Oh, hi. What's up?

Did you miss me? It has been a long month. Where to begin?

The holidays were fun. I spent New Year's with friends, and that was super fun.

January was moving along nicely until the 17th when I got a distressing call from my mom with the news that my cousin Anna was in the ER fighting for her life. Long story short, she developed a sudden, massive infection (sepsis) days after a tubal ligation surgery, and it took over quickly. They could not stop it, and she could not fight it. She died the next evening. Everyone was, and still is devastated. I love and miss her deeply and my heart breaks for her family. I won't go into further details, it's a little too much for me.

Work is always hectic in January, so the rest of the month has been a blur, but the dust is finally starting to settle. February is here and the thought of approaching Spring (though it's still light years away) lifts my spirits a bit.

I'm enjoying the prospect of Netflix (a lovely gift subscription to Tim and me from my brothers), as well as getting back into some reading. I finished The Road. Whoa. Don't read it. If you read it and then you wish you hadn't, don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm reading The How of Happiness. So? what of it? I'll punch you.
Jokes aside, I was interested in it because it's supposed to be beyond the hokey and cornball inspirational/self help garbage out there and discuss actual, scientific, evidence-based strategies for taking control of a specific amount of happiness in your life that is supposedly within your ability to affect and enhance. I like the approach, and so far, it's a fun and interesting read. I might try to do some of the exercises in it. If I go public with any of it, you'll know. And if you make fun of me, I will punch you. Happily.

Tim and I now have a weight lifting routine. We started in January and we're on our 6th workout. We've made some gains, but I will never, ever like it. Lifting sucks. Lifting in the basement with cobwebs and mousetraps REALLY sucks. I've also concluded that I have no back muscles. I'm not sure how I'm able to get around so well, but that's something I'll try to dissect another time.

Okies, I'm off to bed. I'll be wittier soon. And prettier.

The Word on The Street

Sam adores Sesame Street. It's the only TV he watches regularly, and I don't mind at all. Most would agree that it's a classic and it continues changing to fit the times. Sometimes I find myself entranced in parts of it with him...I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Before the opening song, there's a segment called "The Word on The Street" where they unveil a new word (and its definition) that will be used throughout the show. A few days ago, the word was predicament.

Tuesday morning, we found out just how attentive Sam is to Sesame Street. He and Tim had watched this particular recorded episode the evening before. As I entered the kitchen, Tim said to Sam, "Do you remember what predicament means?" and Sam adjusted himself in his booster, scrunched his face up, and said in a very serious tone, "Iss like a big, big problem."
I asked him what a problem is, and he said, "Uhmmm.....hmmph" followed by, "Can I have wafoos?" That's waffles to you and me.

He's up from his nap - gotta go! This week is hectic, but I hope to post more by the weekend.