"Home for the Holidays."  I never thought a sentence fragment could sound so sweet haha.  It has a nice little ring to it though, right?  Anyways,  it's technically no longer the "holidays",  but in Pittsburgh, the snow just started falling and outside it actually looks  like a winter holiday should look.  Throughout the past few weeks,  I've been indulging myself in the most "By-The-Book" snowed-in activities.  Most notably:  A cozy night by the fireplace w/ a warm glass of milk. ("a warm glass of shut the hell up"-Ben Stiller in Happy Gilmore) along with a good book/movie.   See, I got this Espresso maker and when I get bored,  I like to steam milk and pretend I'm a Barista.  I even bought an apron that says "Kiss the Barista." ...(That was a blatent lie.  thank god.)  I think It's a shame though that  Starbuck's cups are no longer red and festive.  They've gone back to the plain old white. no big deal.  Whatever the case, the snowplows and salt trucks in my area have seemingly taken the season off so driving in this weather is something I've been avoiding most nights.  I learned the hard way last week while I was driving to the gym.  My car decided to go ice skating through a stop sign into a tree.  needless to say,  I did not make it to the gym that day. But, just like the festive red cups that morphed back to white..... no big deal.

         I watch way too much TV at night time.  I say night time because my eyes usually never fix themselves upon a TV screen before 11PM at night.   But, come late-night,  that shit is addicting!  I ALWAYS find something to watch and fall asleep to. It's become routine...  Thennn, at 3AM,  I wake up and catch the most recent infomercials and get sucked in (sometimes until the sun comes back!)  My favorite thing about infomercials is the narrater.  He has a famous patented quote that I crack up at just thinking about...... "BUT WAIT,  THERE'S MORE!!!"      -It's not uncommon to hear that statement 48 times in one infomercial.  And I love it.  Every time I think the infomercial's over,  there's ALWAYS more:).  Is it weird to say I don't really care much for TV shows because I'm too busy watching infomercials?  God forbid I ever dial the 800# though.  I never dial this number.  The products up for sale are never that cool, just the way they advertise them is.  Anyways, The only exception to my late-night TV watching is when the Steelers play at 1 or 4:30PM during the day or something like that.  but that's special.  I like the Steelers.  Other than that,  I am strictly a late-night TV watcher.  What a lovely quality.

            Lately, for some odd reason, even when my body isn't cold, my fingers might be literally freezing numb.  (like right now).  This is why I absolutely love a nice warm glass of "Shut the hell up."  It's pretty much a necessity anymore to keep my fingers from chipping off like icicles.  I think half the pleasure of drinking a steaming hot beverage is holding it to your nose and breathing in the steam before every sip.  "mmmmm" is the only acceptable reaction.  I also like steaming hot tea, cappuccino's, and oatmeal.  

           Whenever my fingers catch a break and my blood flows normally,  I prefer a few glasses of wine in place of  hot milk/tea/etc.  I've gotta make a statement though: Drinking wine in front of a sexy fireplace on a cold night alone is not good for one's self-esteem.  But then again,  you can always snuggle up with the fireplace.  After enough wine, flames can be quite seductive.  They sometimes even throw out a pick-up line or two.  

           When I was younger, my family had a cat named Milton.  He spent his final 3 years literally just sitting in front of our fireplace staring endlessly into the flames.  It was like he was hyptnotized.  Unfortunately,  at the ripe old age of 19 (yes, 19),  Milton decided to part ways with us and the rest of the world.  It was sad but it was kind of like when you read about a 110-year-old lady dying.  At first, the thought of death gives you that morbid feeling until you realize.. "110 years?!" What's to feel bad about that?  That's how it was with Milton.  He lived a much longer life than most kitty cats so I think everyone was just proud of him for sticking around for so long.  Anyways,  I came up with the idea to have Milton cremated.  I mean,  if you sit & stare into a fireplace for 3 years straight,  you must reallllly like fire.  Nevertheless,  We had Milton cremated and I think he's the happiest cat not alive right now.  

           Jumping back on track and going back to the beginning...  I really hope everyone enjoyed themselves over the holidays and treated themselves in every way imaginable.  Some of us depend on the good company of others.  Some of us prefer the treat of a peaceful night alone.  Whatever your fancy is,  I hope you had it and continue to in 2009.

-Dustin