Wowee, it has been a manic couple of weeks...again.  I seem to vacillate between being too busy to post or too bored.  Silly me.  Well, here we go.

At the beginning of the month, my grandma for whom I am named went into the hospital because she was having a lot of trouble eating and as much as I should state all the details, it's really hard to think about, so I'll skip to the end and say that after a week in the hospital and a lot of issues, she passed away.  It was sad, but I know she's in a better place, and my mom and her siblings and my grandpa made sure she was never alone, and she went away in peace with grandpa holding her hand, so I think it'll be okay.  I was a little annoyed that I found out via facebook...in fact I was pretty upset at the time, but I'm over that.  I'm more upset about my grandma being gone.  When I saw her laid out at her rosary, all I could think was that wasn't my grandma.  I mean, it was, but she didn't lie down like that, she was always active and alert and looking after all of us.  The pictures made me feel better, because that WAS my grandma.  I was sad, and I cried a lot at different times, certain things set me off, and I'm still sad when I think about how I won't be able to see her anymore, but I know she's at peace, and she's watching out for me, and all of us.  The priest made me very happy by calling her a lovely and gracious woman, because that is exactly what she was.

In the meantime, the rosary and funeral meant everyone would be gathered together, and even though I prefer weddings and baptisms and anniversaries, it was nice to see everyone.  I love my cousins.  And my cousin Matthew and his lovely wife Jayna let me play with their new little one, Janie Lou, which helped me get through a lot of the rosary.  My wonderful sister-in-law got me through the funeral.  I have a great family, and I have to admit that I'm pretty lucky.

Family news aside, I'm pretty lucky in other ways.  The job still treats me pretty well, though this new car management assignment is a bit too ambiguous for my taste, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.  I got my bonus and my raise, which is always the awesome part of the year.  I have to meet with the head cheese tomorrow (take that however you like), but I think it'll be okay, I just need to look nice and bring a notebook.  Jack and Heather had their birthdays, Jack liked his present, I still need to mail Heather's, but since she has yet to mail my Christmas present, we figure everything will get where it needs to go soon enough.

The other wonderful news is that I have a boyfriend now.  Eric asked me to make plans with him for Valentine's day, and for the first time in almost 27 years, I will have a date for that particular holiday.  He's also been supportive and sweet while I'm missing my grandma, and he plans to spoil me.  For the first week, it almost didn't feel real, since it was something I dreamt about so many times.  But it certainly seems to be happening, and I feel so happy I can't stop smiling sometimes.  I keep waiting for someone to come up to me and flick my ear and tell me to knock it off.  I just adore him, and I don't always feel like I deserve it, but apparently he does, so I will defer to him.  Expect to be totally annoyed by our cuteness.  I plan to make everyone vomit with sappiness.

Now go listen to "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole and feel the way I do.