One more time for 2009

Time to get this blog back to normal, and squeeze in one more catblogging post before the end of the year. Santa brought me a digital SLR camera, so the cat photo quality should improve in 2010, at least in theory. This one was taken with the old pocket camera. The new camera doesn't have any lenses yet. Probably a good thing, because I won't be tempted to start using it before I've read the instruction manual.

Merry Christmas from Dixie

Yes, I know it is a country song, but this became my favorite Christmas song when I moved away from Georgia and was homesick. I still like it. So here it is for you.

Merry Christmas from Dixie. It is raining in the pines, not snowing. At least not here. But it is a peaceful Christmas night.

And to all, a good night.

The Winter Solstice came and went yesterday with me too busy to notice. But once the pre-holiday crazy rush has passed, this is the season to slow down, take a few days off from your normal routine, laugh and enjoy family, rest and recharge. We defy the long dark with festive lights, a warm hearth, and a hearty feast. It isn't just the sun that seems to stand still this time of year. I love that week between Christmas and New Year. It stems from childhood, I think, when we were out of school and got to stay home and play. Even if you have to work (which I do), that week is a special time when ordinary rules and routines don't apply. We eat lavishly, indulge ourselves, play with new toys, see family and friends, watch movies and bowl games, reminisce about the year that's nearly gone, and nap.

Whatever you and yours do to celebrate the season and push back against the dark nights, I wish you happiness and joy.

Cat Proximity Alert!

My three cats usually do not mix well - no two of them get along (except temporarily, if some special food is involved to keep them occupied). Silvio seems to know he got away with something here. Moxy was too relaxed to put up much of a fuss when Silvio joined her on the back of the couch. Notice how he settled into a position facing away from her. She's got a look of quiet resignation on her face.

We're back from our brief trip to the mountains. A couple of days alone in a cottage and a few hikes in the woods did us a world of good. We also got together with an old family friend last night. There is still another day to relax before I go back to work. Strange how today feels like a Sunday. PDM is on his state-mandated furlough next week. Even though it is unpaid leave, I am a little jealous of the extra time he'll have at home to chill. My Monday back on the job is shaping up to be a very long day.

And last, there was good news/bad news about the old laptop. The good news is that it was a hard drive problem that is easily fixed (cheap, too). The bad news is that my old hard drive was so messed up, none of the data could be retrieved. I've had it so long that I am not entirely sure I remember what has been lost. Maybe that is a kindness. The take home message is that if your computer starts making strange noises and acting up, you might want to back up your hard drive sooner rather than later.

Catastrophic System Failure

After five and a half years, my old laptop has developed a hardware problem that I can't fix. It is at the shop for triage. For now, we're down to one computer. Gulp.

My presence on the internet might be limited for a week or two.

"You look better in person than in that photo on your blog."

I promised Dave that I would use that quote as the title of this post. It is one of the first things I said as I settled into my barstool between Dave and PDM this afternoon. I was the last to arrive after some unexpected traffic delays turned a 10-minute drive into 40+ minutes.

After almost, but not quite meeting Kat in real life back in September, I finally met one of my cyber friends in person. Dave and I have been corresponding, first on our blog comments and later via email, for about three years. At some undefinable point along the way, Dave began to seem less like an acquaintance and more like a friend. Given that we live in Atlanta, relatively close on our sprawling metro scale, and even frequent some of the same places, it seemed sort of odd that we'd never met.

So PDM and I met Dave at Zuffy's Place this evening and had a few beers. We had some "ill-gotten" (read: undeserved) gift cards for winning trivia there (mostly because our opponents did not understand math) that we'd been saving for a special occasion. This seemed like a good way to spend them. The three of us talked about all kinds of stuff - from PDM's teaching experiences, to our college years, privacy, technology, real estate, careers, to mutual blog friends and how they all tie together, and even (gasp) politics. I told Dave I thought he was a "liberal libertarian" and he seemed intrigued by that description. Time flew by and we were definitely having fun. I hope it will be less than three years before we do it again.

Buzzzzzzz

Georgia Tech is headed for the Orange Bowl! W00t!

Alone Again

Silvio sure is relaxed now that the houseguests are gone.

"Eleven. Exactly. One louder."

Love the family, but...

...it sure is gonna be nice to have the house to ourselves again tonight! Silvio will certainly be relieved. It wasn't such a fun week for him (other than the raw turkey liver he got to eat).