Lopaka Lounge

This morning I returned to work after a fabulous week in South Beach Miami.  The weather there was warm and balmy.  Ray and I were splashing in the water on the beach, riding bicycles all over town, donning t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops while eating at outdoor cafés and to top it all off, went sailing on my cousin’s fantastic sailboat.

I noticed that the rest of the country was having terrible weather — especially back home in Bisbee.  I found myself posting more and more updates and photos on Facebook about how much fun I was having in the warm weather.  Yes, I admit I was being a little bit, “Ha Ha” about my good weather experience — OK, I was being a lot “Ha Ha” — as evidenced by what I found in my office when I got in to work this morning…

My office filled with packing peanuts or, “snow”.

The email confirmation for 18 cubic feet of packing peanuts.

A printout of the past week’s weather report (including the blizzard warning — BLIZZARD warning in Bisbee). There were also printouts of  my myriad “Ha ha, I’m having such a great time!!” Facebook updates and photos.

The random peanuts in the ceiling tile over my office door indicating that my co-workers had indeed filled up my entire office with “snow”.

Fortunately, they had only taped up the window and filled that up with packing peanuts. (Kudos to my coworker, ‘topher for his great freakout effect with the peanuts lodged in the ceiling tile.  For a split second, I really thought I was going to be cleaning packing peanuts out of my office all day.)  Actually, my friends did such a good job that the Facilities director had a fit when he saw it.  He really thought they crawled over the ceiling and filled the whole office.

But the pièce de résistance was the fact that my coworkers rigged a device over the inside of the door that popped a bag of packing peanuts when the door opened so it “snowed” in my office upon my return.  This is what happens when you work in IT with technical people.

I had such a wonderful vacation and was dreading going back to work today.  To be honest, this little stunt is a nice reminder of how lucky I am to work with such a great bunch of people.  I feel loved.

I’m not even going to try to sugar coat it. A lot of 2009 sucked for me and I’m glad it’s over.

The highlight of my New Year’s Eve was watching the Blue Moon rise over the Mule Mountains just as the sun was setting in the West.

I was joyous to see the moon smiling down on us. It seemed to be a reminder that each new day will pass and the crap I just went through will soon be a fading memory.

I am thankful to see this year end. Here’s why:

• I had cancer removed from my face.
• I had precancerous polyps and hemorrhoids removed from my ass. You have no idea what the pain was like unless you’ve birthed an elephant — not to mention the scary “C” word TWICE in a year.
• One of my best friends died suddenly and they could not locate my number so I found out four months later. I miss her very much
• I was bitten by a black widow. Not. Fun.
• A friend of ours was killed in a terrible car accident.
• My father died.
• I spent New Year’s Eve sick as a dog with a head cold and a sinus infection.

And I couldn’t be happier. Seriously, I’m happy.

Happiness comes from within. It’s a choice. A lifestyle to live by. Sure, all these bad things happened to me over the past 12 months, bad things happened to everyone this year.  That being said, right now, in the present, I’m sitting here drinking coffee and blogging with a warm kitty on my lap. I have a head cold but the post morning NyQuil haze that makes everything all comfy is humming away in the background. It’s a beautiful sunny day and I am blessed — blessed by the life that I have.

Ray and I are thankful for our friends, community, jobs, and all the other creature comforts that make life here at Stolen Horseshoe so awesome. We stayed home this New Year’s Eve and sat by the fire with the kitty while toasting the new year with Maker’s Mark Manhattans. Naturally, Ray made a delicious meal. NyQuil knocked me out at the Ten O’ Clock hour but that’s OK. I woke up feeling better than I have for days and I don’t have a nasty hangover. It’s a new day –hell, a new year – a new DECADE! So to end on a high note, I want to express a few good things that happened this year.

• I was financially able to upgrade my multimedia equipment (camera, computer, software, new guitar).
• I ran and worked out regularly to the point where I physically changed my body (for the better).
• Ray and I got a lot of DIY projects done around the house.
• I challenged myself with the Bisbee Idol contest and won.
• I wrote and performed my own comedy routine (which got me an offer to play the lead in a show this Spring).
• I began writing music again and kept up with my blog as best I could.
• I was faced with the challenge of nursing my dying father and didn’t run away. I really took care of him and he taught me compassion.
• I met and got to know all sorts of new and old friends on Facebook and in person.

Actually, I could go on and on about the good stuff from this year. I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Don’t get me wrong, there was some pretty icky things I had to face in 2009 but it’s over and the mere fact that I made a choice to remain happy no matter what is what got me through it — that and some great friends, family and several martinis.