Christmas Come and Gone

Christmas just isn't the same since I have gotten older. Some of the reasons that I don't like Christmas is the cold, the hassle, feeling like I have to love Christmas like others do or I am a Scrooge, the commerialism, being alone etc. Things I really like about Christmas is the music, my family, the lights etc.

I did have a pretty good Christmas all in all this year. I wasn't alone and I didn't have much hassle this year as I kept it very simple. Tammy and her family visited Christmas Eve. I enjoyed that a lot. I got gift cards and theater tickets, perfume, towels, a Precious Moment doll, books, calendars, candy and a digital camera from Randy. We went out to eat at a Chinese place (like in The Christmas Story) and we went to see Sweeney Todd. I have seen the non-musical version on TV. This new version with Johnny Depp is a musical and has very little diaglog. For the story I liked the non-musical one better but the musical one is a real art movie. So I liked them both.

Anyway, I am glad Christmas is over. I don't like winter and I know there is a lot more to go. I hate the heat too so I guess I will never be satisfied with the weather.

Nerve Pain: Oh My Aching Feet and Legs

I have been on an anti-depression drug for the depression I have suffered since all those deaths I have had to deal with. The drug is Cymbalta. I was feeling so much better that I decided to slowly take myself off the drug. Well, it seems that Cymbalta is also good for treatment of nerve pain related to fibro-myalgia and MS. So after being off it for a few days, I experienced terrible nerve pain in my feet and legs and no pain medication would help. So now I am back on the drug, not for depression but for the nerve pain I suffer.

A Great Saturday Night

Randy and I went to Tina's house on Saturday. She prepared a wonderful meal and dessert. Brian and Marissa and Dominic were there as well and so was Marissa's boyfriend, Josh. Kipp took us all over Salt Lake to see various lights on homes and the temple.

I received an early Christmas gift from Tina. It was a $50 gift certificate to the Black Angus and season tickets to the Desert Star Theater. Tina always gives too much. She is so thoughtful of everyone. Sunday night we ate dinner at Mi Ranchito with Marty and Cherise, Chevy and Cash.

For Christmas we will probably just go to the movies and eat at a Chinese restaurant if one is open that day.

Latest News

Things are going quite well for us. The cats are a big job but Randy takes care of them. They are getting along quite well. I am not doing much for Christmas this year. I have sent out my cards and just need to do a little shopping. Randy wants to buy a new computer. His old one is dying and he wants one of his own and doesn't want to use mine but he is for the time being. He saw one at Costco that he really likes. Yesterday he took me to The Old Spaghetti Factory. He likes it here
(I hate the winter cold) so far. I hope to go to Salt Lake City this weekend to show Randy the city, visit Tina and see the lights. It's nice to have somebody drive me. Nothing much more to say except I am happy and everything is good right now.

Seven Cats

We have seven cats in our place now, (10 counting Kathy's) Randy keeps the place really clean and so you would not know we had so many cats. They sleep on and off with us every night. My cats are Wellington, Gimli and Sonny. Randy's cats are Blue, March, Megan and Bud.

A New Life

We drove all the way home from AZ in one day. Got home around 1:30 AM. We are both really tired from doing so much packing and moving and stuff. Randy has had two back operations and it is especially hard on him. To make matters worse, I found out that the tempra pedic mattress I have been sleeping on for some time was turned on the wrong side. I always wondered why it didn't seem to be working like it should. So Randy had to flip that mattress and it weighs a ton and it really hurt his back more. I asked him to wait but he is very independent. We went to Deseret Industries to buy a chest of drawers for Randy since he sold all his furniture to his new tenant in AZ. We hauled all the rest of his stuff to Utah in a U-Haul trailer that Matt pulled with his Yukon.

The cats. all 7 of them are adjusting. The first night there were lots of hisses and growls and hiding. But now they are all getting along fine as long as they are given some space.

I am trying to make a new life here with Randy. For the most part, it has been really good. We do have our differences however. Randy is a good man and a hard worker. He works much harder than he needs to. He is OCD on cleanliness and neatness. This is good because I will always have a clean house but sometimes it's frustrating. I can see maybe why he had some problems in his marriages with his OCD. He is also a control freak and I found out that I cannot drive the van with him in it. He gets really nervous and tells me what to do. Maybe this is because he was a truck driver for so many years and had control of the road and the truck. He doesn't even like to fly in an airplane because he does not have control. I am patient and I can work that out.

Another problem we have is the TV. He likes action, Sci Fi and Horror. I like some of it but not a constant diet. There are always other TV's in the house to watch, so that is ok but together, he will not watch something with me that isn't what he likes but I will watch things I am not particularly into for him. We have to work on this. This is another reason that marriage isn't an option for me right now. We need to get to know each other much better. He is very good to me though and we do love each other very much. We are hoping to go camping and on trips together.