Punishment for Love

Happy New Year, everybody! I have so much to say but I'll be it doesn't happen. My week off from work was insanely busy. I did not have the time to myself that I like to have. There was family stuff and then more family stuff and then, for fun, even more family stuff.

I didn't go dancing like I wanted to the day after Christmas because I felt like death, in fact, I felt exactly the same way I did the day after Thanksgiving – utterly exhausted. I'm wondering if I should go away for the holidays, maybe all the family time stresses me out too much. Tuesday I got up and went out to run some errands. I went to Jo-Ann's as I needed some specific yarn for a couple of scarf orders and then I stopped at Target (the stupid new Target which I hate, but since I was driving right past it, I thought it would be prudent to stop) to buy baby clothes, but they had literally nothing in the 6-9 months size. By this time I was ready for a nap (I had been up for a whole hour and a half or so), so I went home instead of going to my favorite Target. I watched an episode of How Do I Look? and then it was time for my 3-hour nap. It wasn't a planned 3-hour nap, but that's what it turned into. I told you that I was utterly exhausted.

OH!!! I forgot the "best" part of Tuesday! When I got up I called Ursa to see if she wanted to go for sushi, but she had plans with ElMomo already. We chatted briefly and then went about our business. She prepared to get into the shower while I made use of my bathroom facilities. After flushing and about to brush my teeth, my phone rings and I see it's Ursa. "Did you just flush your toilet?" "Um, yes." "Your toilet is leaking. I was about to get into the shower when cold water cascaded over me." "Oh no! I'm sorry." "Not your fault, but I'm calling Schneider as soon as I get out of my shower."

When I got up from my nap, I found a note under my door from Schneider telling me that I couldn't use my toilet, but Irean's apt. was open and I could use that one. (Note: Irean moved out back in October, so it's not like he was offering use of her apt.) The plumber was supposedly coming on Wednesday. I say supposedly because the bastard didn't show up until Thursday.

The first time I had to use the facilities that day was after the sun had already set. I walked across the hall and opened the door to find there was no electricity at all. Yay! I decided to pay Ursa & OOMA a visit and use their bathroom since I knew there would be lighting there. Ursa said she'd leave the door unlocked so I could use theirs, but I told them that I'd figure something out. And I did. When I got home on Wednesday, I found the note from Schneider still on my toilet where I had put it to remind myself that I wasn't allowed to put my lily-white butt on it which was a clear indication that the jackass plumber hadn't been there. I called Schneider and got no response, but a little later there was a flashlight sitting outside Irean's door. When I got home on Thursday night, the flashlight was gone, and I had a note saying "Toilet's all fixed. Happy flushing!"

Wednesday I had to get up at a decent hour because I still had to get something for my co-worker's baby. My co-worker had invited me over to meet his baby and his wife and I have to tell you that I was very nervous about it. My co-worker is Indian, so I called another co-worker, my friend Lisa, to ask about etiquette and she said definitely take something for the baby and clothes were strongly suggested. I went to my Target and found a little outfit (jeans, madras cotton shirt and cardigan sweater to complement). Whew! I got to their house a half hour early so I just parked down the block a bit and read my book (the only one I got read in December). I had a very pleasant visit with Co-Worker and his wife. The food was fabulous (I love Indian food), the baby so darn cute and happy, and the time was well-spent. I had a fun-filled doctor's appt. that afternoon and when it was over my only thought was HOME and I completely forgot that I was supposed to stop by the World's Greatest CD Store (which sadly closed this past weekend) to pick up a couple of CDs he was holding for me. Wednesday night was the last of my time sitting home alone and veging.

