There went the long weekend...and Monday, while we're at it.
So! I had a lovely four-day weekend, then leapt back into work today, feeling somewhat unprepared, and never quite shaking that feeling. And now I think I have time to throw together a little weekend update.
On Wednesday, I left the office early to pick up our fresh turkey, and to birthday-shop for my father. His birthday was Saturday; we had planned originally to celebrate on 12/14 when the whole family got together. My mom emailed me on Tuesday evening wanting to celebrate on Thursday. No problem...except for the whole not-having-shopped-yet bit. Enh, it was a handy excuse; I had the agita in the office all day on Wednesday anyway. I needed a break! So I took off and ran errands in the afternoon, and was home in pajamas by 4 p.m. The pumpkin pies were baked by 6 p.m. I was in bed before 11, I believe.
I did get up at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving, because I was set to go over to my folks' to learn about cooking the big meal. And so I did! It was fun. Next year, if my brother's family are out of town with the other set of grandparents again, I think I will probably host Thanksgiving at my place. (The plan is to move someplace bigger, ideally with a functionally spacious kitchen.) (In fact, probably a bigger garden apartment right here where I live now.) My parents took a nap in the afternoon and all I had to do was baste the turkey. Fortunately I brought the laptop with me so the afternoon flew by. After the delicious dinner and pie (if I do say so myself), we went to see Quantum of Solace, which pretty much sucked. I love Bond movies. I loved Daniel Craig as Bond in Casino Royale. He was very intense and all in QoS, which has a certain definite appeal on its own, but he just wasn't Bond. It was a confusing, erratically-shot two-hour reflection on revenge, loyalty, and betrayal. There was no sign of John Cleese as Q. Sorry, James Bond movies have to balance these things better!
With the movie and everything, I didn't get home until 11 p.m. or so. I put away all the leftovers and had some quality cat-time, and then I went the heck to sleep. I don't know quite how long I slept, but it was long enough. Friday I had no real agenda. I lazed around. I put up the Christmas lights in the window. I made some lists. I did eventually go out and do a bit of shopping - it doesn't bother me on "Black Friday" as long as I don't go out with the air of desperation that seems to pervade shoppers on that day. In the afternoon I called salami_salome to see if she were up for anything; we wound up making plans for Saturday rather than rushing to fit something in on Friday night. On Friday, then, I did a little rearranging and a lot of catching up on the DVR.
On Saturday, I woke up from another great night's sleep, and watched the Monk and Psych holiday specials. Then I stayed in jammies for a while and wrote out my Christmas cards. Eventually I figured I should shower or something. I did get out and run a few errands before coming home, practicing guitar a bit, and then heading down to meet S. for delicious, delicious Ethiopian food. Yum! It was a lovely evening, and nice to walk around downtown Silver Spring a bit. The cupcake from Cakelove was wonderful! We also had some quality Moe-Moe time. Around midnight I headed home.
More sleeping! Sunday was a gray and blah day. I woke up around 10 a.m. and managed to get in gear barely in time for the noon Mass. Then I did a bit of grocery shopping (didn't need too much stuff this week as I have all this leftover turkey!) and went home to tidy a bit and run through my recital pieces a few times. Yes, it was time for another exercise in public humility, a guitar recital. My folks came and got me and we were just on time...and the electric guitar recital before ours ran over. By, like, a half-hour. Eventually the acoustic recital got going. I had to play after this guy who wrote and performed his own song, and quite well I might add. Great. I did relatively well on the more complicated solo piece and screwed up the simple duet with my instructor. My left hand getting numb really didn't help. I really have to get that wrist operated on sooner rather than later. Afterward, my parents took me to Victoria's, per my request. YUM, chorizo meatloaf with smoked gouda whipped potatoes. It was awesome. My folks dropped me at home, I unpacked the guitar, and I made a cup of tea. Then, bed!
