I just woke up and was sitting in the living room when the ceramic Christmas Tree my grandmother made started playing music. I forgot it even had a music box inside of it, and no one has wound it up in years. Today would have been Nana's 96th birthday.

WS, feel better!

News of the boy: tonight I passed the toilet to discover Ryan standing in front of the loo, peeing and saying over and over, "Downloading, downloading, downloading..."

Adorable!

Ginger, I hope that 2015 is kinder to you.

Love and ~ma to all.

ND made me snort out loud.

Clearly, Ryan is living an observed life, bless him.

This morning, I received a lovely reminder of how things really can change for the better.

Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of my moving into this apartment.

As Cagney and I stepped out for our walk this morning, we ran into our neighbor across the way who, 16 years ago, behaved so badly toward myself and my boyfriend...by turning the entire block against us...that I hired a mediator to come and help us get through it. The antagonist did not attend the meeting, preferring to harass us 'in private.'

Fast forward, this morning, he stopped and said, "It's been a while since you've been here (he's owned his home for 40+ years)."

Me: Yes, as of yesterday, it has been 16 years.

Him: "Well, it is a wonderful thing for the neighborhood that you stayed. Thank you."

He seemed super sincere and it gave me the chance to reflect on how much I really have let go of that time in my life.

Happy New Year!!

Way to kick in, 2015. I'm at the airport. A brother of a friend-from-work passed away few hours ago. Her family is in Texas. She got the news just as we started our meeting. The poor, poor thing. Fre of us got her a ticket home, took her to her house to pack, and dropped her off the airport. She's so young. I'm so sad for her.

Oh, bonny, that is so lovely. I'm glad this person recognized what an asset you are to your community. I'm certainly very thankful for you in this community. I am thankful for everyone here, and for the community we have built.

Buffista Island is more and more my idea of heaven.

Andi, Finn loves the heat vents in my house. I've taken to referring to them as "in-floor cat warmers."

Most of ours are set in the wall. The one in the dining room that is set in the floor we refer to as "The love of Harvey's life".

I'm calling around to see if I can find someone to cover my shift today. My coworkers have not been answering their phones. The way I see it, they are missing out on a lovely opportunity to joke about me having a hangover. Fortunately, even if no one can cover my shift, we can get away with having just one person on, and there is already someone on duty for most of my shift.

I am sipping chicken bouilion out of my color-changing "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife" mug and eating crackers. Getting sick isn't fun, but I am determined to get all the fun I can out of the peripherals.

Oh, Shir. That poor thing. I'm so glad for her that she has friends like you to support her in tough times.

Shir, I'm sorry about your friend.

Windy I hope you feel better.

Today is the FSU football play off game at 5 pm. It's on ESPN (WHY WHY!!!) which I don't get, which means to see it I have to leave the house. Will is coming over and we haven't seen each other since Christmas day. I want to see the game but on the other hand I really realy don't want to go to a restaurant where I can't eat any of the food and sit around in the noise and the stuff when I could be at home snuggled up to Will.

It looks like the game is going to be on ESPN radio so we're going to stay home and listen to it instead of going out.

DH watches a lot of things streamed. If your internet is fast enough this might be a doable option.

I could do that but I'm not sure where to stream. ESPN requires you have ESPN in your cable package (which I don't have). But if you know another source I'd love to hear it.

Shir, I'm so sorry for your friend!

I was going with live streaming, myself.

That's a good story! Ryan is funny. So is his dad.

sj, that's a good story, too. Maybe your grandmother was stopping by to say hi.

bonny, I'm glad your neighborhood and your formerly shitty neighbor properly appreciate you!

WS, I hope you feel better quick, and don't have to go to work.

May all the sportsing go your way, sports people!

Okay, if I'm going to make my life better this year, I need to start by getting out of the comfy chair and away from the laptop. See ya later, people in the glowy box.