Christmas 2005 Part II (Kinda Long)
And here's the rest of the weekend. It's a bit long, though...
Saturday, December 24: Christmas Eve Revelations
Mom and sis had to get up and go to their hair appointments, so I slept in. I finally awoke about 12:30 or so and showered and dressed for the day. I called my friend Chris and left a message seeing if he wanted to go out tonight and then lazed around most of the afternoon, watching TV. I caught the first 3-4 episodes of Project: Runway on Bravo. I can now see why people like this show so much. It's very interesting and surprisingly engaging. I wish I had cable here in Cincy so I could watch it (among other channels). Along with that I caught several holiday/Christmas episodes of various sitcoms (I also like the Oxygen network, too. I'm soooo gay!). Mom and sis returned and finished getting everything set for the Sunday's festivities. We also decided to open gifts later in the evening. My brother, Chris, would also be stopping by to pick up my mom's gifts to him, the girlfriend (you know, the one who cheated on him) and her son, and my niece. My mom got a ridiculous amonut of stuff for them and I volunteered to help wrap. It's funny how I know how to wrap gifts and my sister doesn't. Hmmm.
After a certain point and calling again, I gave up on my friend Chris, assuming that he was busy with family and/or working (this usually happens with him) and decided to stay in (Nate, did you get my email?). After my brother stopped by for his gifts, he gave me a Enyce (don't ask me how to pronounce it) long-sleeved shirt. It was quite nice, although slightly big. When he left, we soon decided to open our gifts to each other (well, technically from mom but she likes to write our names in for different gifts to make us all feel a little better). Mom was very pleased with the gift I got her: a 5-point back massager. When I was there over Thanksgiving, she was telling me how she has a herniated disk in her lower back due to her work for several years standing on cement floors at Phillip-Morris. I figured it would be a nice gift for her and useful, too. My sister simply got cash. Around Thanksgiving, she was telling me that she was missing one certain DVD from an anime series she collects. When I went looking for it, I couldn't remember which volume it was, so I opted to just give her the cash for it. It worked out anyway as one of her friends got her the DVD as a gift.
As for me, I got a lot of good stuff! I got a DVD (Million Dollar Baby), and a couple of more shirts, a boxful (literally) of t-shirts, socks, and underwear (thanks mom), special Get-A-Grips which you put on your shoes so you don't slip and slide in the winter weather (very inventive), and a very special umbrella (it's designed to be wind-resistent and not bend, plus it automatically opens and closes with a push of a button). The highlight of my gifts was leather (get your minds out of the gutter): a sweet leather jacket with matching leather gloves and a leather trifold wallet. I was sooo happy because I have been thinking about getting a similar leather jacket for a while now. It smells so good! *drools*...
Okay. So, anyway, mom proclaimed that this would be the last "big" Christmas, which is fine with me. I'm sure she is stretching her already limited finances far too thin as it is. She went out with a bang this year in my opinion and I love her for it. I got everything together and then put it all away as we were expecting guests the next day.
Sunday, December 25: "Christmas with the Fam"
Since I left my phone charger at home, I couldn't set the alarm on my phone as it was slowly losing power. I decided to set my watch and woke up a little before it went off. It's a good thing, too. The alarm on my watch is not loud at all. I barely heard it and it was sitting in a chair next to me. I awoke and got some breakfast. Mom told me to hurry as we still had a lot to do before family arrived. I showered and dressed and then proceeded to lift heavy stuff here and there and clean up my room/the den. My room/the den is where I stayed for most of the day/evening as family members started to arrive.
Due to it being Christmas, the family members that gathered at my mom's was slightly cut short. My uncle-in-law has Christmas dinner with his family, so he and my two cousins were not there. But he did take the time to make the turkey for us. I have an aunt who is a Jehovah's Witness and we have never celebrated Christmas with her, so she was expectantly absent. This left my mom's two sister and brother (my aunts and uncle in case you're not following) and a plethora of cousins and 2nd cousins in attendance. A note about my 2nd cousins: they have definitely all grown up. It's quite scary to me. The oldest of the bunch, the first one that was born, is now between the ages of 16 and 19 years old! It baffles me at how old they have all gotten and saddens me a little at how much I have missed being away from here (just a tiny bit, though). I also had to deal with my wonderful, religious-up-the-you-know-where aunt Jesse and her daughter Tasha. I love them very much, but they are extreme about going to church and all that. I was unfortunately trapped in my room with them as they grilled me about what was going on in my life. I'm surprised the phrase "You need Jesus" didn't come spewing from their mouths. They did; however, say how lonely it must be in Cincinnati (meaning being away from family) and I wanted to tell them that I had a great loving husbear that makes sure I am never alone, but I simply countered with "I'm not alone," leaving out the fact that I have a bunch of gay friends to keep those feelings at bay (no, I'm not out to my family yet).
