Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Day 27

All house plants are present and accounted for, AND the three Christmas cacti are actually blooming...I know that's what you were all desperately wondering about:)

Also, for the record, I just had to look up the plural of cactus.

So, I'm almost a month back into the single life, and this is what I have learned...

1. Meeting good dating candidates in your 30s is considerably harder than in your 20s. The pool is smaller, my bait is getting stale, and the fish that are left have some serious mutations and contaminations going on.

2. Breaking-up right before the holidays can make a person sad, cynical and angry. Of course, this could also be a combination of the break-up, the stressful holiday season, and the winter storm I've been driving around in for the last few days, but I think I have to finally admit to myself that getting inordinately angry at the vending machine for not taking my dollar, or hating every happy couple that passes by might have a little something to do with the whole single-again phenomenon.

Although, for the record, the vending machine SHOULD take my dollar bill, no matter how wrinkled, faded or torn up it is!

3. I'm still not ready to meet someone. I want to be ready, I should be ready, I'm ridiculously tough on myself for not being ready, but the idea of going out and trying to meet someone, or, more accurately, sitting at home and emailing strangers online, is painful and scary, and leaves me with the feeling like I'm cheating, which is annoying because I have a right...nah, an obligation! to move on.

4. The holidays, with their oh-so-jolly parties, and gathering and get-togethers, and pot-lucks, and sit-downs, and happy-hours, and open houses, and group lunches, and fancy dinners, and treat-sharing, and gift-exchanging are considerably less fun when you don't have a significant other to drag to them. Plus, why do we stuff ourselves with so much food? Are we trying to fill our stomachs, or the sad little holes in our heart? Remember, little elves, cookies can't love you back:)

5. Driving on an overly congested street during a snow storm is not the time to be sticking your arm and half of your head out the window to try to clear the snow off of your windshield that you were too lazy to brush off before embarking on your little drive. This really has nothing to do with being single, and it wasn't me that was doing this, but rather the guy in the car next to me on yesterdays drive home, who kept swerving into my lane.

And in that case, I think my anger had more to do with utter human stupidity than anything else:)