Catching Up

Sorry. It's been way too long since I posted. Now there's too much to write about and keep things coherent. So we'll try some subheads, for organization's sake:

Wanted: Reason to Live. Apply Within.

I've been pretty depressed the last six weeks or so. One indicator? Not blogging. If you're a friend, and you notice a lack of bloggy goodness, feel free to drop me a line. I could probably use the cheering up.

So why so down? Mostly money problems. I'm feeling particularly failure-ey over my lack of job prospects. Fortunately, the IRS tax season is a month or so away, and that should give me a few months of seasonal government work. Unfortunately, it's not helping me now, and the bills continue to arrive with monotonous regularity. So we're reduced to borrowing from family, (Borrowing? Let's get real. It's more like "sponging," as the chances we'll ever be able to repay them are very, very slim.) and abusing our credit cards. And once you take their money, the phrase "none of your business" is no longer operative, which leads to more failure-ey depression.

Change of Scenery

One of the practical things we're looking at doing to get out of this morass is moving. With Ben married and Porter a senior at UT-Arlington, we simply don't need a house this big. Of course, after living in it for 12 years we're going to need to do some sprucing up and fixing up. Met with a realtor earlier today, and we'll keep working on it. I hate moving, though -- it is a giant pain in the ass. Plus, we have to find a new place to live. Thank goodness we're not underwater on the current place, as that will make it easier to get into a smaller, cheaper place.

Holidaze

Since I last blogged, there was Thanksgiving, which was very nice. After a traditional feast at Louise's folks, we then went down to Galveston for a couple of days at a beach house my sisters rented for a family Thanksgiving. Had a great time. The ladies bonded going shopping, the men bonded watching football, and the younger folks bonded miniature golfing. Fun was had by all.

Then came Christmas. First we drove up to Denton to visit Ben and Stephanie. Took them out to dinner, had a nice time, but since they both had to be at work early the next morning, the visit was too short. They seem to be doing really well together, though, and that makes Louise and I very happy.

Then we cruised through Arlington and swung by Porter's place and knocked on the door -- and he answered! This was a bit of luck, as we had no idea if he was working, or traveling, or what. But once invited, he decided to come along with us to Louise's folks, but not until we cruised down to Mansfield and spent a day and a half at my sister's house for more family time. Some presents were exchanged, and then on Christmas Eve we headed down the interstate to far north Houston to Louise's parents place, where we also ran into Louise's sister and her two kids and a girlfriend. Christmas was great there, including a traditional feast for 21. After that, it was back to Buda to make sure the kitties were still all right, and a little more time with Porter before Louise took him back to school.

And after all the festivities and all the great family time . . . I felt better. The fog is lifting. Score one for Christmas.