Saturday Post Christmas Party
Since we didn't get to have our regular Christmas party this year (with friend) due to weather we rescheduled and did it in January instead. Bo wasn't back yet but he would be flying in around 7pm and then getting a ride to Tom's house.
So I don't know if it was nerves or just the will to be doing something but I was up around 7am and when my son declined to go walking with me I decided to clean instead. I spend the better part of 3 hours cleaning around the bathroom meticulously. Sure I could have done it faster but I wanted to REALLY clean it up. Because part of that included leaning over the bathtub to clean the mat obsessively my sternum now hurts. -_-
Around 10am I finally finished what I could and took my shower to get ready for the day. Lots of work later I was ready to go. Next I loaded up the car with the cooler, fondue pot, camera and anything else to bring. I gassed up the car and picked up some cash for the kids to use for dinner then headed on my way out of town. I left around 1:30.
The drive down wasn't as boring as I had envisioned. I listened to MSI the whole way and that kept me awake and amused.
Crazy Drivers
The traffic over the interstate bridge was heavier in the southern direction that usual on days like today so I was being extra careful to avoid hitting the guy in front who kept suddenly stopping (could be any number of cars in front of him actually starting that problem but I can't see them). So after about the third such sudden stop (with me watching nervously in the rearview mirror to make sure I didn't get hit either) I witnessed the car behind me get hit by a kid on a motorbike (one of those small Honda types that are only good for breaking up in an accident. -_-).
Anyway it was only a tap on the bumper but it was still an accident. The guy behind me motioned for the biker to follow him off the freeway. The bike started to follow but then when the car was off the freeway the bike took off (and his 2 friends). Naturally they headed straight for me in the passing lane. -_- All three were around me and trying to pass between cars and on the median when the car from the accident caught up to them. It takes a lot of brains to try and run from an accident in a traffic jam. I moved over and tried my best to get as far away from the argument as possible. The guy in the white car was NOT happy and he was yelling at the biker to pull over which he eventually, grudgingly did.
Once the road was clear of the road rage crew I got back into the faster moving lane and got as far away as possible. As I crossed the 405 bridge into downtown Portland I am certain the biker's buddies passed me at well over the speed limit heading to wherever their destination was.
Shopping Stops
I made a few stops before heading to Tom's. First up was Kinokunia's to pick up my One Piece calendar which has been in for over a month now. I guess I found the key to getting a good price on in though. When I picked it up they gave it to me for half off! O_o I figured that since I ordered it I wouldn't get any after the first discounts or anything. :D Then I picked up some candies and two One Piece figure boxes before heading back to the car.
The next stop was Costco. I decided to go against tradition and ate my food before I did my shopping. It helped because I didn't have to watch my stuff while I ate and there was more room to sit down. After lunch I grabbed a cart from outside and headed back into the store to shop. I picked up the 24 pk of Coca Cola bottles that were my main item and then got a few others I had thought of. I ended up with a total of 5 items, which I think is the most I have ever had in one cart at Costco at one time!
After checking out I headed back to the car and headed to Tom's. I didn't really have anywhere else to go and I wanted to be done with driving for now anyway. I got there and found I was 3rd to arrive putting me on the street. That actually worked to my advantage because of the cooler in the trunk and ice on Tom's driveway. Dan and Sarah (the two that beat me there) helped me unload things from my car.
Tom's
I didn't know what to expect gift wise so I just handed out mine as people arrived. I only had two with me so it went quick. First I gave Tom his book and later (when they arrived) I gave Chris and Valeska their kanji wall hangings.
Tom, as it turned out, was sick (he figured it was a 24 hour bug of some kind). He seems to be having a run of really bad luck, health wise lately. I still wish him better health in 2009. I am sure it will all get better and he will be back to good. ^_^ At any rate he spent most of the night in bed, making an appearance here and there to make sure things were going ok.
I set up my laptop and showed Chris and Valeska the Little Big Planet Official "LOST" episode level that my son had been so excited about earlier. They thought it was cute. ^_^ Then I showed off my pictures of the snow and flooding from Flickr.
