A personality has its own ways

“He noticed with distaste his own trick of appealing for sympathy. A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval. Herzog did not care for his own personality, and at the moment there was apparently nothing he could do about its impulses.”
~Saul Bellow, Herzog

I read this passage this morning (Yes! I am spending the day reading!) and it really grabbed my attention. "A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval. Herzog did not care for his own personality..."

I cannot honestly say that I don't care for my own personality. In general, I like myself and enjoy my own company. There are, however, moments when I will say, do, or even think something for which I immediately and sternly chastise myself: "What is the matter with you? Why are you so [self-centered, selfish, self-serving, unkind, lazy, etc.]? Stop it!" I think Bellow stated it beautifully. "A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval."

My New Year's resolution is to have far fewer of those moments in the future.

Merry Christmas! Here's a face full of cat puke!

My little fluffball cat Kerrigan usually sleeps on my pillow, just above my head. She woke me up early this morning by puking directly on my face. On my left eye, to be exact. That's right. I was awakened to the sound of a squeaky little "Bleh!" followed by an eyeful of cat barf. I'm not quite sure if I should take that as some sort of omen or not. At least she did it on Christmas, and not New Year's Day, because that might have set the tone for the entire upcoming year.

Merry Christmas!

Great day!

After a week or three of feeling very stressed out about the holidays (more specifically, about the fact that I didn't have time to prepare for them), things are finally coming together.

I had a great visit with Jacquelin and Alexandria today. It was so wonderful to see them! Alex is the most beautiful little girl in the world. See?



Jacquelin is looking marvelous, and we had a very enjoyable time exchanging gifts and catching up over lunch at the Salt Lick.

After that, I managed to brave the last-minute shopper crowds to buy a gift for my baby niece, and I realized that I'll have time to shop for the remaining four kids next week because we won't be exchanging gifts til next Friday and Saturday. Whew!

I also managed to wrap all of the gifts for tomorrow's get-together, I got my laundry done, crossed a couple of other mundane chores off my to-do list, and I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now. Yay!

Prancer!

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up. Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Quick Update

Okay, so it was the week before Christmas, and I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind on my holiday shopping and preparations. I usually start shopping in August or September and have everything well in hand by the first of December, but the whole being laid off in June and starting a new job in the middle of September really threw me off this year. I now have two more days before Christmas and I still have five nieces and nephews to buy gifts for, and no time whatsoever in which to do it. Fortunately, two of them won't be in town til the 29th, so I have next week to shop for them. The other three are still babies and won't give a shit if they don't have a gift from me under the Christmas tree, so I'm just going to shop online for them, have the gifts sent to their home addresses, and give their parents a heads up on Christmas Eve. Am I the worst aunt ever?

Attended a Christmas party at my former boss's (the one who retired in June) house this past weekend. It was nice to see everyone from the old office, but I really, really suck at that sort of thing. Parties, I mean. I am very shy, socially awkward, and always feel extremely uncomfortable and out-of-place at such functions. It was a very nice party in a beautiful house with nice people, yet for me, it was torture.

This evening I had dinner at Max's house -- he'd invited Molly and me over for a holiday get-together. It was really a lot of fun and I was much more comfortable there than I was at the aforementioned party, since it was a much smaller and more casual event. Dinner was delicious, and I really like both Max and Molly. They're great people and both very funny. Max's wife and Molly's boyfriend are, as well, and Max's kids (a four-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl) are adorable. Self-conscious basketcase that I am, I'm still sort of replaying the evening in my head and wondering if I said anything stupid or inappropriate, though.

Tomorrow I'm meeting Jacquelin and Alexandria for lunch and I'm really looking forward to seeing them! Then I need to get home, wrap a mountain of gifts, do a bunch of laundry, and get ready for family get-together number one on Sunday.

I really love the holidays, but this year, they are really stressing me out. I'm looking forward to a quiet month of January.

Quote of the Day

Religion is a candle inside a multicolored lantern. Everyone looks through a particular color, but the candle is always there.
~Mohammed Neguib


I know, I know, I haven't been keeping this blog updated lately, and it's kind of lazy to just copy and paste quizzes and quotes when I do update it. I promise to start actually writing more posts after the holidays are over and I have some free time again!

I do really like that quote, though.

Peace

You Are 75% Peaceful

You are a very peaceful person. All is good in your world, no matter what's going on. Occasionally you let your problems get to you, but you generally remain upbeat. Your inner strength is inspirational - much more so than you may realize.

How Peaceful Are You?

Blast from the past!

I can't resist posting these old photos I came across last week. They are of my now 13-year-old cat, Amos, when he was just a tiny baby. He is the one my little brother found in a trash can with his littermates (who didn't survive) when they were less than a day old. There are two pictures of Alex (my dog at the time, may she rest in peace) teaching Amos to walk by scooting him along the carpet with her snout, and one of me holding Amos and giving him a kiss. Enjoy!