Merry Xmas all. It came and went without incident at my house…had family dinner on Xmas eve and opened gifts (which took about 10 minutes)…we all basically gave each other gift cards and cash so there wasn’t a whole lot of wrapping paper to deal with. (Not as if I’d wrap gifts anyhow.) I got DVDs of Defending Your Life, The Producers, and Northern Exposure S2 as well as GTA:SA for PS2. Also a hot water kettle. The gift cards will be nice because I’m really hurting for money right now and I’ll be needing things like shampoo. You know, necessities.

Christmas day was dinner at aunt and uncle’s place as usual…I fielded questions about my trip and deflected comments about the meaning of the ring. In case it’s not apparent, it is not an engagement ring. Yes, we are devoted to each other and have every intention of being together, but it’s not time to be thinking about marriage yet. The two of us have differing opinions on the matter of marriage, but we both agree that it’s not something we need to worry about right now. Simply being on the same continent would be a good starting place, ne? :-)

I only had Friday off from work so there wasn’t a whole lot of down time. I spent a good portion of the time either playing WoW or watching DVDs and crocheting. I plan on having Ross’s blanket finished before his birthday at the end of March. That should be more than do-able. I plan to start painting again once I’ve finished it, which is both exciting and a little scary to me. I’ve changed and developed a lot on a personal level since the last time I painted and the subject matter I intend to cover is much more personal this time so I’ll be exposing a lot of myself with the new series. I haven’t decided what sort of style and color I want to use but I already have a general idea of size and scale. I won’t be doing too much that’s very large this time…though that may change.

Actually, heh, I just took a break when a few ideas struck me…and upon my return…I realized I can’t guarantee the smaller size thing. Um…Ross…if your head ends up being six feet tall, it’s not my fault, it’s what the painting wants. And as my history has shown, fighting with the painting gets me nowhere; if it’s going to work at all I have to listen to the painting, tend to its needs and desires. ^^;; In all seriousness though, I think in general I’m done with the GIANT canvases idea for the time being…I really like the idea of large-scale projects and I had soooo much fun with my triptych that I may explore the multiple canvases for one painting idea. I have some good basic ideas that could translate really well for that. Now…to get the frames built and canvas stretched and primed… :-D To be honest, the pre-painting stage may be my favorite part of the process. I have to see if my gesso is still any good…it’s been years since I last used it.

More fun on the WoW front…two things of note occurred: my character’s name got changed because it wasn’t “fantasy,” which is fair enough considering I used “ovaltine.” So she’s “Anny” now, which is decent enough. Secondly, my pet bear was missing one day when I logged into my account. I hadn’t abandoned it…after all I would have known if I had since a prompt comes up asking you if you’re sure you want to do that, so I really don’t know what happened. Another player helped me get myself a new bear, a better, stronger bear, (which I named Chrix!) Waaah! So it’s all good now. The game still irritates me on a regular basis because I keep getting quests I’m not powerful enough to do on my own and there’s no one around when I’m playing (or when there is, the gap between our levels is so huge as to make partying a waste…or they are too far away, or otherwise engaged, etc.) I whine a lot in the game because I get so frustrated, which I’m sure annoys the other players, but I really want to have a good time with the game. Jules and Ross both helped me do a few quests that were kicking my ass but for the most part my bear and I hunt and die together without a party. :\ I wonder how much longer this game will be at the forefront of everyone’s lives. A month? Two? TBA.

Watched Shrek 2, Dodgeball, Frida and half of Van Helsing this weekend. Nothing too spectacular in the sense that I’d want to purchase them, but all were okay in their own way with the exception of Van Helsing which I actually had no interest in finishing. :-( Not even the drawing power of Hugh Jackman could keep my attention. The style was cool, but like Underworld there wasn’t a whole lot of interesting plot…it just got jumbled. Meh.

I’ve been battling bouts of loneliness since Xmas. Unwrapping gifts, being close to family…it’s such an intimate thing…and all I wanted was to have Ross there with me. Being apart at this time of year is especially hard for me (and for him, no doubt.) It is a wonderful, amazing feeling knowing that there is someone out there who loves you more than anything, but with that beauty comes pain. That’s the trade-off for the happiness, you see. It’s something I’ve always known comes with this deal so I accept it, but it still is tough. I felt a bit better after calling up a few friends who I haven’t seen for awhile but there really is no substitute for the real thing. Still, I need to stay positive and try not to focus on the negative. I’ve gotten better at this in recent years since I’ve had good things happening in my life, but the tendency to be pessimistic is hard to fight sometimes, especially when it’s so much easier to wallow (and admittedly, at times it feels good to sulk.) Cynicism will never get the best of me in the long run though, you can count on that.