Holidays.
Wow, I haven't posted anything in my journal since Christmas Eve. I better
catch up.
I've been busy having a fine holiday season. Let me tell you about it.
Monday, December 24th: Woke up after three hours sleep and toddled off to drop the book off at Kinko's. I find out it'll take them two hours so I wander over to retcon and treebyleaf's to wish them a Merry Christmas Eve and to kill some spare time. I also drop off their presents and a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas for us to watch on Christmas Day. I thank tree for her early present to me -- the paid LiveJournal account I discovered I had when I got up.
Got back to Kinko's and found that the books cost over twice as much to print as I thought they were going to. I paid it, took them out to my truck and sat down and nearly cried. I didn't, though -- I told myself that the books had turned out just the way I wanted them to and damnit, I wasn't going to be uncharitable about it -- these were my Christmas presents and I wasn't going to worry about how much they cost. And besides, I was going against one of my most firmly-held superstitions: if you worry about money, the money won't come.
Drove to my parents' house. This is the first Christmas I've ever done that and it felt great. Being able to drive has really changed my life for the better and getting myself home for Christmas made me feel like, you know, a grown-up. Heh. My sister Cheryl was already there when I arrived, which felt really weird. I've always had to wait for her on Christmas Eves past.
Went to bed fairly early, still exhausted from the night before.
Tuesday, December 25th: Christmas went well. Small and quiet -- no one there but me, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law; there were no stupid arguments or unpleasantries; and we didn't go overboard on presents like we usually do. (I did, however, receive a staggeringly large check from my parents, for which I am deeply grateful, and which proved my point about not worrying about the books.)
My family loved the books and were surprised I'd managed to finish writing in time. My dad said he was going to read it, which overwhelmed me; my dad hasn't been able to read much since his stroke a few years back.
After spending the day relaxing with my family and eating what seemed like every twenty minutes, I went and spent the evening of Christmas Day with Riff and treebyleaf. Had a wonderful time and was thrilled that they were so happy with the few presents I was able to get them.
Wednesday, December 26th: While treebyleaf was at work, Riff and I went out to breakfast, and then he helped me find somewhere to buy a truck box. (You know, one of those storage boxes that fits across the bed of your truck.) My parents had given me money to get one as a birthday present, and I'd tried to go out and get one for myself and had a miserable experience with unhelpful staff at Schuck's. After a little Internet research, Riff took me to Action Auto Parts, where we found a friendly salesclerk and an even better price than they'd listed on-line. Riff and I tried to install it, but we ran out of both daylight and battery power in my new drill.
Later, I picked up treebyleaf, who was coming over with the intention of helping me clean up SIXBOX after the two months of neglect the place had suffered while I worked on my book. We didn't get too much done -- we didn't have a lot of time and we were both tired -- but it was a good start.
Thursday, December 27th: Got treebyleaf home later than she wanted, which was the source of much unpleasantness and contention after a rough, strange day. We went ahead and had the evening we'd planned with Riff all the same, and that went well, but ended badly, with treebyleaf and I upset with each other again. I left.
I have to admit I was probably too tired to be driving. So. I was adjusting my rear-view mirror, not paying attention to the road, and hit a high curb. I drove on for a while afterward, feeling shaky and strange, and noticed that the truck wasn't handling right, and that the passenger side of the truck seemed, well, lower --
Shit. I'd had a blowout. I managed to get as far as a gas station and, not knowing what else to do, called Riff and treebyleaf's place and told them what happened.
So they came out to where I was, got me a tow truck, and gave me a ride home. I couldn't ask for better friends.
While we waited for the tow truck driver, we found a couple more presents from my parents to the both of them that were still in the car, that hadn't been opened on Christmas. So they opened them then, and had another little bit of Christmas right there in the car, warm and safe and content and away from the cold rain.
Friday, December 28th: Woke up as early as I could and took a bus down to the Les Schwab Tire Center we'd had the tow truck driver take the truck to. They dealt with it in 25 minutes, time enough for me to go and grab a sandwich and come back. The damage I'd done wasn't covered by the tire's warranty -- I'd figured as much -- but on the other hand, they managed to save the wheel itself, which I hadn't been sure they would be, so in the end, I ended up paying about as much as I'd thought I would. A little less, really.
Picked up treebyleaf again -- she wanted to come over and do more cleaning. And in the end, she ended up washing all of my remaining dishes, a task I consider roughly equal to the cleaning of the Augean Stables, as well as scrubbing down my kitchen cabinet doors. I dried the dishes and cleaned the stove and the counters and the microwave and it was all beautiful.
Saturday, December 29th: Got up, took tree to work, and came back here and napped. I got up and cleaned the place up a little bit more, and went out and installed the truck box. That might have gone a little more smoothly if I'd waited until I had help, but it went just fine.
