Watching the birds outside today. Was excited to see a wood thrush at the bird bath. They're not a seed eater at the feeders, so i don't often see them. You may not know what a wood thrush looks like, but one birds you probably know, the robin, is in the thrush family.

The squirrels, though, are driving me crazy, They keep climbing on the tube feeder, and although it's caged, i don't want them gnawing on the wire. So i open the bathroom window usptairs and yell and shout "get OUT of there!" and clap my hands and bang on the side of the house. That will usually cause the squirrel to jump off the feeder and run about 10 feet. In 5 minutes, he's back on there. Drives me nuts. Birdseed, like everything else, has risen in price this year.

I have a press release to write today but never got to around to it. Instead, my girlfriend picked me up and we got some (free) DVDs at the library, hit the grocery store and TJ Maxx where she wanted to look for a wallet, and then ended up at a local diner sipping hot chocolate and eating a slice of apple pie. A nice way to spend a winter's afternoon.

She has an on again/off again relationship with her daughter, who is exactly my age. Although the daughter lives in an adjacent town, my friend doesn't think she'll be seeing her daughter, or her 4 grandkids, for Xmas. Sad. We've been friends for the past 6 years, after having met at a job. Plus, she lives about a 1/4 mile from me, so it's been easy to catch a bite to eat or see a movie, go shopping or walk together. She has cat sat for me hundreds of times when I've gone away. We're a bit of an odd couple with really not much at all in common except we like to talk about food/cooking and i'll urge her to walk with me whenever possible. Still, the friendship works somehow, mainly becus we both enjoy some companionship. And she's very easy to get along with and is game for whatever you suggest.

This holiday is a quiet one for me, partly becus since i'm between jobs, there's no office party to go to. (Just as well, never liked 'em.) My parents divorced a long time ago, and with a divided family and dad and my 2 brothers living out of state, i have never spent xmas with them. It's usually just dinner with my mom and sister. I am grateful that our doting grandparents made Christmas a really big deal for us when we were growing up, and we continued in that tradition of going all out for Xmas for many years, but at some point we all agreed to pull way back from such extravagance. At a certain age, giving and getting presents becomes less important. I personally wish the media and retailers didn't create such a big build-up to Christmas becus it's impossible to create the kind of perfectly magical holiday that's portrayed on TV or in the mind of some marketing guru. It creates a kind of disconnect when your own personal experiences don't measure up to such perfection. It's enough to make you really want to hit the eggnog.