The Trials and Tribulations of the not-so-New Bear Icon

✬One more day of work before Christmas tomorrow. My excessively grinch-y overseers are closing the office early, but instead of being nice and just giving us the time, they asked up to get up early and come in early so we can still work our full shift.

The company I work for has a similar demanding tone with little recognition for your effort that I experienced at Target many years ago. Thanks to lack of planning, we've been on "mandatory overtime" this entire year. Still, they refuse to bring in help, or acknowledge that the upturn in volume is anything more than an aberration.

Happily for us, we are so loved. My boss, who after several months still doesn't know what we do, came around with an envelope stating that it was a bonus for all of our overtime. I opened up the envelope and saw a laminated card with some words of thanks and blah-blah-blah, then signed by our Senior Vice President. I looked back in the envelope looking for a gift card or something...nothing. The card was it.

Makes you feel like the effort to go above and beyond is so worth it.

❆I have a couple of words to mention about James' (jamesbeary) funeral services. First thing, it was very, very cold last weekend. The graveside service was pretty miserable, both for the reason and the cold.

In a way I felt like more of a placeholder for all the others in the bear community who couldn't be there. In some ways i felt like I didn't know James all that well. Chris and I seemed to be there more for support for urso than anything else. There weren't a whole lot of bears at the ceremonies, and the service itself seemed to gloss over this part of James' life. Really, the only member's of James' family that really talked to us were his nephew, Eryk and his wife, who greeted us with "so you're the bears?" Eryk was the one who was emailing, IM'ing and texting people about James' passing, so he seemed to be the only one who knew the range of people who James had touched.

Only the couple of eulogies provided during the service seemed to capture a little about James. The nice-but-formal pastor seemed to be on autopilot for the service.

It was also interesting being in a room with so many deaf people. The hands and arms were gesturing wildly. Urso could pick up things here and there and Eryk could converse as well, but it was tough trying to mingle with the crowd when you can't say much. It made for an odd afternoon.

✯I've had a couple of nudges saying that I should post more, and I should post more of my political rants. Really, I keep up with politics, but man have I been burnt out on it. I may have to give a new opinion for the presidential race, but really, don't we just wish that it was time to just vote for 2008 and it it over now? Do we still have ten months to go?

❄Otherwise, it's a quiet Christmas here. Chris is busy cleaning the house while I've been extra lazy. We were trying to figure out what to do for christmas dinner between the two of us, and it pretty much comes down to the the fact that I really can't cook much. I really should learn to cook more than Rice-a-Roni. Though I do love Rice-a-Roni. Having shopped early and already given Chris his gift, there's really not much to be done, otherwise. If I could come up with some time off during the christmas season some year, perhaps we could plan to actually travel, but for now we'll just be at home.

Since I was way too lazy to get out Christmas cards this year, I'll just have to tell everyone here that I wish them a Happy Solstice (belated), Happy Haunukka (also belated), Merry Christmas, Meaningful Kwanzaa, and observant Hajj, and we'll see you around New Years.

☆Chris has already given me one gift. He got me a membership to LA Fitness. He's been motivated seeing as I've been going to the gym at work for the past year and a half, so now he's trying to get into it as well. We've gone together a few times, but I get to choose between our little gym at work and the new LA Fitness across from the Baptidome.

So far the eye-candy hasn't been all that, mainly because the LA Fitness location is new and doesn't have a lot of members. Personally I wish it would stay that way. Fewer people to see how winded I get doing laps in the pool (besides the fact that I'm in the pool in the first place). The nice thing about the gym is that it has more equipment than the gym at work.

❆Personally I'm ready to move on to 2008 and see if we can take a few more risks and make a few things happen. It is once again a time for change, especially in the work life. Heck, with less TV to watch, maybe I'll work harder on getting my resume into the right hands. Perhaps some good could come out of the writer's strike.

First I'd like to thank ESPN2 for their World's Strongest Man Marathon today. Love it. I'm hoping Kevin Nee and Josh Thigpen will continue to do well for years to come (because they are hot!), and please, more events in the water that makes these guys lose their shirts!

Wow, 2006 ended fast, didn't it. For a year with so much change and turbulence in the world, you'd think it would have seemed longer. Of course the political landscape changed, somewhat for the better as it seemed people started to wake up, but the damage that's been done will take years to fix, and in the meantime I'm sure there will be plenty more problems that come from the actions that have take place over seas and from our horrible domestic policy.

