OLTL—Wed–1/12—John wants answers

Jessica and Brody, and Natalie and John admire their new babies.

 

Marty is agitated and tells the nurse, "She's trying to steal my baby."

Now that everything has settled down, John is pushing Natalie for the details of why she and Marty were at the lodge.

Natalie starts to tell John what happened, but prefaces the confession by saying she loves him SO much, and he needs to remember that.  Just as she is about to tell all, Marty escapes from her room and bursts into Natalie's room saying she needs to tell John the truth.  She babbles on, telling a story that is some truth, but with just enough nonsense, that she is not believable.  The nurse calls for security, and Marty is eventually returned to her room and sedated.

Blair walks in on Todd and Tea in their bedroom  (WHAT?!?!?!)  She wants to know if Todd knows anything about the portrait of her she found in the box left by Eli.  Todd says he doesn't know anything and finally gets her to leave.

Joey heads over to the Palace Hotel to confront Aubrey.  Cutter comes out of the bedroom and tells Joey he is Aubrey's brother!  Joey wants to know why Aubrey never told him she has a brother.  Cutter says it is because he is the black sheep of the family.  But Joey asks him to explain the photo and he offers an explanation for that also.  Joey is SO gullible, he believes everything Cutter says.

Dani and Starr try to get into the jail to see Nate, but Detective Price says no way, and besides, visiting hours are over.  James shows up with food for Nate, so Dani takes it to Detective Price so that Starr and James can have some time alone.  He gets a call from another girl and it is uncomfortable for Starr.

Joey comes to La Boulaise and tells Kelly, Cutter is Aubrey's brother and from now on, she is to stay out of his life.  Dorian takes one look at the magazine photo and tells Kelly, "If that is her brother, I'll eat this wig."  She tells Kelly to immediately begin an investigation of Aubrey.  She also tells Kelly, "We are Cramer women—we don't give up!"

Natalie finally gives John her song and dance about how she and Marty ended up at the family lodge—and he believed it!!!

Marty is still babbling, but now has been restrained to her hospital bed.

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL

      

OLTL—Tues–1/11—"She is really scaring me."

John rushes to Llantano Mountain and arrives at the Buchanan lodge.  As he approaches, he hears Natalie's screams and bursts through the front door.  He is surprised by what he finds, to say the least!

After Kelly shows Joey the photo in Maintenant, he still doesn't believe Aubrey is cheating.  In fact, he is angry Kelly is trying to interfere in his life and actually accuses her of working with Clint.

Aubrey and Mystery Man are alone in her hotel suite, having a sensational time.  They call each other by their real names:  She calls him Cutter, and he calls her Callie.  We also learn the details of their scam, and that they've done it many times before:  Callie does her thing and their "Mark" falls like a ton of bricks.  Callie gets his account numbers, gives them to Cutter, and he cleans out the accounts.  They disappear before anyone even notices.

Cutter is starting to worry Callie is getting too involved with Joey.
"Joey totally surprised me with the proposal, what was I supposed to say—no?"
"I don't like it."
"Well, neither does his family.  His mom is starting to warm up to me, but his dad has me totally pegged as a 'gold digger.'"
"Well, he's right."

She goes on to say how sweet it is that Joey has defended her to his family.  Cutter:  "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were starting to care about the guy."
"You know I love you."
"I love you too."

Thanks to Rex, Charlie is saved from taking a drink and making a huge mistake.  He heads back to the hospital to be by Viki's side.  Rex and Echo have a few minutes together.  He tells her Charlie asked him to give her a chance.  She is hopeful.  He isn't exactly ready to forgive and forget, but he isn't closing the door either.

Jessica is still in surgery and pleads with Dr. Wright to save the baby.  She finally has the baby, and it's a boy.

When John finds Natalie in the lodge, he also finds out her baby is a boy.  Marty hands the baby to John.  He is still in shock and just looks at it and says, "I have a son."  Marty then says, "Yes, we have a son."  Natalie and John look at each other like, uh-oh!  Marty is totally wigging out—telling John, that somehow the baby survived when she fell down the stairs and now they finally have their baby.  John tells Marty to go lie down on the sofa because she is exhausted.  Then Natalie says, "John, she is really scaring me."

John calls for an ambulance.  While they are waiting, he asks Natalie why they are up there on the mountain anyway.  Marty jumps up and says she will tell the story, but then starts babbling, and the EMT arrive.