The place was starting to look so nice I decided I wanted to throw a New Year's Party. I compiled a list of addresses and mailed out a quick invite before I headed over to Riff and treebyleaf's once again, this time to meet up with Jason Smith, my oldest friend. (I mean I've known him the longest. I don't mean -- well, he's not that old.) (Oh, and you might not want to click on that link to his website unless you're sure your heart can take the unbridled pulse-pounding excitement.)
Jason was just in from North Carolina for Christmas, and was on his typical whirlwind tour of friends and family before heading back out to grad school and his new wife, and he was spending the evening with us and our mutual friend Karyn Vicker. We went out to The Old Spaghetti Factory and had to contend with four birthday parties and screaming children. We still managed to have a fine time. Went out afterward and looked at an amazingly decorated house in Ballard -- the whole yard had been transformed into Santa's Village.
Sunday, December 30th: Got together with wendolen to exchange Christmas presents, to have her treat me to an early dinner at Cedars, which is my very favoritest restaurant ever, and to go see The Royal Tenenbaums, which was wonderful. A nice, relaxing, not-horribly-uncomfortable evening.
Monday, December 31th: So it turns out that if you send out invitations for a New Year's party with just 48 hours' notice, no one will show up. Who knew?
Not to worry. It was a fine excuse to finish cleaning the rest of the apartment and to restock the liquor cabinet. And treebyleaf and wendolen did come over, and we watched Sondheim's Into the Woods, and Riff joined us later. wendolen needed to go home and get some sleep before a morning shift the next day, so that left the three of us to see in the new year. I found and burned my old marriage certificate, figuring this was as fine a ritual time to do that as any. We drank, talked, laughed, made a hell of lot of noise at midnight, it was great. Hope you had a good one.
Tuesday, January 1st: Woke up to a phone call from my dad -- he's finished the first chapter already and thinks it's already really scary. Cool.
Had a pleasant enough day. This was the first New Year's Day I've spent alone since -- well, ever, I think, actually. I was in a good mood, but there was melancholy and loneliness lurking under it, never quite surfacing.
Went out to Half Price Books and found myself a copy of Kingdom of Fear: The World of Stephen King, further admitting to myself that I am in fact a complete drooling King fanboy, and a copy of the soundtrack to DEVO's Adventures of the Smart Patrol for just three bucks. Went to Hollywood Video and rented Series 7 and Tremors 3. Should be fun.
It was a fine set of holidays, and a good end to a year I'm happy to see finished.
I've been busy having a fine holiday season. Let me tell you about it.
Monday, December 24th: Woke up after three hours sleep and toddled off to drop the book off at Kinko's. I find out it'll take them two hours so I wander over to retcon and treebyleaf's to wish them a Merry Christmas Eve and to kill some spare time. I also drop off their presents and a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas for us to watch on Christmas Day. I thank tree for her early present to me -- the paid LiveJournal account I discovered I had when I got up.
Got back to Kinko's and found that the books cost over twice as much to print as I thought they were going to. I paid it, took them out to my truck and sat down and nearly cried. I didn't, though -- I told myself that the books had turned out just the way I wanted them to and damnit, I wasn't going to be uncharitable about it -- these were my Christmas presents and I wasn't going to worry about how much they cost. And besides, I was going against one of my most firmly-held superstitions: if you worry about money, the money won't come.
Drove to my parents' house. This is the first Christmas I've ever done that and it felt great. Being able to drive has really changed my life for the better and getting myself home for Christmas made me feel like, you know, a grown-up. Heh. My sister Cheryl was already there when I arrived, which felt really weird. I've always had to wait for her on Christmas Eves past.
Went to bed fairly early, still exhausted from the night before.
Tuesday, December 25th: Christmas went well. Small and quiet -- no one there but me, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law; there were no stupid arguments or unpleasantries; and we didn't go overboard on presents like we usually do. (I did, however, receive a staggeringly large check from my parents, for which I am deeply grateful, and which proved my point about not worrying about the books.)
My family loved the books and were surprised I'd managed to finish writing in time. My dad said he was going to read it, which overwhelmed me; my dad hasn't been able to read much since his stroke a few years back.
After spending the day relaxing with my family and eating what seemed like every twenty minutes, I went and spent the evening of Christmas Day with Riff and treebyleaf. Had a wonderful time and was thrilled that they were so happy with the few presents I was able to get them.
Wednesday, December 26th: While treebyleaf was at work, Riff and I went out to breakfast, and then he helped me find somewhere to buy a truck box. (You know, one of those storage boxes that fits across the bed of your truck.) My parents had given me money to get one as a birthday present, and I'd tried to go out and get one for myself and had a miserable experience with unhelpful staff at Schuck's. After a little Internet research, Riff took me to Action Auto Parts, where we found a friendly salesclerk and an even better price than they'd listed on-line. Riff and I tried to install it, but we ran out of both daylight and battery power in my new drill.
