Taureans: Stubborn, creative, not sure about the pink thing

So it's almost that time of the year, the day when I turn one year older. This year, it's the big 3-4. I don't even want to think what the odometer of my life turns to next year.

Anyway, I came across this "Taurus: Fun Facts." I will admit it...I am one of those who will occasionally read my horoscope...sometimes with amusement...sometimes with panic (and in those instances, I wish I hadn't checked it that day). But with the fun facts, I thought it was worth a read in order to see what is and what isn't accurate.

Below is the description from from msn.com (http://bit.ly/G8Y5j)...I haven't decided yet where I come down on all of the traits. But the bf will be glad to see the Ireland is on the top of places I should visit...though I don't agree with most of the "perfect gift" list. I'll get back to you on the rest.

Taurus: Fun Facts
Strong, dependable Taurus leads the way when it comes to reaping the rewards of hard work. Lovers of everything that is fine and beautiful, Taureans surround themselves with material gains. This is a sensual, tactile sign. Touch is very important in everything from work to romance. Stable and conservative, Taureans are among the most reliable of the zodiac. While sometimes viewed as stubborn, this sign will plod along on a task until the very end, ensuring that everything is up to standard. They're highly creative and thoroughly enjoy making things with their own hands.

Friends and Family
Domestic affairs are very important to the Taurus. Values surrounding family are usually strong and fixed to the point where the Bull will do anything to protect them. Intelligence and a good sense of humor make this sign great company, and Taureans are often sought for advice on the practical way of doing things. Once a friend is made and trusted, this relationship will last for a lifetime. They're loyal and always willing to lend a hand. In fact, many friendships for the Taurus start in childhood. Promises and oaths to others are taken seriously. Time spent with family members is also prized. Taureans adore children, and will be the first at family events such as reunions and holiday gatherings. They love to entertain in their own homes and don't think twice about having a house full of friends and relatives to celebrate life's events.

Career and Money
Stability is the keyword for this sign. The key phrase for Taurus is "I have." Taureans love money, and they're not afraid to work hard to get it. On the job, the Taurus is dependable, patient, and thorough. Once they set their minds to a project, they will stick with it until completion, regardless of how long or complicated it might be. Taureans are on time, up for almost anything, and diligent.

A sense of one's values is a huge motivator when it comes to the Taurus. Second to that is the love of the rewards that follow hard work. Because members of this sign love to surround themselves with material finery and enjoy the better foods and luxuries that life has to offer, work is very important. It is the means to an end - and the Taurus is always aware of this.

Taureans are excellent managers of money. They will pay their bills on time and will keep a reserve tucked away. On occasion, you can see some overspending, but this is only once in a while. The Taurus will plan for the item they desire and save until they have the additional resources to attain what they want. Careers that suit this strong sign are farming, banking, medicine, education, and building.

Love and Sex
Be prepared to take your time when it comes to the Taurus lover. Exceptionally sensual, touch is most important, and being rushed in any way, shape, or form is not going to turn this sign on. Mates are often from the same status and social circle able to match the Bull's intellect and desire for the better things in life. Expect affections to be shown through material items - the Taurus is a great gift-giver.

TAURUS TIDBITS:

Health
Each sign has a part of the anatomy attached to it, making this the area of the body most sensitive to stimulation. The anatomical areas for Taurus are the throat, neck, ears, vocal cords, thyroid, tongue, mouth, tonsils, and the lower teeth.

Ruling Planet
The ruling planet for Taurus is Venus. This planet's action is gentle and harmonious. It governs beauty, charm, emotional contacts, possessions, unions of all kinds, singing, art, culture, sweets, and moral character.

Color
The color of choice for Taurus is pink.

Gemstone
Taurus' star stone is the Emerald.

Lucky Numbers
Taurus' lucky numbers are 2 and 8.

Compatibility
Taureans are most compatible with Virgo and Capricorn.

Opposite Sign
The opposite sign of Taurus is Scorpio.

The Perfect Gift
Soft fabrics, floral scents, cookbooks, flowers, candy

Likes
Gardening, cooking, working with hands, music, romance, high-quality clothing

Dislikes
Sudden changes, complications, insecurity of any kind, synthetic fabrics

House
Natural sign of the Second House. This house focuses on values, freedom, earning ability, possessions, and inner and outer resources.
Famous Taureans
Randy Travis, Jack Nicholson, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, David Beckham

Best Travel Destination
Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia

Strength
Dependable, patient, musical, practical

Weakness
Stubborn, uncompromising, possessive

Charismatic marks
Solid, big bones, tendency to gain weight

Best environment
A secluded home close to nature. Good food is also important. Beauty and comfort are a must.

