Happy, happy, happy New Year everybody!
I hope you rang in 2010 with big smiles and amazing dreams for the year to come.

I've been looking forward to getting this next blog together for weeks now ... I'd originally hoped to get it posted before Christmas but, alas, I fell short of time.

You may recall the nicknames column I wrote a while back in which I confessed all of the dorky pet names I've attached to my dog Maggie (Smoosh face; Nugget head; Mag pie; Squishy and floppy ear, to name just some!) and my dear boyfriend.

To join in the embarrassment, I asked readers to send in their favorite pet names for their loved ones of both the furry and non-furry kind. Thank-you to everyone who sent in their nicknames ... here are some of the most creative and adorable ones I received.

- For her enthusiastic energy levels and overall "cuteness" one guy calls his girlfriend Bunny. He is apparently quite cuddly and for this, he's earned the pet name Bear. Bunny and Bear, sounds pretty damn sweet ...

- This dog and cat loving couple are no strangers to pet names. One kitty cat has inspired the pet names tissue bum and tishy, another "Shugy Spy Cat," and for one of their canine buddies, it's
"Maximus James McGregor."

- With a boyfriend she describes as "ridiculously adorable," one gal wrote in sharing her moniker for her much taller mate, fittingly dubbed MIKEASAOUSOURS! Love it!

- One super sweet fella sent in a slew of great tags his wife gave him, from Miffy to Miff and Miffkins. She too didn't escape the saccharine-laden pet name. By combing two of her "best features," he came up with KuddleCat, which creatively combined her initials, cuddly nature and their love of cats.

- "I for one can never get my 'better half' to realize the names I come up with are very special," writes one male reader. "My name for her is Tatanushu' ...but she just won’t go for it."
Ah, poor guy! Personally I think there's something very special abut a nickname that runs more than a couple of syllables. Ten points for originality ...

- One woman's boyfriend stands at 6'2 compared to her petite five-foot-four frame. He's a big guy, which helps him fend off bitter chills inside the house and keeps the thermostat set low. His "affinity for sleeping in freezing temperatures has earned him the nickname Yeti," she writes.

- "My favorite pet name for my boyfriend is Love-Moose," writes one woman of her mate, who she describes as a big guy with a whole lotta love.

Well, there you have it! Thanks again everyone for sharing some of your inner-most nerdy-ness (phew, I am not the only one) ...

(From Relatively Speaking. Column originally appeared in the Dec. 22, 2009 edition of 24 hours)

Welcome to break-up season. That is, according to divorce lawyers anyway.

Yep, just as the festive month of December gets wrapped up, chipping away at its cookie-laden heels is January, which some believe is the grim reaper of relationships, set to chew them up into bits smaller than dusty cookie-crumb leftovers.

Thought you could almost start kicking back and relaxing with a generous helping of spiked egg nog? Well, don't go getting too cosy.
January is not like any other ordinary chilly month, but, reportedly, Break-up Month.

It seems as a new year gets rung in, many relationships get tossed out onto the curb so folks can start off the year with a fresh, clean plate.
Divorce lawyers report that January and February are their busiest months of the year, which makes me wonder if we shouldn't be leaving the mistletoe up just a little while longer.

Business is so prosperous over in London, England, one law firm is offering up divorce gift vouchers to give to loved (or perhaps loathed) ones for Christmas. Tacky, sure, but the UK does top the cake for having one of the highest rates of divorce in the world, so in terms of practical gift-giving, it sure beats an iTunes card.

Still, it's as though the evil Mr. Burns himself is writing this wretched script. After spoiling our mates with the best gifts ever, we may not only get hammered with a bunch of new debt, but also have the possibly of getting dumped to boot.

And if the sting of bills coming in to remind the broken-hearted of all the dough they dropped on their former sweetie pie isn't bad enough, soon after, they're gonna get slapped around some more by Valentine's Day. Double ouch.

While once upon a time, I too endured one of the most excruciating breakups of my entire life right smack in the middle of January, I'd still put down a bar of solid gold and bet that time was nothing more than an ugly coincidence. After all, the odds are 1 in 12, right?

The idea that January is the heartless hit-man of relationships is about as real as a red-nosed reindeer and dozens of toy-tinkering elves.
I suspect if things go bust post-Christmas, chances are all the arrows were pointing in the direction of Break-up Alley long before then.

Sure, it would be easy to blame the dreary doom and gloom of January for messing up our love lives, but more likely, it's because of all the built-up stuff we've been letting slide for too long.

Take note: If the sound of him chewing makes you want to hurl, or the baby voice she uses (the one that once seemed so cute) makes you want to rip your ears off, well, guess what? You've lost that love and feeling and poor January has nothing to do with it.

So here's to keeping the love alive this season (and after!)
Wishing all of you a happy, love-filled 2010.