I have a guilty pleasure.

Darryl: I told her Santa would be here.
Michael: Yeah well I was told Holly would be here, single and ready to date, and we all got misled. 
Pam: Who told you that?
Michael: Nora Ephron...in every romantic comedy ever made!

I laughed so hard at that last line while watching The Office the other night because of the truth embedded in those words. In a romantic comedy the guy always gets the girl or vice versa, and they live happily ever after. Now, in my head, I know that is not how relationships operate in the real world. Life is much more complicated or so much more simple than in the movies. 

However...

My romantic-loving heart sighs when the music swells at the end of the move and true love conquers all obstacles. I can't help it. No matter how sappy the story may be, I love to snuggle up on the couch and treat myself to a good dose of romance every once in awhile. My favorite movies consist of stories about the journey people take on the road to love. The storytelling side of my brain creates imaginary romantic plots all the time. Nothing fancy, mind you, but they make me smile. Pride and Prejudice, Ever After and While You Were Sleeping are my favs with strong female leads who are not afraid to be intelligent, humor sprinkled throughout, interesting plotlines, and, of course, happy endings. What more could you ask for in a romantic comedy?

I don't know if this romantic side of me comes as a surprise to some; it's not something I advertise to the world. It is simple another facet to a multi-faceted human being. Besides, even those who realize the practicality of keeping their feet firmly on the ground like to occasionally dream with their heads in the clouds.

My nails are pretty weak.

My hands have never been my favorite feature - they are too short and stubby. So, I try to keep my nails looking nice to somehow compensate. It makes sense in my head. However, this is not an easy task to accomplish. It seems that when my fingernails grow to a certain point they then start to chip and break off fairly easily. I have tried to use the nail strengthening polish, but my nails just scoff at that tactic. Also, I tend to pick at them when I'm nervous. I will go into a theater to see a movie and if there was any tension or scary scenes, I walk out with far shorter fingernails. The thing is I don't even realize I'm doing it. My subconscious seems to take my uncertain/nervous/scared/anxious feelings out on my nails without my express permission. I wish I could have a few words with my subconscious mind, but that is pretty much impossible. The subconscious by definition is what happens mentally while an individual is not aware. How can I talk with a part of myself that I am unaware of?

Anyway...I think I have found a semi-solution. My nails stay pretty/longer when they have some sort of polish on them. Of course it has to be a light shade or else they show chippage way too easily, and that would defeat the purpose of perpetual prettiness. (If you want to know how much you use your hands during a regular day, paint your nails a dark shade of red. Trust me.) Thus having nail polish on my nails helps me feel better about my hands. There is also a lingering suspicion in the back of my mind from my childhood. When I was a little girl, I thought that if I chewed my nails while they had nail polish on them, then I could be poisoned by  it if I happened to swallow some. Like I said earlier, it made sense in my head at the time. Therefore, my subconscious is less likely to fiddle with my nails if they have polish on them because it might bring harm to me. It may seem silly, but hey, whatever works. Having pretty-looking fingernails helps me feel pretty. It's the little things in life, ya know?

I took a vacation.

I took a vacation from my job and from this blog for a while. My brain needed a break. And I had a lot to occupy my time and attention while the SoCal Risingers were visiting during the holidays. I figured they deserved most of my attention. Okay, let me rephrase that: Amelie deserved all my attention.  I had to fit a lot of Auntie time into one week! Though it was a lot of fun, I think I need a vacation from my vacation now. I was talking to Mom, and we figured out that we have pretty much been going nonstop since Thanksgiving. Looking back on all the various activities and work projects that have filled my days for the last month or so, I realized why my body, mind and soul are tired. It's a good thing I had all my lists to keep me organized or I would never have survived the holidays. Now, I'm slowly but surely getting back into my normal routine, which is nice. A week in a cozy house in Ireland would be even nicer :)