morleyroarly | Happy 2007 - time for a hiatus! (Reply)

New Year's was great - we had a party at Freakbase Pittsburgh to celebrate, with about a dozen folks in attendance. It was a "choose your own theme" costume party and people definitely got into the spirit. Photos forthcoming, if I have the time/energy to post them ;) We listened to lots of groovy James Brown, ate delicious chocolate tort and gouda and pizza, drank gin bullets and beer from the newly installed basement kegerator, and set off a smattering of fireworks in the backyard to mark the calendar turnover. The late night crew went for a long walk through the streets of Carrick, finished with a stroll down the lane of one of the three local cemeteries. The view over the rolling hills covered with rows of with rain-dampened tombstones and wintery trees in the full moonlight was truly spectacular.

Things here in PGH are going well - I'm settling into the 40-hour workweek, I'm dealing with the job okay, and the house is in great shape.

avocado_tom and I worked all day Saturday and Sunday to get the house in order, and the end result is amazing - the party helped the house feel really warm and comfortable! We rolled up the (IMHO hideous) rug in the living room and now we can groove on our hardwood floors, and I discovered an ingeneous new lighting solution for the bathroom that really makes it shine. That plus sound in the basement, xmas lights around the living room and office ceilings, and a general state of cleanliness that has been long overdue makes for a very happy and comfortable Morley. I feel like I can finally stretch my legs and feel at home! It's lovely!

Things with Tom are going well - we're working hard to improve our communication and get down to work planning our wedding. We've had a really rough first few months, and I deeply appreciate his patience and understanding. Moving forward in 2007, I'm hoping to shake out the funk a bit more and really do the best I can to be open, honest, respectful and caring in our interactions. We started things off beautifully yesterday with some quality snuggling and watching 3 episodes of the new Dr. Who while eating leftover chocolate torte. Capped off with a massage, I felt quite the lucky girl :)

In other news, I've decided to take a vacation from livejournal. Lately, updating has felt like an obligation rather than a joy, and my time to mess around on the computer is rather limited (I REALLY try not to do any of that at work!). I'm not terribly fond of communication via text only (except for you, Jonathan - you get an overseas exemption!).

From now on, if you want to connect, I highly suggest you pick up your phone and give me a call. I am getting tired of always calling my west coast friends - I know I'm far away, and I don't want to bother people if they're disinclined to keep up long-distance friendships. I've made quite a few phone calls that have gone unanswered, and that saddens me. So I figure I'll put the ball in your court - if you want to talk, YOU can call! I'm generally available to talk between 5:30pm and 11pm EST (2:30pm and 8pm PST) weekdays and anytime on the weekend. If you don't have my number, email me at morleyroarly at gmail dot com and I'll send it to you. You can certainly continue to email me as well, but even email can be daunting these days, so phone is best.

Basically, I'm excited about getting off the computer and getting down to business living my life here in Pittsburgh. Walks in the neighborhood, checking out local restaurants, meeting new friends. Here we go Pittsburgh here we go...!