Pictures and Cameras
Sometime in there Alan arrived with Pia and we traded pictures back and forth and narrations of the picture sets. Don hung around for some of it stating that he had seen my pictures online but that it was nice to get the extra narrative with it this time around.
Alan also showed off his new purchase of a D700 camera. It has some really nice features on it and was fun to check out. Of course that lead to me having to go get the camera out of my car and actually hand the D100 back to him. I was sad to give it up but I know that it's not mine. I really wish I could afford one. *sigh*
Eventually it was time to start making dinner. Trish had arrived about half an hour earlier and had started prepping the food. Valeska had brought the cheese fondue pre-made to help save time. All that was needed then was the oil and chocolate (and a few other items for the fondues). I had just started to make the list of things to get at the store when Bo finally arrived.
I had promised myself I would not over react or be dramatic but I couldn't help myself from running down stairs to hug him when he showed up. I really did miss him, even if I was still upset about the whole thing.
Store
Once I had said hi to Bo and put his bags and stuff in the car I headed to the store for the last of the items. Dan was the only one to accompany me and I am thankful that Tom offered up some money or I would have been paying for a good portion of the food myself. Dan did pay for a good share of the food from the store, but other than what was brought no one offered money to help.
It doesn't matter much because we had the money to cover it. I still sometimes feel like some people (not all people) don't recognize my limited money situation. I bring what I feel I can afford.
When we got back I showed off my parallel parking skills then we headed inside with the food to finish up dinner.
Dinner
To make things easier we put the desert stuff on the kitchen counter and the cheese and oil fondues on the table. Dan picked up some raw shrimp as well as the cooked shrimp and that turned out to be a better choice. I wanted to make a note of that for the future.
The chocolate fondue was good but I wish I hadn't been the one in charge of it. I burned it last year and still I ended up doing it this year. I didn't burn it but it really wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was lumpy and tended to separate from the cream. -_- It was still awesome with the strawberries. :D
Oddly enough (I have been for a while) I wasn't too hungry. I had enough to get by but didn't really overload on food.
Gifts
Once dinner was done I decided to open the gifts people had been eager for me to open all night. I opened Tom's first. He got me the kid Zoro POP figure! :D I know right where that's going to go in my house. Next I opened the gift from Alan and Pia. Pia had put them in a box from a curling iron and I laughed when I opened it. I pointed out to Pia that Bo doesn't have any hair. ^_^ It was all in good fun and I opened up the box to find a beautiful coca cola magnet from Las Vegas and Bo got a Speed Racer car that actually flips. ^_^ Valeska handed out IOUs for hand a hand knitted item. I haven't decided what I am going to ask for yet. Bo was leaning towards a Dr. Who Scarf. ^_^
Girl Talk
After dinner, and quite without thinking about it, we split into two groups. The guys were in the living room and us girls hung out in the dining room. Valeska and I were musing that it was nice to have other girls to talk with. It's been just the two of us for so long that it's nice to have more in the group. It was also fun to get to know Pia and Sarah more. Pia kept asking about Suzzie for which I didn't have any answer. I haven't heard from Dustin in almost two months so I don't know what is going on.
We talked for a good couple of hours and the majority of people finally decided to leave around 11:45. It was at this time that I realized that the oil pot was still on and the oil was still hot. So we were stuck there for a while until it cooled off and I could dump it in a container to throw away. I stuck it outside on the deck to hopefully speed that process up and put the cooler out there as well to empty out the water.
Valeska helped me with cleaning up the counters and some dishes. Trish had put a bunch of stuff in the dishwasher earlier before she left so there wasn't much left to do but gather up the last of my stuff.
Around 12:15 Tom wandered out to see if anyone was still there. He thought was had all gone because it was so quiet. We ended up talking for a while and Tom was feeling much better by then.
Heading Home
Finally the oil cooled down enough for me to put it back in the plastic container to throw out. I feel bad that we didn't take the garbage out for him but I didn't know where to put it and it was getting so late already. I did try to clean up as much as possible though. I don't like leaving messes behind me.
We got everything packed up in to the car and I got situated in the passenger's seat for the long ride home before falling asleep.