They take Natalie and the baby to the hospital, and John talks Marty into riding with him in his car.  When they get to the hospital, John tells the nurse that Marty needs to have a complete psych examine as she is confused about some things.

Clint and Viki find out Natalie is in the ER and rush to see her.  They are stunned to find out she had her baby, but she is even more surprised that Jessica also had her baby, and they both had boys.

     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL
      

OLTL—Monday–1/10—Llantano Mountain Drama

Marty leaves Natalie on the floor of the lodge—in pain.  John is starting to worry now, because Natalie hasn't shown up at the hospital, and she isn't answering his calls or messages.  Viki asks John about Natalie, but he doesn't want to worry her on top of everything else.  When she realizes he hasn't heard from her either, she asks, "Should we be worried?"  John says he has somebody checking the GPS on Natalie's car to see if they can find it.

Joey received a call from Clint about Jessica's surgery.  He tells Aubrey the situation and tells her he is heading to the hospital.  He doesn't want her to go with him because Clint will probably be in a foul mood, and may direct some of his frustration at her.  As soon as Joey leaves, Mystery Man shows up at Aubrey's door and they can hardly wait to be together.

Rex finds Kelly in the hotel gift shop looking for another copy of Maintenant, but only the newest issue is in stock.  However, Rex ordered a copy of the previous issue online and it has arrived.  He shows it to Kelly and she finds the picture of Aubrey and Mystery Man.  Now, she is on a mission to expose Aubrey's secret life to Joey, so she goes to Aubrey's suite in the hotel.  She knocks on the door and insists on seeing Joey, saying she isn't leaving until she does, and even mentioning she will get Renee involved, if necessary.  Aubrey finally comes to the door to see what she wants.  As soon as she tells Kelly that Joey went to the hospital because his sister is having surgery, Kelly turns on her heels and bee-lines it to the hospital also.

Aubrey and Mystery Man are finally alone and feel confident they won't be bothered again; so, now they can get crazy and proceed to do so.

Echo is still babbling to her audience at the AA meeting.  When she notices Dorian in the audience (in a disguise), her "confession" heads down a different path.  She gets Dorian intertwined in her little story until she provokes a screaming fight between them.  Dorian is then forced to take the podium and pretend to have something to say she doesn't get exposed as a "spy."  She brings up her ex-husband, Mel Hayes, who was an alcoholic and blah, blah, blah.  (You know how Dorian can spin just about anything!)

Charlie is in emotional trouble because of Clint's angry words in regard to Jessica's gun shot wound.  Now, he is sitting in Angel Square trying to decide if he is going to take a drink or not.  Just then, Rex is walking through Angel Square and sees Charlie staring at the bottle.  Rex has a long talk with Charlie and eventually talks him back from the edge and they get some quality time together.  Charlie asks Rex to give Echo a chance because she really wants to make it up to Rex.  Charlie says, "Look at me, I'm a walking work in progress."
Joey arrives at the hospital and Jessica does into surgery.  Everyone is desperately worried.  Kelly arrives and tells Joey she has something to show him that can't wait, then shows him the magazine.

Jessica is awake through the c-section, but refuses to cooperate and relax.  She keeps demanding to know what is happening with the baby.  Brody tries his best to reassure Jessica and says some really lovely things to her, but she is freaking out and Dr. Wright is feeling the stress.

To Natalie's surprise, Marty returns to the lodge.  With the contractions only a minute apart, it is too late for Natalie to go anywhere.  Her baby is coming, and Marty is going to have to deliver it.  Marty tells Natalie to push and she screams in pain.  Then, Marty realizes something is wrong with baby—it is not in the proper position for a normal birth.  Natalie's baby is coming breach and now, she REALLY DOES need to get to a hospital!!

John finally gets the information he needs on Natalie's location and rushes to Llantano Mountain. When he arrives at the Buchanan lodge, he hears Natalie screaming.

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL
      

OLTL—Friday–1/7—The Tables Turn!!

Echo presents Dorian with a bill for more than $8,000 in damages:  dry cleaners, chiropractor, masseuse, manicurist, and the hair stylist who had to completely redo her highlights; plus, her boots were totally destroyed and had to be replaced.  The bill does not include the $10,000 she had been promised for the photo shoot.  She demands a check!  Dorian puts up a valiant fight, but writes a check.  As soon as Echo leaves, Dorian calls her bank and puts a stop payment on it.

