DLand - Still Perky After All These Years

I had a pretty good holiday, as it were. The time chez Puddin' was much better than could be expected and while my family got an incredibly late start to Christmas, we finished it off well. Mom and Dad have a new digital camera and color photo printer so that they can start capturing magic moments again. I've got some fantastic jewelry, a superior headlamp (for crawling around at night) some great wine accessories and a renewed sense of hope about my company and life in general. Things really are very great.Puddin' humored me last night and took me to two stores to find black eyed peas so that we could bring in the new year with luck. I wasn't up for cabbage for wealth, so we just stuck with luck for now. So far it's been holding. Today has been hard in that it feels for all the world like Monday (complete with driving to work from Richmond at 5:30am) but really is Friday. So it's been like trying to cram an entire work week in one day. The worst was almost missing my appointment with Gary. I have missed him over the past few weeks and ended up being a good 20 minutes late. He waited for me, though, like a good sport and we still got a good chat in before we both had to go. Despite all the running around, though, I'm in fantastic spirits. I'm looking forward to going home and tidying up a bit before heading to the parents to help load some pictures and then listening to the Gunslinger book on cd in the car with the dogs on the way to Puddin's. The greyness of the day hasn't dampened my mood in the slightest.

DLand - The Winter Years

This is just a jiffy update as time is cramped these days.We went to New York this past weekend and it was very nice. I don't know that the four of us need to spend that much time all together. But I had a grand time overall. The evening partying with Shrewsbury Hose Company No. 1 was one of many highlights.

The time off was, as always, never long enough. But Christmas is soon. I came home to find out that Ms. Bea had died the night before. Her liver had failed and we guess that at this point she just gave up. Dad says that in elderly couples when one dies the other rarely lives three more years. I wonder if they would put "loneliness" on her death certificate as cause of death. I know that Daddy Byron's passing really hurt her. So maybe she's happy now. Maybe they can have a happy Christmas together wherever they are. It's overwhelming to me that she's gone. They were my grandparents for all practical purposes. Just makes me want to squeeze those that I love dearly all the more. I promise a cheerier update soon. But for now, much love to you all.

DLand - Turkey Day Recap

Another holiday come and gone and another one close on its heels. I've got a busy month planned ahead of me. Client release, trip to New York, cosmetic changes to the house and a lot of video games.Rich and I have been playing a D&D game on the XBox and it may be the most I've spent in front of a video game console since I was 12. I'm playing an elf wizard and he's a fighter dude. We must be the world's most polite gaming duo. “No, you take that potion, Baby, I have plenty.” “Oh, I couldn't, I took all that mithral plate on the last level. Here let me carry that for you and when we get back to the Castle Shoppe I'll give it to you to sell.” The hockey game was great. Cavorting with Kevin and Jake was grand. Seeing Mike and Sue's new place was a treat. And Susie's hair looks awesome. All in all a fantastic holiday. And now it's back to the grind as it were. The silver lining is that our new pinball machine arrives later this week.