Ugh! I hate being sick!

Today, after picking up the gunk _again_ (I'm pretty sure this is round two of the same thing I had a couple of weeks ago), I finally took a day off of work. Much like the last time, I'm starting to get better again. This translates roughly to the fact that my face is getting a chance to recover from being raw (yesterday I was that lovely combination of pale _and_ tissue rashed across the nose) and they can call off the tree smashing in the Northwest to supply Raen's nose with kleenex.

So... yay. Go me.

Go me also because, when I take a day like I did this one, it also gives me a few moments to submerge myself into my basic Virgo nature.

When I'm sick, I don't like to clean. At all. That means that on the far end of being sick, the apartment starts to look like a wreck. While far from being recovered, it at least looks a little better.

On the Pooh front, I got some good news today. For those that have been keeping track, the little monster is in complete remission, but... his blood counts have been coming back badly. The short explanation is that his bone marrow hasn't been recovering from the chemo treatments like it should have been, and until his blood counts were stable they didn't want to run him into more chemo. We really want them to finish his treatments, as painful as this whole process has been. We like our furkid, and we'd like to make sure he's around as long as we can have him. So, on the front end of my sick day, I got to lug the cat up over the first iced roads of the season to the vet. Around noon, I got a phone call.

My throat's a little raw still, and I'm conjested, so I'm pretty sure my whoop of satisfaction sounded strangely like an expiring animal. I really don't mind this, though. After more than a month of off blood tests, I'm happy to have one finally come back in the clear. One more, and they'll be able to treat him again.

So... those of you that have been keeping some small portion of him on your mind... thank you, and I appreciate the continued efforts.

Past that...

... and if you're still reading down to here, I'm impressed. *smiles*

... I had a random, strange thought today. Its tied to the various new local music I get to hear on the radio station I listen to here.

With the Christmas season upcoming, and knowing that a great many of us (particularly those in the States) are ducking our heads with finanaces not being so easy, I have a Christmas request for anyone who's thinking about sending me anything more than a card. *smiles* Instead of spending serious money on me, look through your music collection and send me a copy of someone or something you've been listening to that you think I might like... but you think I _may_ not have heard.

I've always seen music as the heartbeat of the world... thus, its always fun to hear which part of it other people are nodding their heads to.

And with that... I leave you with the Teddy Bears... because they were cool enough to ask Iggy Pop to make a song with them.

( Punk Rocker. )

Raen.

This has been building in my head over the last couple of years. Its been building, slowly, and as we approach the Holiday Season, its in the front of my mind again. So... I thought I'd share. *smiles* Just to let y'all know what's in my mind before the season of disagreement begins again.

Its a topic that some find a little touchy, I know... so read with patience, and please don't go flame on at the end of it...

( I'm going to start in an odd place. )

Anyway... I'm spent now. *smiles*

Love to you all... and here's to a Holiday season full of fun.

(I so can't wait for Halloween!)

Raen.

The clutch... oh that clutch.

Opening presents in the evening with Santa still coming in the evening. ;)

Cat tails and fire... Oh, the SMELL!

Rain gods and Spaceballs; a Lion in Winter, Dr. Phibes, and so much more... 30 collective bottles of fingernail polish. The two day long Spawn marathon... we need a 4th season. Beautiful pictures... and a growing collection of all things faery and butterfly.

Sleeping late... *purrrrs* There is no bliss like waking up after sleeping late.

Ham... *smiles* And work paid for it.

Comforters and couches, and so much warmth eventually they had to be thrown off. Did that couch really hold four people? I don't know that it will again.

Wax! On me! Twice!

Wine... ew.

Frozen dog water.... hmmmmmmmm....

Chocolate... Oh yes, the chocolate. Gods, I ate too much. *holds tummy and glares at it* Weekends like this do nothing to help me loose weight.

Phone calls... yep, lots of those.

*smiles* Happy faces, even if the money was a little tight.

*smiles contentedly* The holidays are best kept with those you love, really. I'm very happy.

Raen.

This is where I heave the sigh, right?

Had to get up and go to work today... which sucks in and of itself. Everyone else I know has the day off... with the exception of maybe a few people that I know who are mall-bound. I remember that particular sensation, though I didn't nearly mind it as much as this year. Something about the people I was with that year, I think. A manage who made my ribs ache from laughing (he really was a little uptight, but comical about it at least), associates who's company I really enjoyed, and a store who's subject matter I could get into. There's nothing like knowing you might make someone's Christmas because you're able to tell a customer the difference between obsidian and hematite or able to explain why sand guardens are part of Zen. In my line of work, really, there's not Christmas _umph_ to being at work on Christmas Eve.

Part of me thinks I should have picked up that extra job over the holidays... just to have a place to go and get that extra umph...

Not to mention having a place to show off my all white fuzzy elf hat.

I got into work with no misshaps... wow... that was strange. The car and I had formed an uneasy alliance, and the day went by really quick even if I am still trying to figure out how working until three o'clock constitutes a half day *scratches head*. _My_ problem didn't really start until I got off the highway, rolled to a stop, and tried to put the car into first to get going after the light changed. I'm not sure what happened, really. All I know is that when I did finally get the car off to the side of the road, the clutch had no tension. That sucked.

Cars really hate me this year.

And _that_ is just my problem. *heaves a sigh* I wish I could take this end of the year and write it off as never having happened... you know, like the tests you used to take in school with the really spiffy teacher who would drop the worst grade off of your score completely. Then again, who am I to suggest this?

Regardless, the car problem will be fixed... even with all of the issues that surround it (and there are more). Working didn't kill me. And all the badness of the previous year has built more to me than there was the hear before, shaving off the excess here and there, while sculpting bits to fit more precisely than they had before.

I have Christmas tomorrow, and there are some presents under the tree I'm really looking forward to giving. *smiles* I hope some of them help relieve, even if momentarily, some of the load that some have carried over this year.

Early evening found me working on dinner. Food is a comfort, you know... and as much as I hope others take comfort in eating what I have the time to make, I take comfort in the making of it. I kept staring at my hands as I did so... watching them shred off bits of bread and how much like my mothers they look these days. I remember when they looked younger, more child like, and I marvelled at it. I don't know why, really. I just did. The muscle in the thumb, the way it tensed and relaxed, the twisting of my arm where it meets my wrist, the half worn polish that I keep hoping will help obstinate nails grow, the various scars that have accumulated over the through the course of my life, and the calluses.

They're not porceline, soft, or gentile, but I'm finding that I like my hands. Don't know why... just do.

Its Christmas Eve... its 6 O'Clock.

Have you said your "I love you"'s as you should?

*smiles* Merry Christmas, everyone... and if I don't see you sooner, Happy New Year.

Raen.

Yeah... that about sums it up.

Long day... long day before... but so gratifying. *smiles*

I love Christmas. I love the smell of fresh pine in the house, the lights on trees, wrapping presents (even the paper cuts that happen as a result), and knowing that the days creep closer to the grand opening on Christmas day... and the trickle that follows as friends who couldn't be there appear out of thing air to receive their gifts.

*smiles* Let the giving commence, yes? Already in motion...

But that wasn't all of the weekend. Friends were the other part. Friends I don't get to see often enough even if one was sick... and one in particular that I don't often get the time to just chill with. *grins* Thank the gods for some small pleasures in life, and being able to catch up on it.

So... a reiteration... to the Cinci House... Merry Christmas, and we'll see ya at New Year's. ;)

Raen.