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december 22-27
December 28, 2016, 4:11 P.M.
When I got home Thursday, I found my shopping order on the doorstep. 24 hours after it was originally promised, and just exactly too fucking late for me to hand out the co-worker gifts before the holiday. Then I spent like an hour trying to get through deleting two old twitter accounts that I've been meaning to deal with for a while now. I have no interest in twitter, and haven't for a long time, but for some reason, all the old accounts I've surpressed emails from have
When Spouse got home Thursday, we went over to DeRangos for a sandwich and then just went home and did nothing in particular before going to bed.
Friday, we went and did a little shopping, because he decided he ought to get the kids something. We went to Costco, because we needed coffee and a couple other things, and I needed to get my glasses adjusted. He picked up some movie tickets for Nephew & NIL, and some biscuits for their dog. We found a nice little piece of ham, for about $8.00, to have for xmas dinner. I bought a new carry-on bag; they had a very nice one for $50 that only weighs 3.9 lbs, and has spinner wheels and a nice tall handle. It's plain black, but I may get some stencils and dress it up a little. Make it more easily identifiable.
I guess we are pretending that the suitcase is what he got me for Christmas. He certainly didn't get me anything I spent the last two months hinting for--like a display case for my pens, or a microwave oven. But no surprise, really--he's the family Santa who is famously tone-deaf to his wife's desires.
And we went to Meijer--got Niece a gift card, and picked up a few groceries. Bought the dog a couple toys. Came home, put stuff away, had a sandwich. Slept all afternoon. got up, showered, dressed, and went out into the slop (we were getting rain near the lake, snow to the west) for the soft opening at Niece's new gig all the way out in the western county. Roads were fairly shitty, and it took us about 50 minutes to go 22 miles.
Dinner was very nice; salad, steaks, baked potatoes and dessert sampler, plus one free wine, beer, or soft drink or 1/2 off cocktail. Service was excellent, food was good, the Pinot Grigio was very good, and atmosphere was pleasant. Gave Niece her gift card, and she gave us a bag of treats and a toy for the B. Didn't talk long as she was so busy working, but we got to exchange hugs and Christmas greetings, at least.
We were both tired (and full of dinner) after the long ride home in the snow, so we pretty much went right to bed.
I was feeling pretty spry when I got up on the 24th, for some odd reason. I had a nice, productive day--I cleaned out the fridge, took part the coffeemaker and cleaned it, took apart the Brita, cleaned it, & changed the filter, scrubbed the kitchen, scrubbed the bathroom, and did 6 loads of laundry. It was kind of nice to be able to feel rested, and get that kind of stuff tackled without having to interrupt the process because we had to go somewhere.
Spouse didn't really do too much; he took the garbage out, and he made a very good dinner. Char Siu--Chinese BBQ pork. (A recipe from the Cook's Country cookbook I got him for his birthday)
Christmas, I spent in bed.
No, really. Not because I was sick, but because I was miserable. I got up in the morning, and I realized right away that I was feeling low-down and rotten. Maybe it was the knowledge that it was "Christmas DAY!!", and yet...that really didn't seem to mean anything. I'm not religious, we didn't decorate, we didn't exchange gifts, we didn't have company, we didn't gather with friends or family...we didn't even leave the house from Friday night to Monday.
(Maybe was because people my age kept dropping dead. So long, George Michael.)
We cooked. That was about it. We made a nice breakfast of country-style bacon, home-fries, eggs and bakery toast. I wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but it was good. Then I cleaned up the kitchen, called my dad to wish him a merry Christmas, and went & took a shower.
Then I just got back in bed, and stayed there. From 10:30 to 4:30. I read, I fiddled around on my phone, I googled "anhedonia", I had a couple of bouts of depressive weeping, and had an existential crisis and realized that what I really wanted for Christmas was somebody close to me who respected the things I like, instead of constantly rolling their eyes at me.
Which is what I feel with so many people I know--some do it impatiently, some indulgently, some condescendingly, but it seems like they all do it. I've lived my life on the theory that I don't need validation from anyone but myself, but it does get pretty exhausting at times.
Then I took a nap.
