must have been something i ate

I'm probably as surprised as anyone by the last outburst. Of all the things people know me by, being emotional in person or in print is not one of them, generally.

For now, i'm tapping the foot and waiting for the snow that's been promised repeatedly. Well, where is it already?!

My buddy the Beeb is heading up from Oregon's Bay Area (ha ha ha that just makes me laugh every time i think of it) to do a gig at a big local employer's Christmas party. He's coming today so he can jam with us, and doing his gig tomorrow, and maybe hopefully he will stay over to come to the benefit Saturday.

We are going to get our Christmas tree today! We last had a tree in '97 or so. It was a total Charlie Brown tree. But we loved it. Prior to that, i think the last time i had a Christmas tree was at some point when i was living with one or the other of my parents. My mom and i decorated her big ficus tree one year. That last tree would have been in the 80s some time, probably. So you can imagine i'm about jumping out of my skin with glee about getting one again.

And lastly, i'm going to drag Natalie ice skating. I would like to do it this week. It's cheap. Surprise surprise- i took ice skating lessons when i was a middle-schooler. I went straight from rollerskates to the ice. I was at a little thrift/antique/cool old junk store a couple of weeks ago and they had two pairs of men's 8 ice skates. These were *old* skates. But the blades looked good as new, the leather was supple and in great shape. I'm thinking i would like to go back and get them. I like ice skating. I love the way the ice feels as you move across it, and the scrinch scrinch sound.

I'm no pro. I think i took lessons on and off for about two years, and did a lot of just skating around and around, but i can stop, i can start, i can do those crossover turns and skate backward and a couple of fancy spins that i probably wouldn't try now anyway. It'll be the first time in years i've been on the ice. Natalie will probably be treated to watching me fall on my ass a few times until i get me feet back under me. That's all right. It cant be any worse than sliding down the slope on my ass with my still-hooked goofy-foot with the board on it heading over my head, with my left knee next to my right ear, and hearing that wonderful *rrrip* sound.