Home Alone on Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving, and a beautiful one, at that.

The sun is bursting through the windows as I type.
The birds are singing sweet melodies that fill my ears and bring a hint of a smile to my lips.
The air outside is the kind of crisp that takes your breath away and leaves you feeling like anything is possible.
My dogs are lying at my feet... and on my feet.
I have a warm cup of coffee in my hand (which is complicating my typing abilities), it's aroma making my soul feel content.


And through a series of events related to work,

I am home alone. 

Some people say that it is a sad thing to be alone on the holidays, because the holidays are about being with/giving thanks and appreciating your family. 

And my thoughts on that are: 

Do I have something in my teeth?

First dates are without a doubt the best and the worst things ever.

You know that feeling where you are getting ready and just feel so great about yourself?
And then you know how when you smudge a little mascara on your eyelid and you tell yourself that you "knew this was a bad idea" and that you "never even should have considered going on a date in the first place"?

Then you resort to thinking up every possible excuse to cancel that doesn't sound cliche... and the best you can come up with is that there is "laundry that needs to be done... like...you know...
urgent
...laundry."

Then you remember that you are really interested in this person you're about to go on a date with. (Not to mention, you came to realize how lame your excuse was... Laundry? Really?)

So, you finally tell yourself that it will all be okay. Just be yourself! Smile! It'll all work out.

... then you look back in the mirror again.

GAH!

*Remove smudged mascara* Okay. Okay. They are supposed to like you for who you are as a person, not your perfect, or in this case, imperfect, makeup.

Let's focus on something different. Clothing! You need clothing.. duh. This will be easier than your little makeup fiasco, right?

No bones about it... or in this case, a lot of bones.

Alrighty, let me set up my most recent endeavor for you:

So, we left the California coast and all of its tan-ness and headed northeast on our slow journey back home.

The Salton Sea was our decided destination. This “sea” looks more like a very large lake. What makes this body of water a sea? Well, I’ll tell ya why. See, it’s salinity can become so high at times that it’s salty smell overpowers that of the ocean. To add to its incredibly strong smell, there are times where its salinity rises even more so and makes it impossible for the fish to survive in their usual habitat. Where do all these dying fish go, you ask? Why yes, you assumed correctly. They all wash up along the shoreline… thousands of dead fish along the salty beach.

But no worries, the time we decided to go, there were no dead fish. So that was nice.

Now let me draw you a picture of my experience at the Salton Sea. A very funny experience…