Hola!

And much gratitude to my commenting readers for talking me down from the ledge, where I teetered precipitously for a few days on the verge of jumping to my death into the 365 Day WordPress Blog Challenge.

Whew.

Now that I am back inside, sitting on my bed, dizzy, nauseous but alive, and (hopefully) back to my senses, I feel renewed and reset and now can contentedly blog when I feel moved to, and on the days when my Inspiration Meter is trending toward “EMPTY,” spend my time re-fueling rather than coasting on fumes.

So, deep bows to you all.  Gracias.

So…… Short synopsis of the Holiday seems in order.  Here goes: Cookies, fudge, stuffed shells, pasta, Grand Marnier, wine, beer, champagne with hibiscus flowers. Repeat this list 6 times, fast.

Also: house guests, yoga, yoga nidra, 750 words, and books. And when house guests left, Pajamas played a starring role. There were also multiple “Mandatory No Underwear Days” and “When WAS the last Time I Showered??” days. And did I mention books were involved?  That famous and ubiquitous and teetering stack on my bedtable? Gone….poof!

Well, not gone exactly. Shall we say, transformed? Yes.  From inert objects with the potential for wisdom and joy, into embodied wisdom and joy (that’d be me.)  My “Stim Meter” reading is now decidedly FULL.  I topped off my tank, actually.  (I know you’re not supposed to do that, but I dig the smell of those wisdom fumes when I drive away from the tank.)

Now onto ¡Presents!

Lots of ¡Presents!  Every Xmas we try to abide by the following formula:

1. Something you want.

2. Something you need.

3. A book.

4. A surprise.

That’s it.

(I stole this piece of genius from Ellen Blais.)

What these rules do is set parameters, or guidelines, or as I like to think of them, “velvet ropes” that (hopefully) keep out the “impulse buying” riff-raff.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but most of the time, it does.

Something I (we) wanted, and actually bought ourselves: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America).  Love it!  All the leftovers in my fridge are now labeled in Spanish and I don’t even have to pop the lid to know what’s inside. “Arroz: 1/2/11”  And I now practice rolling my rrrrr’s during dog walks with my “perro loco.” A Costa Rica vacation beckons.

2. Something I need: Great coffee from My Starbucks Angel in Oregon. (i.e. Emily.)  I know for some people great coffee is not a NEED, but more of a WANT, but for me, it’s a definite need.  The best part of waking up is definitely not Folgers in my cup. *spit, gag.* Need Great Coffee!  Need: Fulfilled!  In spades!  Some seriously exotic beans are being ground in this house.  Espresso machine working overtime.  whoah.

3. A Book.  This is where the velvet ropes were breached a bit, and this year the *gasp* award went to the over-sized print book of Barnett Newman’s paintings from Ira.  Beautiful!  Delicious! Inspiring! Also, my friend Rick Dale self-published his poems and sent me a copy.  Mucho cool!

4. A surprise. The Purple (Animal) Dyson Vacuum.  I know a cleaning utensil brings with it a mandatory Life Sentence in the Doghouse, but holy man, you know how much I needed this???  You ever visit and sit on my couch and then have to use the sticky roller on your way out? Then you know. And secondarily, do you how much these puppies COST???  I considered buying one a few months ago, but got “sticker shock” and decided to soldier on with “The Boss.”

Xmas was dissembled the day before New Year’s Eve, and then the PERIOD OF REFLECTION AND ANGST began as I reviewed my resolutions from last year and pondered 2011.

That is the subject of the next post, though.

Buenos dias! Ciao!**

** My friend Louise, who has traveled extensively in Latin America tells me that NOBODY says “Adios” in Latin America.  They say, “Ciao!”**