Mornin' Sunshine!

I woke up at 6am just as cheerful as can be. I'm not complaining, it's just that typically I'm unable to muster any sort of real excitement until sunrise, at least. Sometimes even later than that. To top it off, I had nightmares last night, which usually aren't followed by crackhead-esque hyperactivity the next morning. Again, not complaining. Just wondering who injected me w/ pure sunshine while I was sleeping & why don't they do it more often?!?

This weekend is looking to be pretty fun, so I'm glad I have the good mood to match! Our first plan is to attend the Chinese New Year celebration taking place in Jacksonville this morning. Every year we say we're going to go, but never do. This year we made sure to write it on the calendar so we wouldn't forget b/c it's the year of the dragon & it seems any celebration that includes dragons will be awesome. (Year of the monkey would be fun, too, but we have to wait until 2016 for that one to come back around.) My besty & her kiddos will be attending with us, so it's guaranteed to be a good time.

My youngest nephew's mom called yesterday & asked if I wanted to watch little Mikie for awhile today. Now that she works mostly weekdays, I only see him once a week or so. After having him 5 days a week, it's been tough adjusting to not seeing his crazy little mug all the time. So I told her we'd pick him up this afternoon. And since we'll have Mikie, we'll have Trin (obviously), and we have a new camera to play with, what better way to spend an afternoon than taking pictures in Lithia Park?! In one day, we'll have spent significant time in the town of rich conservatives (J'ville) and the town of rich liberals (Ashland). Both amazingly beautiful settings for picture-taking, too. Which means, this blog will most definitely be updated this evening so I can share my favorite photos of the day.

After a Saturday like this, what greater way to round out the weekend than by having a Super Bowl party minus the Super Bowl?! It's been our tradition to either plan or attend a mild, little shindig on Super Bowl Sunday, complete with nachos, snacks, and beer. But since none of us are particularly interested in watching football, especially when several of our friends will be posting play-by-plays on their fb walls, we watch movies or play board games. Most folks we know (and/or their significant others)actually want to watch the game, but my besty will be here & it's always a good time when her & I are hanging out. We see each other at work during the week and have our Monday evening "date night" most weeks, but weekend friend-itation is pretty rare & therefore awesome.

Prior to the anti-Super Bowl celebration, I'll be attending a meeting regarding the future of the Rogue Book Exchange. RBE is a non-profit that operates a free book exchange here in town. The folks who currently run things are ready to move on, but they want to pass the torch so that it can continue to flourish. Trin & I love to visit RBE when we get a chance, though we've been sticking more to the library b/c her bookshelf is bursting at the seams & she refuses to let go of any of her books. But I would be incredibly sad to see something as great as the Rogue Book Exchange shut down. I doubt there's much I can do to help, but I'm going to the meeting anyway b/c you just never know. Also, I don't want to be one of those people who says "I really love this organization" but never do anything to get involved in keeping it going. Sure, I'm just one person and my contribution might not be much, but if everyone adopted an attitude of involvement, they'd be shocked at what could be accomplished.

I think it's time to stop typing & start getting ready for the day. Since there will be pictures snapped, I think I'm gonna put on some makeup. It's been MONTHS since I've smeared my face w/ cosmetics & I think today might be a good excuse to shake things up a bit.