*Head explodes*
I just read (skimmed?) hundreds of livejournal entries, dating back to my last day in LA. Due to information overload I didn't really reply to everything, but rest assured it's been read. So to all my friends: I hope you had a great break, sounds like you had (or didn't have) fun, you're awesome, and *hug*.
My break in a nutshell:
My family rocks. If you're put off by sappy heartwarming family fun, stop reading now :)
Christmas was fun, although I spent the day hopped up on pills cause I was sick. We got to meet my cousin's new dog (an adorable border collie) and we ate lots and lots of food. We had a blast watching old family videos, with my grandparents occasionally narrating. Apparently my uncle had a super old camera back in the '50s and '60s, so we watched some grainy footage of my mom's family back when they were so young as to be virtually unrecognizable. It's scary how much you can see family resemblances so much better when you see said family at different stages in their life. My very young cousin looks like my uncle, my brother looks like another cousin when he was a teenager, my uncle when he was younger looks like my grandfather, etc. Of course, when your grandparents have 8 kids and you end up with tons of cousins there's a larger pool to chose from. Oh, and after Christmas I played my first game of beer pong. Don't ask :)
In the vast netherworld between Christmas and New Years, we took a rare family trip to Apollo Beach and then to the outlet mall at Ellenton (rare because my dad agreed to come, even though it involved the dreaded S word: Shopping). We went to the Manatee overlook at Apollo Beach and saw maybe 40 manatees, in addition to several huge tarpon, some rays, and a small shark. A few hours of shopping followed, and then an amazingly almost-free dinner (I love it when my mom's business acquaintances give us giftcards!) Then we watched videos from when I was a baby and when my brother was born. The highlight of my (apparently) narcissistic childhood: My dad was filming my brother singing his ABCs at Sherwood Lake. In the middle of his song, you can hear my little 6 or 7 yr old self yelling "Daddy! Why aren't you filming me?" Geez!
Then on New Years Eve we had a family-tastic time. We had bread and cheese fondue, artichokes, and steaks, along with champagne and a lovely-if-butchered-by-Katrina-the-chef strawberry dessert. After that we retired to my parent's room to watch their BK slides (Before Kids) which was a blast. My mom was a slim blonde bombshell and my dad was dashing in his 1970s skinny jeans and sideburns. Aww. After corny family moment #1 we went to the living room and karoake'd our hearts out for an hour or two...it's so much more fun to sing with your family than in front of a room full of strangers! We then spent the midnight hour in the hot tub, boiling like lobsters. Fun!
And I got to meet up with friends in Florida a little bit, which was great. I love you all! I feel like I'm always super-rushed when I go home, because I try to shoehorn too much into too little time, but this time around I realized I got to do almost everything I wanted to.
I did a bunch more things on my trip home, including getting a bunch of super-neat Christmas gifts and starting to write a new script, but that'll have to come later. I'm seriously fried from reading so much. And I've got pictures, which will likely get posted sometime soon.
Oh! On the plane flight home I had a nice chat with the girl sitting next to me, and almost had a heart-attack when I realized she had no idea the writers were on strike. Whoa. I forget that my family and friends are unique and wonderful and follow Hollywood events because they know I'm out here. I really really hope the rest of this country wakes up when Letterman goes on the air tonight, with writers. This'll be the first time I've watched his show in ages, but tonight I wouldn't miss it for the world.
My break in a nutshell:
My family rocks. If you're put off by sappy heartwarming family fun, stop reading now :)
Christmas was fun, although I spent the day hopped up on pills cause I was sick. We got to meet my cousin's new dog (an adorable border collie) and we ate lots and lots of food. We had a blast watching old family videos, with my grandparents occasionally narrating. Apparently my uncle had a super old camera back in the '50s and '60s, so we watched some grainy footage of my mom's family back when they were so young as to be virtually unrecognizable. It's scary how much you can see family resemblances so much better when you see said family at different stages in their life. My very young cousin looks like my uncle, my brother looks like another cousin when he was a teenager, my uncle when he was younger looks like my grandfather, etc. Of course, when your grandparents have 8 kids and you end up with tons of cousins there's a larger pool to chose from. Oh, and after Christmas I played my first game of beer pong. Don't ask :)
In the vast netherworld between Christmas and New Years, we took a rare family trip to Apollo Beach and then to the outlet mall at Ellenton (rare because my dad agreed to come, even though it involved the dreaded S word: Shopping). We went to the Manatee overlook at Apollo Beach and saw maybe 40 manatees, in addition to several huge tarpon, some rays, and a small shark. A few hours of shopping followed, and then an amazingly almost-free dinner (I love it when my mom's business acquaintances give us giftcards!) Then we watched videos from when I was a baby and when my brother was born. The highlight of my (apparently) narcissistic childhood: My dad was filming my brother singing his ABCs at Sherwood Lake. In the middle of his song, you can hear my little 6 or 7 yr old self yelling "Daddy! Why aren't you filming me?" Geez!
Then on New Years Eve we had a family-tastic time. We had bread and cheese fondue, artichokes, and steaks, along with champagne and a lovely-if-butchered-by-Katrina-the-chef strawberry dessert. After that we retired to my parent's room to watch their BK slides (Before Kids) which was a blast. My mom was a slim blonde bombshell and my dad was dashing in his 1970s skinny jeans and sideburns. Aww. After corny family moment #1 we went to the living room and karoake'd our hearts out for an hour or two...it's so much more fun to sing with your family than in front of a room full of strangers! We then spent the midnight hour in the hot tub, boiling like lobsters. Fun!
And I got to meet up with friends in Florida a little bit, which was great. I love you all! I feel like I'm always super-rushed when I go home, because I try to shoehorn too much into too little time, but this time around I realized I got to do almost everything I wanted to.
I did a bunch more things on my trip home, including getting a bunch of super-neat Christmas gifts and starting to write a new script, but that'll have to come later. I'm seriously fried from reading so much. And I've got pictures, which will likely get posted sometime soon.
Oh! On the plane flight home I had a nice chat with the girl sitting next to me, and almost had a heart-attack when I realized she had no idea the writers were on strike. Whoa. I forget that my family and friends are unique and wonderful and follow Hollywood events because they know I'm out here. I really really hope the rest of this country wakes up when Letterman goes on the air tonight, with writers. This'll be the first time I've watched his show in ages, but tonight I wouldn't miss it for the world.