Without love, Life can feel empty and hollow.  It's the "substance" that Life lives on and grows on.  It's the very thing that makes our lives worth living.  However, it can also be one of the most miserable parts as well!

Whether single or married, our "Love Lives" can bring some of the biggest pains, some of the worst struggles, deepest hurts and wounds and, some of the most trying times in our lives.  It's also one area of our lives that can make or break many of the other parts of our lives as well.  When our Love Lives aren't going well, it seems that everything else in our lives also either go downhill or, we no longer care about as much. 

I hear a lot of people's accounts of their struggles with love.  Even those who are supposedly in "committed relationships" are often just as troubled, if not more so, than those who are single!  When single, we are looking for "The One", when in a relationship, we can wonder why we are in one and whether there is "someone better" out there for us.  There are very few people that come to me who are truly happy with their current loves. 

So, what makes us all strive to find that love and have it our lives when it can make or break us at times?  Why do we continually seek it out?

The answer to that one is very simple.  It feels so good when it is right! 

So, we'll all keep on struggling to keep love in our lives and we'll all continue to work to make it good and feel right.  But, that also means that we are also going to have to continue to accept that there will be cons along with the pros to having it.  

But, just remember one thing.  When a love is meant to be, it will be.  While we all have to put work into love, we shouldn't have to "force it".  If it's sincerely there, the work load won't be as great.  If it's not truly there, we'll find ourselves uneasy, upset, lonely and hurting.  It's in learning the difference between the two that can save us a lot of pain. 

Bottom line is.......you're not alone!  Everyone is seeking love!  It's part of who we are as both humanbeings as well as spiritual beings.  It's what makes the world go 'round!

My generation hasn't fully caught onto this latest craze yet.  Up until this point, it's been more or less contained to those of at least a decade or more less than mine.  However, that is quickly changing.  We, older folks are now finding that Facebook is another new way to add "stress" into our daily lives! 

While I love keeping in touch with old friends, saying hello and sending them a plant or a drink, wave, or a hug, I'd really rather be doing it in person as opposed to virtual gestures in cyberspace.  By no means am I ignorant of the wonders of the world wide web and it's capabilities.  I am actually quite well oriented with it and very proud of being self-taught at it all.  The problem lays in the idea that we are all seemingly wasting vast amounts of time, chained to these computers, typing out messages to people that we could be spending time with on the phone and not the least, actually getting together with in person! 

I watch people in cars, walking, in malls, and just about everywhere else a signal can be picked up, stumbling along, not concentrating on where they are or, what they are doing, cell phone nearly glued to their ears.  Just about 8 out of 10 people that I see nowadays are on one at any given time and everywhere I go.  Given the fact that we spend inordinate amounts of time on these little pieces of technology and coupled with the fact that we spend hours more on things like Facebook, one has to wonder whether anyone truly gets together in person anymore?  Is there even a need for us to see one another in person?  Are we even in "the moment" when we are on these things?

I have friends all over the world and for that, I am grateful to have these types of technological wonders as it saves me tremendous sums of money in phone calls or in having to go to the post office to mail off a regular letter.  It is also instantaneous.  Click a send button and we can send a hug, card, flower, our our deepest thoughts and feelings in one fell swoop.  Two minutes later, those way across the other side of the world can receive it.  Again though, that makes it dreadfully sad that we are using this technology with people who we could just as easily see in person!

Does the convenience of these web based product allow us freedom or are they actually balls and chains and hiding devices?

I can certainly tell you one thing here.  Facebook has made me one busy woman.  I am so busy feeding my virtual cat, petting other people's cyber animals and sending them gifts that I scarcely have time to pet my real pets!  Instead of doing my laundry, I am sending everyone a virtual beer or tequila sunrise.  Instead of reading a good book, I am too busy returning cyber hugs, toilet papering someone, or adding another fish to their virtual aquarium.  Rather than planting real flowers, I am sitting on my fanny here, sending out plants and flowers on the web.  And, rather than reading a good book, I am far too engrossed in trying to keep up with my friends in taking cyber quizzes and comparing scores!

There are actually days now where I dread going to my computer to check my email!  I now find myself gritting my teeth at seeing 14 emails which tell me that friends have left me my daily virtual messages and gifts on Facebook because that means that I feel obliged to return the favor lest they think that I am being rude! 

As if there weren't enough things to do in a day.  As if there weren't other ways to be "friends" with people. 

Perhaps, I need to clear my Facebook profile now and simply write............