It was a fun night, probably the most fun I have had in a while. It was nice to have the talk with the girls and it was awesome to do the fondue again. I also loved all the gifts I got. I definitely look forward to the Super Bowl party in two weeks. ^_^
So I don't know if it was nerves or just the will to be doing something but I was up around 7am and when my son declined to go walking with me I decided to clean instead. I spend the better part of 3 hours cleaning around the bathroom meticulously. Sure I could have done it faster but I wanted to REALLY clean it up. Because part of that included leaning over the bathtub to clean the mat obsessively my sternum now hurts. -_-
Around 10am I finally finished what I could and took my shower to get ready for the day. Lots of work later I was ready to go. Next I loaded up the car with the cooler, fondue pot, camera and anything else to bring. I gassed up the car and picked up some cash for the kids to use for dinner then headed on my way out of town. I left around 1:30.
The drive down wasn't as boring as I had envisioned. I listened to MSI the whole way and that kept me awake and amused.
Crazy Drivers
The traffic over the interstate bridge was heavier in the southern direction that usual on days like today so I was being extra careful to avoid hitting the guy in front who kept suddenly stopping (could be any number of cars in front of him actually starting that problem but I can't see them). So after about the third such sudden stop (with me watching nervously in the rearview mirror to make sure I didn't get hit either) I witnessed the car behind me get hit by a kid on a motorbike (one of those small Honda types that are only good for breaking up in an accident. -_-).
Anyway it was only a tap on the bumper but it was still an accident. The guy behind me motioned for the biker to follow him off the freeway. The bike started to follow but then when the car was off the freeway the bike took off (and his 2 friends). Naturally they headed straight for me in the passing lane. -_- All three were around me and trying to pass between cars and on the median when the car from the accident caught up to them. It takes a lot of brains to try and run from an accident in a traffic jam. I moved over and tried my best to get as far away from the argument as possible. The guy in the white car was NOT happy and he was yelling at the biker to pull over which he eventually, grudgingly did.
Once the road was clear of the road rage crew I got back into the faster moving lane and got as far away as possible. As I crossed the 405 bridge into downtown Portland I am certain the biker's buddies passed me at well over the speed limit heading to wherever their destination was.
Shopping Stops
I made a few stops before heading to Tom's. First up was Kinokunia's to pick up my One Piece calendar which has been in for over a month now. I guess I found the key to getting a good price on in though. When I picked it up they gave it to me for half off! O_o I figured that since I ordered it I wouldn't get any after the first discounts or anything. :D Then I picked up some candies and two One Piece figure boxes before heading back to the car.
The next stop was Costco. I decided to go against tradition and ate my food before I did my shopping. It helped because I didn't have to watch my stuff while I ate and there was more room to sit down. After lunch I grabbed a cart from outside and headed back into the store to shop. I picked up the 24 pk of Coca Cola bottles that were my main item and then got a few others I had thought of. I ended up with a total of 5 items, which I think is the most I have ever had in one cart at Costco at one time!
After checking out I headed back to the car and headed to Tom's. I didn't really have anywhere else to go and I wanted to be done with driving for now anyway. I got there and found I was 3rd to arrive putting me on the street. That actually worked to my advantage because of the cooler in the trunk and ice on Tom's driveway. Dan and Sarah (the two that beat me there) helped me unload things from my car.
Tom's
I didn't know what to expect gift wise so I just handed out mine as people arrived. I only had two with me so it went quick. First I gave Tom his book and later (when they arrived) I gave Chris and Valeska their kanji wall hangings.
Tom, as it turned out, was sick (he figured it was a 24 hour bug of some kind). He seems to be having a run of really bad luck, health wise lately. I still wish him better health in 2009. I am sure it will all get better and he will be back to good. ^_^ At any rate he spent most of the night in bed, making an appearance here and there to make sure things were going ok.
I set up my laptop and showed Chris and Valeska the Little Big Planet Official "LOST" episode level that my son had been so excited about earlier. They thought it was cute. ^_^ Then I showed off my pictures of the snow and flooding from Flickr.
Pictures and Cameras
Sometime in there Alan arrived with Pia and we traded pictures back and forth and narrations of the picture sets. Don hung around for some of it stating that he had seen my pictures online but that it was nice to get the extra narrative with it this time around.
