Every now and then I look around at my life and start counting my blessings and realize that I’m pretty spoiled. It’s not every day that someone asks me what I want - but when they do I exhibit every bit of teenage wanton desire and pick out a few hundred items that I feel I really need. Wishing has never been a big issue for me. I’m not by any means a princess, though several of my customers refer to me as one. SBJ in particular. I realized a few months ago that I go through these periods where I feel that if I have just one more thing that I really super duper want that my life will be complete and I will be able to sit back satisfied. This tends to happen right at some crucial moment; taking a big exam that I know I will not do very well in, getting into a fight with a best friend, sliding behind on homework or any other one of my responsibilities, etc. etc. When I’m at my most content, however, I’m able to look at my life and feel totally and completely sated. It is usually at these times that I get flooded with all types of gifts and treasures and friendships and callers and calls and compliments and … well, good stuff.

I don’t always take the time out to express my gratitude for all of you and your gifts, tributes, etc. But I felt that it was over due - so consider this post one gigantic-normous Thank You Card from me - to you.

A while back while I was watching Oprah I saw what had to be the best collection of movies I had ever seen in my life - 90 of them - all from UA Artists and dating from 1940 - 2004. I knew I HAD to have this collection - after all, movies (and writing) are my life! I placed this collection on my wish lists stating that who ever bought it for me I would express my love to them on my blog and that I would promise to blog at least 3 times a week. Even this tempting offer didn’t raise many eyebrows - but finally SBJ heard my plea and asked me a simple question: Did I want it. Of course I said yes - but I did so with a certain amount of hesitation. This collection was very expensive and I really felt it a luxury - not one like let’s say a coach bag or a pair of (ahem) diamond earrings (which he also bought for me!) or anything - but a luxury still the same. I would not even be able to watch all of the movies at once - like I often run through series (over a long weekend) - this would be a collection that I treasured for the rest of my life. But I said yes - and a few weeks after I said the magic word - the collection was mine. Thank you so very very very very much, Scott, for this amazing collection of movies. I know that it was terribly expensive and that it was certainly not easy for you to come by (long back story) but I so appreciate your sacrifice in order that I should have exactly what I wanted. I will have no problem mentioning your name in my 3 posts a week and will remind everyone that they should thank you for the updates. (lol)

Along with the UA Movies I have also received: Cooking Mama & the New Super Mario Bros. along with the Nintendo DS Lite (Pink) and Organizer (also pink) from Mr. D., Hoyle Casino 2008,Rode Mic and Stand, 4 books (Podcasting for Dummies, Syndicating Web sites with RSS Feeds, PHotoshop CS2 for Dummies, Photoshop CS2 Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks), Popcorn, Popping OIl and Popcorn Maker, and the 7th Season of The West Wing all from SBJ, Nintendo DS Lite Travel Kit & 3 books (The Book of Bright Ideas, Saving Fish From Drowning and The Other Boleyn Girl) from Rolf, 2 movies (August Rush, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) from Alex, The Beekeeper (Tori Amos) Cd, Songbook: A collection of Hits (Trisha Yearwood), Mozart Edition: Complete works (170CD Box Set) and Bach Edition: Complete Works (155 CD Box Set) from Doc, Body Shop Shea Butter & The Book of Sonatinas from Karl in London, A divine white gold anklet & VS merchandise from Tiffy (yahoo!), and even Jack got his beloved Premier Busy Buddy Tug A Jug from Craig. (whew)

Brian, Chris, SBJ, Paul, Hardallday, footstool, Thor, Mathew, chburr, sweetdee, Mr.D.,Mike & Rick: Thank you all very much for your most generous tips and cash-ola! Very much appreciated and needed - especially when I had to take off a week from work in order to take care of my health.