OUT LIVING REAL LIFE!  CALL ME.  WE'LL DO LUNCH!

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm fed up with the shovel, the boots, the coat, scarf, mitts and sometimes hat (when I'm not worried about having a good hair day that is).  I've heard this winter referred to as "The Winter That Won't End", "FrankenWinter" and everything down to explicatives that I cannot or will not repeat here.  Suffice it to say that I'm certain that I'm not alone in my feelings.

I looked out the front door this morning as I attempted to grab my mail from the box right outside my front door.  Leaning across, ever so carefully, I managed to stay with my feet implanted on the edge of the door frame to keep my feet from getting wet however, in all of that manipulating, I didn't look to see that the mailbox cover had a fresh layer of snow on it from some "flurries" overnight and ended up with a soaked shirt sleeve.  Can you hear my words at that point?

The news this afternoon, also confirmed that I was not alone when it reported what they are considering as a new phenominon, "Snow Rage".  Apparently, people are so fed up with this winter that they are resorting to tactics that no normal thinking humanbeing would resort to.  People are actually nearly in fisticuffs over a shovel full of snow being placed on their sidewalk by a neighbor, taking out replica guns to one another, hitting each other's cars with snowballs and even chasing snow plows down the street. 

I've NEARLY gotten to the point of wanting chase a snow plow driver down the street a few times this winter after having dug out the snow drifts, I've had a plow come by and bury the driveway entrance back in again with MORE snow than I had just dug out.  "Turn the blade in the other direction, Moron!" I've found myself muttering as I've gone out to dig out the mountain of packed ice laden snow! 

I'm even finding myself cursing as I'm trying to swing the car around huge mounds of snow left on the sides of the road, wondering where in the heck all of this promised snow removal efforts have gone as they haven't touched my street at all. 

That doesn't even touch the number of times I've tried to be thoughtful and ended up getting stuck in snow banks while trying to give other drivers more room to get past me.  Silly me for being "nice"!  I should have rammed my way through like they did.  Not one of them has stopped to ask if I needed help getting out!  Not one.  So much for being "nice" during The Winter From Hell!

If there's one thing that I do know (and, doesn't require being a Psychic Consult to predict this much), this winter WILL end eventually.  The grass will be green, the trees will be full of leaves, flowers will beautify our surroundings again with their wonderful color and we'll all go back to being human once again.  Every bad name that anyone has called someone else during this winter will be forgotten as we bathe in the warmth of the sun, lay on beaches, sit outside to sip on Iced tea or, enjoy a decadent ice cream sundae.  However, we may also be in for what they will eventually term, "Heat Rage" too!  SIGH  Will we ever be happy?

For now, I'm just trodding along with everyone else, trying hard to keep my temper and my sanity in check while waiting for the warmer Spring weather to grace us with its presence and melt away these Winter Blahs and Rage.  If there's one thing that I do take from this winter, it will be an entirely new appreciation for HEAT and greenery!  I will NOT complain about the heat this summer.  I will not complain about having to cut grass, or weed my flower garden.  I will not complain about my neighbors' stereo blasting during the warm days.  Uhhhhh.....well.......I may have gone a bit too far on that one!  I'll likely have a few choice words for that one!

But, oh well....who is "perfect"?  *smile*

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm fed up with the shovel, the boots, the coat, scarf, mitts and sometimes hat (when I'm not worried about having a good hair day that is).  I've heard this winter referred to as "The Winter That Won't End", "FrankenWinter" and everything down to explicatives that I cannot or will not repeat here.  Suffice it to say that I'm certain that I'm not alone in my feelings.

I looked out the front door this morning as I attempted to grab my mail from the box right outside my front door.  Leaning across, ever so carefully, I managed to stay with my feet implanted on the edge of the door frame to keep my feet from getting wet however, in all of that manipulating, I didn't look to see that the mailbox cover had a fresh layer of snow on it from some "flurries" overnight and ended up with a soaked shirt sleeve.  Can you hear my words at that point?

The news this afternoon, also confirmed that I was not alone when it reported what they are considering as a new phenominon, "Snow Rage".  Apparently, people are so fed up with this winter that they are resorting to tactics that no normal thinking humanbeing would resort to.  People are actually nearly in fisticuffs over a shovel full of snow being placed on their sidewalk by a neighbor, taking out replica guns to one another, hitting each other's cars with snowballs and even chasing snow plows down the street. 

