I've had two days with nothing major to do for the Auxiliary- yesterday I printed and mailed some certificates to my Division Commander, but that only took a few hours in the morning. I spent the rest of the day running some errands, like picking things up that I need this coming week, going to the post office, etc. Today, I have to dye my hair and pack. Tomorrow, I am going on a five day cruise with my girlfriend. A real vacation! We are going to Freeport and Nassau.

I guess just printing some certificates feels like nothing because in November I finished two newsletters and the same for October. To get those out, I was in 'overdrive.' The day after I return from my cruise is our Change of Watch (change of command) ceremony, one of our two big annual events, and the certificates are for that. Of course, I will attend that too as I usually end up being the event photographer. My photos are ok but not brilliant. Just how creative can one get with 'grip and grin' shots?

The woman I am going on a cruise with is someone I have known for about seven years. She is also in the Auxiliary and we have been on two cruises together already. I spent Thanksgiving with her and her family this year, and I am working on maturing this friendship.

I am also going to focus on developing a closer friendship with a woman from the Red Hat chapter that I belong to. She is a virtual bubble of happiness. Nothing seems to get her down and she is caring and supportive. I have held both women at arms length these past few years, afraid of deepening those friendships for fear of being hurt. They are nothing like the women who hurt me! They are independent and successful women whom I can like and admire as much as they like and admire me. They have no reason to be jealous of me, which is something that was a factor with my former friend, K.



I happen to have a photo with both women in it! Recently, my AUX girlfriend joined the Red Hat chapter that I belong to. This was the first dinner/event she attended during which she became a member. She is seated next to me, and next to her is the bubble of happiness that I mentioned.

Well, it is off to dye my hair and pack! I will catch up on posts during the course of the day.