This is not in any way shape or form meant to take away from the generosity of all the people who were able to send gifts and cash - but I do not want to ignore the fact that many of my customers call me - sometimes more frequently than they need to - in order that I live a very blessed and fruitful life. Don’t think for a minute, guys, that I don’t see the time that you spend with me - and the loyalty that you display by calling me frequently (and then some) as one of the biggest gifts of all. So thank you to all of my “die hard customers”: Brian, Michael, Danno, Chris, Thor, Shawn, Mack, Matthew, Mathew, Guitar Gently Weeps, Jerod, Rick, Tiffy, Kevin, Ray, bigdicforu, Jay, Catwoman fan, my sweet obama lover rockstar (speaking of BITTER! *wink wink nudge nudge*) and last but not least Copperlord. Please forgive me any omissions - blame my flakiness and not my heart, please.

So as you can see - I, CeCe, am “kind of ” spoiled indeed. I have been blessed to the moon, to the stars - and back again and I have all of you to blame/thank for it. Thank You from the bottom of my heart. You have blessed me, enriched my life, tickled me, softened my knees, elbows, heart - made me twinkle, bling and shine and engaged my mind in more ways than I could ever express.
My only wish is that I’ve somehow spoiled you all in return.

Many x’s and o’s.

Sometimes I look at Jackson and I turn green with envy. He has a great life. He gets to take me for a walk (still working on the pack leader philosophy but as of yet it’s not working!) daily, gets foot placed at his feet whenever he so much as whimpers, gets only the best treats that money can buy, has more toys than any other doggy I know (including Paris’ dog Tink), gets to lay around and sleep all day on nice pillows, blankies and beds and last but not least he gets to lay my arms and snuggle up against my boobies when he’s getting up from a nap and isn’t quite ready to terrorize the household. That dog has it made. No one has mentioned college to him, no one expects him to go off and get a job, he doesn’t have to pick up after himself and he can hump his various girlfriends in public whenever he feels the urge. My Jackson is living the dog’s life to beat all dog’s lives.

But today I came really close to topping his best day. With Jackson tucked under my arm I answered the door. Mr. UPS man was holding a nice plump and juicy box for me from LUSH cosmetics. I really favored PHILOSOPHY products for awhile - and before that Melis products (but they have discontinued alot of their scents - including Orange Cream Cake - YUMMMY!) so I was a bit hesitant to try out the Lush Products. But man am I glad I did! Their creams are to die for - so thick and yummy. I also got a lip balm from them that smells good enough to eat. (I did taste it and it has no taste - darn.) The best part of the package though had to be this stuff called Candy Fluff. Oh My Goodness! It’s dusting powder (talc powder) that comes in this little pink canister thingee - that smells like … candy. It smells absolutely sweet enough to drink/eat. I’m planning on washing my sheets in a minute - drying them - and then dusting them with a layer of this stuff tonight before I go to bed. It is that delicious. It momentarily jostled me out of my Gilmore Girls Heaven - and that’s saying a lot because I basically sleep with that series on now. I should have really waited until after my math final. *sigh*

So thanks again Scott for the Gilmore girls - and my Mister Pimp Lush Man who will be happy to know I added a few more things from LUSH onto my girlie wish list.

I better go for now. The TV is off - my bed is stripped and the laundry room awaits me. Jackson probably needs a treat, too, come to think of it. It’s been about 2 hours since he last had one and he tends to get a bit violent when I wait too long.

My cold is a bit better (thank you GOD for sudafed and vitamin C) and my teeth - well - I think they are straighter today - LOL. I probably should put my rubber bands back on though for the full pain dosage my Doc requires.