Alan also showed off his new purchase of a D700 camera. It has some really nice features on it and was fun to check out. Of course that lead to me having to go get the camera out of my car and actually hand the D100 back to him. I was sad to give it up but I know that it's not mine. I really wish I could afford one. *sigh*
Eventually it was time to start making dinner. Trish had arrived about half an hour earlier and had started prepping the food. Valeska had brought the cheese fondue pre-made to help save time. All that was needed then was the oil and chocolate (and a few other items for the fondues). I had just started to make the list of things to get at the store when Bo finally arrived.
I had promised myself I would not over react or be dramatic but I couldn't help myself from running down stairs to hug him when he showed up. I really did miss him, even if I was still upset about the whole thing.
Store
Once I had said hi to Bo and put his bags and stuff in the car I headed to the store for the last of the items. Dan was the only one to accompany me and I am thankful that Tom offered up some money or I would have been paying for a good portion of the food myself. Dan did pay for a good share of the food from the store, but other than what was brought no one offered money to help.
It doesn't matter much because we had the money to cover it. I still sometimes feel like some people (not all people) don't recognize my limited money situation. I bring what I feel I can afford.
When we got back I showed off my parallel parking skills then we headed inside with the food to finish up dinner.
Dinner
To make things easier we put the desert stuff on the kitchen counter and the cheese and oil fondues on the table. Dan picked up some raw shrimp as well as the cooked shrimp and that turned out to be a better choice. I wanted to make a note of that for the future.
The chocolate fondue was good but I wish I hadn't been the one in charge of it. I burned it last year and still I ended up doing it this year. I didn't burn it but it really wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was lumpy and tended to separate from the cream. -_- It was still awesome with the strawberries. :D
Oddly enough (I have been for a while) I wasn't too hungry. I had enough to get by but didn't really overload on food.
Gifts
Once dinner was done I decided to open the gifts people had been eager for me to open all night. I opened Tom's first. He got me the kid Zoro POP figure! :D I know right where that's going to go in my house. Next I opened the gift from Alan and Pia. Pia had put them in a box from a curling iron and I laughed when I opened it. I pointed out to Pia that Bo doesn't have any hair. ^_^ It was all in good fun and I opened up the box to find a beautiful coca cola magnet from Las Vegas and Bo got a Speed Racer car that actually flips. ^_^ Valeska handed out IOUs for hand a hand knitted item. I haven't decided what I am going to ask for yet. Bo was leaning towards a Dr. Who Scarf. ^_^
Girl Talk
After dinner, and quite without thinking about it, we split into two groups. The guys were in the living room and us girls hung out in the dining room. Valeska and I were musing that it was nice to have other girls to talk with. It's been just the two of us for so long that it's nice to have more in the group. It was also fun to get to know Pia and Sarah more. Pia kept asking about Suzzie for which I didn't have any answer. I haven't heard from Dustin in almost two months so I don't know what is going on.
We talked for a good couple of hours and the majority of people finally decided to leave around 11:45. It was at this time that I realized that the oil pot was still on and the oil was still hot. So we were stuck there for a while until it cooled off and I could dump it in a container to throw away. I stuck it outside on the deck to hopefully speed that process up and put the cooler out there as well to empty out the water.
Valeska helped me with cleaning up the counters and some dishes. Trish had put a bunch of stuff in the dishwasher earlier before she left so there wasn't much left to do but gather up the last of my stuff.
Around 12:15 Tom wandered out to see if anyone was still there. He thought was had all gone because it was so quiet. We ended up talking for a while and Tom was feeling much better by then.
Heading Home
Finally the oil cooled down enough for me to put it back in the plastic container to throw out. I feel bad that we didn't take the garbage out for him but I didn't know where to put it and it was getting so late already. I did try to clean up as much as possible though. I don't like leaving messes behind me.
We got everything packed up in to the car and I got situated in the passenger's seat for the long ride home before falling asleep.
It was a fun night, probably the most fun I have had in a while. It was nice to have the talk with the girls and it was awesome to do the fondue again. I also loved all the gifts I got. I definitely look forward to the Super Bowl party in two weeks. ^_^