Howdy, strangers. I hope everyone had a nice Summer, Fall, and Holiday season. Me? Well, when life hands you lemons, you drink tequila shots, 'eh?

Speaking of lemons, and life, we can just sum things up by saying things have been challenging. Challenges can be good, and they can make you appreciate the things that do go right, and the things that make you step back and understand that as bad as something may seem at the time, it could be worse.

I'm drinking less, working out more (need to find a way to bottle endorphins), spending less money, driving more miles, sleeping less, cooking more, watching less television, reading more books, and focusing more on family and friends.

I'm sitting here, typing, asking myself, "why are you doing this instead of grilling that chicken up for dinner tonight?" The sad thing is I'm actually trying to answer myself, and I'm getting frustrated with myself because I can't come up with a logical answer. "Uhhh, I dunno - maybe I'm procrastinating. Maybe my brain is just crispy from stress, lack of sleep, disappointment, and worry that doing ANYTHING else is just too hard." It's also better than opening a bottle of wine, and crying.

So, yeah - hi. I want to blog more, or - to tell the truth - I want to write more. I want to have a day where I stay in my bathrobe, turn on the computer, and just write. Write about my oatmeal and blueberries, and grapefruit juice, and how luxurious the silence is. I want to write about my new Ugg Coquette slippers, and how truly hideous they are, but how they're becoming my favorite shoes because nothing is more comfortable. I want to write about how much I want to shake sense into some people, and how much I'd like to move to a nice little cabin in the mountains with only one t.v., one computer, and one cell phone. And maybe a dvd player, but that's it.

I bought a bottle of Unisom at CVS this afternoon, and I'll take one around 8:30 p.m., and hope I fall asleep shortly after that. I've got to get up at 4:00 a.m., and take my Mom to the hospital for surgery tomorrow morning. Nothing major, but just a tiny example of how I'm pulled in a lot of different directions. I'm not complaining, I'm just tired.

I'm also thankful that I am able to be here for the people that need me. I'm just hoping I can find a time where I'm not worried, and I'm able to enjoy life in a carefree manner. It almost seems irresponsible to think I can be "carefree", but for just one day it would be nice.