m exhausted…

Nothing Makes Sense

Have you ever tried to follow someone’s logic but couldn’t? Have you met a person that you have looked up to all your life, but then suddenly disappoints you with an argument that has no sensible logic?

A church leader I grew up with recently stated during a dinner get together that gays should be welcome in church, but they should not be able to be the leaders of church. His only argument for this basis was he felt they would not make good leader material. No other arguments were given to back his statement up, just that he “felt” they shouldn’t.

I was crestfallen. This is a man who during my childhood always encouraged us to be what we wanted to be. He told us that we could be anything our dreams allowed us to be. He said we should never be afraid to spread our wings because we could and we should fly.

And just a few days ago, he says something so ignorant. I’m not even sure who brought the topic up. But my ears perked up when I heard the word gay mentioned during the dinner banter. I’m still trying to come to terms with this leader’s train of thought.

Sleepless

Just had one of those sleepless nights. I am  pretty sure what made it sleepless. Still  I hate waking up every couples minutes. It makes for a tiring morning. I don’t like being cranky. It’s just not part of my personality and thank goodness that I can control the moodiness (for the most part).

A couple years ago, I use to wonder about the things that caused insomnia. In school I learned that chemical imbalances or mental anguish can cause it. I use to be able to just fall asleep. In fact a good dose of some of the medical books I had to read could knock me out (sometimes because I would hit myself over the head with them, but other times because of topic matter).

Maybe sleep will catch up with me tonight.

It’s Not Alright

At the gym yesterday, my buddy Brian recognized someone that he knew. He instantly went into flamboyant mode, mimicking this person. I’m not sure if the other person was aware of it, but Brian was making fun of him. It seemed to me that the humor was done in a very degrading manner.

When the other guy walked away, I asked Brian what he was doing. His explanation and the way he justified acting the way he did was “we’re allowed to make fun of one another”. I told him that this other guy didn’t seem aware of the fact that Brian was indeed acting and that swaying his hips and and using the words “honey”, “babe” and “fabulous” as danglers for each sentence wasn’t part of his every day conversation. Brian blew me off by saying “oh relax, even if he didn’t know, he’s still one of us. It doesn’t matter, we’re allowed to poke fun at ourselves”.

Are we really allowed to poke fun at the stereo-types that we are trying to shake off? And even if some people do fit that stereo-type, is it alright to throw it in their face? Excuse me if I’m wrong, but is it alright to imitate the accents and actions of others while they stand and converse with us? I’ve only met  this guy twice at best and I’m certain Brian doesn’t even know his last name. I also wonder if he does know that Brian is poking fun at him and is just too polite to say anything (which then makes him the bigger person).

And alas, I also wonder if I’ve just got this stick up my rear that needs to be removed.