So its been a week or two...

What's been keeping me busy, you ask?
A whole hell of a lot of nothing.
Like what, you ask?
Cartoons...
Uh huh.
Uh, reading books...
Ok...
Work...
Yeah, that's a given.

Ok. I'll admit. I've been a lazy sack of poo. I'll see what I can do about that.

It's heeeeere...

It’s official. Winter has arrived. This week it managed to snow. This means several things:

1) Entire days of listening to my dog growl at the foreign substance falling from the sky.
2) Fearing for my life when I get on the roads…not due to the snow but from the university student drivers who have never driven in said snow before.
3) The scantily clad mallrats have to dress warmer and finally put some damn clothes on.
4) A new circle of hell is going to be declared for evil holiday shoppers and the general rude population.
5) I can keep working on my non-tan.

Uh, hooray?

On the outside looking in

As many people do, I hope to (someday) be in a relationship that is beautiful and fulfilling. It’s something that most people want. Sadly, through my adult life I have seen an unfortunate phenomenon for some couples. The circle of people around the couple is not supportive and sometimes even brutal.
Case in point, a friend I cared for very much was a woman in her early thirties. She was the most devout woman I have met and her warmth extended to not only those in her faith but to all people. She also suffered from a nervous disorder but never let it affect her warm disposition. She managed to find her equal during our friendship. What people saw as a complication was that he was 8 years her junior. People criticized them and deemed their relationship ugly and inappropriate. She would talk to me and tell me how wonderful it was to find someone and then cry about the terrible things that were being said about her. The couple was ultimately outcast with the exception of a few close friends. I was so happy for them when they got married but it saddened me to see so many faces missing at the wedding.
I’ve seen similar treatment repeated in my own life, the lives of my family members, and the lives of friends. Straight, gay, mixed race, mixed background,, mixed religion, colorful pasts – all have invited the criticism of those surrounding the couple. I wish people would reserve judgement and just be happy. Granted, sometimes beautiful relationships fall apart. Sometimes they appear doomed from the beginning. But for the sake of the people they care about, I wish they would just rejoice and be supportive. Life is too short and love too scarce.

Tis the season

With the advent of November, my thoughts have instantly fastforwarded to the upcoming holidays. While Christmas has its definite perks, as I’m getting older, Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday. It has the benefits of Christmas without all the spending of money. The largest perk of Thanksgiving is getting to spend time with my family. While I was banished to the outer realm known as Kansas City, time spent with my family became more and more precious. I’ve managed to maintain this appreciation even since moving back and being smothered at every possible moment by them (and I mean that in the nicest way, seriously). Now when I say “family” I feel the need to clarify. I am NOT one of those people that thinks that if you share blood, you’re family. In my mind, I have already detached most of my blood relatives from my family. I don’t like them as people and really don’t feel the need to pretend to in order to keep up appearances. I’d rather not invite them to functions and enjoy the festivities, but that’s just me (I try not to be a horrendous bitch around these people for the sake of those who DO have to deal with them. I’m not totally heartless.).
On the flip side of things, as my siblings and I have gotten older, we’re expanding the group of people I DO consider family. They are people that I may not be related to directly but I like them genuinely and have no qualms inviting them into our quirky little group. Some are the significant others of my siblings, some are the families of their significant others, and some are just random stragglers that get invited to functions wholeheartedly. I’m more apt to consider these people my real family, people who choose to be around rather than are forced into it by social norm.
So going into this holiday season, I would like to extend my warmest fuzziest feelings towards those I consider family. May this season find you happy and healthy and hopefully sitting across from me at the table. And to those I don’t consider family…I hear Denny’s has a lovely holiday menu.