My gosh it's been a long time. And I barely even wrote last year. sheesh!

So to catch up: We bought a house. Whoo hoo! While the house is in pretty good condition for having been built in 1915, it needs a bit of TLC. In fact, Eric is over there right now pulling up the rest of the icky 70s era carpeting and tiles. Then there's some electrical work, some plumbing, painting and carpeting.

And then, mid-February, we get to move into our very own home. Yay!!! It's way too soon and way too late. But we'll get there. Dylan has been several times to see it and was comfy enough there to show my parents around when they came by. It was actually pretty damn cute.

Other than the whirlwind of househunting and purchasing (along with a case of the Martian Death Flu during the week we closed), not much has been happening. Which I suppose is why I haven't really written much.

What has been weird is being able to see myself in Dylan as she gets older and her personality gets more and more pronounced. Especially the temper tantrums (which started a few weeks ago). She gets unbelievably easily frustrated when she believes she's not being understood and has started to thrash and throw things and clear shelves and such. In the process of helping her to put words to her frustrations and find the tools to work through her feelings, I've realized that she's doing pretty much what I do but on a different scale. I have caught myself slamming doors and throwing items around when I'm feeling out of control. No wonder she does it. I only hope I can learn along with her. Cause it's not like the next few months are going to be all that relaxing for any of us.

What else??

I've been listening to a friend's podcast in which he interviewed an old friend of his who has returned to the religion not that he was raised in but to one of previous generations. I have tried to listen to the podcast several times and only get so far before I have to turn it off in irritation. And I can't figure out what the problem is. I don't know the guy and don't know all that much about him. But anymore, I hear his name or see something that he posted and I feel on edge. Is it that I don't really know any (terribly observant) Jews and he's just making me look bad? Is it that he comes across as a bit of a zealot? What is that bugs the crap out of me about it/him????

*Sigh*

It feels like a time of re-evaluation and growth and change. I've recently seen a few old friends and a few newer ones and it's been interesting to see how I react in similar situations with people who have known me in various stages of my life. I realize I'm being vague but that's actually kind of how I feel. But this year is bringing sooooo many new things right from the start that it's more than a little overwhelming. Eric has said my new mantra really needs to be "Let It Go" and he's got an excellent point. But letting go of anything has never really been what I'm known for.

Ramble ramble natter natter. See how I gloss over...

Before I get too bogged down, I'm ending this one. Hopefully, my next writing won't be 2 months from now and I'm trying to play catch up again.


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Just Read:
*Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing by Abram Shalom Himelstein
*Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
*Tolstoy Lied: a Love Story by Rachel Kadish
*The Meaning of Life by Terry Eagleton
*The vast majority of the Myth series by Robert Aspirin

Reading:
*The newest Entertainment Weekly (hey, I just finished one of those last night!)

Going to Read:
*Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I figure now that everyone I know has read it, it's about time :^)