Annual Mid-winter Funk

I guess I haven't posted much since before the holidays. It wasn't to bother anyone... but I never have too much to say after visiting family without delving deep into some more involved, emotional topics... or at least without maddening frustration. Not for today, anyway. But to sum up, we went to Tex-ass and I went to see my family in NY. We went to the pediatrician for some vaccines for my niece, and I was crying by the third needle. Met my sister's nutty dog whom she smuggled in from Costa Rica. He'll bite your face when you meet him - it's great! Hung out, shopped, ate good food. We saw The Queen, which was very entertaining.

I took a day off last week to hang out with Kevin, and that was awesome. We went to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, walked by the lake, argued, went out to dinner, and finished up at Mother Fool's cafe where Dakota Dave Hull was playing some really old guitars. I'm not much of a guitar person, but as Kevin said Friday, this guy won my heart. He was an older man with a good midwestern-length beard & spectacles, and he wore this crazy black button-down shirt with neon pink, purple and yellow planets all over it. He played ragtime, folk, blues, and a couple oldies, and it was a really cozy setting with only 20 people or so. When it was over he put his guitar down, went to sit on a couch, and clapped with everyone at the empty stage. The whole thing was lovely and everyone was charmed.

With my Christmas money from work I finally had enough to get the dent in my car fixed. Wow, that was from May of last year. I like my rental car though. Compared to driving my minivan, this car makes me feel like a much larger-sized person than I am, and it's kind of thrilling to be so low to the ground when I'm driving. Also since about a year ago, Kevin's ring size decreased by two. And speaking of Kevin, he came home with two lovely silver lamps from JC Penney this afternoon. I really appreciate the lamps... and they really are lovely.

Also, here's a baby slender loris - he's in a story on BBC news.