There are pounding sounds coming from the fireplace.

It's actually more like a booming sound. Like the neighbor three stories up is opening and closing the flue. Or there is some kind of beast knocking around in there. Now, if I HAD a neighbor three stories up (my building only has two stories) I wouldn't be as mildly concerned as I am. My disposition is such that I am pretty sure I could convince myself that whatever it is that is making that noise is animal and not in a good way. Like a rat. Or a huge spider from the Amazon that came back in my neighbor's suitcase. But Rational Joyce says it probably isn't, and I've seen my neighbor and really doubt she would travel to the Amazon. So I have decided that walking away from the fireplace really is the best solution, since I am not really sure if my own flue is open, and every time I try to check I come away with black, sooty hands and I don't like that. So I walk away. And blog, like I said I would do more of, and haven't. So here I am. Blogging. Wow.

Today I am meeting that Tracy, who is quite pregnant, and going to the Gem Faire (love that extra "e" at the end there. It almost makes you think the vendors will be wearing pointy hats with flowing fabric and knickerbockers and knee socks. They won't be, I've been to a Gem Faire before. They're just wearing regular clothes). I like to go because now and again I stumble upon some good crystals. I think my spiritual side is lacking and I need to beef it up. Plus I haven't seen Tracy since she caught pregnant, and it'll be fun. I hope she doesn't like collapse on me or something. She's been working crazy hours and though everyone tells her not to, she isn't much listening. I worry about pregnant women working too hard. I'm not pregnant and I get tired just talking about it.

I have noticed we're in a baby-trend right now. I have some friends and co-workers who have either recently had babies or are currently pregnant, and it seems every event I go to lately is baby-themed. This isn't a bad thing, though I have never been maternal (well, there was that one time in Louisville back in the mid '90s, but that could have been the alcohol talking). Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like had I gone down that road. But I don't really wonder for very long because the very idea of it horrifies the crap out of me. So we'll leave that to the people who would put their children's need for shoes over their own personal desire for a new handbag, and leave it at that. We're all individuals.

I hate to bitch about the cold, what with the midwest going through a ridiculously cold winter, temps in the minuses for a high and all that, but it HAS been pretty cold here, too. Luckily no precip (which means it has been sunny, and that is good for me and my psyche), but still, I don't wear a coat when I know it is going to be either sunny or not raining, and at 7am in the cold dark of morning I just freeze my ass off waiting for the car to warm up (driving 55 mph down Murray usually kick-starts it). But my house retains the cold and right now I can barely feel my fingers. And the heat is even on. It's hard to not be sick of it.

So I am looking to rebuild my non-work-related karma (my work-related karma I think is looking pretty good right now) and trying to do more stuff with friends. I mean what few friends I have left (I'm not bitter, it really is mostly my fault, what with the whole hermit thing I have going on here)(well, wait, you know what, it really ISN't mostly my fault, it really all started with somebody else, and then just sort of continued from there, perpetuated by me deciding to only drink in other countries and not really wanting to be involved with the person that started it all though my other friends did. So I won't PIN blame on anyone, it just is, and that's totally fine with me, like I said, I'm not bitter). Facebook has been kinda cool, being back in touch with people from days of yore, and some of those people are actually nearby, so it's kind of fun thinking about taking it to the next level. The "next level" being face-to-face chatting. Interesting.

So my goals for right now are interact with the people I WANT to interact with more than I was before, blog more, crystal shop at the Gem Faire and work on my not-work karma. Not in that specific order, but, you know. Oh, and go to Mexico. I need to do that soon. I have like 4 readers left. I had more when I was actually traveling. And maybe I should cut down on the Saturday morning caffeine, because frankly I am a little afraid to go back and proofread this post. It might be a little all over the map.