I had a boatload of errands to run on Thursday (prescription to get filled, post office, CD store right by my house – cleared with the owner of the World's Greatest CD Store since he couldn't get in what I needed before he closed – and then the World's Greatest CD Store) before going to Grandma's for Christmas [Christmas Eve doesn't happen anymore as everybody has a different church schedule with Christmas Day is always held at my Older Sister's (OS) house]. Younger Sister (YS) called me that morning to tell me to get to Grandma's early because she was tired and needed help getting ready. Grandma is 88, so it's to be expected that getting ready for family invasions are a little more difficult. My errands went very quickly and before I knew it I was at The World's Greatest CD Store. When I got there I was so glad I hadn't gone the day before because the place was just hopping with friends. The owner and DJ Davo were there, as were our friends from Iowa, the owner's wife, the friend who worked there and then the other two guys who worked there also showed up. All the people there helped make my last time there less sad than it would have been. I spent a good hour or so going through the Used CDs bin and left with a STACK of music. Mr. Iowa and DJ Davo helped me out by finding CDs and saying "You have to get this." A couple of times Mr. Iowa said, "You need this. Put it in my pile, I'll buy it for you." I can't even tell you what I bought, as I haven't had a chance to listen to much of it.

From there, it was on to Grandma's where she put us to work (Mom was already there and commented that she actually got somewhere before me – trust me, this does NOT happen – EVER). We cleaned up the basement which was a "disaster" (according to Grandma) so that the kids would have somewhere to play, we cut up vegetables for veggies & dip, put the leaves into the kitchen table while Fred (Grandma's husband) watched some John Wayne movie (I think it was Rooster Cogburn). Eventually, I took my customary chair in the living room and got to knitting. I got a ton of knitting done over the course of the week. I can't even tell you how many scarves I knitted, but I think it might have been in the double digits.

On Wednesday I had foolishly agreed to go shopping with Mom & YS on Friday as Mom had a number of gift cards for Macy's (aka Marshall Field's aka Hudson's) to spend and Mom is not any good at spending money. Okay, that's not completely true, she's not good at spending money on something decent. She'll spend $50 on 10 sweaters, but it's beyond her comprehension that you get what you pay for and that one sweater for $30 is a better deal, as it's probably not made from cheap-ass acrylic.

The day was LONG and pretty damned stressful. Mind you I got some FABULOUS deals (99 cents for the fully-lined grey work slacks I'm wearing right now, 75 cents for a black 100% silk skirt, $12.50 for a very cool crushed velvet shirt), but asking the saleslady at Ann Taylor to find me the suit I was trying on in a 10 while the YS was trying on size 6 jeans and then saying to me, "You see? They're all too big and look! I can take them off like sweatpants." made for a stressful day. Taking them off like sweatpants means she was then showing me how skinny she is by pulling the jeans down without unbuttoning or unzipping them. Yeah, it was fun. And she did this after I had commented that after spending 2 hours a day exercising in 2005 and then an hour a day in 2006 I hadn't lost a single flipping pound. Her commiseration? "I didn't see any waste loss until I did my 20-mile run." She's running a marathon this coming Sunday. If I had been thinking, I would have said "That's probably because at 125 lbs, you don't have anything to lose." And while I was buying a size 10 suit (gorgeous!!!), she was buying size 4 pants and small tops. Oh, I was feeling good about myself, yes, indeed. I didn't get home until midnight that night.

Saturday was Christmas with the Older Brother's (OB) family as this year was SIL's family's turn. I spent the morning finishing my wrapping as the Terror Nephew's presents were too large for gift bags. I might have watched a movie and knitted until it was time to leave. Oh yeah, I was in charge of the salad, so I walked to the Farm Market that morning, in an effort to encourage my metabolism to do something.

After the family event, where I had to teach the niece how to knit because the YS bought her a knitting basket for Christmas, I ran home and changed into my new lovely crushed velvet shirt, stopped at Merchant's to pick up a bottle of Belvedere and headed to BST's. He was having his annual holiday party and he always makes Chi-Chis which are yummy!! It's essentially a pina colada with vodka instead of rum and even though I hate coconut and pina coladas, I love those things. I figured since I'd be drinking his vodka, I'd replenish beforehand. I stayed way too late considering I had to get to church by 9:30 in the morning as I had sacristan duties, but it was worth it, as hanging with friends is always worth it.

I ended up spending New Year's Eve with a few of the same friends (after dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins) and then New Year's Day was gift exchange with the same group of friends. Tomorrow I'm going to tell you about my really cool and kick-ass gifts!!! I have to run now. Things to do!

I hope you all had great holidays and partied like rock stars!