Dinner went very well, with little to no incident. My brother Chris and Brittany stopped by and had dinner. The mood between my mom, my sister and me shifted to dark when she arrived. I think the whole family's mood did, but it may not have been 100% apparent to her. It was fine, though. We all talked and said hellos and were civil with her. It was alright and they all watched movies and such, laughed and joked and laughed some more. I ate a hell of a lot of food (ahhhh comfort food) and then stayed on the couch, happy in my blissful food coma.
Soon, people departed and we were left to finish cleaning up, which was done. I watched some more TV (MTV's "Next" is hilarious, especially when they have have gay and lesbian people on there) and then went to bed a little early. I was drained from being around the family.
Monday, December 26: A Specials Home to Cincy
I awoke again before my watch went off and just laid in bed for a while. I knew I had to get up and I knew that we eventually needed to get on the road, but I was still tired. I finally forced myself out of bed about 11:30am and got some breakfast. By the time I was done, my sister had taken over the bathroom, so I finished packing and waited for her to finish. Got in and showered and got ready. Then my mom said we would leave around 2pm. I gave my sister a hug goodbye and such and then she left with friends to go to a movie or something (her friend actually begged her to go out). We hit the road a little after 2pm and made our way back to Cincy.
The drive went without too much incident, only having us stop once for a quick bathroom break before making it all the way to home to Cincy. We talked a bit more than we usually do, which is fine. We mostly listened to the radio and just relaxed some. We made it to my apartment about 4pm. I unloaded the car and mom made another quick stop before finally hugs were given and she was on her way back. I immediately called Jim to let him know I made it back and when we were going to head over to Matt & Bill's for gaming. We decided on 5:30-6, but Jim didn't arrive until close to 6:30 (he was having some problems). We stopped and grabbed some Wendys and made our way there.
Upon arriving, we decided to not game that night (I was kind of tired from the drive and Dave had to get up and go to work early in the morning). Instead, we watched a movie that Jim had bought earlier, The Specials. It's a somewhat funny movie, mockumentary style of the day in the life of the 6th or 7th most popular superhero team. It's very interested and reverberated into our RPG game in many ways. After that, Jim, Dave, Matt and I played Gauntlet on XBox and then we left.
All in all it was a good weekend. I had a great time with the family and also got to spend some time with my "extended" family here in Cincinnati. It made for a wonderful weekend and fulfilled my holiday spirit. Reading others journals, I've heard good tales of the weekend as well. I hope you all had a happy holiday.
"Although it's been said many times, many ways: Merry Christmas to you!"
Saturday, December 24: Christmas Eve Revelations
Mom and sis had to get up and go to their hair appointments, so I slept in. I finally awoke about 12:30 or so and showered and dressed for the day. I called my friend Chris and left a message seeing if he wanted to go out tonight and then lazed around most of the afternoon, watching TV. I caught the first 3-4 episodes of Project: Runway on Bravo. I can now see why people like this show so much. It's very interesting and surprisingly engaging. I wish I had cable here in Cincy so I could watch it (among other channels). Along with that I caught several holiday/Christmas episodes of various sitcoms (I also like the Oxygen network, too. I'm soooo gay!). Mom and sis returned and finished getting everything set for the Sunday's festivities. We also decided to open gifts later in the evening. My brother, Chris, would also be stopping by to pick up my mom's gifts to him, the girlfriend (you know, the one who cheated on him) and her son, and my niece. My mom got a ridiculous amonut of stuff for them and I volunteered to help wrap. It's funny how I know how to wrap gifts and my sister doesn't. Hmmm.
After a certain point and calling again, I gave up on my friend Chris, assuming that he was busy with family and/or working (this usually happens with him) and decided to stay in (Nate, did you get my email?). After my brother stopped by for his gifts, he gave me a Enyce (don't ask me how to pronounce it) long-sleeved shirt. It was quite nice, although slightly big. When he left, we soon decided to open our gifts to each other (well, technically from mom but she likes to write our names in for different gifts to make us all feel a little better). Mom was very pleased with the gift I got her: a 5-point back massager. When I was there over Thanksgiving, she was telling me how she has a herniated disk in her lower back due to her work for several years standing on cement floors at Phillip-Morris. I figured it would be a nice gift for her and useful, too. My sister simply got cash. Around Thanksgiving, she was telling me that she was missing one certain DVD from an anime series she collects. When I went looking for it, I couldn't remember which volume it was, so I opted to just give her the cash for it. It worked out anyway as one of her friends got her the DVD as a gift.
As for me, I got a lot of good stuff! I got a DVD (Million Dollar Baby), and a couple of more shirts, a boxful (literally) of t-shirts, socks, and underwear (thanks mom), special Get-A-Grips which you put on your shoes so you don't slip and slide in the winter weather (very inventive), and a very special umbrella (it's designed to be wind-resistent and not bend, plus it automatically opens and closes with a push of a button). The highlight of my gifts was leather (get your minds out of the gutter): a sweet leather jacket with matching leather gloves and a leather trifold wallet. I was sooo happy because I have been thinking about getting a similar leather jacket for a while now. It smells so good! *drools*...
