Thanksgiving 2008

Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving. We hosted Dan's father and 2 sisters. We had to get new linens b/c we only had service for 4. All of the plates, silverware and glasses are ours that we never used and now we have this beautiful setting for 5 or 6. I picked out the napkin rings and Dan did the rest. Ya know, he gets mad when I call him "My little Clinton" but then he wants to brag about how he matched all of our linens. Men!

I luckily had Friday off. All though, I didn't go to work all week b/c I got a really bad cold which I thought was strep. Turned out no strep but a nasty cold. I almost lost my voice at the NIN concert on Wednesday night. It was AWESOME!! Our favorite band. Well, I'm sure I'll be talking to family soon. I was actually in bed right after people left on Thursday. I was beat. Doing round 2 of the dishes today kicked my butt as well. I'll be good to go back to work on Monday... boo! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

P.S. The turkey in a brine this year was excellent! Watch "Good Eats: Romancing the Bird" and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I have an idea

Well, I thought of something to fix a lot of problems. Starting after the new year I will get a second job at a retail store as a cashier or floor person. I always liked working in retail and there is always something to do. I would like to aspire to an asst. manager and then manager. I think it would be fun and challenging. I figure I can apply for a position like that when it gets posted while I'm working part-time and b/c I have a 4 year degree, they might consider me more than the next guy. Then I could quit my full-time job I have now and transition into reatil.
This will also help pay off debt faster. That is the goal before we buy a house. I don't want to have to spend every dollar we make on bills... not fun! It will also get me into an environment where I can interact with more people. I'm excited about this idea and I think it will open a lot of doors for me. We bought a new placemat set today for Thanksgiving so watch for photos!!

Wow, 2 days in a row???

I think I'll try and follow Mama Starla's example and be a "better blogger". I used to write in a journal to get all the crap out of my head. Now, it hurts to write for a long period of time and I type much faster than I write. So, here goes...
I've realized that I'm kind of depressed lately. I went to a benefit dinner for a guy that works at the lab I used to work at. His family was T-boned by a drunk driver and his wife and oldest daughter are still wearing the "halo" neck brace things. Those are the ones that prevent any side-to-side movement of your head. His wife also broke her ankle and is in a wheel chair. They have twins who are about to turn 2. Imagine the stress on the family. While the dinner was nice to get to see people I used to work with, it made me sad b/c I don't have any friends at my new job.
I mean, I have people that I chat with but no one to vent to when Dan does something stupid. Or to cry to when I learn the expensive lesson of a "waiting period" on fillings. Oops. I have Dan to talk to when I get home but that's it. I have social anxiety disorder which hinders my social life.
I don't like to talk on the phone. I never have. I have this fear about it that I can't describe. That is one of the symptoms of this stupid disorder. I also get very anxious and tense when I have to attend a social function w/o Dan. He is my safety blanket and without him around I am extremely shy. I know I can make friends and I know I am funny and fun to be around. But another symptom of this is that I make up these events to be something they are not in my head. And then I find all the excuses in the world not to go.
I need some friends. I am going to look into taking a Zoomba class at the YMCA. It's like dance aerobics. That would get me out of the house and I could maybe find a person or 2 to have as an aquaintance. I find it hard to make friends with women. I had one very best friend all through middle school and then junior year in high school she didn't want to hang out with me anymore. This hurt my feelings beyond belief and I am not very trusting of women since then. Hence, all of our friends are guys...without girlfriends. Boo.
They are also a lot younger than I am and I feel they are more Dan's friends than mine. If Dan is tired on a Friday night I let him go to bed and I will take a bath and have a glass of wine rather than call any of "our" friends. I've learned to get by like this my whole life. I feel it's easier to stay in than to venture out into the scary world by myself.
I am working on getting over that. It's hard and I'm left being sad and alone a lot. We'll see how this Y thing works out. I also want to take ballroom dancing with Dan. That way we could meet couples (maybe our age) and expand our group of friends to include people who don't sit around all weekend and drink beer.
Time to go get the laundry out of the dryer. I thought last weekend as I was walking up from the basement, laundry basket in hand,"What would my Saturdays be like if I had a life?" I laughed to myself b/c again, I'm happy cleaning my house and doing my laundry every Sat. Mama Starla calls it caccooning. I'm pretty darn good at it!!
I'll keep my 3 readers (ha ha) posted on the events or non-events in my social life. I know it's not that scary out there, I just have to convince myself to go out and try it!

Halloween

Okay, we didn't dress up b/c none of our friends had a party...losers!! But we did carve pumpkins. I used the wonderful trace-it book patterns and Dan free-handed his. Since he did so many skull and pumpkin cakes at work, his carvings came out really well. I'm very proud of mine b/c all the kids that came trick-or-treating loved Mickey and Minnie. Minnie was a pain in the a**. I know they're not pics of us in costume but I hope you like them anyway.