I’ll be logging on this evening around 9:00PM and will stay logged on till about 12:00 Midnight - maybe 1:00AM if my nasal passages are clear and open. LOL! Sorry - but breathing thru my nose is important during certain calls. I know you understand - or you’re having a fun time trying to figure it all out… *wink*

Talk soon…

Thanksgiving came and went with out a hitch - is that what “they” say? (who is THEY?) The turkey was absolutely delicious. My father found this recipe and he and the turkey grew quite close. Every day for 4 days he took the turkey (that was fresh) out of it’s frigid home in the refrigerator and slathered it inside and out with the salt. I was initially very concerned about the turkey being a bit salty - but surprisingly enough, it wasn’t. I don’t know enough about chemistry to really figure out what the salt did - but the juice in that little turkey was unbelievable…even the white meat was delicious - not dry at all! I had every intention of not over eating - but the food. Dear God The Food! The stuffing melted in my mouth. The pumpkin pie … God - it was heavenly. Then there was the mashed potatoes, which I created on my own with butter and milk and salt. Yum-my! My plan to eat well … well … yeah. After our 2 mile walk I had recovered. Recovered enough to have a 2nd piece of pumpkin pie. *sigh* I never learn.

I have a lot of things to cover. I know it’s been a long time between posts. Sometimes I think I do this on purpose - take days off between posts, I mean. If a lot of days go on by - then most of the time I have a plethora of topics of which I can choose from. I could, of course, write every day. I can write every second of every day - but the more I write the more real topics come out - topics that I don’t feel safe discussing in “here” all the time. Some things are private - too private for a blog, you know? But anyways - a lot of time has gone by between posts - and I’ve gotten quite a few remarks about it. Enough remarks for me to reconsider my posting habits on this blog. Also about a month ago I told a dear writer/editor friend of mine that I would take time out and write every day. I think that he might consider writing in this blog part of that writing assignment. I know I can just “check in” as Tiffy wants me to do - but nothing is ever “half way” with me. Even when I work … I have to put it all in there. Work the full hours. Or Not work at all. Though that has been getting better - I cut myself off by 12:00AM/1:00AM on most nights. But…well, I’ve discussed it before. Everyone who knows me knows my personality and discussing it doesn’t make my personality any less - well - manic. Like, take this paragraph for instance. All that needs to be said is that I’ll be writing in this blog at least 3 times a week. *sigh*

My birthday was an absolute success! My family spoiled me and if there was any bit of spoiling left to do - well - all of you took care of that! The gifts just keep on coming! There really is no quick way to do this - so hang in there - glance through this long paragraph for your name and after finding it move quickly to the closing of this post - it’s the little paragraph where I tie in the title to the rest of the post. In no particular order: Thank you Ron for the Stephanie Plum Boxed Set (books 1-3), Thank you Doctor D for the Candy Fluff Dusting Poweder, Chocolate Whipstick Lip Balm, Sympathy for the Skin Body Cream, Creamed Almond and Coconut Shower Smoothie and Dream Cream Body Cream all by Lush. The stuff is delicious and you were so absolutely wonderful for spoiling me so! Thank you to Rolf for the All In One Printer, Someone named anonymous sent me the complete series Everybody Loves Raymond - so thanks Mr. A. Um - My dear friend Greg sent me his favorite movie Pleasantville (Thanks so much!) Thank you to my sweet Tiffy for sending me MAC Pink Poodle, The book Wicked, Marbles, and a great VS Gift Certificate which I promptly used to buy matching prison stripe panties, sweat pants and a sweat shirt. Mike B sent me Alicia Keys newest CD, Scott bought me Gilmore Girls which I love SO much!, Dan sent me the Rhianna album Good Girls Gone Bad and man. There may be more gifts on the way so I’ll update again with the Thank Yous. I PROMISE!
UR, Mr. PP, Mama Tee, Ray, ScottA, Dave, Mack, Mr. HingOfHearts, Bob, Joe, Beno, and Martin - thank you all so much for your Happy Birthday Wishes. It was so sweet of you to take time out of your phone calls with me to wish me well on my special day. *time to prepare for the big closing…*

I don’t feel a bit older, really. But I feel a LOT richer this year - and not for the obvious reasons, sillies! Your friendship through this past year, the gifts and laughs and the incredibly big ears that listen to me - soak up all my concerns and dreams and fantasies. You’ve all been blessings to me - delectable gifts that I treasure. Thank you.