Random inspiration VIII

Today's entry includes quotes on writing:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. ~Douglas Adams

You know how it is in the kid's book world; it's just bunny eat bunny. ~Anonymous

The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any. ~Russell Baker

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. ~E. L. Doctorow

There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money either. ~Robert Graves

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. ~Mary Heaton Vorse

Being the patient

There are many tests throughout a relationship, especially when it is somewhat in its infancy...or at least before you're officially cohabitating full time. One of the tried and true tests is when one of you truly has to take care of the other.

The bf and I successfully survived this trial this past weekend. Of course, it probably went so splendidly since he was the one taking care of me following outpatient surgery on Friday. He made sure my every need was taken care of and looked after...and the best part, all without irritating me.

I'll be the first to admit I'm didn't think I would be the best patient. When I'm not feeling well, I have one of two reactions: (1) I either want to be completely babied and my every whim indulged or (2) I just want to be left the heck alone. And the best part of the challenge...this can vary from minute to minute.

The bf was able to adapt to my changing multiple personalities and widely varying levels of pain and discomfort. God bless him.

The only time I think he took things a bit close to the edge was when I walked into the kitchen on Sunday morning, and he had set out all of my medications on the counter with a glass of water. I felt a little like I was either five or 95.

But all kidding aside, he took very good care of me, and it just makes me love him more. I just hope when the time comes for me reciprocate that I'm up to the challenge.

Card-carrying member

In the most hypothetical form, I'm all for the concept of a holiday that celebrates the love that two people share. But as I've progressed through my life, I've become less and less of a fan of Valentine's Day (and don't even mention Sweetest Day in my presence; it's just a plain dumb, completely fabricated holiday celebrated in a couple random states).

This sign pretty much sums it up.

It's a day that only the card companies, flower shops and candy factories truly benefit from. But hey, flowers wilt and die and who wants to be part of a science experiment on how many fillings chocolate can possibly have. Not I.

If you're a person who only really tells the person you love that you really love them once a year, you need to have your head examined.

Your love should be shared with your partner on a daily basis - in your actions, your words, your touch - not just on some crazy holiday with an arrow-shooting, half-naked character as its mascot.

So I'll carry my card proudly!

P.S. Luckily, my bf is also a card-carrying member of the Anti-Valentine's Day Club, for which I am extremely grateful.

So I skipped a month or so...

I was going to try and post some greatly inspired, detailed post...since I haven't posted in a while...but the inspiration ran out. So instead, just a couple of inspiring images I randomly located:

Because I love sarcasm

Where can I get this type of job?

This is how I feel most days.

My 12 days (or at least favorite things) of Christmas

Christmas is hands down my favorite holiday of the year. Dare I say it, but it's even better than my birthday.

There are many things about the holiday that I love, so since I didn't start early enough to post a "12 Days of Christmas" list, I will post my 12 favorite things about this jolly holiday.

12 - My favorite holiday cartoon is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." And no, the bad Jim Carrey movie does not count.

11 - Special holiday dinners with my dear friends. For some, it's the only time of the year we actually get to sit down, relax, enjoy a glass of wine and share our joys of the year.

10 - My favorite Christmas CD is "Christmas with the Oak Ridge Boys." I grew up listening to it, and my sister and I both love listening to it. I'm enjoying it right now.

9 - Wrapping presents. And unlike every other previous year within memory where I did all of the wrapping by myself, the bf staged it perfectly for our first holiday season as a couple. The only light was from the Christmas tree. Holiday music was the soundtrack for the afternoon. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine and a nice plate of cheese, crackers and fruit. And he helped me wrap my gifts. It was the ideal present wrapping experience.

8 - My favorite holiday movie is "White Christmas" - the music, the storyline, the humor, how hopeful I feel while I'm watching it.

7 - Lying on the living room floor looking up at the Christmas tree.

6 - Sled riding. I know this is a general winter activity, but I associate it with Christmas. Spending hours outside sliding down the hill and then schleping the sled back to the top to do it all over again. (The only year I didn't enjoy it so much was when I put the sled through one of our basement windows.)

5 - Building a snowman, complete with coal eyes and mouth, carrot nose, scarf, twig arms and a nice hat.

4 - Picking out the tree at the tree farm. My family hasn't done this since I was in high school or early college. It was one of my favorite things growing up. We would all go the the tree farm together and spend what felt like hours picking out the perfect tree.

3 - Wrapping paper fight. My family has the best way of celebrating Christmas. As far as I know, it dates back at least 58 years (since that's how old my dad is). We all go to midnight mass together, which this year is a true test of dedication to the sanctity that midnight mass should take place at midnight (not 9 or 10 pm like a lot of Catholic churches have started doing). This year the closest church to my parents' new house with midnight mass is 45 minutes away.