Brody and Jessica get bad news:

Jessica finds out from Dr. Wright she has a very serious condition called Placenta Accreta that is putting her and her baby at risk.  The condition causes the placenta to have trouble separating from the uterine wall.  Due to the fact that a normal birth could cause a bleed out that would be life-threatening, and also might require a hysterectomy, the doctor is recommending an immediate C-section; and even that will have risks.

It turns out there is scar tissue in Jessica's abdomen that was probably caused by her gun shot wound.  Charlie says, "OMG."  Jessica was accidentally shot by Charlie when he went after Mitch Lawrence, when Mitch
killed Charlie's son Jared, and then kidnapped Jessica.  Charlie excuses himself and leaves the hospital after nearly having a large argument with Clint when he blames Charlie for all of Jessica's problems.

Echo finds Charlie waiting for her at the church and tries to reason with him in regard to his guilt and Viki and Clint.  Dorian is skulking around in the background wearing a disguise and listening to their conversation.  Charlie tells Echo to go ahead to the meeting because he has to get back to Viki.  Echo goes to the meeting and babbles about lying to a friend of hers.

Bo talks to John about his suspicions that he did not really sleep with Inez.  He tells John that Rex suggested she may have slipped something into his beer to knock him out, so she could CLAIM that they had sex.
John:  "The question is why."
Bo:  "To be honest; I have no idea."

John suggests Inez would be a prime suspect in Eddie Ford's murder, and agrees she had motive and opportunity.  Bo was knocked out all night and she had plenty of time to go to the motel and come back before morning.

Tea suspects that Inez is probably the real killer and Nate is covering up for her.  Nate and Inez have a few minutes alone in the back of the courtroom before the judge returns with his decision.  When the judge returns, he is just about to dismiss the case against Nate, when Nate stands up and says, "wait a minute" and then confesses to killing Eddie Ford.  Everyone is completely thrown by this revelation and no one can understand why in the world he would confess, especially when no one can believe he could possibly be guilty.

Natalie and Marty continue to argue at the lodge and she has a couple more contractions.  She pulls herself together, and even though she is clearly in labor, she tries to leave anyway, to get back to John.  As she starts out the door, her water breaks.  Before she can collect her wits about her, she momentarily lets go of the rifle and Marty takes possession of it.  That's when the tables turn....

Marty takes Natalie's boots and coat and tells her she is leaving her there, just as Natalie was planning to do to her.
Natalie:  "Marty, please.  You cannot leave me here."
Marty:  "Watch me."

Brody tries to explain to Jessica that he wants her to consider the c-section as soon as possible because of the seriousness of the risks that will only get worse, the longer she waits.  He doesn't have any luck reasoning with her so he asks Viki to try.  Viki does an excellent job of explaining everything very thoroughly and then, everyone waits for her decision.

Natalie continues to beg Marty, but she leaves anyway, saying, "Good luck, honey."  Natalie collapses on the floor.

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL

      

OLTL—Thursday–1/6—"...you won't be shrinking anymore."

Blair and Christian are hanging out on New Year's Day and getting their day started while also nursing their hangovers. Blair decides it is time to open the box left by Eli. Inside, they discover a portrait of Blair that appears, from the signature, to have been painted in 2003. Blair doesn't understand how that could be possible when she only started dating Eli about a year and a half ago.

Dorian doesn't really listen to much of what David tries to say to her over the phone.  She vents about her public humiliation and etc., etc. then tells David her New Year resolution is "to forget you and move on."  After he does communicate to her that he is in jail, she assumes he is only calling her for bail money and gets even more upset, and soon hangs up on him.

James stops by to see Starr and tells her he doesn't want to interfere in her relationship with Cole.  Although she had already decided she might possibly consider starting something with him, she doesn't share her feelings however, and agrees to go along with his decision to start dating.

Bo talks to Inez in the park.  He wants to know if, even though they slept together, but did they really have sex?  She continues her charade dictated by Clint and wonders if Bo is accusing her of lying.  He says no, of course not, but he just doesn't understand why he doesn't remember anything about that night.