Yes - My birthday IS right around the corner. Tiffy seems to have been preparing for this day long before me … and to that I say - well, nothing. I just haven’t been that into my bday. I guess because my bday has always been some preliminary to Christmas. I never expected a lot on my birthday - I doubled up on the gifts during Christmas cuz of everyone’s guilty feelings for not having made such a big deal about it. My callers have proven themselves to be much more sensitive about my bday than my parents ever were… Thanks guys!

A while ago people were asking me what I really wanted for my bday. I even had a person who had never called me ask me what I wanted for my birthday. To use his words - what I “REALLY wanted” (ah tell me what you want what you really really want!) At first these requests after establishing an 8 page wish list seemed silly to me - but when I thought about it a few days ago I realized that my wishlist can read sort of like some crazy cryptic message. To me - it all makes sense. I can tell you by looking at any page of my wish list exactly what I was thinking about. I can tell you what classes I was taking - what caught my attention during that particular time of my life or school year or whatever. But from the outside I know it looks a bit - crazy and schizophrenic. So … here is the one and only bday post I will do (until next year.) I will put it on out there what gifts I would really like to have - above all the other presents on my wish list. I also went through my list today and removed a few things that no longer interested me (like the vibrators - cuz well - Mr. Hitachi wand and the little bunny makes all those other toys totally unnecessary!) Once again - these gifts are merely suggestions. Anything on my wish list will tickle me pink.

Ok … so here we go.

If you don’t mind the thought of me watching too much television when I should be working hard on my math homework - these dvd collections would thrill me completely! THE DIRECTORS- THE ESSENTIAL DVD COLLECTION is mega expensive - but hey… if you have a few hundred burning a hole in your pocket - you can indulge me and get it. Isn’t the case absolutely ADORABLE? THE BILLY WILDER COLLECTION is gorgeous, too. Also any MUPPET SHOW series - or best of collection would be cool beans! EVERYONE LOVES RAYMOND, I LOVE LUCY, GILMORE GIRLS or THE BRADY BUNCH would all be way cool too. Especially RAYMOND or BRADY BUNCH! If it would make you feel better to send me something to read - then THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, STEPHANIE PLUM BOXED SET (I don’t have any of them so please start at the beginning and purchase the first set first and so on… ), JANE AUSTEN COLLECTION or the ROALD DAHL Gift Set would be cool times a billion. There are also 3 (or is it 4?) POST SECRET books that I’ve been DYING to have. If you realize by now that I have plenty to read - and really want me to finish the recordings I’ve been promising for a year now - you can get me that really cool USB Microphone. If you want me to just write already and stop procrastinating my life away by watching too many movies - you can pick up any number of journals on my list - or hey - (a girl can dream!) buy me that Mac Lap Top I’m orgasming over. If you’d rather give me something more romantic or just want to spoil me a little bit - you can send me a gift certificate on Amazon and I can get some perfume or jewelry or lotion or whatever. And if you realize by now that music is my life - the new Itouch or the new Ipod 8 GB would suffice. *wink* Beyond these suggestions - anything that is on my wishlist (honestly) I would be happy to recieve. By now everyone knows what a movie freak I am - and how much I love Julie Andrews. A simple DVD of my absolute IDOL would be a sweet and truly appreciated present. Hopefully these suggestions will help all who asked. I see I’ve already received a few gifts from my list already and a few teasing emails from “secret” admirers telling me they are sending me things… and that I need to wait to open up the actual package on my bday. (yeah - right!)

I’m totally sleepy right now. NF went down right as I was speaking to Mr. Pink. (been a long time, mister!) - and it doesn’t look like NF will be up until way later. Jackson had another class today along with a grooming appointment and he wore me out. I hear him tumbing about in his crate right now - and if I stay up much later he’ll think it’s time to get up and play and ai won’t be sleeping until this afternoon. I’ll log in for a bit tomorrow - and Sunday - though I have a date with the Tiffers - and I think I have a date earlier in the afternoon with UR - Who is celebrating a certain um … Half a century event!

