Linda called and my bow is here. I get to try it out tomorrow. I'll be trying different arrows to find the right spine and weight before I make new arrows for this bow.

I found great gift wrap this year. I have Star Wars Clone Wars, Batman and this really cool blue and white snowflake motif. Too bad I couldn't find Star Trek gift wrap. I would have bought that in a heartbeat. I'm unapologetically geeky.

Still figuring out what I want to do for the Solstice. I'm thinking maybe a fire outback and dinner under the stars.

We have Christmas Eve at Mom's and I really need to figure out what I'm bringing and my grocery list.

We went to a dear friend's birthday party on Saturday night and it was so much fun. It was like a warm-up to the New Year's Wickerman Party that they throw every year. Most all of our archery crowd was there, as well as other friends so the place was packed. It was weird to realize that we knew most of the people there. That's a sharp contrast to a few years ago. Todd throws a great party. We all love Linda so it was awesome to celebrate her birthday with her. I had a couple of heart-to-heart chats about life stuff with Chabi, Kim, and Mar and it felt so good to connect on that level. It was kind of a recovery milestone for me too. This was the first time EVER I felt really comfortable in this type of social setting. I knew there would be alcohol around so I brought my O'Doul's Amber to have something in my hand in case my social anxiety flared up and it felt weird for the first minute but then I started chatting and sipping my NA beer and I forgot all about alcohol and social anxiety and I had a great time being a part of it all. Huge milestone especially in light of how stressful the last couple of months have been with Kerie.

I've nearly finished all of my shopping. I did most online this year. Kerie came and spent the day with us yesterday and we cached a bit, went out for lunch and then decorated the tree. We continue to encourage but we are doing well stepping back and letting go. If things start to feel overwhelming, I go back to philosophy.

Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so. -Marcus Aurelius