This is To Have Succeeded

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

While surfing for something totally unrelated to THIS blog post, I saw a widget that caught my eye which said:

What kind of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake are YOU?

So naturally I click on the widget and take the test -- five questions, relatively simple, not much hesitation to my answers.

So what cheesecake am I?

Chocolate
Peanut Butter

Cheesecake

 

Surprised to learn this.

But then what do "personality tests" know?

I would have chosen something more along the lines

of Heath Bar....or German Chocolate...Coconutty somethin or other...

Yes, I like peanut butter.

And I'm sure it's a good choice.

But it likely would not have been my first choice.

But here goes my results:

You take things seriously... but never too seriously.

You know how to lighten up the mood.
You dislike mundane, routine tasks.

You put off doing chores.
You live in the present moment,

and you like to savor each day you've been given.
You take time to savor every moment.

You believe that life is about the simple things.

THESE ARE PRETTY MUCH ON POINT.

But why chocolate peanut butter...???????

I Need You in My LIfe

I had coffee with my oldest sister this morning at Tim Horton's. It was early fall the last time I saw her; that's tragic. Sisters, and we rarely see each other, yet live only 10 miles or so apart.

We have very different lives. Busy lives. Varied agendas. Different social networks.

Sometimes when too much time has passed that I haven't seen her, heard from her, I start getting worried that she's mad at me. Did I say something? Did I do something to offend her? Did I miss a special event? Surely I've dropped the ball. Guilty conscience. It can destroy me if I let it.

And then we finally connect via cell phone, and hearing her voice I know immediately: No, she's fine. I'm fine. We're fine. Life is just greedy. It robs us of relationships.

So we had coffee -- trying to cram into a two-hour window all that had taken place in the last 4-5 months in each other's lives.  We talked, we listened, we laughed, we cried, we talked about Mom... we remembered.  We shared photos taken over the holidays, captured moments that were meant to be spent together, narrating at record speed cliff-note style, hoping we hadn't missed anything really big, really important, meaningful.  But we're SISTERS.  Isn't it ALL meaningful?  Isn't everything we share REALLY BIG?  No time for details?  EVEN the details.

 
She asked me to forgive her.  For WHAT?  For not showing up in your life more often.  You?  This is a two-way street here.  What about me showing up in YOUR life?   Don't be silly.  I don't want an apology from you.  But I want you to hear my apology, see it, and just know that ... (tears in her eyes).  I do see you.  I see what I've missed.  We need each other you know.  I NEED YOU IN MY LIFE. 

We exchanged belated Christmas gifts, agreeing that it was almost better to have waited, to prolong the celebration of the season of love and giving.  She gave me a great pair of earrings (she knows my taste), some homemade candles (I couldn't stop sniffing them right there at the table -- cranberries & cloves!), books, and a beautiful scarf.  All so thoughtful.  All so ME.

Time passed far too quickly, as we both realized, stealing glances at the clock on the wall, that we each had a zillion things on our schedules to do on our day off (MLK Day). We promised each other -- AGAIN -- that we would try harder. We would make it a point to be together more this year, to call more often, plan shopping trips together, schedule coffee time.

I'll call you later this week.  Yes, please do, and send me pictures of the bathroom -- I wanna see the masterpiece when it's finished.  Oh, I will.  I'm so excited to show you the artwork I found to go with it.  And I'll send you that sheet music you wanted.  Yes, that will be perfect!  And if you have time, can you run by that house that's on the market and give me your gut feeling on it -- if you have time?  I have time.  Yes, I will.  I promise.  I'll go by there sometime later this afternoon.  I'll call you, okay?  Okay.  Thanks for my coffee and bagel.  You're welcome.  I love you.  I love YOU.  Hey, and don't forget...I meant it...I really meant what I said:  I need you in my life.

Les Miserables

There are some movies (and musicals) that just leave deep and lasting impressions on us.  My list is a long one.  But this movie, Les Miserables, starring Liam Neeson and Uma Thurmon -- two of my favorite actors -- is one I should have long ago bought and added to my collection. 

I happened to see a picture of Liam Neeson today while surfing the net -- fodder for another blog entry, he's SO sexy! -- which prompted a flashback to this movie.  It just so happens that he stars in two of my favorite movies, this one, and Love Actually. 

Maybe I'll head out today and buy these two DVD's.  It's cold out, and it's the weekend, and I'm in the mood to snuggle in and get comfy/cozy and watch a good movie.  Or two.

And Uma Thurmon, a woman of unsurpassed style, sex appeal and beauty, not to mention her talent, THOSE EYES, the most hauntingly beautiful eyes, she's cast perfectly for Les Miserables.  I once bought an issue of In Style magazine featuring her on the cover in a white bikini, with silver trim and a white net coverup.  STRIKING.  All of it.  It was one of those covers that just FORCES you to buy the magazine.  Breathtakingly beautiful.  (I still have it; great article and cover story on her.)