Okay. So, anyway, mom proclaimed that this would be the last "big" Christmas, which is fine with me. I'm sure she is stretching her already limited finances far too thin as it is. She went out with a bang this year in my opinion and I love her for it. I got everything together and then put it all away as we were expecting guests the next day.
Sunday, December 25: "Christmas with the Fam"
Since I left my phone charger at home, I couldn't set the alarm on my phone as it was slowly losing power. I decided to set my watch and woke up a little before it went off. It's a good thing, too. The alarm on my watch is not loud at all. I barely heard it and it was sitting in a chair next to me. I awoke and got some breakfast. Mom told me to hurry as we still had a lot to do before family arrived. I showered and dressed and then proceeded to lift heavy stuff here and there and clean up my room/the den. My room/the den is where I stayed for most of the day/evening as family members started to arrive.
Due to it being Christmas, the family members that gathered at my mom's was slightly cut short. My uncle-in-law has Christmas dinner with his family, so he and my two cousins were not there. But he did take the time to make the turkey for us. I have an aunt who is a Jehovah's Witness and we have never celebrated Christmas with her, so she was expectantly absent. This left my mom's two sister and brother (my aunts and uncle in case you're not following) and a plethora of cousins and 2nd cousins in attendance. A note about my 2nd cousins: they have definitely all grown up. It's quite scary to me. The oldest of the bunch, the first one that was born, is now between the ages of 16 and 19 years old! It baffles me at how old they have all gotten and saddens me a little at how much I have missed being away from here (just a tiny bit, though). I also had to deal with my wonderful, religious-up-the-you-know-where aunt Jesse and her daughter Tasha. I love them very much, but they are extreme about going to church and all that. I was unfortunately trapped in my room with them as they grilled me about what was going on in my life. I'm surprised the phrase "You need Jesus" didn't come spewing from their mouths. They did; however, say how lonely it must be in Cincinnati (meaning being away from family) and I wanted to tell them that I had a great loving husbear that makes sure I am never alone, but I simply countered with "I'm not alone," leaving out the fact that I have a bunch of gay friends to keep those feelings at bay (no, I'm not out to my family yet).
Dinner went very well, with little to no incident. My brother Chris and Brittany stopped by and had dinner. The mood between my mom, my sister and me shifted to dark when she arrived. I think the whole family's mood did, but it may not have been 100% apparent to her. It was fine, though. We all talked and said hellos and were civil with her. It was alright and they all watched movies and such, laughed and joked and laughed some more. I ate a hell of a lot of food (ahhhh comfort food) and then stayed on the couch, happy in my blissful food coma.
Soon, people departed and we were left to finish cleaning up, which was done. I watched some more TV (MTV's "Next" is hilarious, especially when they have have gay and lesbian people on there) and then went to bed a little early. I was drained from being around the family.
Monday, December 26: A Specials Home to Cincy
I awoke again before my watch went off and just laid in bed for a while. I knew I had to get up and I knew that we eventually needed to get on the road, but I was still tired. I finally forced myself out of bed about 11:30am and got some breakfast. By the time I was done, my sister had taken over the bathroom, so I finished packing and waited for her to finish. Got in and showered and got ready. Then my mom said we would leave around 2pm. I gave my sister a hug goodbye and such and then she left with friends to go to a movie or something (her friend actually begged her to go out). We hit the road a little after 2pm and made our way back to Cincy.
The drive went without too much incident, only having us stop once for a quick bathroom break before making it all the way to home to Cincy. We talked a bit more than we usually do, which is fine. We mostly listened to the radio and just relaxed some. We made it to my apartment about 4pm. I unloaded the car and mom made another quick stop before finally hugs were given and she was on her way back. I immediately called Jim to let him know I made it back and when we were going to head over to Matt & Bill's for gaming. We decided on 5:30-6, but Jim didn't arrive until close to 6:30 (he was having some problems). We stopped and grabbed some Wendys and made our way there.
Upon arriving, we decided to not game that night (I was kind of tired from the drive and Dave had to get up and go to work early in the morning). Instead, we watched a movie that Jim had bought earlier, The Specials. It's a somewhat funny movie, mockumentary style of the day in the life of the 6th or 7th most popular superhero team. It's very interested and reverberated into our RPG game in many ways. After that, Jim, Dave, Matt and I played Gauntlet on XBox and then we left.
All in all it was a good weekend. I had a great time with the family and also got to spend some time with my "extended" family here in Cincinnati. It made for a wonderful weekend and fulfilled my holiday spirit. Reading others journals, I've heard good tales of the weekend as well. I hope you all had a happy holiday.
"Although it's been said many times, many ways: Merry Christmas to you!"