Late night addendum

Stars 4, Islanders 3. Again I say, so there, DBD! Take that, Stars-will-lose-by-one Heika!

BTW, one of my criteria for a good game is that I come home hoarse. It was a good game! (Don't argue with me about who allowed sloppy goals. They won! I'm going to have some peach herb tea.)

Random things

1. I'm a Dallas Stars fan. I'm a fan when they win (woo-hoo!) and I'm also a fan when they lose. There are bloggers and columnists out there who are ready to disband the team, it seems. I love going to the games (so much you wouldn't believe it) and cheering for them. I love the Pantera song they skate out to. I love standing up and applauding when they introduce the service man or woman Brad Richards bought tickets for, and then go on to thank everyone who serves. I love yelling "Stars!" twice during the national anthem. I love the whole experience. This is my team, and I'm going to continue to support them. I'm also going to be happy for each player, and the fact that they get paid (pretty well, too) to play a game. A game. That's right, I said it. It's just a game. Get over it.

2. Richie's here! This is news because he's going to be in S.A. a lot the next few months. It's bringing back bad memories of when we had two houses and commuted back and forth; I don't plan to go back to that life. I can stand it through March, but he's going to have to focus on courting new clients. He may not realize that yet.

3. Tim Sanders is smart. Between the Stars (see #1) and the UT game last night (which, frankly, was okay with me anyway, because I'm originally from Alabama), it was nice to read something about losing well. Or being a good—smart, effective—loser. That's a lesson from which we could all benefit.

4. I love Stitch and Bitch! I mention it because we met last night. Despite the name, it's a group of really nice women who support and encourage each other. Really and truly, they make life better! If I ever think of skipping it Rich insists that I go. He likes what it does for my disposition! You go, you fabulous bunch of women. I'll be right there with you!

5. My office kinda smells like feet. Since there are two litter boxes within ten feet of my desk, this could be considered a step up. (Thank you, I'll be here all week.) Actually, since I keep the litter boxes rather clean (they're close to my desk, after all), they're not really an issue. So the feet thing is distracting. And puzzling. Where the heck could that smell be coming from? I'm a little alarmed that it might be connected somehow to the strawberry banana yogurt I just had. The empty container is sitting on my desk. I don't know if they're related but I keep getting a little whiff of strawberry along with the feet smell. Eeeww.

I'm going to take that yogurt container to the kitchen and rinse it out. Then I'll call my ticket guy and add a few Stars games to our package. (So there, Brandon! Take that, Heika!)

Then it's back to water heaters for me.

So what's wrong with it?

Just move along, not too fast
Try to make the good times last
'Cause I've got all the time in the world

The Subdudes, All the Time in the World, from Primitive Streak

Several of the blogs that I read regularly have been talking lately about how glad the bloggers are that the holidays are over. They dislike the whole holiday season, I think because of all the obligations and feeling like they're under some culturally-dictated pressure to perform or feel or enjoy.

Not me. Towards the end of the 90s, when my parents' health began to fail, our whole family realized—myself, like a slap in the face—that the trappings and traditions are just fluff. The only thing that matters is being together, and if that's facilitated by having a particular date it's supposed to happen, all the better.

We'd sit at my parents' kitchen table and talk. Maybe after breakfast or lunch, maybe with a cup of coffee, maybe just sitting. But we'd talk. About everything—what was going on with us, what we'd heard from friends and neighbors and kinfolk, what we were thinking, what was happening in the world. The kind of talk about all kinds of things that turns out to mean really knowing someone. Sharing life, being close. Being a family.

When we realized that was what we were going to be losing at some point, it became even more precious than ever. And that knowledge has shaped my view of the holidays ever since. My parents are gone now, but I still have my sisters and their families, and Rich's family, and his parents are still alive. We see everybody at other times during the year, of course, but it's nice to know we always have Thanksgiving and Christmas to look forward to. Honestly, I don't even feel pressure around or about the holidays. Gifts don't faze me: I don't much care what I give; I certainly don't care what I get. Cooking the big meal is actually great fun for me. (It helps that I like to cook, and cooking with my various food-loving relatives is even better.) It's the time together that matters.

So I don't get the whole dreading the holidays thing. That table we used to sit around is in my kitchen now. We still sit around it and talk, sometimes. (The holidays usually happen at other people's houses. One sister and I did have a rendezvous last month, though, for a middle-of-the-night game of Gin Rummy. Or Rummy 500. Or Gin. I'm not sure which; we don't know our card games all that well. But it was lots of fun, anyway.) And even though I pray we have many, many more years of conversation, it won't be forever. So all I can do is enjoy it now. Thoroughly, and as often as I can.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Two things

#1 - Today's date is a palindrome. I understand it only happens twelve times in a century; I haven't actually given it a single second's thought to confirm that. Anyway…01/02/2010.

#2 - It's very, very good to be home!