After swearing not to do so in a not-so-recent blog entry, I'm trying Internet dating again. Heck, after that fiasco of a dating event it seemed like a very sound idea. Plus, I didn't want to end the year crying in my champagne, and leaving you all feeling I was a near-suicidal wreck. Does not exactly inspire one to read, now does it?

I signed up for the three-month Match.com subscription with the Dr. Phil MindFindBind guarantee. What the hell that means I don't know. I haven't looked into it. I did click on a few Dr. Phil icons however, and was told to work on packaging "the product that is you!" After that point, I left the Dr. Phil areas of the site alone. Somehow, though I know he's often right on the money in his advice, I resent that freakishly tall, bald man. Is it just me or is he arrogant as hell? I wonder sometimes if Oprah harbors regrets about the monster she unleashed on the world.

Anyway, so far, Match is interesting, as always. It feels somewhat sadly familiar, since I've tried it at least twice before with obviously lackluster results. Yet, Denver is a bigger pool. And hey, I can only hope to at least get some more Viagra-variety date stories! Already, I've received an e-mail from someone I know - a sheriff's deputy from the county in which I once lived. He complimented me highly and suggested we meet for coffee and a "catch-up." Ironically, I hang out with his ex-wife and her new husband when I visit there. I know all about his cheating ways, and believe I subtly told him so when I mentioned how often I see Jen.

Life is otherwise pretty fine. Today, I garnered four applications for our Medicare program. Two from a mother and daughter who seem both damn happy and damn healthy. One from a former Southern belle who moved here to be near family and now finds her family doesn't want to be near her. And a fourth from a man whose house, like the other gentleman I visited weeks ago, lacked a single photograph or picture.

I believe I am adjusting to my job and the people I meet through it, however. On Christmas Day, one of my co-workers and I plan to provide a meal at a seniors' complex whose residents are, like the characters in the Land of Misfit Toys, forgotten on the holidays. Families are either too far away or simply do not invite them for Christmas. Sad though it is, I cannot imagine a finer way to spend the holiday than to bring smiles to their faces. It's either that or track down their kids and kick them in their faces; this seems the easier option.

Christmas looms and I am not ready. While I hope to post again before then, I sign off tonight hoping you are farther along the shopping trail than I, and that Christmas brings you everything your little hearts desire. Especially the company of those you love.