Téa is trying to convince the judge to dismiss charges against Nate Salinger, since he should never have been charged with murder in the first place—not when there are numerous other suspects.  She tells the judge the real murderer is Todd Manning.  One of his cuff links was found at the murder scene. Todd says, "Your Honor, I have no idea how my cuff link turned up at the murder scene, but I didn't kill anyone.  I'm being framed.  Téa asks, "By whom?"  and he says, well probably Marty Saybrooke.  Tea adds Marty to the list of possible suspects, including DA Nora Buchanan, since she had motive, and also Nate's brother James, since he admitted to being at the crime scene and actually firing the gun.  The judge decides to take a recess to review the case.

It turns out, Marty is not dead afterall.  She wakes up on the floor of Grandpa Asa's mountain lodge with Natalie standing over her with a double barrel shot gun!!  Natalie lays out "the plan" to Marty.  She is going to tell John herself, that the DNA tests showed Brody to be her baby's father and just live with the fall out.  Natalie calls John and tells him she is at Llanfair and will soon be leaving for the hospital to check on Jessica, so she will meet him there.

She tells Marty she will let her go when she comes back.  She has taken out the phone line, taken Marty's cell phone, her shoes and coat and tells her it is two degrees outside; so, she expects her to be waiting at the lodge when she returns.  In the meantime, she might as well read the want ads, because "after I report your theft of medical records, you won't be shrinking anymore."

Just as she is about to leave the lodge, she has an overwhelming, cramping pain.  She recovers and tells Marty to stay away from her, she is just fine.  Then she has another debilitating pain and Marty tells her, she is in labor.

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL

      

OLTL—Wed.–1/5—"Did we do any naked stuff?"

Bo is waiting in the park hoping to run into Nora on her way to the courthouse.  When she does pass through, he tries to get her to talk to him.  He begs her for a chance at reconciliation, but she is not ready yet.

Nate's arraignment is closed to the public, so Tea sneaks Dani in as her "paralegal."  Inez asks Tea if she thinks the DA is going to be hard on Nate, just as Nora walks in.  "Are you talking about me, Inez?"  Uh-oh!!

Nora confronts Inez about everything that she believes to be true, and then slaps hers.  Wow! She accuses her of getting Eddie to kidnap her so that she could seduce Bo.  Inez says, it wasn't her idea.  Suddenly, Nora realizes that something just isn't right, but at the moment, it is business as usual and she will deal with this later.

When the judge asks about Tea's "paralegal" being in the courtroom and if it is okay with Nora, she says it is, but "the mother" needs to leave.  Tea agrees it would be best, so Inez leaves.

David is trying to bribe the guard so he can call Dorian.  Clint arrives just then and David actually thinks Clint is there to free him.  He is all excited and says something like, "A new year and a new uncle."  But, not so fast....  Clint tells David, because of his attempted escape, he has convinced the authorities to extend David's sentence!

David is frustrated because he thinks no one even knows he is there, but au contraire, Clint tells David that Rex knows he is in prison and hasn't lifted a finger to help him.  David is like, "What?!?!?"

David:  "What about Bo?"
Clint:  "Bo is a gullible sap."
David:  "What is that supposed to mean?"
Clint:  "Bo has bigger problems right now."

David realizes Clint is only out for revenge.

Rex has another nightmare about David.

Blair and Christian wake up naked together and are shocked by their situation.  Blair wants to know if they did any naked stuff?  Christian doesn't remember; but eventually he finds some playing cards and remembers they played strip poker until they passed out. Whew!

James and Ford chat over breakfast about their New Year's Eve activities.  Ford and Langston have come to a new understanding.  She cut their "wait time" down to Valentine's Day.

Starr tells Langston she kissed James, and James tells Ford.

After Rex has another nightmare, he decides he has to tell Bo about David and he heads out.  He finds Bo in the park just after Nora leaves, looking very forlorn.

Bo tells Rex about Inez and how Nora is taking it.  Rex is just about to tell Bo about David,when Inez comes walking through the park after being tossed from the courtroom by Nora.  Rex thinks it best that Bo deal with Inez, and he will talk to him later.

After Clint leaves David, the guard, who has been eavesdropping, realizes that David's uncle is "an enemy of love," and now he wants to help David.  He gives him his phone to make ONE phone call.

David gets through to Dorian!

Starr is sitting on the stairway at La Boulaíe when the doorbell rings.  She opens the door and it is James.

When the judge asks Tea for Nate's plea, she asks that the charges be dropped against Nate, because she knows who actually did kill Eddie Ford.

