it's true. i'm already looking forward to the start of baseball again. i've been reading what few trade articles i can find, downloading highlight clips from old games, and dreaming of my seats out in left field.

i don't actually know what it is about baseball that's got me (check that ... me, my mom, my dad, my girlfriend, and my best friend) all smitten for the sport but i'm finding any other athletic endeavors tiresome to watch. football? well, yawn, okay. basketball? uh, no thanks, i have to wash my hair. hockey? i liked that one once, didn't i?

thank gawd for SportsCenter. condensing an otherwise boring competition into 30 seconds sure makes it more fun to watch. except for basketball. why is that sport as much fun to watch as a cheap executive desk toy?

but i digress.

what i really mean to say is that i love baseball in all its hot-dog-and-a-beer, smell-of-freshly-cut-grass, goddamnit-i'd-better-catch-a-foul-ball-this-season glory. i don't really have much else to say on the topic.

i do have other things to say on other topics, of course.

we brought home our Christmas tree Tuesday night. it's a very plump, full douglas fir. the whole place reaks of it. something about that smell wakes up my holiday cells. my blood is, right now, pumping to a "Jingle Bells" rhythm. Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg...

the wreath my mom bought us is also hanging on the front door. it looks beautiful. (pictures forthcoming.) Corinne put a couple small, fake trees in our bathroom, plus a slightly larger one on the kitchen table. oh, and a winter candle display for our bedroom. she's has a full box of other trinkets (stuffed Santa Claus anyone?) but i think she's tempered her love of the holidays to accomodate my desire not to have our house look like a Macy's window display. on crack.

speaking of my girl, i must say this relationship is something entirely new and good for me. we're well into our second year and i do believe either she's getting more beautiful or i'm opening my eyes wider. i feel more alive, more connected to the world, more happy, more me, more comfortable while still getting all butterfly-y every so often. she's great. and living with her, which may have been a little rough at first, was the best decision i ever made.

what i find interesting is that we fight less and less the more we're together. and certainly not out of complacency. it's either because we're understanding each other more or we're trusting each other more. whichever, it works.

oh, and i don't mean to make it sound like we fought a lot in the past but i am a stubborn old goat who's sometimes quite difficult to get along with. so there's that.

in other news, my job is fine. having had a deadline and a bit of work hanging around to keep me busy lately, i'm yet again realizing that without a challege, i tend to get antsy, anxious and generally unhappy. i'm becoming better at creating challenges for myself when there just isn't anything else to do, though. the fruits of some of that manufactured work is turning out to be quite a boon. i'm nearly six months ahead of where i would have been without it, my designs are much more sophisticated, and i think i finally have a plan to combine, simplify and mature the application's user interface, and finally bring our software into the modern era.

go me.

there have been other things occupying my head and my time lately. Thanksgiving was especially good this year including a "top secret" crazy hat walk through the woods after dinner. the Costa Rica trip is entirely booked and we're just tweaking some finer details. i still haven't painted or fully unpacked my office but i did order a new computer after fighting with my old one once too often.

but i've blathered on too long already and so i'll just have to save tales of those things for another day.