There, my exciting weekend. And now I'm about to go to bed because after all those nights with unfettered sleeping, my body did not take kindly to that alarm this morning. I have a busy day tomorrow so I should rest up! Honk-shoo.
On Wednesday, I left the office early to pick up our fresh turkey, and to birthday-shop for my father. His birthday was Saturday; we had planned originally to celebrate on 12/14 when the whole family got together. My mom emailed me on Tuesday evening wanting to celebrate on Thursday. No problem...except for the whole not-having-shopped-yet bit. Enh, it was a handy excuse; I had the agita in the office all day on Wednesday anyway. I needed a break! So I took off and ran errands in the afternoon, and was home in pajamas by 4 p.m. The pumpkin pies were baked by 6 p.m. I was in bed before 11, I believe.
I did get up at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving, because I was set to go over to my folks' to learn about cooking the big meal. And so I did! It was fun. Next year, if my brother's family are out of town with the other set of grandparents again, I think I will probably host Thanksgiving at my place. (The plan is to move someplace bigger, ideally with a functionally spacious kitchen.) (In fact, probably a bigger garden apartment right here where I live now.) My parents took a nap in the afternoon and all I had to do was baste the turkey. Fortunately I brought the laptop with me so the afternoon flew by. After the delicious dinner and pie (if I do say so myself), we went to see Quantum of Solace, which pretty much sucked. I love Bond movies. I loved Daniel Craig as Bond in Casino Royale. He was very intense and all in QoS, which has a certain definite appeal on its own, but he just wasn't Bond. It was a confusing, erratically-shot two-hour reflection on revenge, loyalty, and betrayal. There was no sign of John Cleese as Q. Sorry, James Bond movies have to balance these things better!
With the movie and everything, I didn't get home until 11 p.m. or so. I put away all the leftovers and had some quality cat-time, and then I went the heck to sleep. I don't know quite how long I slept, but it was long enough. Friday I had no real agenda. I lazed around. I put up the Christmas lights in the window. I made some lists. I did eventually go out and do a bit of shopping - it doesn't bother me on "Black Friday" as long as I don't go out with the air of desperation that seems to pervade shoppers on that day. In the afternoon I called salami_salome to see if she were up for anything; we wound up making plans for Saturday rather than rushing to fit something in on Friday night. On Friday, then, I did a little rearranging and a lot of catching up on the DVR.
On Saturday, I woke up from another great night's sleep, and watched the Monk and Psych holiday specials. Then I stayed in jammies for a while and wrote out my Christmas cards. Eventually I figured I should shower or something. I did get out and run a few errands before coming home, practicing guitar a bit, and then heading down to meet S. for delicious, delicious Ethiopian food. Yum! It was a lovely evening, and nice to walk around downtown Silver Spring a bit. The cupcake from Cakelove was wonderful! We also had some quality Moe-Moe time. Around midnight I headed home.
More sleeping! Sunday was a gray and blah day. I woke up around 10 a.m. and managed to get in gear barely in time for the noon Mass. Then I did a bit of grocery shopping (didn't need too much stuff this week as I have all this leftover turkey!) and went home to tidy a bit and run through my recital pieces a few times. Yes, it was time for another exercise in public humility, a guitar recital. My folks came and got me and we were just on time...and the electric guitar recital before ours ran over. By, like, a half-hour. Eventually the acoustic recital got going. I had to play after this guy who wrote and performed his own song, and quite well I might add. Great. I did relatively well on the more complicated solo piece and screwed up the simple duet with my instructor. My left hand getting numb really didn't help. I really have to get that wrist operated on sooner rather than later. Afterward, my parents took me to Victoria's, per my request. YUM, chorizo meatloaf with smoked gouda whipped potatoes. It was awesome. My folks dropped me at home, I unpacked the guitar, and I made a cup of tea. Then, bed!
There, my exciting weekend. And now I'm about to go to bed because after all those nights with unfettered sleeping, my body did not take kindly to that alarm this morning. I have a busy day tomorrow so I should rest up! Honk-shoo.