The Aftermath
Yay, I survived Christmas!
The key is apparently NOT to stay with my family. I love my family, mind, but we get on each other's nerves after close proximity of more than about 6-7 hours (maximum). I stayed with a friend and her husband--actually was the Ferret Wrangler / Cat Herder / House Sitter for three days while they endured their own family dramas elsewhere. They have eight ferrets (seven of which stayed at home) and three cats and a house full of groovy Mod furniture and art and rugs and stuff. Way cool. I also have a new appreciation for the joys of TiVo. TiVo is the Nazz. Well, I spent most of my non-reading, non-holiday, non-sleeping time watching BBC America and not messing about with TiVo, but when they got back, we got to see some weird stuff they had recorded like a Czech (?) film called Little Otik and a 60s-era thing with paper fashions that I promptly forgot the name of, and a few other interesting shows I can't see on basic cable like Campus Ladies. What little TV I like, they watch the exact same things (minus the Law & Order obsession I go through sporadically). England's version of "What Not To Wear" is interesting in that the revised wardrobes are still pretty yucky. Better, but yucky. The British are not quite yet fashion superstars, apparently, despite the numerous superlative designers hailing from there in the past few decades. But that's why we love them.
I got nifty gifts. Booze, a DVD/VCR combo (my VCR was originally purchased in 1988, and, naturally, it was ready to die and was eating tapes and I never had a DVD except the one on my craptop) and, perhaps best of all, a working washing machine! No more leaky washer woes, no more handwashing every week in the sink. Handwashing bites the big ween. So happy about new washer, I am doing a happy Snoopy dance (you have to imagine that, I don't have video capability yet).
Mr Woozle got along okay with the menagerie, though every time I left the house he'd come running and press his nose up against the door as if to say "Don't leeeeeave me heeeeeere with these wild things! Take me with youuuu!" and that was hard, but still better than not bringing him at all and worrying that he'd had an Issue or run out of water or food or died of neglect and loneliness. He's pretty well spoilt and sees Mom every day and isn't used to being penned up for days on end. He has two new "sexy girrrrlfrieeeeends," Fannie and Jane, the twin sables. They bonded. In fact, I had to check my suitcase several times, because one or the other kept trying to hide inside. Was that a hint? Auntie Donna gave him ferret goodies (a new crinkle-sack and a new padded hidey-jar) and his new, bigger, cage should arrive tomorrow (along with the washer).
Mr Woozle also submitted to embarrassment, and we have lots of pictures of Woozle in hats. A pink sombrero. A santa cap. A festive Christmas angel decoration used as a hat. A shamrock-shaped ferret toy used as a prop. He was mostly asleep, and that seems to be the key to taking ferrets-in-hats photos. The whole thing reminds me of a cartoon I once saw with unhappy dogs and cats in clothes. The caption? "THis is why your animals bite you." Indeed.
It was worth staying an hour and a half away from my brother and sister-in-law's place just for the peace of mind and ability to set my own schedule. Turns out that Christmas was a lot more pleasant that way. Enjoyed the extended family, saw my brother's mostly-completed rec room, scored big with my gift selections (I rock!) and ate like a hoglet.
Got to meet up with CyFish and see her new digs, which were groovy. Got to eat a cheap Chinese meal with two more old buds. They pit bull tried to bite Woozle's head off, but other than that, it was a fun time. Mr Woozle took it all in stride. I would have peed all over myself if a pit bull tried to eat my head, but he just looked at me like "what the fuck?!" and shrugged and went on his merry way and doinged to another part of the parking lot on his leash. One of the restaurant staff vame out and asked questions about him at length. She'd never seen a ferret. Fortunately, he did not bite her. He seems to like women more than men (we suspect that he was severely abused before he was dumped anonymously on my old neighborhood's cat lady's doorstep), and he likes other ferrets more than cats. He lunged at Lucy cat and freaked her out. He also nipped my friend's husband, who, to be fair, suddenly appeared over his head and was trying to grab him. Then he nipped my friend, and we aren't sure why. My weasel was bad. I warn everyone that he is likely to try to bite at least once, and whereas it won't be done out of malice or draw blood, it's still a damn bite. I'd rather he not do it. If you want to touch him, you have to be prepared for him to try to assert dominance by nipping. It only took once, and he was chastized, and he didn't try again. Still! How mortifying. My animal has a behavior problem. *sigh*
Traffic was horrible on the way home. I can get from Point A to Point B within 4 hours on a good day. It took almost 7 hours to get home. I was one big aching knot at that point. I also noted that I used twice the amount of gasoline to drive from Savannah to Atlanta one way to drive around IN Atlanta for the holidays. At $35 bucks a fill up, that's no small potatoes. Still, cheaper financially than staying at a motel and cheaper emotionally than being homicidal and cranky (and worried about my animal, or paying for boarding) by staying with family members. So, $35 well spent!
Left my address book at home, so couldn't call a bunch of people I wanted to try to see before I drove home. I'm a dumb ass. Most of the numbers are probably defunct now. How depressing.
Oh! Christmas was not 100% about The Baby on the way. True, we saw some ultrasound videos and The Baby was mentioned about 200 times, but it wasn't the primary focus or topic of discussion like it was during my birthday celebration. I'm just not overly excited by baby conversations. I'll be excited with the little sproglet arrives, and will be happy for my brother and SIL, and even more happy that I don't have to pay for braces, orthopadic shoes, school, or Elmo toys. Yay! Though I know I'll spoil the child rotten once it arrives and I have a chance to do so. It's going to be a she, we think. A niece! Is it not nifty? But yeah, we were actually able to talk about other things for minutes on end. This was good. There's only so much you can say about a baby that isn't right HERE right NOW to be remarked upon. I am also pleased to report that the video ultrasound was far less terrifying than the still photos shown to me earlier. My SIL is not having an alien baby after all! (Some of the early ultrasound pictures were scary. Well, some were various sizes of beans, or similar to same: field pea, lima bean, pinto bean, butterbean, kidney bean. Then: alien pictures! Ack!) There was a lot of "peekaboo I see you" stuff as the baby tried to thwart the ultrasound operator by hiding and turning around so as to moon her audience as often as possible. This kid is going to have an attitude. Hee.
I need to go test some tapes in my new VCR/DVD player. So far I think I have it hooked up right. I did it in five minutes! I rock! Of course, I cheated. I took a flashlight and unplugged the cords from the old VCR and replugged them in the appropriate slots in the new machine. I could have made the mistake of unplugging the old thing entirely before trying to hook up the new one, but I have learned lessons from prior equipment connection fun times.
I think the only DVDs I have are a Kerry Kit from the last presidential election and a SCAD student reel. Heh.