xmas: Mom and Dad came over around 10:30 am, and we emptied our stockings. Lots of neat little stuff in there, including a ton of candy that I can eat over the next few months. Mom also brought homemade cookies, and I have leftover pecan pie and ice cream, so if you like sweets, come help me out, I don't ever eat much of the sugary stuff anymore.
Umm...Anyway, then we did gift unwrapping. They left their gifts at home, and I'm so unorganized this year that I hadn't gone shopping for them yet. They got me a Handspring Visor Neo (in purple!), a neat faux-fur vest, purple checked flannel Mickey Mouse pj bottoms, a steamer, a Cuisinart/blender and a ton of cool books. I'm probably forgetting something...
Dinner was turnips, potatoes, and pureed broccoli, plus a lemon/rosemary baked chicken that Mom, Dad and Dock ate. Dessert was the aforementioned pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. I've still got leftover veggies, and also a ton of different soups to eat for lunch.
I've been eating the leftovers for lunch since Wednesday when I went back to work. That leaves me a while to sit outside and read, though it's getting a little cold for that now. The current book is Kafka's The Trial, though I started reading Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer today at the tire shop since I left Kafka at work. The good news is my flat tire is all fixed, and it only cost about $20, so I'm hoping it's going to stay good for now.
Friday night I went to the Carousel to see J. Dock play, but missed it because work gets out too late. Leslie, Sam, Brian and Andrew from work came, as well as another Apple Bryan and his girlfriend Beth, and Sam's friend Cohen. It ended up being a good time, despite missing Dock's performance (and Elizabeth McQueen's as well). Most of us ended up at Eric's Billiards, where there was more drinking, and then the few of us that were left went to Kerbey Lane for breakfast. I had to go to work on Saturday and felt surprisingly well, considering. Mark's still at home, and I'm missing him, and his mom is in the hospital, so I'm worried for her, and for him, and wishing I could fix everything.
Anyway, today and tomorrow are my days off, and then I work at 8:30 on the 1st, which will suck since I'm used to being at work at 11:30. All is not lost, though, since I'll probably spend New Year's Eve with Chris and Kerry, and I've only seen Kerry once since August, and Chris not at all, so that will be good.
12.24.2001
to sleep, perchance to dream...
I can't sleep tonight, it seems, so I'll just do a quick update:
My folks are in town, and it's been great to see them so far. We ate mexican or tex-mex food twice today, and saw The Fellowship of the Ring this afternoon. When we bought tickets about two hours before showtime, they had about 247 empty seats left. At 2 p.m., when we actually saw the movie, the theatre was packed. Dad hadn't read the books, but Mom had. She said she read them when I was two years old, and she was really sick with bronchitis, while I was at montessori school. Perhaps not the best of memories, but she liked the movie. I loved it, but I think I may need to see it again. I just finished rereading the books and already think I need to read them again.
Tomorrow I get to see if I can find a tire shop that's open so I can get my flat tire repaired, since I don't want to a) drive around on the donut tire until I have another day off or b) get up super early before work on Wednesday and try to get it fixed then. Thanks to Saul, the donut tire is on there, though. I really need to either get fat again, or build some upper body strength, because I can't ever get tires off my car. I've had really bad luck with tires on this car, too, but at least worse things haven't broken.
Also on the schedule tomorrow: grocery shopping for xmas dinner. I'll be having something along the lines of mashed potatoes, mashed turnips/rutabagas, and broccoli, with the possibility of some kind of pasta dish. My folks will be having all of the above, plus some yet to be announced type of meat. I may have a friend (J. Dock) over for dinner if he doesn't find better things to do. No, I don't know what I'm getting for xmas yet, I always have to wait until the 25th, no exceptions.
Despite the fact that I still haven't done any xmas shopping, Mark has informed me that I'll be getting my present on the 25th. Considering we've been arguing, and mail doesn't arrive on the 25th, and he insists he's still going to be in Lake Jackson, I'm awfully curious, and a bit nervous. I guess we'll see.
12.20.2001
happy holidays and things
And somehow time passed again without my noticing. I'm in the process of getting the apartment clean before my parents get into town late Saturday or Sunday. I'm trying not to do what I usually do and pull a panicky all-nighter right before they arrive so that I'm sick the whole time they're around. I have yet to buy them xmas gifts, and I'm broke as usual, so I need some sort of miracle there. For the rest of you who have reason to think I'd get you xmas presents, you'll get them, but I'm estimating that I'll get to that in January. I honestly have no concept of time right now, though.
Anyway, I have work tomorrow and Saturday, then our new schedules kick in and so I get Sunday and Monday off, then technically I'd be working Tuesday but instead i get an unpaid holiday. Mom and Dad will be hanging out cooking meat in my kitchen on Tuesday, but they always make good veggies too, so I'll try not to get too squicked. I have to get the kitchen spotless. They're staying at a nearby hotel, so I don't have to feel guilty about them sleeping on my futon or in my bed, and being kept up all night by the nutso cats.
This wasn't meant to sound so down. Things are improving. My new schedule is certainly better, though not ideal, and in general my personal life is going well too. Mark's off visiting family for the next three weeks, and we seem to be surviving okay so far, I think. I just started rereading Kafka's The Trial and I promise to try not to let it get to me. At least I'm not reading The Handmaid's Tale which I've had nightmares about recently. At least I'm reading, I've been doing frightfully little of that since starting this job. Errr...more cheerful posts to follow, I promise. Also, if it takes me a while to update and it's bugging you, let me know.
12.5.2001
purple
Yes, I finally dyed it purple. Here's to procrastination.
