Hello, snow monkies. Brrrr! I tried as hard as I could to hold it off, but it looks like winter’s really going to move in ANYway. Bluh.
Alright, bad start, as I have sworn to try harder to be more cheerful about it. It helps that my dear, sweet, feathery, plastic* beau HATES the snow, too, ‘cause the last thing you want when you’re cold and snokky and having to drive bad roads is someone who is disgustingly perky and hillbilly about the whole thing.
Raar.
It snowed last night. Pretty seriously, in fact. Badly enough that Stewart didn’t want to risk driving home. And then this a.m., sure enough, Cane Creek was a sheet of ice. Poor little Neville**…
The up-side of this, however, was that it was beautiful – that part of the country, in Fairview, is lovely – and the company and food and entertainment were excellent. We were stuck at Bruffy’s big, beautiful, comfy new house, we’d been cooking all evening (I made a cranberry apple pie) and we had burritos and turkey day leftovers… and there were LOTS of the geeks there – Buffy, Brett, Ari and Skye, of course, Stewart, Chris and myself, Ursula came with Isaac and Gavin, and Andi, Brian and Aeryn made it, too. Oh, and Elia and Inky (THE best cat ever) too. It was Bruffy’s first snow AND big gathering at the new crib, so that made it extra special. The boys played Magic, and then we all watched the extended DVD of “The Aragorn Show”… sorry, I mean “The Two Towers”… :D Well, ok, I mostly slept… but that’s ok, too!
The crew got to meet Mr. Riddle for the first time, and just as I suspected, he fit right in. Yay, us!
It’s a new, very happy experience for me to be able to bring my “romantic” life and my “social” life (my beau and my family) together. I had no doubts that they would click, and I am so delighted that Chris wants to hang out with them. That means the world to me. He really is the Best Boy.
Mrowr!

Ok, here’s another poem for you lot. It’s a very meaningful one to me, for lots of very obvious reasons, but it also made me think of my good friend (and last year’s roomie) Jen. She is a survivor, too, but she told me once that she has a tendency to always be looking down. She says she often misses the BIG details for gazing so intently at the small ones. Jen is an amazing girl. I am proud of her for grabbing life by the ears and saying “NO! Do it like THIS!” :D She’s a badass, beautiful girl who can do anything she sets her mind too, and if the $#*! hits the fan, she is DEFINITELY one of the people I want in my bunker. She and Burt are bringing another little Amazon Warrior Woman into the world*** very soon, in January. Arianna Caitlin – last name still undecided****…
I think Jen – and all of you survivors – will appreciate this bit of verse.
Stay warm, stay healthy, and count your blessings.
Much love,
-Sam

Survival Skills

Here is the virtue
in not looking up:
you will be the one
who finds the overhang
out of the sun
and something for a cup.
You will rethink meat;
you will know you have
to eat and will eat.
Despair and hope you keep
remote. You will not
think much about the boat
that sank or other boats.
When you can, you sleep.
You can go on nearly forever.
If you ever are delivered
you are not delivered.
You know now, you were
always a survivor.



Poem: "Survival Skills" by Kay Ryan from Say Uncle (Grove Press).

*don't ask. we have adjective issues. :)
**Neville is Stewart’s Golf. It’s green, though. And a very good car.
***I’m tellin’ ya… we’re gonna take over!!!
****you have NO idea how very “Jen and Burt” this is… let’s just say it’s a good thing they didn’t have to make the decision on ‘boy’ or ‘girl’… *sheesh!* :D

Hello, folks! And Happy “Gorging-Yourself-On-Good-Rich-Food-With-Family-and-Sitting-Around-in-Front-of-the-Ballgame-Feeling-Like-an-Agitated-but-Soporifically-
Happy-Blowfish” Day!
I hope that none of you get in fights, that all your cooking goes well, that none of you miss your late loved ones and far-away kin too badly, and that you manage to eat just enough so that you don’t feel sick.
I am going to spend the day with my Rennie family, at Buffy’s mom and dad’s. Buff, Brett and the girls will be there, too, as well as Brian, Andi and Aeryn. Buffy’s brother Nate (who I have looked forward to meeting for a while) and his girlfriend will be there (I think.. Jill?) and I’m not sure who else. It sounds like a good time, though, and I am hoping that Stewart will be able to come by after his fam’s do, too. My job is to bring the green bean casserole and my dad’s famous ambrosia. Buffy told me yesterday that I could come or not, but that the ambrosia BETTER be there! (Dad, wherever you are, I hope you heard that. : )
Chris will spend the day with his family tomorrow (HI, RIDDLES! : ), but on Friday, he, Stewart and I will go up to Fairview in the late afternoon, to B&B’s and the boys are going to play Magic while I entertain the Brufflets. (Buffy will be off braving the outlet malls with her mama… ) The girls and I are gonna make a cranberry apple pie… Mmm!
When Buff gets in, we’ll make a grocery run and get stuff for burritos, ‘cause we KNOW everybody will be cooking/turkey tired. Ursula and her boys will be there, too! Yay!
Sounds like a good day, and Chris will finally get to meet some of MY “family”. I think it will be a good collusion. Yay, me! And yay, Chris!, too, because he will be meeting some of THE best people in the Universe.
As always, I am most thankful for my good friends/family - and that means the family I have that is not related by blood and the friends I have that are. Joe and Ellie, as much fun as I’ll be having, I wish I could spend this holiday with you. I love you and miss you, very much. Aunt Sue and the rest of the Queen Bees, too. She’s still in the hospital, and I would love to smuggle in some turkey and fixings for you like dad did for me the last time I was in Methodist with pneumonia… (Miss Kittrell came to see me that day, too.)
Charlyn and her clan, my other Asheville/Hooterville beloveds, the Outlanders off in school, James, Unky, Bryan and his girls, Rob, the Austin Peopos, my Hattiesburg/Texas Geek-homies, the NOLA freaks, Rory and Julia, Sandy up in Portland…
I wish we could ALL be together, but at least writing this list really makes me realize how very lucky and blessed I am, how much I have to be thankful for.

Oh, also to let y’all know, my painting was raffled off today – we sold 403$ worth of tickets! And the winner was one of our Columbus library Volunteers! Woohoo!!!
I also found out that they are going to be making notecards and possible prints of it for sale, which is nice and an honor. I am pretty dang proud of all of that. : )

Ok. That’s my basic news. Isn’t it nice that it’s all pretty good?
Wishing you all the same, ad THEN some!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
-Miss Sam