Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!  ( two days late that is...)

The holidays can be a pit of a bittersweet time for me.  I do like Christmas for the most part but there are elements about the holidays that make me a little blue.  I was blessed to spend some time with a good friend the weekend before Christmas, take a few holiday themed pictures and have a feast with my mother and some of her friends.  I have received many holiday cards, gift baskets, holiday presents in the mail and hooked up with some of my former bar guests for a few drinks.  It just wouldn't be the holidays without meeting up with the old Depot crew.  There was just something about that place.  And then the weekend came....

I was schedules to work Christmas Eve & Christmas day with the loom of a Christmas snow.  Working Christmas eve was just another day but a bit more relaxed and coming home was quite calming.  Almost too calming.  It was eerily quiet outside and a bit warm considering we had snow on the way.  But that is when we usually have the biggest snow.  The 'calm before the storm' so to speak.  Christmas morning was cold, quiet & clear.  Then the snow came at 8 o'clock that morning and did not stop.  And it kept coming, as well as the 'call ins' at work.  By 1:30 that afternoon the entire 3-11pm shift had called in.  Those of us that were working that day knew what was to come.  Nobody was leaving.  The mandatory severe weather code was called two hours later and the whole hospital was under 'house arrest'.  haha...thank God I packed a bag for an overnight stay 'just in case'.  Last year taught me a lesson.  Even though I was schedule to be off  for Sunday thru Wednesday, I still had to stay to ensure staffing for the next 48 hours.  That's just hospital policy.  No use in bitching about it.  You're just stuck.

It would have been nice to be at home with the snow and have the opportunity to take some Christmas snow pictures but being stuck at work turned out to be just fine.  We got free meals plus got some incentive pay for sleeping over.  Not only did I get holiday pay for my waking, working hours, I got paid $8.33 an hour for the 12 hours I was not working.  Wish I could get paid to sleep more often!  I worked again the next morning, wearing my blue jeans and hair pulled back in a mess.  I didn't care nor did management.  I was given my golden ticket by 6pm Sunday night and packed up my gear and made my way home to 8 inches of snow and a very happy kitty.  My house is a mess from boxes, junk on the coffee table, dishes in the sink and balls of cat hair in the corners of my floor.  I have no plans to go anywhere today and very little ambition to clean up the house.  I'm just enjoying the quiet time in my little house and making sure that my squirrels are tending to their food that I put out today.  The 'Christmas Snow Crisis' kept me from being too emotional and depressed this year and that's a good thing.  Sometimes the little distractions come in big packages.  This year it came with a holiday snow.  And that was all okay by me.  elizinashe

A New Decade

Today is my birthday.  Woo hoo yea me!  And so begins a whole new decade of self-discovery.  As a good friend had put it, I am celebrating the 10th anniversary of turning 30.  hee-hee.  Clever, eh?

The whole 'turning 40' thing really hasn't bothered me.  I don't even feel 40 nor do I look like it.  When I realized months ago that I really was going to be 40, I thought about organizing, planning and throwing myself a party like so many others have as well as some of my other girlfriends have done, but my forte is not planning ahead nor being organized.  I really didn't want to spend my evening mingling around to entertain my guests nor did I want to bar hop all night doing shots everywhere I went with a bunch of other women.  I do not need to prove my age nor do I need to prove myself of anything to the young 20-somethings that do go out and bar hop doing shots everywhere they go. Besides, the most important people that I wanted to spend my birthday with all live out of state across the country.  Trying to get people to fly in for a birthday would require a lot of planning and money especially since my birthday falls betwix holidays.  But I have had the satisfaction that all my peeps from across the map have called, sent cards & emails and messages which makes me feel just as loved as if they were here in person. 

I have spent my birthday recovering from an outpatient surgery that I had done yesterday and having a new set of tires put on the car.  Sounds stimulating I know but to me it's just been another day.  It just happens to be my birthday.  The last 3 days have been quite lovely to be honest. I met my mother Wednesday evening for a pre-birthday dinner.  We went and had some indian food and then came back to my place for the night.  (She spent the night with me since I was not allowed to drive on the day of my surgery.)  One of her friends sent me a birthday gift basket filled with tea, fuzzy socks, a variety of homemade tartlets, and some lavender to make sachets from the seeds.  What an angel she is!  So far I have had 4 cups of herbal tea and 3 tartlets:  one blueberry, one apple and tonight was cranberry.  I have one more left but I do not know yet what flavor it will be.  I have yet to peek. 

I truly can't complain about my birthday.  Yes, I thought about having a big 'throw down' and taking a bunch of drunk pictures but to be honest I've had a much better time keeping this birthday on the 'down-low'.  This week has truly been a very busy one so having the quiet time for me has been fabulous.  I'd rather have small 'throw downs' with my friends who live across the country and celebrate in small ways than have one big meaningless hoo-ha.  And having that time with my mom was pretty cool, too.  I am truly blessed and loved and that's all I really wanted for my birthday.  So here's to another decade of self-discovery and lessons learned.  Let's all enjoy the ride.  elizinashe