Ever notice I tend to get obsessive about things?  I was sitting here listening to The Police, you know to get *ready* for the concert in June. It brought back fond memories of listening to them in high school with my best friend George.

George and I didn’t actually go to the same school.  I went to a public school, he was in a private school.  We met through a mutual friend because we all played Dungeons & Dragons. That was back when it was still considered evil.  We were really opposites in a lot of ways.  George played football and taught martial arts in his spare time. I was already into electronics and busy running the Strategy Wargaming Club at my school. Some how, we meshed as friends though.

I had a motorcycle at the time (fancy that!) and George had access to his mom’s car. A white station wagon.  Not too cool but it was transportation.  Then his older brother joined the Coast Guard and was in school for a while.  He loaned George his Buick Regal while he was gone.  Man that car rocked! Killer stereo, sun roof, lots of ponies under the hood.

So back to The Police, the thing to do on weekend nights in Savannah, GA at the time was to cruise River Street. It’s an cobblestone street that runs along the river in the old part of the city. You’d cruise nice and slow because of the bumpy street, with your stereo blasting and passengers hanging out the windows (or in our case, sun roof). For us, it would often be The Police Synchronicity album or Ghost in the Machine on the tape deck. Or Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie… but that’s a whole other story.

Good times, good memories…

Seasons in life at least. I spent the weekend with my daughter Lindsey, we had a good time. Besides seeing Terabithia we mostly just hung out, though I did cook a couple of special meals at her request. She’s coming over again next weekend, hopefully the weather will clear up a bit so we can go to the zoo or do something else outside for a change.

Matt was supposed to come over this past weekend but it didn’t happen. He wanted to go see a movie instead.  With a… a… girl. I can make light of it, but honestly I struggle with the notion that my “little buddy” is very nearly a man. Do men struggle with the “empty nest” concept?  I mean, technically my nest *is* empty except for weekend visits and vacations.

Is it Matt growing up that bothers me, or the implications that has for my own life? I’m not sure I want to examine that question too closely… especially with Lindsey not too far behind him. Maybe I’ll have to grow up too.

This would be a pretty good alternative to riding a motorcycle I think… these are Swiss Air Force aircraft practicing maneuvers in the Alps. Love the song by Evanescence too!

Too busy, too cold, too snowy, too annoying, too lonely, too tiring, too, too, too… *sigh*

“Summer’s coming too fast, winter’s been here too long. If we keep wasting our days, pretty soon they’ll be gone…”

More and more lately, I’m feeling like portions of my life are at a stand still.  Oh, I have a great life overall, but it’s far from completely fulfilling.

I’ve been separated, but not divorced, for going on four years now. The terms are mostly worked out, finances have been divvied up, agreements about the kids sorted. The act of making it a legal reality is just on hold until my ex finishes with school.  She wanted to go back to school and get a degree, we agreed to hold off on the divorce until she was finished so she’d have full medical coverage and other benefits until then. It seemed like the right thing to do, after all she has the right to be successful in life and getting her degree is a big step in the right direction. She’s still got about a year to finish up her Masters.

The irony is we get along a lot better now than we did the last few years of our marriage. Mind you that doesn’t mean I’m rethinking things, and I doubt she is either. I’m actually feeling more and more like I’m ready to move on. I’ve dated friends a few times in the last couple of years, but it was a casual thing. It doesn’t feel right to consider seriously dating when I’m not really “free” in a sense.

I have enough other baggage that will make dating difficult, I don’t need to drag this into the fray I guess… sadly, patience is not my strongest attribute… *sigh*

It’s official, I’m no longer part of the 30-something crowd… not sure how I feel about that yet! But as it’s now December 31st in Seattle, I’m 40 years old. Surely I will soon figure out what I want to do with my life… besides ride a motorcycle, that’s a given.

It’s also New Year’s Eve… I’m not really down with the whole resolution thing. Never really saw the point personally. This year, things are a little different.  I’m going to try to be more social this year. Get out more, meet people, some of them might even be women.  It could happen.

There are complications, I may seek your advice.  You have been warned…

Update 1: I also resolve to start replying to comments… this resolution thing is a slippery slope it appears!

Update 2: I thought my birthday should have a soundtrack… I like this song and it suits, dark though it may be.

Hooray, Christmas Eve is here!  The kids are over today, we’ll do “holiday stuff” all day, go to a party this evening and then I’ll take them home tonight.  I’ll be at their house in the morning and then, weather permitting, I plan to take the motorcycle out for a ride just so I can say I rode on Christmas Day!

Hope you have a wonderful day doing something you enjoy! I’ll leave you with this, one of my all time favorite Christmas songs…

I spent most of the day hanging out with a friend who’s wife is out of town for the holiday. We braved the treacherous environs of the mall near my house.  Good grief the traffic.  I volunteered to drive, my friend Mike is far to passive behind the wheel to make any progress in this kind of situation! It requires a delicately balanced aggression, just enough to trip the self-preservation instinct in other drivers.  I like to think I’m fairly good at it… we did make good time getting in and out of the area!

Up until early today I *was* done with shopping but the kids and I were invited to a Christmas Eve gathering at another friends house so I had to pick up a few additional items to go into the gift exchange. I went with DVDs, not especially creative but I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. I *think* I’m done now… kids are coming over tomorrow night so I’m running out of time anyway!

One day closer to having Christmas over! I like it, but dang it’s a lot of work!

I’ve never seen anyone play the guitar this way, fascinating and fantastic! I think I’m going to have to buy his CD, available online here.

Uhg, my brain is full… so you get a brain dump today!  Fortunately, this was the last day of work for me this year.  I’m taking vacation tomorrow and then my company is on break until January 2nd. I still have a fairly busy schedule, but most of it is social activities with friends and my kids.

I’m working on a new movie review tonight.  I caught a screening of The Good Shepherd yesterday. I found it fascinating.  This is no light weight piece of entertainment but rather an intellectually challenging look at how the CIA came to be.  Based in part on fact, with characters that are composites of actual people. If you are into history and political intrique, you might enjoy it.  Brace yourself though, it weighs in at nearly 3 hours and you will find no fight sequences or car chases… this one is purely character driven.

Back to time off… hopefully tomorrow I’ll actually get my Christmas cards and mix CDs in the mail.  Talk about putting it off until the last minute… sheesh! I still have to pick up a few stocking stuffers too… I might try to do that early tomorrow when hopefully most people are at work… and I’m not! Mwwaahhaahhhaaa…

Did I mention there is half a carrot cake in the kitchen beckoning me… calling me… seducing me… followed me home from a holiday luncheon today…

I leave you now with a Christmas song… I may swap music daily for the next week or so and run through some of my favorite seasonal tunes.