Spouse made dinner, but he didn't really need my help to make something as simple as baked ham, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and crescent rolls out of a tube. I got up and ate, because what are you gonna do when somebody cooks for you--tell them to shove it, you're not hungry? And I did the dishes. And then, after dessert (we bought a Marie Callendar frozen banana cream pie, so even that was something I didn't have to do.), HE went to bed, because he had to get up for work in the morning. I drank a large tumbler full of (mostly) bourbon and (a little) Coke, then watched youtube videos and played word games and went to bed around ten.
So it was just a shitty, shitty xmas day, not worth being conscious for.
Monday, Spouse went to work, and I had the day off so I just kind of played. I felt better with the damned holiday behind me, so I puttered about, and ended up taking odds and ends from the fridge and the freezer, and making a rather fantastic quiche. Carmelized onions, broccoli florets, leftover extra thick-cut bacon, and extra-sharp cheddar cheese, along with eggs, cream, and Sunny Paris seasoning blend, in a store-bought crust. Seriously--it was one hell of a good quiche.
The sun was shining and it was in the 40s--so I think that probably perked up my mood, too--even though the wind was HOWLING all day. I showered and ran out to do a couple of errands around noon; needed some bread and eggs, plus I had to gas my car up. I took the scenic route out to Costco to fill up, just to stretch the Buick's legs a little. Came back the same way. In the afternoon, I did pen maintenance and futzed around, watched an old rom-com on cable (Sweet Home Alabama), and since the B was insistent, we had a short nap. Nothing too exciting, but it was just nice to see some sunshine, and to feel so much better than I had just 24 hours prior.
I'd planned on making a meatloaf for dinner, but Spouse decided he wanted cold ham sandwiches instead, so I got off the hook for that. Eh, fine. I got my cooking geek on with the quiche in the morning, so whatever.
It was back to work today, and I got screwed over by a co-worker. She was supposed to be off today, for a vacation day, so the calendar was set up for me to do all her tasks. BUT--last week, at the last minute, she decided to take off the day before the holiday, rather than the day after. So I covered her tasks that day. Well, today, she decided that since it was already on the calendar, I should just go ahead and do all her work, even though I'd already covered Thursday, and she was actually THERE today.
And frankly, she is a bully and a bitch and a malignant narcissist and it is just easier to do it than to argue.
Of course, with the very sad news of Carrie Fisher's passing, it was all ashes today anyway. A crushing blow for everyone who loved her--and there are millions who do. For me, she was a brave, smart, and funny example of someone who lived with, and despite, her mental illness. I loved her writing, and her voice will be sorely missed.
And Richard Adams, although 96 was a good age, was still a tough one. I don't think I'll ever forget the first time I read Watership Down. I remember being pissed because the English class I SHOULD have been got to read Orwell's Animal Farm, so initially I wasn't thrilled, but it didn't take me long to dive headfirst into Adams' Lapine world.
So I came home from work and cheered myself up by mixing up a batch of eggnog rice pudding. Yeah, it jsut kind of hit me that I wanted some rice pudding, and what the heck. I had everything I needed, and the eggnog was a flavorful splash of inspiration. I used arborio rice, and kind of flew by the seat of my pants. I used my special sweet spice blend, plus some freshly grated nutmeg, and a good dose of high-quality vanilla. Then I dumped in about a cup of eggnog along with the milk. It came out wonderfully creamy and delicious.
A very tasty accompaniment to The Big fat Quiz of the Year, which is how I spent my evening, after the dishes were washed and Spouse went to bed.
Reading: "Friendship Village" (1908) and "Peace in Friendship Village" (1919), by Zona Gale. I don't like all the stories, but I'm so fond of Gale's Calliope Marsh that I plow through all of it. I tried to go e-shopping on Christmas Eve and buy myself a new book for Christmas, but I just couldn't find anything I wanted to spend money on.
Listening: Time to put away the Christmas thumb drive for another year, but I don't have a clue what I want to replace it with.
Inked Up: Did a little Boxing Day clean-up; the Singularity barfed Blu Mare all over itself (it's such a piece of junk), so I had to take it to pieces and get it all cleaned up. I also cleaned up and put away the Skilcraft and the Levenger Splendor while I was at it. They both still had ink, but I was tired of them. I checked the Conklin to make sure it had plenty of Brilliant Brown, and I left the Pilot EF inked up, then, since I wasn't tired of Blu Mare yet, and because I wanted a nib that was a little more juicy, I inked up the Jin Hao X750 (medium) with a fresh supply of what may be my favorite ink ever.
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