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL
      

OLTL—Tuesday–1/4—"Have a Seat"

Big News!!

Guess who's back? — Our beloved David Vickers Buchanan.  He's not in Llanview yet, but you know how that goes—it won't be long now.

David's "Have-A-Seat" commercial has been running on Llanview TV, and several people have inadvertently viewed it.  Rex had a serious nightmare after seeing the commercial, where David blames Rex for his current imprisonment, since he knows the truth about Clint's involvement and hasn't done anything about it.  Bo sees the commercial while staying with Clint, and then shortly afterwards, Clint receives a call from the Moroccan prison, which Bo answers, hoping it is Nora.  He hears someone in the background that sounds like David yelling, "Pa, Pa."  Clint takes the phone from Bo and is told by the guard, David is causing trouble again.  Clint tells them he will take care of it.  He then tells Bo he needs to fire up the jet and go check on something.  Dorian is home alone when she sees David's commercial.  Although she has told everyone, she couldn't care less about him, she sinks down into the sofa in love sick pain.

Joey goes to Aubrey's room to surprise her, and she IS surprised, to say the least.  Mystery Man hides until Joey goes into the bedroom and then he sneaks out.  Kelly is still at Capricorn, when Mystery Man comes in and sits down at the bar.  He sees her and his face says, "hmmmmmm...."

Blair and Christian are in the living room of La Boulaíe. Blair and especially Chris, drink a lot of champagne after he has a fight with Layla on the phone and she hangs up on him.  He decides that since Layla is more-than-likely cheating on him with her boss, why is he waiting around for her—so he picks Blair up in his arms and carries her up the stairs.  Oui, oui.....

At the hospital, Jessica's condition is uncertain and Dr. Wright is having tests done; but pain is never a good sign and she is worried.  Brody goes in to be with Jessica and he asks John to call Jessica's parents.  Viki arrives and tells Jessica not to worry about a thing—she is getting the best possible care and they will take care of everything else.

Natalie and Marty are still at the courthouse having a heated "discussion."  Marty finally says she is going to the hospital to see Jessica and Natalie says, oh no, you're not and grabs her by the arm.  Marty gets away from her, but falls against the wall and hits her head.  She goes down on the floor and appears to be unconscious.  Natalie tries several times to revive her.  She then takes her wrist to feel for a pulse and then says, "OMG, she's dead!"

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL
      

OLTL—Monday–1/3—"Marriage is a sucker bet."

When we last saw our beloved Llanview characters, things weren't going that well for quite a few people:

Bo and Nora separated, Clint threatened Inez (again), John and Natalie's nuptials were interrupted by Marty, Darren broke up with Destiny, Dani and Nate looked at each other through the bars of his jail cell and Kelly hugged Joey at midnight while he thought about Aubrey.  Things are about to get even worse for Natalie and Jessica if Marty has her way.  We'll soon find out.....

There were a few happy "couples" who shared a New Year's kiss:

Rex and Gigi (of course), Ford and Langston, James and Starr, and Blair and Christian.  Aubrey had a surprise visit from her mysterious man from Paris!

Oo la la....

The New Year's Eve celebration at Capricorn continued on Monday's episode, with Christian and Blair in a marathon kiss.  Joey comments that he doesn't think they should be kissing at all since he is engaged.  (Joey used to be a minister at St. James.)  Joey tells Kelly that his father thinks Audrey is a gold digger.  Although he has never talked to her about it, he is under the impression that she has her own money, so is not interested in his.

Aubrey is in her suite at the Palace when Joey calls to check on her.  She says she just wants to stay in and will see him tomorrow.  She argues with her mysterious friend for coming to Llanview and taking a chance of "blowing everything."  She presses the point that spending time with Joey is "part of the job," even though mystery man doesn't enjoy thinking about "the boy scout" groping her every night.  She says, "You know what happens if we give up.  Are you ready for those consequences?"

Rex is worried about Natalie, now that he realizes Marty has disappeared from Capricorn.  Marty has interrupted the wedding ceremony and is babbling on to John about Cole and blah, blah, blah.  Brody takes her by the arm and forces her out into the hallway.  He again reminds her that he has the surveillance video of her breaking into the DNA lab, but she says, "Do I look worried?"

