We went to MN for Thanksgiving to spend time with Michael’s family. His brother, Shawn, his wife, Marcie, and their new baby, Kiera, were a delight to spend a few days with. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner (thanks to great recipes from Real Simple). I am actually impressed with how well it turned out. It’s good to know I can follow a recipe. I got to spend some quality time with my brother (who helped me shop) and had a great day/night with Dad, Audrey and Joe. Sadly, Dad and I lost Pictionary, but Joe and I dominated Catch Phrase.

Now it’s back home. I have been trying to overcome my laziness or perhaps fear of studying for my S66. I actually took a test last night, so hopefully I can keep the ball rolling.

The other thing that has been occupying my time is my renewed interest in my Kabbalah studies. I began (and even talked about it on this blog) back in Nov. of ’04. In May of ’05, I was reading a book, God Wears Lipstick, but I was also having HUGE personal problems. I just stopped reading. And even though I still wore my red string or read my Daily Tune-Up, I wasn’t practicing Kabbalah in any real way in my life. I’ve come to realize that I just wasn’t ready at the time. Michael and I went to a Kabbalah class a few weeks ago and everything has changed. We were having a very rough time in our relationship and the class opened the door for us to finally figure out what was going on. Subsequently, I picked up God Wears Lipstick again read the whole thing. AND it made sense! It made sense in a way I would have never understood back in May of ’05. I would have never been able to grasp the concepts.

Michael and I joined a bi-weekly study group and we are really enjoying it. We are also committing to read other books for at least an hour a night. I have to say, my behaviors have been changing for the better and I can feel it in my day to day life. It feels great to understand they ways in which I can make my days good or bad and actually see that happen.

Maybe it’s all a little preachy to some of you, but I don’t care. I feel really good. All my gloom of October is gone. My relationships are stronger. I’m happy.

One of my biggest changes (maybe you noticed via my links on the sidebar) is my gossip site diet. I am now 1 week gossip site free. I realized reading Perez and Dlisted, etc every day was just feeding my horrible tendency to judge. And boy, do I love to judge. I also realized that in my head I think “Well, those people aren’t real. It’s not like I am judging my co-workers or something.”But it all is the same. Whether it is Britney Spears or Jody, it’s all the same. Plus, it was a gateway drug-It’s not easy to spend all day reading those sites judging people and then turn that off when you go out in the world. I realized I couldn’t go to the big freezer without judging 99% of the people I saw. It’s just not healthy-for me or for the people I do it to. Not that I am perfect. I still slip and judge, think bad things. But I’m trying. I know that counts.

Random pic: