I am the Champion

We went to F&J's for dinner. R didn't want to play UpWords. Channeling Peter Sellers, he said "I like to watch," so F and I played. I won the first game.

"There's a learning curve," said F. Things will be different this time. I won the second game.

"I've really got the hang of it now," said F. I won the third game. Heh™.

I love UpWords. It is definitely going to be the game of choice on our holiday.

Tonight we went to Alexandra's Restaurant for dinner, courtesy of my bosses. I decided to order calamari. I take in a little animal food now and then, so I don't turn into a self-righteous and judgmental vegetarian, a regrettable tendency of mine. The calamari were delicious, but they aren't agreeing with me. I remember this feeling from when I ate clams in Mexico last year. Back to the soy I go.

First steps

Today we made reservations for the American Atheist annual convention, to be held in San Antonio April 14-16, 2006. http://www.atheists.org/convention/ This constitutes starting our itinerary at the tail end, or nearly. By the time we attend the convention, we'll already have been in Mexico for a month or more, then worked our way back via Laredo, I think. My sister Pam and her husband hope to come visit us in San Antonio or - earlier - down on the gulf. If that doesn't work out, we'll be stopping by Austin to see them after the convention. We're both very excited about our trip. It comes up in conversation about every five minutes. 42 days and counting.

Yesterday was R's 66th birthday. I gave him a tripod for his telescope (much needed and appreciated) and a game of UpWords, which comes highly recommended. We're going to F&J's house for dinner tonight, and a game of UpWords is on the after-dinner agenda. Shortly, we'll be packing both telescope and game into the motorhome......(see what I mean?)

Happy New Year!

Starting as I mean to go on, I've come in to welcome the new year. I bought a new notebook yesterday, and I'm determined to do writing practice every day. It wasn't exactly a New Year's resolution. I just realized that I had gone far too long without writing, and the time had come to correct that. However, the beginning of a new year is a fine time to start a new good habit, or revive an old one.

Today, I've had several ideas come to the surface of my mind, and I've not been in a position to write them down. Now I have to go sit quietly and hope they resurface. If that doesn't work, I should consider carrying around a very small notebook just for jotting, so that when the time comes to actually write, I won't just stare into the middle distance and wonder what it was I wanted to write about.

As for my real New Year's resolution, I absolutely must go back to getting some exercise every day. I'm having a hard time remembering how good it felt, but I know it was better than this fatigue and depression and getting fat trip I'm on now.

Well, wasn't that a cheerful closing line? How's this? I'm off to open my shiny new notebook and write for fifteen minutes. Exercise for the brain.