A little soul searching ...

Okay, so it's been almost a full week since I was here last. For those of you who have missed me and let me know that, thank you (if you missed me and didn't let me know, thank you, too).

This morning is the first chance I've had to sit down and put intelligent thoughts to the page. Of course, it remains to be seen how intelligent the thoughts turn out to be when they translate to the written word. Over the past week I've managed to: finish (most of) the Christmas shopping; buy groceries; attend a basketball game; and write, print, address AND mail our annual Christmas update letters. I finished reading the latest book in my RTE stack. Tuesday night when the girls and I went to the Chinese buffet for dinner, I told a gentleman standing next to me, somewhere between the General Tso's and the crab rangoon and loading my plate with broccoli chicken, that I was allowing myself to feel virtuous for eating vegetables. Had fruit at dinner with JT last night, adding to the "good girl" self-assessment.

I even took a walk Monday morning. Haven't done that in ages, and I keep forgetting that's what really gets my creative juices flowing. The whole observing nature at its best thing just stimulates my brain like nothing else. Not even a darn good cup of coffee, complete with French vanilla, can do for my psyche what a walk around our neighborhood can.

I hadn't gone 50 feet from the house when I heard a scurry of activity in the brush-laden field beside me. Looking up, all I saw were flashes of white and gray - what I thought at first were three large birds - hawks, maybe? - soaring up a hill into the trees. As I focused more closely on the flashes and listened to them crashing through the dried leaves and branches, I realized they were deer, the brown of their bodies blending into the landscape so smoothly that all I could see was the white of their upturned tails. I always wonder where they go. True, we live in a fairly rural area, but it's a populated rural area. The "fields" between our houses are nothing more than empty lots with brush that hasn't been cleared. There's a section of trees you could technically call a small woods, but it's surrounded on all sides by well kept yards and huge, inhabited houses. I guess the deer are "domesticated" enough that living among us human folk doesn't faze them.

Last night the BMWs had our Christmas "party" - an exchange of simple gifts, some relaxing together time (with no work!) and a bit of food and beverage. What a lovely evening (thank you, ladies). JT has my back, as usual, and is going to stay on me about my to-do list. She was prompting (okay, grilling) me last night about what I was doing next, then next, then next ... I told her I'd promised to have it done by the end of the year. I still have 10 days.

But I'm getting on it. Things are moving along - I'm squeezing in what little time I have this week to write (between shopping, cleaning house - the parents are coming Saturday for Christmas).

Today's already not looking promising.

Maybe tomorrow ...

=) JB