I've NEARLY gotten to the point of wanting chase a snow plow driver down the street a few times this winter after having dug out the snow drifts, I've had a plow come by and bury the driveway entrance back in again with MORE snow than I had just dug out.  "Turn the blade in the other direction, Moron!" I've found myself muttering as I've gone out to dig out the mountain of packed ice laden snow! 

I'm even finding myself cursing as I'm trying to swing the car around huge mounds of snow left on the sides of the road, wondering where in the heck all of this promised snow removal efforts have gone as they haven't touched my street at all. 

That doesn't even touch the number of times I've tried to be thoughtful and ended up getting stuck in snow banks while trying to give other drivers more room to get past me.  Silly me for being "nice"!  I should have rammed my way through like they did.  Not one of them has stopped to ask if I needed help getting out!  Not one.  So much for being "nice" during The Winter From Hell!

If there's one thing that I do know (and, doesn't require being a Psychic Consult to predict this much), this winter WILL end eventually.  The grass will be green, the trees will be full of leaves, flowers will beautify our surroundings again with their wonderful color and we'll all go back to being human once again.  Every bad name that anyone has called someone else during this winter will be forgotten as we bathe in the warmth of the sun, lay on beaches, sit outside to sip on Iced tea or, enjoy a decadent ice cream sundae.  However, we may also be in for what they will eventually term, "Heat Rage" too!  SIGH  Will we ever be happy?

For now, I'm just trodding along with everyone else, trying hard to keep my temper and my sanity in check while waiting for the warmer Spring weather to grace us with its presence and melt away these Winter Blahs and Rage.  If there's one thing that I do take from this winter, it will be an entirely new appreciation for HEAT and greenery!  I will NOT complain about the heat this summer.  I will not complain about having to cut grass, or weed my flower garden.  I will not complain about my neighbors' stereo blasting during the warm days.  Uhhhhh.....well.......I may have gone a bit too far on that one!  I'll likely have a few choice words for that one!

But, oh well....who is "perfect"?  *smile*

Our lives are much like this situation.  We know that somewhere down the line, our lives are going to change.  No matter what it is that we're facing now, it's not going to remain that way.  Eventually, there will be an end to whatever it is that we're facing right now, even when we can't see that end coming.

When I was out there shoveling the other day, looking up at a mound of snow so high that I could barely lift another shovel full onto the top of the mound, I had to stand back and take a rest for a moment.  I stood looking at the towering white mass in front of me, feeling that this winter feels as though it's never going to end.  Even if there were to be no more snow, the mound that's there now, would take quite sometime of warmer weather before it's finally gone and allows the wonderful grass beneath it to surface and turn green once again.  I couldn't even imagine seeing the blooms of flowers cutting through the surface anytime soon.  Yet, the calendar is telling me that it's supposed to happen.  I just simply could not fathom that Spring is around the corner and we'll be out of this horridly long and extra tough winter anytime soon.  There seems to be no end in sight.

The fact is, our lives can be very much like this winter.  We may feel that we are in the middle of a neverending winter and that the "Spring and Summers" of our lives are nowhere in sight.  All that we can see at this very moment are the huge "snowpiles", waiting to break our backs, shoveling out from underneath it all.  It feels like it's never going to end and judging by the piles in front of us, there is no hint of a change coming anytime soon. This is when we have to hold onto faith that there is a Spring and a Summer coming our way eventually.

No matter what we see in front of us right now, no matter how large that "snowpile" may seem to us, there is always a "melting" coming along with warmer and better weather.  We may not be able to see that "end" or see the forthcoming "better weather" but, we need to hold onto faith that there will eventually be an end to it all one way or the other. 

Like Spring, our lives also come with a time of "renewal".  While we all have to go through the "winters" in our lives, we also will have our "springs".   Just like the snowpiles out in front of our homes and lining the streets that cause so many headaches, problems, detours, slips and falls, isolation and so many other negative things, warmer weather will eventually melt these problems away.  The sun and the warmth, the green grass, the blossoms, the warm breezes will all eventually return.  Like the cold and the snow, it's all simply a temporary season that we will all pass though and get back to the "warmth" and beauty.  Nothing lasts forever and the only constant in life is CHANGE!

So, as we pass through the last remaining dregs of winter and perhaps, another snowfall or two, count your blessings because we know that it's going to all end eventually.  So, will the problems in your life. 

Like Spring, there is renewal waiting to break out after the harshness.  The harsher the winter, the more appreciative we are of the Spring and Summer.  In turn, the harsher our problems, the more we appreciate the warmth of their solutions. 

