The Ex-Boyfriend Chronicles and Holiday Planning

Yay, it's December 1!  I'm ready for December.  It's not like I have amazing holiday plans or anything.  In fact, my parents (Dad and Step Mom) are heading to Nebraska to see her sister, while my brother and sister head to their spouse's locales.

I'm considering two different holiday options but leaning towards number one.  The first option is hanging out here at home and not traveling anywhere.  My sister's husband's family lives in the Bay Area, so they will be here for a few days, but I'm not close with his family and wouldn't likely attend their Christmas gatherings.  I'm hoping we'd meet up at least a couple of times, though, and I would look forward to seeing my niece and nephew and giving them their presents.  I've been invited to a friend's for Christmas day.

The second option would be to drive up to Oregon again and hopefully catch my brother and family a time or two around their familial visits.  Of course I would love to see my baby niece, Vivian, again.  And I could see my aunt/uncle and cousins/family on my birth mother's side, including my Grandpa who is getting older and has been recently ill.  But the drive up is sounding horrible right now, as well as being apart from Zoey again.  I could try and take her, but I'm not sure how she would travel at this point.

Staying home, getting a little tree and doing lots of Christmasy stuff around here is sounding better and better.  And I could spend time with S, as well (I'll share more about that little situation later).  Yet, it might be kind of lonely right around Christmas Eve/Christmas without family.  Which option would you choose if you were me?

Everything's peachy on the Zoey front.  She is lagging on learning the "Down" command, likely because I've been inconsistent in my training.  I signed up for a training class for her on Saturday mornings starting mid January.  She's getting spayed around that time, as well, so it will be a big month for her.  She still loves playing fetch and is getting more focused and skilled with it.  For instance, she doesn't run off mid fetch to sniff something as often :), and when she comes back she kind of tosses the ball at my feet.  It's very cute.  We still love our cuddling on the couch and watching TV time, during which she's swaddled in a sheet and so adorable.

I'll end this post with an update on the "S Situation."  He and I have continued to spend time together and talk, though we have had our ups and downs.  For instance, this week he chose to have a friendly dinner with an ex. :(  Not the ex-wife that caused us to break up but an ex-girlfriend who did cause stress and strife in our relationship before.

The good news is that he is "showing up" more in terms of communication, and we have actually moved forward on counseling and narrowed our choices to two.  We are strongly leaning toward the one who has Non-Viol.ent Commun.ication experience, since this is a tool we know and use in our relationship.  In our separate phone conversations, we both really liked and felt comfortable with her.  Our first session may be as soon as this Friday!

A final confession:  S and I recently became "intimate" again and because it was around ovulation time, guess whose mind wants to ruminate about possibilities?  But since we "tried" for several months without success last year, and my age considered, of course the odds are extremely low.