Our adoption of two new kittens, most def wins the prize. They are both wonderful animals and together they are a constant entertainment (and force of destruction.)

I'm planning on visiting a former professor on Wednesday and know that will be enjoyable.

I visited friends between xmas and new years which was hectic but worthwhile.

Seems that keeping connections alive is a theme...

I got a raise! Actually everyone got a raise where I work. Local management finally convinced the upper management that they were losing employees because the pay scale sucked so bad. I'm almost back to what I was making five years ago at my previous job.

We got a new dog! Her name is Theodosia, but we call her Thea. Other than that, the world around me is a bleak hellscape of fear and doom.

At the moment I am overloaded with work and pretty much in a bad mood nonstop, BUT: my sister & I have just booked a lovely vacation for August, and I got a new shortwave radio for Christmas that is great fun, and both my cats like to sit on my lap at the same time, which is crowded but comforting.

We are settling into the new place we are renting, which has way more space than the old one. The bunny has twice as much room to run around and his arthritis medicine is working really well, so he's actually running around and playing again. It makes me so happy to see him do bunny laps.

Lucy is no longer on medication for her overactive thyroid because the Hill's Prescription y/d Thyroid food has worked wonders and her blood test last week showed no sign of any thyroid problem. She must eat only the special diet food and nothing else, so I've put it in her treat box. As long as Lucy sees something come out of that little Whiskas box, she think's it's a treat and doesn't realise it's just her diet food.

I had some lovely gifts for Christmas, and a wonderful week-long visit from my best friend. I have a ticket to see 'Rent' next week.

I'm trying to stay positive and think of good things, but to be honest, the work situation is so stressful that it's difficult to focus on anything but that.

We have a new ginormous TV -- 65 inch! Go big or go home. : )

Kidlet is a delightful little person 80% of the time. And baby boy is doing well so I'm hopeful he'll stay put until my scheduled c-section.

My daughters are in an extremely cute phase now at 20 months old and are very cuddly. And sometimes even sleeping!

We're visiting Cuba next month!

Just started a 12-week, 3-nights-a-week program at the gym for overweight, out of shape ladies. I have high hopes that it will get my kickstarted and into the habit of going to the gym. I tend to be one of those people who disappears from the gym, so I am thrilled about the accountability of being in this group with nine other women who will notice if I stop showing up. Our first session was Monday night and it was tough, but I felt good!

I'm running a decent amount and about to go away for a weekend with 5 fellow runners to run a half marathon in Austin. Looking forward to it.

I took a nap on Christmas day. I woke up later that night with a horrible sore throat. I didn't really think much of it. Turns out it was the flu.

I ended up being the sickest I have been 20 years. I have also smoked a pack a day for over 20 years. I was physically unable to smoke for about 10 days. The coughing was so bad I was violently vomited when bouts of coughing occurred every few hours.

It was the worst thing outside of Epididymitis I have experienced. So you might wonder why this is a good thing. I haven't taken a single drag for around two weeks and I have no desire to start back up. The coughing was so violent and painful a switch or something flipped in my head. I realized there is no fucking way I want that to be my daily routine while I spend years dying from something related to smoking.

And Ricola helped with the oral stuff.