Entertainment seemed to be playing it rather safe this year where many movies seemed to be made by committee and music seemed to be re-treading the same ground. A few risk-takers got noticed, like the Dixie Chicks and Scissor Sisters, but it didn't always show in album sales. Still I enjoyed the Magnetic Fields, MorningWood Snow patrol and Belle and Sebastian. I still love BNL, but the newest album didn't totally wow me.

Movie standouts included Casino Royale and Cars, but what, there were six or seven movies with singing and dancing animals this year? Borat was funny, but will it hold up over the years? Heck, I can barely recall other movies I saw this year. Pirates of the Caribbean II? Better than the first, but that's not saying much.

I read more books than saw movies. I think the outstanding book was the biography of John Adams by David McCullogh, while I wasn't as excited about Son of a Witch or The Devil Wears Prada which made a better movie (not saying a lot there) than a book.

Television had a really great year, as more shows took big chances. I really love shows like Battlestar Galactica and Lost that continue to blur the lines on just who's a good guy and who's the bad guy. I'd have cancelled HBO if it wasn't for Big Love which made for interesting complications to the family drama. I found myself enjoying the campy fun of Ugly Betty and the new Doctor Who. I seem to have a love-hate relationship with Heroes which can be fun but also full of holes in both story and characters.

Moving to Dallas was an interesting thing, I'll admit I was expecting a lot, with friends and the city that didn't always come through. I guess I found myself to be a lot more closed-off and shy about the new surroundings than I thought I'd be. Truly, I stick pretty close to Chris in most of my social situations here, which doesn't make me really do well with going out of my comfort zones. Going out to meet people or stay at home? I'd likely choose to stay at home. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that I really haven't developed strong ties here.

My trip to Boston was the highlight of the year and I loved being there and loved the city and it's people. I loved going back to Austin City Limits Festival again, and enjoyed several acts there, as well as meeting new people. I look forward to our planned cruise next year, and maybe I'll be able to squeak out a weekender trip somewhere as well. I guess I need to get back down to Houston again soon, as I really miss some of the people and places there. Over the last few years I've found out how much I love to travel and hope I'll get more opportunities.

It's been interesting developing the relationship between Chris and I. I had to get used to living with someone again, as it had been years since I'd had a roommate or lived with family. It's very different living with someone who you have a close relationship. Roommates, if they are having a bad time, or are depressed, there's a detachment you can have, but the same is not true when it's your partner. I still think that we both have some work when it comes to communication - especially about being clear with each other when we have a problem with each other, our habits and our likes and dislikes. Personally I need to work on being better about showing affection and not staying so stoic like my father.

Of course Joey the dog is great, except when she hogs the sheets in bed.

I took a step back with my career. It's been troubling me, and I feel like I'm working more to get out of the situation and move forward. That means looking for new opportunities and trying to make the most out of a bad situation. Still, I'm being though highly of by my co-workers, and occasionally by management, but I've found that there's a big disconnect between managers and their employees. It really troubles me and I know there's so many opportunities for improvement that they are missing just because they don't notice what's happening beyond a few numbers. While I'll continue to look for other opportunities, I think I can make my mark in 2007 by working on improvements and making suggestions for training and growth.

I'm also finding out how much I'm really spending, and didn't quite make the changes needed when my income lowered. I really need to work with Chris in getting things in order, and look for places I can save some cash. I wonder if I can make up some of the difference with more overtime this year.

My biggest improvement this year was getting into the gym. I do a few hours of cardio and some light machine weight each week, and it's been easy with the gym in the building at work. I like to say that it's the best thing about my job. I lost 40 pounds this year, and I think I look and feel better because of it. Now I don't look like a World's Strongest Man contestant by any means, but I'm trying! I've been disappointed in the last couple of months as I really have plateaued, but hopefully in 2007 I'll break trough a big and work to get my lovehandles under control!

So, what's up for 2007? Really, working on my relationship with Chris, I love him and I need to be a good partner for him. I need to work on my career, as I know I can do more and be a a great asset to my employer. I need to expand my fitness goals and do more to improve my health and work to make my body the way I'd like to see it.

I need to take bigger steps to be a better member of the community, and not isolating myself. Maybe I need to take up a hobby or join a group that gets me some exposure. I need to try to see if there's something I should be doing in life, maybe it's my mid-life-crisis, but I feel that there's something missing, mostly from a career and maybe artistic place, and I really need to discover what that is. I also need to do better in keeping the connections and friendships I've made over the years. There's no sense losing out by not interacting when it's easy to do so.

That's a lot for a year that will probably go by just as fast as this one, but I'll try. All that and working to survive my 40th birthday this coming summer...what a year 2007 will be!