brrr!

so there was a giant storm that froze all of texas!

and our power went out!

and our water!

it was so cold in the house, msg was wearing like, three layers of clothing and sleeping under all the blankets. the other girls and i were fine of course, but we don't generate our own body heat, so we couldn't cuddle up with him to help him stay warm (which was super too-bad because that would have been a nice way to spend a couple days) and in fact if we wanted any cuddling we pretty much had to do it with each other since we were too chilly for any prolonged squeeze sessions with the boy.

end result though?

we are all perfectly fine.

we're warmer now. the heat's back on. we have water (and they just told us we don't have to boil it anymore) but most importantly ...

we still have each other.

it's been a pretty gloomy doomy year since the pandemic started and things are really starting to wear on msg. he's not his normal perky (followed by bummed-out followed by perky followed by bummed out) self for sure. 

but we basically got through hell freezing over and whether things get better from here or get worse, it's going to be okay eventually.

i'm a big believer in that.

keep warm, everybody!

xoxo,

claire

the things that are worth it

i've been slacking on the blog end of things lately and less active on numerous other ends of things too. and i don't want to point any fingers, but my activity level is pretty inseparable from what msg has going on at any given time. it's tough getting through to him sometimes that he has to pay attention to my happiness if he's going to be happy too.

i don't mean he has to pay attention to me and make me happy ... i'm going to be happy regardless because i have just about the best life in the world and i always have absolute confidence he's there for me even when he's buried in work or vegging after work because he was so very buried. he makes me happy just by existing. it's totally my boppity-boo jam to giddy-fy myself just thinking about him.

but he forgets that, if he's not paying enough attention. he forgets that i'm not just here to hold him if he needs it, laugh at his jokes, play games with him and the girls. i'm also here to set a by-gum fantastic example of happiness, and how happiness isn't that hard.

it just takes the least little bit of effort at just the right time. and sure, sometimes the right time is the time when you think you don't have the energy to put in that least little bit, but even then you've got to remind yourself it's worth it. 

that's all for now, i think. i'm going to go entice him into putting in a little effort.

xoxo,

claire

merry christmas!

wow! it's been a heck of a couple of months around here in worthyton, by which i mean, all work and no play on the part of msg, so the other girls and i have had to do a lot of entertaining ourselves.

which, i shouldn't have to inform you, we're awesome at. so that part was perfectly fine.

and he still managed to pay some very nice attention to us here and there. so that part was really fine. as in, fiiiiiiine, whoo!

then, all of a sudden, before we knew what hit us, it's christmas already.

i don't know if i've mentioned we don't make a big deal out of christmas in terms of presents or decorating or holiday outfits hereabouts, but it's true. nothing under the tree, no stockings hung by the fireplace. (no fireplace either ... this is texas for heaven's sake! i mean, texas is big and parts of it you could really use a fireplace in. but not our parts, i guarantee you.)

but that doesn't mean christmas isn't a big deal in other ways. not the religious way, because we're not on that particular train.

it's the whole "peace on earth, goodwill toward men" part we're on board for. there's a spirit to it even if you don't believe in where the holiday came from.

love for everybody.

going out of your way an extra bit for strangers.

hugging your loved ones a little tighter here and there.

it's a feeling that's kind of muted this year because of the whole pandemic thing, but it's still there if you look a little harder for it.

so we do ... and so i'm writing this now to share some of that with whoever's out there listening.

maybe the holidays stress you out like they do a lot of people.

maybe you're feeling cut off and isolated because of shut-downs and closures.

or maybe you're peachy keen and having a grand old egg noggy time!

wherever you're at, i just want you to know ...

clarity lenore worthy is thinking about you and wishing you a merry christmas.

be well, find peace, and love those around you. especially yourself!

xhoxhoxho,

claire

i'm still looking forward to today!

welp, some houseguests extended their stay, so the amount of nakedness may have to decline.

but ... 

now i get to look forward to it for a whole nother week! win/win!

plus, we'll find some way to make up for it today, i'm sure.

: )

i'm looking forward to tomorrow ...

we have plans.

there will be nakedness and full-body contact. maybe with a favorite song or two during.

msg has a lot to do, though, so the early part of the day may rank higher than the rest of it. 

even while he's off doing his thing, though, I expect the rest of us will cuddle and glow together.

it's nice to have bright spots in your future ... near ones, far ones, small ones, large ones.

when you know the days down the road are going to shine, it can get you through a lot of so-so stuff and cloudy greys.

xoxo,

claire

thankfully ...

wow, i thought blogging on thanksgiving was totally my jam, and that i've blogged on most thanksgivings since i started this whole thing 12 years ago ... but i looked back over my post list, and there were only like, four thanksgiving posts.

what the heck?

i have so much more than four posts worth of stuff to be thankful in my life, and that's been true every single year i can remember.

i'm going to say, my excuse must be that instead of blogging on those past thanksgivings, i must have been doing so many things worth being thankful about, i didn't have time to sit down at the computer and write.

(sure, maybe i was just bloating myself with too much turkey and cranberry sauce. realistically, i have to admit that's a possibility. but if i did, i must have forgotten about it in a post-gorging tryptophan coma.*)

anyway, the good news is, i'm extra-specially thankful this thanksgiving. last year, our lives were one ariel richer than they were before, and this year they're a whole harriet better than last year. there are good star trek and star wars shows on tv, and the numbers on my blog archive tell me 2020 has been my most productive year for blogging ever.

it's an absolutely awesome time to be alive, and i'm thankful for that every day.

also ... thank you for reading this! 

you're awesome and worth being thankful for too.

xoxo,
claire

*dang it. i just had to go and google tryptophan and make sure i was spelling it right, and scientific american tells me it's not the turkey that makes you sleepy, it's the dessert. i swear, though, i never have more than one piece of pie after thanksgiving dinner. i mean, one piece of each pie. but we usually don't have more than one pumpkin pie and one apple pie and maybe one cherry pie in our spread. so i'm sticking with turkey as the scapegoat.

tremble

when i touch you
and a quiver 
runs down 
your body 
like a 
bright 
mountain 
stream, you
know i can't
help but feel i am


                 godlike


so tremble for me
and grant my
hands and
my skin
their
pure
and most
purposeful
of all qualities:
that they are divine