Spring is around the corner.....both literally and figuratively in your life!  Hang in there. 

Over the past couple of years, I've ever so slowly come to recognize that a number of people in my life were becoming what I like to call, "toxic" to my wellbeing.  Yet, I clung onto these relationships and, or friendships in spite of that fact.  The real reason I did so was because I didn't fully recognize just how very damaging these people were to my own mental, emotional and thereby, physical health.   I kept rationalizing that I was looking upon them in a wrong manner.  As though there was something the matter with me for not liking what I was feeling about them.  Truth was, I had reason to feel that way and should have listened to myself and my own gut reactions.

Recently, I came to start feeling a sense of "dread" whenever I had any interaction with a "friend" (I'll use the term loosely here) but, wasn't paying much attention to that feeling.  I'd shrug it off as being me, being stressed out, overly busy, tired and a whole realm of other reasons to do with me, personally as the cause for that uncomfortable feeling.  Afterall, this is someone who had been a "friend" for over two decades!  It couldn't be them.  It had to be me.  So, I continued to endure these uncomfortable feelings, blaming them on myself and my own perhaps, overwhelmed feelings through stresses. 

It wasn't until a very recent incident that the true reasons why I was feeling this way, came to hit me in the face like a cold bucket of water and woke me up to reality.  Truth is, this person was never really ever a friend, they were a "user".   By that, I mean that this person took and rarely gave back unless it was to suit their own purpose or simply to give enough to keep me on the hook to continue suiting their own very selfish needs.  I suddenly felt a sense of relief because I was able to recognize that my feelings of dread in any contact with this person was totally justified, correct and not at all to do with my own inner "issues".

Relationships of all kinds, often go through stages where there are inevitably going to be "clashes", disagreements, hurts, anger, saddness and even hate for periods of time.  The real difference between "normal" and "wrong" is when these emotions are there on a more or less steady basis.   That is when a closer examination of the relationship needs to take place within yourself, first and foremost. 

The first thing to look at is your own feelings.  What do you feel when you are around that person?  Does being around that person make you feel good and lift your emotions for the most part or, do you feel somewhat "drained" being around them? 

If you answered that you feel more negative after an encounter with this person more often than not then, you have something that truly needs to be delved into further.

Try answering these "yes or no" questions then, tally your score at the end.

1)  When I'm around this person, I feel negative and drained for the most  part.

2)  Our relationship/friendship is a one way street.  I do most of the giving and feel that I cannot ask for anything in return or, at least not much.

3)  This person doesn't seem to respect my time and feels free to take up my time on a regular basis with their problems or, simply take up my time because they are bored, no matter what else is going on in my life.

4)  I don't feel free to talk about myself and my problems as much as I listen to their problems.   He/she usually hogs the entire conversation, talking about themselves or, will turn off their attention and divert the conversation right back to them.  I can't depend on this person for much support for myself in all reality.  They simply are not "there" for the most part for me in return. 

5)  When this person asks for my opinion, I give it, and they proceed to make me feel responsible to help them solve their problems for them or harp on their problems solely on a regular basis. 

6)  They never seem to "run out of problems"!  Their lives are always one big drama or crisis after another and I somehow seem to get dragged into it with them. 

7)  There's never an end to "favors" that they want me to do for them!

8)   I oftentimes feel like I'm walking a tight rope when around this person.  Nothing seems to ever truly please them.

9)  This person seems to always have something or someone to complain about or, some story about how someone else, including myself, has done them wrong. 

10)  I rarely hear this person say that they like someone.  All that I hear are the negative attributes of pretty much everyone around them.

11)  I feel "off", down, depressed, negative or, just plain, out and out miserable after spending time with this person more often than not. 

12)  I'm bored to tears with the same conversations with this person all of the time.  Or, they ask for my opinion, I give it, then they proceed to do the same things over and over again and I have to continually hear the same complaints all over again and never solve their dilema.  It seems that they thrive on being miserable.

13)  I find myself feeling angry quite often but, don't know why, when I'm around or talk to this person. 

14)  When the phone rings or the doorbell goes, I find myself hiding behind blinds or checking call display because I'm afraid that it's them! 

15)  I've actually let my voicemail pick up the calls or, pretended not to be home when I've known it's them on occassion because I couldn't bear another moment with them at that point even though I might feel guilty afterwards.

16)  My stomach sometimes "knots up" at the thought of any contact from them and I feel guilty for feeling that way.