Have a great evening - thanks for the gifts and calls so far - and have a safe and wonderful day of Thanks - in case I don’t get back til after the blessed event. Hope the turkey isn’t dry - and that your relatives don’t drive you too crazy.

I have been so busy lately … I apologize for not staying on top of certain things. If it makes you feel better - I’ve been on the bottom all the way around. School work, House work, Laundry, Thank you notes, Wish list, Birthday announcements (yes - My bday is on the 24th of this month… presents are appreciated but not required) - etc. And then I looked at the calender and realized that Christmas is around the corner, too. How the hell did that happen? Maybe not so surprisingly enough - the only thing I seem to be “on top of” is Jackson’s training schedule.

I picked up some really horrible flu this past week. The flu left me with about a tablespoon of energy and about as much concentration. There was only one thing for me to do. I grabbed Jackson, a blanket, and the remote - and watched a 6 hour dvd special on the history of Broadway. I missed my calling. I shoulda been born a gay male dancer with a fabulous tenor voice. I know that’s probably a bit of unfair stereotyping there - but I think I’d have a much better chance on broadway if I were a tenor. Ok ok - a baritone.

This wonderous dvd special - courtesy of the original puppy before THE puppy Jackson was absolutely a godsend. Fosse, Chicago, Rent, Wicked, Chorus Line, ummm… Sweeny Todd (how horrible that musical is - and how absolutely SCARY! I MUST see it!!) West Side Story - and more! And the very best part? It was hosted by THE goddess of all Goddesses - Julia F’inAndrews!!! I suddenly felt life being returned to my limp body. As my feet started to dance along with the Jets in West Side Story this post came to mind. Music always has a way of transporting me back to reality somehow. Ok - I know that sounded really silly - talking about West Side Story and “reality” in the same sentence. I am well aware that the gangs in LA aren’t talking about “having their way - to niiiightttt” or some guy calling CeCe through the streets of some quaint Southern California suburb or whatever. I also know that most people don’t break out in song during crucial moments of their lives (though I can’t understand why they don’t!) - but musicals have always energized me somehow. They make things better. And musicals with great songs like “For Good” and “Glory” and “Seasons of Love” and even the corny “Climb Every Mountain”… well … if I’m lost and flailing about and overwhelmed…these musicals always bring me back to some pleasant day/time/feeling/situation or whatever.

So after the PBS church experience - I broke out my math homework and plotted points and solved for x and y in straight line inear expressions or whatever the fuck I’m doing in that class now. And you know what? I’m over it. I’m seriously over it. I’m over school. I’m over even trying to motivate myself to go. And I don’t think it’s because I’m depressed - I just … I just don’t want to do it. And I know that I should push myself to do things that I don’t necessarily like because life is hard and part of growing up is doing things you don’t necessarily like and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah times a trillion million - but GOD DANG. I hate that shit. It feels like such a damn waste of time. Would I feel that way if I were taking a class in let’s say - writing or something? I don’t know. Am I willing to try it out for a semester? I don’t know yet. But I’m tired of Math. Just thought I’d say that. I really don’t care what x and y are.

So anyways - the title of this post? I broke out the ipod the other day and listened to Cassandra Wilson’s version of Cyndi Lauper’s classic Time After Time. Cassandra sings it so eloquently - so dark and deep like thick fudge that is just starting to cool and harden. Her voice just wraps around you and that song is just so beautiful anyways. The song seems to echo the type of friendships I’ve learned to treasure. It comes so easily - slowly and deliberately, you know? Pretty soon you’re wrapped up in lovely tones and voices. Everything is just as it should be. And you wondered why it took you so long to listen.

No promises, ok? But I’ll try to write more often. I really will try.