Later, I picked up treebyleaf, who was coming over with the intention of helping me clean up SIXBOX after the two months of neglect the place had suffered while I worked on my book. We didn't get too much done -- we didn't have a lot of time and we were both tired -- but it was a good start.
Thursday, December 27th: Got treebyleaf home later than she wanted, which was the source of much unpleasantness and contention after a rough, strange day. We went ahead and had the evening we'd planned with Riff all the same, and that went well, but ended badly, with treebyleaf and I upset with each other again. I left.
I have to admit I was probably too tired to be driving. So. I was adjusting my rear-view mirror, not paying attention to the road, and hit a high curb. I drove on for a while afterward, feeling shaky and strange, and noticed that the truck wasn't handling right, and that the passenger side of the truck seemed, well, lower --
Shit. I'd had a blowout. I managed to get as far as a gas station and, not knowing what else to do, called Riff and treebyleaf's place and told them what happened.
So they came out to where I was, got me a tow truck, and gave me a ride home. I couldn't ask for better friends.
While we waited for the tow truck driver, we found a couple more presents from my parents to the both of them that were still in the car, that hadn't been opened on Christmas. So they opened them then, and had another little bit of Christmas right there in the car, warm and safe and content and away from the cold rain.
Friday, December 28th: Woke up as early as I could and took a bus down to the Les Schwab Tire Center we'd had the tow truck driver take the truck to. They dealt with it in 25 minutes, time enough for me to go and grab a sandwich and come back. The damage I'd done wasn't covered by the tire's warranty -- I'd figured as much -- but on the other hand, they managed to save the wheel itself, which I hadn't been sure they would be, so in the end, I ended up paying about as much as I'd thought I would. A little less, really.
Picked up treebyleaf again -- she wanted to come over and do more cleaning. And in the end, she ended up washing all of my remaining dishes, a task I consider roughly equal to the cleaning of the Augean Stables, as well as scrubbing down my kitchen cabinet doors. I dried the dishes and cleaned the stove and the counters and the microwave and it was all beautiful.
Saturday, December 29th: Got up, took tree to work, and came back here and napped. I got up and cleaned the place up a little bit more, and went out and installed the truck box. That might have gone a little more smoothly if I'd waited until I had help, but it went just fine.
The place was starting to look so nice I decided I wanted to throw a New Year's Party. I compiled a list of addresses and mailed out a quick invite before I headed over to Riff and treebyleaf's once again, this time to meet up with Jason Smith, my oldest friend. (I mean I've known him the longest. I don't mean -- well, he's not that old.) (Oh, and you might not want to click on that link to his website unless you're sure your heart can take the unbridled pulse-pounding excitement.)
Jason was just in from North Carolina for Christmas, and was on his typical whirlwind tour of friends and family before heading back out to grad school and his new wife, and he was spending the evening with us and our mutual friend Karyn Vicker. We went out to The Old Spaghetti Factory and had to contend with four birthday parties and screaming children. We still managed to have a fine time. Went out afterward and looked at an amazingly decorated house in Ballard -- the whole yard had been transformed into Santa's Village.
Sunday, December 30th: Got together with wendolen to exchange Christmas presents, to have her treat me to an early dinner at Cedars, which is my very favoritest restaurant ever, and to go see The Royal Tenenbaums, which was wonderful. A nice, relaxing, not-horribly-uncomfortable evening.
Monday, December 31th: So it turns out that if you send out invitations for a New Year's party with just 48 hours' notice, no one will show up. Who knew?
Not to worry. It was a fine excuse to finish cleaning the rest of the apartment and to restock the liquor cabinet. And treebyleaf and wendolen did come over, and we watched Sondheim's Into the Woods, and Riff joined us later. wendolen needed to go home and get some sleep before a morning shift the next day, so that left the three of us to see in the new year. I found and burned my old marriage certificate, figuring this was as fine a ritual time to do that as any. We drank, talked, laughed, made a hell of lot of noise at midnight, it was great. Hope you had a good one.
Tuesday, January 1st: Woke up to a phone call from my dad -- he's finished the first chapter already and thinks it's already really scary. Cool.
Had a pleasant enough day. This was the first New Year's Day I've spent alone since -- well, ever, I think, actually. I was in a good mood, but there was melancholy and loneliness lurking under it, never quite surfacing.
Went out to Half Price Books and found myself a copy of Kingdom of Fear: The World of Stephen King, further admitting to myself that I am in fact a complete drooling King fanboy, and a copy of the soundtrack to DEVO's Adventures of the Smart Patrol for just three bucks. Went to Hollywood Video and rented Series 7 and Tremors 3. Should be fun.
It was a fine set of holidays, and a good end to a year I'm happy to see finished.