17)  When they can't reach me at home or the office, they will start calling work, or my cell phone until they track me down, leaving messages that it's "urgent" that I call them back.  When I drop everything to call them back, including while doing my grocery shopping, I find out that it's to tell me something insignificant....something that could have waited for the next time that I spoke to them or saw them.

18)  Almost EVERYTHING that happens to them in their day, even the small things, are talked about infinitely, even though they are minor or, have happened many times before.  It's a repeating pattern. 

19)  In looking back and being honest with myself,  I now recognize that I've used the words "selfish" and "self-centered" in describing this person to myself or others.  YIKES!

20)  I've found myself wondering WHY I've keep this person in my life many times...not just when I'm angry at them or, I find myself feeling angry at them quite often.

SCORE: 

Tally your "Yes" answers to the above questions and read below.

1 to 3 YES answers....Well, everyone has their problems.  No one is perfect.  However, you may want to go back over these "yes" answered questions and talk over the issues that have created those feelings or situations.  It'll improve your friendship/relationship.

3 to 10 YES answers....You really might want to ask yourself what it is that you're truly doing in this friendship/relationship.   There is a lot of negativity associated with this person and they are likely not a good influence in your life.  It may not be a healthy relationship for you.  Go back over those "Yes" answers and see if it's bringing you more bad than good.  If the answer is a yes to that, you may want to consider the next score rating answer.

10 to 20 YES answers...This friendship/relationship is not at all a positive or healthy one!  It is likely doing more harm than good to your own wellbeing.  It is time that you truly looked at what it is that is causing you to stay in this friendship/relationship.  Is it guilt?  Is it their "needyness" and you feel that you cannot hurt them by dropping the relationship?  Whatever the reason you are still keeping this person in your life, you truly need to re-evaluate those reasons because this person may be manipulating you in an unhealthy and destructive way. 

I, myself have recognized that I was being "manipulated" through guilt and this person's "needyness" and have decided that I no longer need nor, want that type of negative influence in my life.   And, oddly enough, once I saw this with one person, I recognized it in two others as well.  Both are being dropped from my life now because they are unhealthy to my own wellbeing in all ways. 

There are literally several billion people on this planet.  There is no need to stay stuck in a friendship/relationship that is "toxic".  You'll never truly be alone.  Why stay?  You're only keeping yourself stuck in a negative situation which MAY prevent you from meeting others who will bring fun, laughter, happiness and most of all, TRUE FRIENDSHIP into your life!

Remember:  Strangers are simply potential friends we've yet to meet!

A lot of us are caught in friendships and relationships that we know, somewhere deep down inside us are not good for us.  On some level or another, we recognize that these interactions or relationships are somehow damaging to us, but we consciously block those feelings from truly coming out and into our rational minds.  Instead, we tend to excuse them and attempt to fool ourselves with hopes and dreams that something will eventually change the situation into what we want them to be.  However, the truth is still there somewhere and even though we try to deny it to ourselves, it won't go away and comes out in different forms.

I recently had a set of dreams that involved dead mice.  They were oddball dreams to me.  I couldn't quite figure out why I'd be dreaming of mice to begin with, let alone so many times.  It was a repetative dream that just simply wouldn't go away and therefore, prompted me to realize that somewhere in those dreams, my subconscious was giving me a message of some kind.  What was I consciously covering up and ignoring?  I couldn't quite figure it out.

Then, the other day, in looking back at a friendship that I'd been struggling with whether or not to keep, I found myself describing the person's actions or, shall I say, lack of them as "mouse like" and caught myself in mid-sentence.  I suddenly found my mouse dream origins!  It was one of those "ah ha moments" that we often have with so much relief as it puts the puzzle pieces together that we have been struggling to put together, but are missing a piece or two to complete the entire picture.

The "truth" suddenly became evident and my path of action became clear.  This person's actions or lack of them was not something that I wanted to hold onto.   It is and was never a healthy friendship and never would be.  Games are and were being played and it was and never would be a friendship that brought or would bring anything good into my life.  It needed to be dropped. 

While I'm not the type of person to let go of friendships easily and certainly not quickly, there are times when we know on some level or another, that something or someone is not good for us.  To ignore that fact and continue on with it, is only harming ourselves.  Sooner or later, the reality of the situation is going to come out and to the forefront and we're going to have to deal with it one way or another.   In this friend's case, I was seeing their basic personality and actions as that of a mouse.....a creature who hid in a cowardly like fashion, never coming out of its corner, always self-protective and elusive.   My answer was clear.  Let go!  The dead mice were representing the idea that the friendship with this cowardly and sneaky person was dead.  I was then able to recognize the lies, the betrayals and the less than honorable way that this friend had behaved in our friendship all along and that it was doing damage to me as a person to hang onto it.   I have let go of it and it feels better.

