measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *blink* Christmas is over? *sob* Ah, a bright sunny Thursday morning in December. The roads are clear, people are home, curling up watching movies and enjoying gifts, and of course, I'm back at work, curled up in my cubicle with a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee and piles of paper that form the aftermath of last week's insanity. Mewwy Cwistmas, Mel. You get cleanup duty! eesh. :) It's not so bad, though. It's nice and quiet here for the rest of this week and next Monday. I'll get things straightened up and straightened out. Toss a lot of paper that has been collecting that I don't need, and have things relatively organized to start the New Year. It'll be a good feeling. And the quiet to get things done will be very refreshing, too. I can do stuff at my own pace and not worry about deadlines. I really don't have any hanging over my head until the end of next week. So this week will be low-key cleaning and random things I need to get done at a comfy pace. Before I recap my weekend, I need to send out some thank you's to [hooligan] and [thefinn] for the wonderful surprise of a Yuletide giftie. That Oriental Adventures book was being drooled over for about 12 hours this weekend during the rides down and back from Pennsylvania, and will definitely be causing ripples of drool during the gaming sessions. I don't know if either of you have a copy of it yet, but it's quite cool. [erich] has been trying to resist urges of power-gaming all morning as he and I talk with Tan and JT over email and AIM. I'm going to let JT borrow it so he can put some house rules on which feats we can and cannot use in the Forgotten Realms campaign, but at the same time, I'm going to take a serious look to see if I can incorporate it elsewhere in my campaigns that I'm starting to churn up in my head. *grin* So thank you guys... and I need to know your address 'cause I'm definitely going to be surprising you around, oh... Beltane or so. *grin* And hints are always appreciated, of course... I had a wonderful holiday weekend down at my mom's, and it made it more special to have [erich] there to share it with me. As I'd described in my previous entry, my family does a traditional Polish Christmas Eve. We had 16 people at the table this year, although two were really little kiddos. My cousins Marya and Elizabeth are only five and 18 months, so they almost count as one person. Erich did quite well singing in Polish. He caught onto the tunes quickly (they're quite easy, pitch-wise), and didn't stumble all that badly for someone who'd never spoken the language, let alone seen it written on paper. It's a bit daunting on the page, and as Erich commented ("I'd like to buy a vowel,"), it's kinda confusing to see where the vowel-sounds are vs. constanants. One of the biggest joys for me was to see my family welcoming in Erich with open arms. Until recently, I've been wary of bringing anyone home for the holidays, mostly because of my aunt, who had a bad problem with alcohol and her behavior while drunk. It usually put a very sour note on the holidays. But this year she finally realized she had the problem, and has been staying away from drinking completely, and now is wonderful to be around. So with that tension gone, everyone had a fun holiday, and Erich's presence felt like he'd always been there, and it was another holiday with everyone. Just what I needed. :) Although we didn't have a white Christmas, it was a happy one, and the weather was beautiful all weekend. I really can't complain about the lack of snow when it comes to driving from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania. It would have been hellish with slushy roads. My family blessed me this year with the one gift I really honestly needed, too: money to pay off bills, pay for the plane ticket to Montana for the end of next month, and to pay back my rent money account that I delved into due to Colley's unexpected vet visit last week. There will be some left over which I will spend on myself as a treat, but most of it will be happily used for things that it needs to go to in order to make my life a bit brighter all around: getting out of debt. I also received some new clothes for work-- purple was this year's theme (including for Erich, who got some deep purple towels from my mom), ornaments for my future Yuletide tree (probably next year when I have a place to put one!), some books, and a handwritten calligraphy plaque from my mom with a poem entitled Legacy of an Adopted Child. It's a beautiful, tear-jerking poem that I ran into on the internet a few years back. Never told my mom about it, but she found it on this plaque and is having it framed for me to put in my new apartment next year. It's beautiful. So it was a very happy Yuletide and Christmas, celebrated with friends both far away and close by. And yes-- I DID get those cards out to my penpals. :) Gotta run and get some work done. Will be back later... Hugs, Mel.
Once there were two women who never knew each other.. One you do not remember, the other you call mother. Two different lives, shaped to make Your one... One became your guiding star, the other became your sun. The first gave you life and the second taught you to live it. The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it. One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name. One gave you a seed of talent, the other gave you an aim. One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears. One gave you up ... that's all she could do. The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you. And now you ask me, through your fears, the age old question unanswered throughout the years... Heredity or environment .. Which are you the product of.. Neither, my darling .. neither.. just two different kinds of love. ~ Author Unknown ~ 11:04 a.m. - 27 December 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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