The following is a conversation I had with Sam this evening, as we sat together at the corner of our dining table, eating chocolate cake and sharing a glass of milk:

Me:  "Hey fella', you come here often?"

Sam: "Not very often; not as much as I used to."

Me:  "Me either. I like it here though; not a bad place, huh?"

Sam: "Not bad. Kinda' nice."

Me:  "Whatcha' doin' for Christmas this year?"

Sam:  "Nothin'."

Me:  "Me either. I'm doin' nothin' for Christmas this year. Wanna' do nothin' together?"

Sam: "We could."

Me:  "You want my number so you can call me?"

Sam:  "Uuumm, my mom told me not to talk to strangers." (he looked at me with his cool look when he said this)

Me:  "Well, we ain't strangers no more, cause we've been talkin' here."

Sam:  "Yeah, I'll call ya'...we'll get together for Christmas."

We shook hands, and Sam went to bed. Another long day of work tomorrow for him. I'll be up half the night trying to get my house in order before my out-of-town training which begins Monday morning. I'll be staying in a ritzy hotel all next week; BUT, I'll be working 9am.-5pm. every day I am there, as well. I haven't been home long enough in the past two weeks to get any real work done around here. It's driving me batty, I tell ya'!

How are you?