The prodigal journaler returns
So, I'm still here. I still write entries at work, email them to myself, and then decide they're not worth posting.
The brief summary of the actual events of the past month and a half looks like this:
Catching a bad cold a few weeks before Christmas is not recommended. I was better in time to make ten thousand cookies (like the girl in Rumplestiltskin, except turning flour and sugar into cookies instead of straw into gold... and without the supernatural helper). I got them to their recipients, except for my mother's family, because I entrusted them to her and she left them under the tree at her house. No biggie, because apparently my aunts also baked cookies, but that wasn't the point. The point is, Mom kept the cookies (however accidentally) and ate them without shame when I found them. Ah, well. There's always next year.
Christmas was good. The travel was relatively stress-free, except for the part where I found out, the night before we were supposed to leave, that my suitcase is not, in fact, a bag of infinite holding. There was no snow and I was not even particularly cold, Adam's family is cool, and the trip was relaxing -- more so than if I had spent it with my own family, but also in an objective sense. Which is saying something, for me. Partly because I got to sit back and be quiet... not on the level of "mere accessory" quiet, but quiet in a good way. I went to a hockey game, I met a lot of relatives and a few friends, and I took a driving tour of what felt like the entire state. When I got back, I had a short bout of there-are-relatives-visiting, but I still had time off so it wasn't as time-stressed as it could've been. In the end, I think I spent most of two weeks with Adam, with a few hours off here and there, and we still like each other. :P
New Year's was a quiet evening. Going back to work was rough, as these things are.
I've been inspired to cook stuff lately... partly because I asked for china (I picked it out and even went with Mom to carry the box when she bought it) and flatware (which I ordered online for Granny to give me, since she is not so internet-savvy) for Christmas (Noritake "Crestwood Platinum" and Oneida "Kenya", for anyone who's curious enough to bother googling). I picked up dark-blue chenille napkins and a dark-green tablecloth (and a black tablecloth for seating 5-8 people, if I'm ever organized enough to get that many people here at the same time), and I think it all looks nifty together. Well, it suits my taste, anyway. I like flowery or gaudy dishes, but if you're serving food that's worth looking at, the dishes and food compete -- often in bad ways. So a little plainer is better, lest the visual effect make a guest (or me) unable to eat.
It's also that it's just fun to make things that are tasty and pretty. I took pictures of a couple of things, but am too lazy to actually post them. I have Plans for other things I want to try making, so I may be calling guinea pigs friends to see who is willing wants to come test taste have dinner with me. I also sucked people into playing Risk after dinner last time, but that isn't required of all guests.
I cleaned up boxes that have been sitting around since August or September, and have been attempting to get rid of le junque which cluttereth up my space. Progress has been made, in small ways.
Last weekend, I helped Adam pick out plants for his apartment. I envy the sunlight over there. I still like my forest, and am looking forward to watching it in spring. And in winter, if it ever stays winter long enough to snow. (We've renewed the lease until the end of October, at which point we'll figure out what to do next... C may move cityward and I may move Restonward.)
Yesterday (this morning?), I did the most publicly nerdy thing in my life.
Unrelatedly, I want to go see Pan's Labrynth. It seems like it will be disturbing but beautiful.
The brief summary of the actual events of the past month and a half looks like this:
Catching a bad cold a few weeks before Christmas is not recommended. I was better in time to make ten thousand cookies (like the girl in Rumplestiltskin, except turning flour and sugar into cookies instead of straw into gold... and without the supernatural helper). I got them to their recipients, except for my mother's family, because I entrusted them to her and she left them under the tree at her house. No biggie, because apparently my aunts also baked cookies, but that wasn't the point. The point is, Mom kept the cookies (however accidentally) and ate them without shame when I found them. Ah, well. There's always next year.
Christmas was good. The travel was relatively stress-free, except for the part where I found out, the night before we were supposed to leave, that my suitcase is not, in fact, a bag of infinite holding. There was no snow and I was not even particularly cold, Adam's family is cool, and the trip was relaxing -- more so than if I had spent it with my own family, but also in an objective sense. Which is saying something, for me. Partly because I got to sit back and be quiet... not on the level of "mere accessory" quiet, but quiet in a good way. I went to a hockey game, I met a lot of relatives and a few friends, and I took a driving tour of what felt like the entire state. When I got back, I had a short bout of there-are-relatives-visiting, but I still had time off so it wasn't as time-stressed as it could've been. In the end, I think I spent most of two weeks with Adam, with a few hours off here and there, and we still like each other. :P
New Year's was a quiet evening. Going back to work was rough, as these things are.
I've been inspired to cook stuff lately... partly because I asked for china (I picked it out and even went with Mom to carry the box when she bought it) and flatware (which I ordered online for Granny to give me, since she is not so internet-savvy) for Christmas (Noritake "Crestwood Platinum" and Oneida "Kenya", for anyone who's curious enough to bother googling). I picked up dark-blue chenille napkins and a dark-green tablecloth (and a black tablecloth for seating 5-8 people, if I'm ever organized enough to get that many people here at the same time), and I think it all looks nifty together. Well, it suits my taste, anyway. I like flowery or gaudy dishes, but if you're serving food that's worth looking at, the dishes and food compete -- often in bad ways. So a little plainer is better, lest the visual effect make a guest (or me) unable to eat.
It's also that it's just fun to make things that are tasty and pretty. I took pictures of a couple of things, but am too lazy to actually post them. I have Plans for other things I want to try making, so I may be calling guinea pigs friends to see who is willing wants to come test taste have dinner with me. I also sucked people into playing Risk after dinner last time, but that isn't required of all guests.
I cleaned up boxes that have been sitting around since August or September, and have been attempting to get rid of le junque which cluttereth up my space. Progress has been made, in small ways.
Last weekend, I helped Adam pick out plants for his apartment. I envy the sunlight over there. I still like my forest, and am looking forward to watching it in spring. And in winter, if it ever stays winter long enough to snow. (We've renewed the lease until the end of October, at which point we'll figure out what to do next... C may move cityward and I may move Restonward.)
Yesterday (this morning?), I did the most publicly nerdy thing in my life.
Unrelatedly, I want to go see Pan's Labrynth. It seems like it will be disturbing but beautiful.