Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I've been home from school for a week and a half now, and this break has been pretty good so far, which has been a relief considering how chaotic the last few weeks of the school semester were. As usual, I had to go several days without sleep for final exams and essays, and I just barely managed to complete all my final assignments on time. On top of that, my former friend Ellie filed charges against me I playfully tapped her on the shoulder with a LARP weapon I used after a game of 'Systems Malfunction', and she was upset that Devon had been making fun of her earlier, so she gave the police some bullshit story that I kneecapped her with a lead pipe. Thanks to that, I had to go to several meetings at the Student Judicial office in the middle of finals week to explain how ridiculous these charges were, and I still have to go to a hearing on campus at some currently undetermined point over break to plead my case in order to avoid being put on disciplinary probation.
Following the last day of school, Derek and Kristin picked me up from Purchase, but because they didn't have room in the car for all of my belongings I had to leave a lot of my stuff behind. Thankfully, John was willing to take a lot of it with him, including the majority of my clothes and decorations, but I still had to leave my video game systems and a few other assorted things behind in the apartment. That night, Derek and Kristin and Michael and I went to Derek's house to celebrate his birthday, and the four of us had a wonderful time hanging out together for the first time since late September. I took a bus back home to Scarsdale the following day, but got to see Derek and Kristin again only a few days later, when I went to visit them at their dorms in Manhattan for my birthday (they had school for an extra week after I did). They got me special brownies as a gift, and once again we had a great time, taking a dreamlike journey around New York City. We got dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown and visited a bunch of sites, including the massive Christmas tree at Rockefeller Centre.
When I got back home the next day, I had an unexpected surprise waiting for me there: a kitten my mother had gotten me as an early Christmas gift! Her name's Keira and she's small and black and fluffy and cute as a button, and also much more hyper than any other cat I've known, even Kristin's. She also shares Kristin's cat's tendency to keep waking me up throughout the night, but that can easily be prevented as long as she has something to keep her entertained. For Christmas Day I went to my cousin Linda's house for our annual family gathering, and I got to see a bunch of relatives I hadn't seen since last year. My mother came along, but left after a short time to go back home and take care of my grandmother. We had a tasty Christmas dinner, with steak and stuffed shells and white wine and cheesecake, and watched movies on TV for a while after exchanging gifts.
The following day, I met up with John in White Plains to pick up my things from him, and after having brunch at the White Plains Diner we went up to Carmel to visit Devon. The three of us hung out at Devon's house and got drunk and went to visit John's friend Toasty at his place, before taking him with us to John's house. The night was pretty fun, although I accidentally broke one of John's lamps while we were playing around with LARP weapons inside the house, and at one point while Toasty was driving us we got pulled over by the cops because his van's lights were out. Following those unfortunate incidents, we went back to Toasty's house, where we relaxed with some of Toasty's friends. Eventually Devon's dad came to pick him up, and agreed to drive me to the local train station. Unfortunately, by that point there weren't any trains running anymore, despite Toasty's claims that there would be one coming within a few minutes. After waiting at the station for about an hour, I called Devon and told him the situation, and he let me come back to his place for the night. Devon and I stayed up through the night talking and watching videos online and playing games on his computer, and in the morning his dad drove me back to the train station. By that point the trains were running again, and after a long ride all the way down to Harlem and back up around to White Plains, I made it back home and got some sleep.
As for the rest of break, I'm currently planning to see Derek and Kristin again this weekend, and to celebrate New Year's Eve with them again. Oh, and today I finally managed to take a picture of Keira, a lucky feat considering the only time she usually isn't moving is when she's curled up in a dark corner somewhere!
That's her, isn't she adorable?
Following the last day of school, Derek and Kristin picked me up from Purchase, but because they didn't have room in the car for all of my belongings I had to leave a lot of my stuff behind. Thankfully, John was willing to take a lot of it with him, including the majority of my clothes and decorations, but I still had to leave my video game systems and a few other assorted things behind in the apartment. That night, Derek and Kristin and Michael and I went to Derek's house to celebrate his birthday, and the four of us had a wonderful time hanging out together for the first time since late September. I took a bus back home to Scarsdale the following day, but got to see Derek and Kristin again only a few days later, when I went to visit them at their dorms in Manhattan for my birthday (they had school for an extra week after I did). They got me special brownies as a gift, and once again we had a great time, taking a dreamlike journey around New York City. We got dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown and visited a bunch of sites, including the massive Christmas tree at Rockefeller Centre.
When I got back home the next day, I had an unexpected surprise waiting for me there: a kitten my mother had gotten me as an early Christmas gift! Her name's Keira and she's small and black and fluffy and cute as a button, and also much more hyper than any other cat I've known, even Kristin's. She also shares Kristin's cat's tendency to keep waking me up throughout the night, but that can easily be prevented as long as she has something to keep her entertained. For Christmas Day I went to my cousin Linda's house for our annual family gathering, and I got to see a bunch of relatives I hadn't seen since last year. My mother came along, but left after a short time to go back home and take care of my grandmother. We had a tasty Christmas dinner, with steak and stuffed shells and white wine and cheesecake, and watched movies on TV for a while after exchanging gifts.
The following day, I met up with John in White Plains to pick up my things from him, and after having brunch at the White Plains Diner we went up to Carmel to visit Devon. The three of us hung out at Devon's house and got drunk and went to visit John's friend Toasty at his place, before taking him with us to John's house. The night was pretty fun, although I accidentally broke one of John's lamps while we were playing around with LARP weapons inside the house, and at one point while Toasty was driving us we got pulled over by the cops because his van's lights were out. Following those unfortunate incidents, we went back to Toasty's house, where we relaxed with some of Toasty's friends. Eventually Devon's dad came to pick him up, and agreed to drive me to the local train station. Unfortunately, by that point there weren't any trains running anymore, despite Toasty's claims that there would be one coming within a few minutes. After waiting at the station for about an hour, I called Devon and told him the situation, and he let me come back to his place for the night. Devon and I stayed up through the night talking and watching videos online and playing games on his computer, and in the morning his dad drove me back to the train station. By that point the trains were running again, and after a long ride all the way down to Harlem and back up around to White Plains, I made it back home and got some sleep.
As for the rest of break, I'm currently planning to see Derek and Kristin again this weekend, and to celebrate New Year's Eve with them again. Oh, and today I finally managed to take a picture of Keira, a lucky feat considering the only time she usually isn't moving is when she's curled up in a dark corner somewhere!
That's her, isn't she adorable?