When or if you are confronted with a situation, friendship or relationship that keeps feeling as though you are running uphill all of the time and not getting anywhere, it's time to stop and listen to your good old subconscious mind!  What is IT tellling you?  It holds the "truth"!  Listen to it!

I don't get sick very often, but when I do, I am SICK!  Not the usual sniffles and red nose that most people get and get over in a few days, but a knock-down, drag-out, all holds barred, FLU!  And, I can tell you that it's taken me right off of my feet for the past 6 days and still holding in strong.  The one side effect that hampers me most is the fact that I have practically NO voice and that's meant having to cut off telephone calls, lest people start swearing at me, thinking I'm an "Obscene Caller"!

Anyone who truly knows me, knows that I'm a "talker".   No one ever has to ask what it is that I'm thinking about because I'll tell you!  That's one area that I've never lacked an ability in....the ability to speak.  So, needless to say, having no voice means that I'm almost in a vegetative state!

So, what does one do while in this state of incommunicado?  One watches tv! 

I usually don't get a lot of time to watch television during a week.  If I'm not working, I'm usually busy with my creative endeavors such as painting, photography, sewing, writing or reading.  There's always something to create.  However, when one is truly sick, these activities just somehow seem to require more energy than I can muster and television becomes my "comfort". 

This week, I have watched 10 episodes of The Family Guy, 12 episodes of Friends, 15 episodes of Frasier, more What Not To Wear than I care to think of right now (Stacey and Clinton....no disrespect intended here.....but, could you 2 send yourselves for a makeover somewhere?  I'm really not a big fan of either of your wardrobes.  Someone please glue Clinton's hair down and teach him how to wear "grown up" clothing!)  And, one cannot forget the obligatory "soaps".  Days Of Our Lives has worn itself out with me this week.  Someone give Chloe a break will ya?!  Who the heck knows where Brady went!  He left the show a couple of years ago but, something is telling me that he'll return shortly, likely after some plastic surgery via Stefano's hands!  I can only hope that they choose a better looking replacement for Brady than they did for Shawn!  And, heaven help us, but is John Black really dead or, is he coming back too?  A Psychic has told Marlena that John is not dead.  Is she right? *GASP*  Will I find out?!  My crystal ball tells me that I likely won't find out until the next flu and that's soon enough for me!

So, what has all of this television watching taught me this week? 

It's shown me that I am in bad need of a makeover for my clothes closet, I hate cartoons that are made for adults and the Friends cast were all neurotic as hell but, shouldn't be treated by tv psychiatrist, Frasier as he's as screwed up as any of his patients!  And, we won't get into the likes of Reba, Sisters or Roseanne!  I've watched WAY too many episodes of theirs well into my several sleepless, sick nights!

But, I think the biggest thing that I've learned during this flu is that I need some great movies to pile up for the next time that I'm sick rather than the pure crap that is on tv now! 

Where is Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Susan Hayward, and even goofy Jerry Lewis when you need 'em?!  I've got to amass some old movies.  THEY were entertaining!

May you all stay well and miss the flu!  If you can't.......get yourself some DVD's because there's a lot of pure CRAP on tv right now.  Either that, or wait until the writer's strike is over before getting sick!

That's what I'm asking myself today as the dust settles and the bills start to pile in. All of that work, planning and all of that "hype" and it's over for another year now. Am I sad? Just a little and yet, I'm relieved at the same time. How can we spend so much effort and energy and put it into just a day and a half? Yet, through the rest of the year, we don't put nearly that amount of energy into much else, do we?

I'm wondering what it would be like were we to put that much energy into other "get togethers" in our lives. What would it be like if for no special reason, we were to make days where we simply invited those that we really care about over for dinner with us? What would it be like to phone up old friends, or drop them a card or an email just to say...."Hope that all is well and that all of your dreams come true"? What would it feel like to wish a cashier a wonderful day, or our mail person, nextdoor neighbours? What would it feel like to bring a flower to a friend or family member for no reason....just to say "I am thinking of you and care"? What would it feel like to decorate our homes with different decorations several times a year, just to be "festive"?

What would it feel like just to know that everyday, in some way, someone truly cared?

Why can't everyday feel like Christmas?

(Minus the bills, that is!)