So back to the tradition, we go to mass, drive home, run into the house and change into our pajamas. This is critical...no gifts can be handed out to anyone until everyone is in their pjs. My dad hands out gifts from the haphazard pile under the tree. And then it starts...THE WRAPPING PAPER FIGHT. It continues through the entire present-opening time. I told the bf to make sure he works on his aim. He claims he won't wing one at my mom, but just wait until she gets him first. Then I'll have to believe it will be game on. After gift opening, we pick up the mess caused by the crumpled up wrapping paper balls. We watch a family movie and eat chips and dip (only Lawson's French Dip), and people start drifting off around 4 am. It's the best way to celebrate Christmas ever. And I've repeatedly and repeatedly told the bf, technically it is Christmas Day when we unwrap!

2 - The munchkins. Not that my family members aren't all kids at heart, but we will be celebrating our second Christmas with my neices, the Bomba munchkins - Olivia and Cassie. Last year, they were less than five months old, so all they really did was sleep. This year, they will have napped in the car and at church, and we're anticipating they will be their regular maniac selves tearing open boxes and generally just running around the house. Plus, that's two more targets for the crumpled wrapping paper balls.

1 - My favorite thing this year is simple. I get to spend it with the bf. It's our first Christmas together, the first of many to come. He's already made it perfect.

The next step (and no, not the kind with a shiny diamond in a pretty velvet box)

Ah, that dreaded milestone in a relationship when it’s time to meet the significant other’s parents. I’ve heard the horror stories from others about how the first meet-and-greet went horribly wrong with no ability to recover from the disaster – hence leading to the eventual demise of the relationship. I’ve also heard about the opposite where the newly introduced party and the parents instantly become BFF.

So when I was scheduled to meet the bf’s parents this past weekend, I was hoping for a happy middle ground between those two extremes – ok, maybe leading a bit more towards the later – not the BFF part, but at least mutual likability between all involved parties.

Now, he met my parents about three months ago. Though my family isn’t that big, it did involve about 15 people for a cookout at my parents’ house. My family can be fairly loud and boisterous (though much of this might be attributable to them reacting to my obnoxious personality) – and so I figured what the heck, I’ll just throw him into the middle of that and see if he sinks or swims. Now, I wasn’t as ruthless as that sounds. I did prep him fairly well on the different personalities that would be involved. And of course, he was his usual charming self and was well received by all. (I think this is probably best demonstrated when after all of us helping my parents move a couple of months later, my brother-in-law asked, “Can we keep him??”)

Anyway, back to me meeting his parents. In mid October, he first broached the subject of introducing me to them, and with everyone’s schedules, this past weekend is when everyone was available.

Now I met both of them briefly at this year’s Easter church service, but it was under the guise of “Meet my friend, Kate. She’s attending service with me before she goes to her parents for dinner.” (In his defense, though we were dating at that time, it wasn’t too serious yet.)

So this past weekend’s meeting would serve as the first “official” meeting where I would be introduced as “the girlfriend.” Now, while I just threw him into the shark tank when he met my parents, he decided to be strategic about the introduction to his parents. He announced that the four of us would meet at a restaurant and partake of dinner together.

He anticipated that this approach would be potentially less stressful for everyone than dinner at his parents’ house. And since he had been nice enough to inform me a couple of months ago that his dad has never really warmed up to anyone he has previously dated, I was very appreciative to his attention to the details of the meeting, and his desire to set up a situation where things were more likely to succeed.

Though I tend to be pretty fearless, I will admit that the ominous warning about his dad was enough to make me feel more than a little stressed from time to time in the weeks leading up to the meeting. I knew that it was important to the bf that they like me, so I really wanted to do right by him.

So with all of these factors added to the mix, my goals for the dinner were to:
1. Officially meet his parents
2. Try and enjoy the evening
3. Not say anything inappropriate or too obnoxious (both of which can be challenging for me)

and…………
4. Not have them hate me

I will admit flashbacks to the 2000 “Meet the Parents” movie were frequently reoccurring in my brain. I was hoping it wouldn’t be some crazy version of the movie, which had the tagline “First comes love. Then comes interrogation.” Now while no one was asking for anyone’s hand in marriage, I was hoping it wouldn’t involve the suspicion, covert background checks and the famed lie-detector test showcased in the movie.

So how did it go? It went very well. We met at this great restaurant in North Canton called Main Street Grille. They seemed genuinely excited to meet me. Conversation was good and engaging from all parties. Appetizers, dinner, dessert and a couple of glasses of wine were all enjoyed at a nice slow, relaxing pace. The bf and I drove home from dinner feeling good about the evening. And I was especially relived because there seemed to be a foundation laid for potential, long-term likability.

My relief was further bolstered a couple of days later when the bf called with the first-hand report from a phone conversation with his dad and an email from his stepmom. Apparently, they liked me.

Well, no need to worry, there's plenty of time left for me to screw things up, but for the foreseeable future, I'm good. We'll see how Christmas goes when I meet the other million members of the family.