(I ADORE this picture of her! Fabulous hair!)


And then there's Liam Neeson -- standing 6'4 (and that's only part of the draw, tall men catch my eye every time), was once described by a theatre critic as a "towering sequoia of sex."   Is there really any need to elaborate more?

Beautiful.  Sexy.  Charismatic.  Theses two have it all.

Yep.  It's showtime...looking forward to some good entertainment on this cold winter's night.

A Frisky Frisk?

As a court reporter, along with the mundane issues we hear day in and day out, we often get entertained with more, well ... "amusing" court cases, litigants with questionable character, dress code, body language, allegations, or all of the above.  I could tell stories about these for days and days on end.

It's unfortunate that I did not taken the time to chronicle these stories in some sort of book.  I may have made some solid cash by now on the publishing rights.

An excerpt from court this week:

STUD GOES TO COURT

ALLEGING HARDWARE DAMAGES

(Pro se plaintiff is in court, alleging that a police officer in a search/frisk situation "bag-tagged" him, causing extensive pain and permanent damage, and is suing the local police department for emotional distress and damages.  The plaintiff admits that he had been to his family doctor, prior to the alleged officer misconduct,  for ongoing pain in his testicles, which was later determined to be caused from a benign cyst.)

THE COURT:  Okay.  Let's assume that this police officer did do this to you.  Do you think a grope or a bag tag is worth 15,000 bucks?

JOHN DOE:  I still hurt down there.  Yeah.

THE COURT:  Maybe you're hurting because of your cyst and not because of the bag tag.

JOHN DOE:  I don't think that, Your Honor, you know, because it wasn't hurting before.  Honestly.  You know, if I thought that, then I would just drop the case.

THE COURT:  When did this happen?

JOHN DOE:  This happened October 15 th , 2008.  And it still feels like someone is groping me down there, the same way he did that.  I guess he must have thought I had -- probably like weed or something.   I was going to become a New York police officer.

THE COURT:  You were?  What happened?

JOHN DOE:  Well, I guess I got stressed out.  Because, you know, it happened three days before my test.  I had to pull over because I was hurting.  When I came back, I went back to the doctor.  I was still hurting.

THE COURT:  Your doctor hasn't told you that you got any permanent problem, has he?

JOHN DOE:  He says that, you know, that -- I keep telling him that, you know, that I have problems, you know, getting an erection because of this.  And it's the truth.

THE COURT:  You do?

JOHN DOE:  Yes, you know, and it takes a toll on me.

THE COURT:  Do what?

JOHN DOE:  It takes a toll on me.

THE COURT:  What?

JOHN DOE:  The love life and stuff.  And I don't even know why this girl is with me.  I guess she loves me.

THE COURT:  I guess.

JOHN DOE:  Ask her.  Put her under oath.

THE COURT:  Well, she wouldn't lie about it, would she?

JOHN DOE:  I don't know.  Do girls lie?  Ask her.

THE COURT:  So you can't get an erection, huh?

JOHN DOE:  If it happens, it happens.  But I'm telling you, it's not like it used to be.

THE COURT:  Do you always have problems getting them?

JOHN DOE:  No.  Not at all, not before.  Oh, no.  I used to be a humping mule.

(Suppressed laughter in the courtroom.)



THE COURT:  Oh, yeah?  So just since this bag tagging, huh?

JOHN DOE:  Yeah.  I think when he actually groped me and thought I had something down there, that's when it hit.

THE COURT:  You didn't have an erection when he grabbed you, did you?

JOHN DOE:  Oh, no.  I don't like guys.  I mean, if he turned around, I might have give him a reach-around -- just kidding, just kidding.

Ring in the Year with Friendships

I hosted a New Year's Eve party this year at my house.  It was fun sending out invitations, planning the party food menu, the decorations -- ESPECIALLY the decorations! 

My son's girlfriend was in town and she
enjoyed
the celebration
of family and friends along with us.

What a hit.  AND the weather mild enough to enjoy a fire out on the patio that night!  We were able to hear through the speakers by fireside the
music and sounds of Times Square and the last few minutes before the ball dropped.

What a fun way to usher out the old and in the new... great memories indeed! 

Here's to another year of happiness shared among family and friends!

Capturing a Winter Sunset

On a walk this past weekend, in search of a sunset ...

I live in a subdivision, obscured by trees, houses, hills -- and never get to feast on my beloved canvas of nature -- SUNSET.

These were taken about two miles from my house, having gotten in some good hard cardio climbing a hill near my neighborhood. 

It was worth it.

I struck GOLD.