Jessica comes out into the hall and wants to know what is up with Marty.  Brody says he is handling it, but Jessica says, Marty is her friend and doesn't need to be "handled."

The judge tells Natalie and John, "There is no way I can marry you now."  He insists they have to have two witnesses, and both of theirs have left the room.  John apologizes to Natalie for Marty, since he knows if it weren't for him breaking things off with her, they would not be having these problems.  They go out into the hallway to assess the current situation.  Marty is still deciding whether to tell Jessica the truth about Natalie's DNA results, when Jessica is overcome with severe cramping pain.  John and Brody rush her to the ER, but Natalie stays behind with Marty.

Christian whines about Layla to Blair, and Blair says, "Marriage is a sucker bet."  They decide to call it a night and Christian offers to take her home.  When they get to La Boulaie, Blair has to chase the boys back to bed, so Christian takes a minute to try and call Layla.  He is very disappointed and angry when a man answers her phone, who turns out to be her boss!

Dun, dun, da....
     
Read other OLTL posts from this blog:    More OLTL       

Something to Think about: Selling Out

There has been a lot of talk lately about people "selling out."  Doctors sold out to the huge pharma companies a long time ago.  Hospitals sold out to the insurance companies.  More recently, Bloggers and online retailers are selling out to advertisers, or so the starving artists would like us to think.

What's a writer to do?  Blogging is extremely time consuming and if you are saying anything worth reading, there is a lot of research, editing and rewriting necessary before you can actually publish something substantial.  It is not the kind of product that can easily be produced while you are also trying to hold down a full time job and also have a personal life.  At any rate, writers need to make a living too.

But I digress........

I recently learned that even our animal friends are pawns in the great sell out.  Someone I know wanted to certify their sweet and very personable dog as a volunteer therapy pet for hospitals and nursing homes, but were told that one of the requirements was that the dog needed to be feed a less than healthy diet (no raw meat) and preferably fed the brand of their major sponsor—a pet food manufacturer.  Nice......

It is getting to the point where, in order to do the things one really wants to do, a large majority of people are willing to compromise their standards, jump through whatever hoops are necessary and most of the time, "sell out."

Integrity has become more like an ancient, arcane, philosophical belief instead of standard practices and so, has largely been abandoned.

Beyond all that though, the ultimate sell out is how beholden the elected officials of this country are to major contributors to their campaigns.  But that barely scratches the surface.

Then there are the lobbyists.....

Lobbyists are the middlemen between the public servant and his/her deep-pocketed benefactor.  The lobbyists are keeping a close eye on the day-to-day activities of the Congress and more significantly the Senate.  They then report back to their bosses, the money bags who control the entire career of the elected official.  The Senators know, that if they play their cards the way they are told, they will retire a very wealthy person.  Money trumps everything.

We elected our "representatives" as public servants, to protect our interests, paid for by tax dollars taken from our paychecks every week.  But, clean the grime off of your rose colored glasses because most of them are only looking out for their own bank accounts.

When I first came to NYC, I overheard a conversation among a group of teenagers on the subway.  One teen said to the others, "I think killing somebody is wrong, unless you're getting paid for it."  This story is absolutely true. 

The definition of integrity:  adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
      

January 1, 2011—Happy New Year!!

Another Times Square extravaganza with Dick Clark, and another year I secretly hoped they wouldn't wheel him out; but I guess he is determined to be a part of it.  It's painful to watch.  I remember him from the Bandstand days—young and handsome.  And until his stroke, he always looked as though he hadn't aged a day in 50 years.

I'm hoping this will be a year of new beginnings for everyone.  A lot of people had a very tough 2010.  The economy is still stuck and who knows when things will get moving again.  With the global economy taking center stage, Americans might be out of luck for awhile longer.  Fortunately, we always rebound and my guess is it will happen again.

This year, I ended—or maybe just put on hold—a long-standing friendship, and that was a painful decision for me.  Another friendship has grown and become more than I ever thought it would.

An ancient romance was revisited, and its outcome is yet to be determined.  The potential is there, but, was it ever what I thought it was, or do we just rewrite history in our memories?  The spirit is always willing, but sometimes the ravages of time have already taken their toll and we're just not up to the challenge anymore.  We'll see...  It's still too early to say.

All-in-all, I look forward to new beginnings, whatever they may be.  I welcome new friendships, new ventures and new discoveries. 

2011—Here we come!!!