Once again it tis the season to be jolly, and this year we have much to be thankful for! Venus has made so many dramatic improvements to our lives that I can't begin to count them. Needless to say, I find her adherence to discipline and her diligent practice to be very gratifying. She serves as a fine example to the potential that can be attained if we strive for it on a regular basis.
Raph and I have been butting heads a bit again. Partially this is my fault, as Venus has raised my expectations of the others a great degree. I realize that I have to judge them by who they are, not by who I want them to be… but this is difficult to do with Raph as he is so easy to anger, which in turn aggravates me. I have much to learn to be an effective leader. I'm afraid that Venus has had a negative impact on Raph, in that he feels "outnumbered" by the "discipline freaks" that he accuses Venus and I of being. Raph has always been hard to figure out, so maybe I"m just projecting this onto him… I don't know. I do know that it's been hard on Raph lately. Casey and April are pretty much out of our lives now, and Casey has changed fairly dramatically this year. Casey looks at it as "growing up", but Raph just looks at it like he's been abandoned… which he has in a sense. Life can be difficult, but I think Raph makes things out worse than he should. He's got to learn to focus on the positive aspects and leave the negative behind him, instead of dwelling on it.
I thin I have to learn how to quit analyzing Raph all the time! He tells me that's one of things that I do that really bothers him, and yet I keep doing it! Gah! It's just that we're so different, I need to find a way to rationalize his behavior… Raph thinks that I'm trying to be his psychologist, and I fear that he's right. I have to quit doing this… sorry, Raph! I'm trying! I think I know what my New Year's Resolution is for this year!
Well, time to some last minute Christmas shopping and decorating. I'm in charge of getting the tree this year. Usually April or Casey will bring us one, but this year I think we're on our own. Hopefully we'll see them soon, though!