celebrating the fact...

today i am celebrating.

nothing major. nothing terribly exciting. but if it comes down to it and i decide to find things to celebrate in my life... there are certainly things to be celebrated.

so here goes:

i am celebrating the fact that i'm wearing long pants today. you may find this a strange thing to celebrate, but given the fact that i have spent most of the last three weeks wearing as little as i can possible get away with in public situations, and still felt cranky and miserable (and melty!) in the heat... being comfortable in cargo pants and a t-shirt is cause for celebration.

i'm celebrating the fact that my sweetheart is happy in his new job. not just okay with it. not just counting the days til his weekend. not just enjoying the change after 20 years in his last job.... he's happy. he looks forward to going back after his days off.

i'm celebrating the fact that i have inherited a shitload more yarn (working on your scarf, Wiggs!)... this time from my grandmother, who is no longer around to use it. i might find it hard to give away the items i make from it, but for the moment there's enough here for me to make a pile on the floor and roll around in it. i'm not sure my grandmother would approve, but i'm sure she would appreciate the pleasure it gives me to feel so close to her when i'm surrounded by her things.

i'm celebrating the fact that i am blessed with lovely people in my life... great friends and family that i love, and that love me.... even if they are scattered about the planet.

i'm celebrating the fact that i'm going to find a great job. someday.

and just like waiting for the great guy, it will be worth the wait in the end.

i'm celebrating the fact that i have almost completed fundraising for my upcoming marathon... and i'm celebrating the fact that i am capable of running it. (sixteen mile training run tomorrow morning, folks!)

i'm celebrating the fact that my coffee turned out just right, my toast is crispy and fragrant, and i have the time to relax and enjoy them.

And the award goes to...

Hope you weren't planning to collect your prizes at midnight last night... I was knocked out early by an evening of collective celebration (which is also how I'm going to spend this evening.. .it's all party party party around here! We have much to celebrate, but that's another blog).

Okay, so I wrote down all the contestant names (from both blogs) on bits of paper, put them in a bowl and had my husband do the draw...

In the order that he drew them:

Soccer Milf

Solaris

Mandy

Please leave a comment or message me your prize preferences. In all cases except the scarf, multiple contestants can choose the same prize. If there are multiple requests for the scarf, it will go to whomever messages me first.

For those of you who did not win, depending on what you were pining for... send me a beseeching e-mail, bat your eyes at me, stomp your feet and say it's not fair... whatever is your style for getting what you want, give it a try. I could probably be persuaded to give you prizes too. I'm just generous like that...

As I said, I have lots to celebrate right now, and it would be even sweeter if my friends had something to celebrate right now too, even if it is just the pleasure of finding a slightly beat up loaf of banana bread in the mail one morning.

(Please note: this is just a "for example"... the baking care package may or may not include banana bread... depending on whether I can keep my husband's hands off said banana bread long enough to package it up and send it.)

Thanks for playing... I look forward to hearing which prize caught your fancy.

that Romeo stuff

when i was a kid and my dad would tease me about boyfriends i shut him up by telling him i was too young for that Romeo stuff...

now i like the Romeo stuff.

so... for the third year in a row, my sweetheart and i will not be spending Valentine's day together... and for the third year in a row, i'm kind of sad about that.

do we need a special day to celebrate our love? no...
do we need to spend pots of money on flowers or chocolates or lingerie or fancy dinners to prove we love each other? no...

but there's just something about being able to take part in the global annual celebration of love... after many years of not having a love to celebrate, there's that little part of me that longs to get in there and revel in the fact that i am finally part of the love club, that i have joined the world of the loved.

(not that i was unloved before... but you get what i mean)

my husband didn't realise until Wednesday that Valentine's day was this coming weekend. he posted a few items for sale on Craig's List... and when he told the guy that wants to come by on Saturday to buy the kayak that he wasn't going to be here, but that i would... the guy wrote back to say he'd get in touch with me, and ps.. did he know that Saturday was Valentine's day???

(fortunately for me, he can't forget my birthday 'cos it's the day after his...)

he told me last night that he was sorry we weren't going to be together on Valentine's day... so we agreed that we would have a lovely romantic dinner together one night next week. and when i walked him out to the truck as he was leaving this evening, he held me extra close and kissed me extra long and called me his Valentine.

and so, in spite of the fact that once again we won't be celebrating our love together on the 14th... i feel like in talking about it we've been celebrating it for the past three days. i've been basking in the glow of love.

and i like it.