Chaos Attraction

Presents and Such

2003-12-01, 1:40 a.m.

Well, today begins Holidailies. I'm hoping I'll manage to keep this up, between net access at various people's houses, Dave knowing about the journal this year, etc., etc. I am currently very awake because I didn't go to bed before 1:30 a.m. most of the weekend.

Anyway... Thanksgiving was mercifully uneventful, calm, and relaxing, and I enjoyed it muchly. I was incredibly amused to walk into my aunt's house and see this. Yes, I am sick enough to take pictures of poor horny Snickers the bunny humping his toy. Cassie (my cousin, the bunny owner) had to take his toy away from time to time to uh, give him a rest. Timothy, the other bunny, had a hedgehog toy of his own but restrained himself. (For more bunny pictures, humping or otherwise, check here.)

I came up with an idea to put in a novel sometime: having a family game where all the kids try to constantly get the conversation around to disgusting things during holiday meals. I can't really use it for my current novel, seeing as (a) Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed in novel time, (b) Trevor's family is just way too sedate to pull this kind of thing, plus the guy's an only child, and (c) Nicola's family just wouldn't stand for it, plus she's the wrong age to play the game with the rest of the kids. But someday, someday... wonder if I can get sister Toni's kids to play it at Easter or something. Nah, probably not.

Where does this come from, you ask? Last year or the year before that, I can't remember which, the cousins and I were discussing something or other semi-gross at the table, and my aunt promptly chastised us for discussing gross things at Thanksgiving. She then IMMEDIATELY broke into talking about this "fascinating massacre" in Uncle Brad's family.

Well, this year, it happened again. I forget what gross thing we were discussing again, but Aunt Susie did the smackdown, and suddenly conversation was at a standstill. Uncle Brad asked what we should talk about now, and just as a joke I said we could talk about that fascinating massacre again. And he went for it! Dayum!

The rest of the time there was very peaceful and relaxing. I ended up mostly making lots of jewelry again. I also made this, which is the weirdest necklace like, ever, and nobody but me will like it, but I think it's cool. Hell, are you going to see that anywhere else?

I also added a bit to the novel, much to my surprise. Which was fine, but I am already fearing that I'm losing the writing mojo now that NaNo is over. But the comments I got on it recently just made me blush. WOW. Wowee. (Am I really that good?)

There is going to be a local post-NaNo party on Saturday, Jess (writing buddy) has asked me to go, and I am hoping to. And speaking of Jess, her husband wants me to make her a necklace for Christmas, which is very exciting. Woo! I am pretty happy on the jewelry front these days.

Friday started out shittily but ended much improved. Mom stormed into "my" bedroom (really Cassie's) that morning wanting to know why I couldn't just hug and kiss Dad like nothing had ever happened. Since we'd just had a conversation fairly recently where she'd told me she couldn't fake hugging and kissing him like he was a normal person either, her saying this now ticked me off horribly. This led to me snapping at her and her snapping at me, begging me to ask for the Friday after Christmas off from work and getting all offended at me perhaps wanting to see Dave on the previous weekend, and then griping that I hadn't been home for New Year's in at least four years. (Not true- I was last home 2 years ago) And that they'd actually do something for the holiday if I was there. Argh. Mom doesn't know that I already asked for the last two weeks of December off from work, since it's only 6 vacation days for me and there's diddly-squat to do then anyway, but I was going to spend most of it with Dave the way I did last year. Well, not any more- the first week's going to her, the second's going to have to go to him. I feel bad about it, but I can't really negotiate well between the begging and there being one work day left in the week.

After we left my aunt's, we went down to old towne Folsom to do some shopping in the cute quaint little stores. I felt guilty about that because Dad's wheelchair can't get around that area, but I think Mom just kinda snapped this day and said we'd go in even if he didn't. So we got some ornaments, and I got some jewelry for myself- Holly Yashi earrings on discount and an antique set of magnetic earrings that you can change the stones on- and also a shitload of pendants and such for the aforementioned jewelry above. I also got myself a bracelet and necklace of blue goldstone (actually, it's more dark purple), about which I am undecided as to whether or not to take them apart and use the stones in jewelry or keep them for myself.

Later that day I ended up following my mom around the Folsom outlets (our traditional Black Friday shopping spot, really), where she bought a ton of clothes for herself, really an entire wardrobe that went together excellently, for about $13 per item. I even bought her one of the shirts myself. In return, she bought me two sweaters, some jewelry and a scarf. I filched the scarf early- baby, it's cold outside. As for the menfolks in our lives, they got socks. Exciting, huh? I ended up making Mom a set of three matching necklaces to go with the wardrobe stuff.

Something kinda awful happened that made me secretly happy: Mom lost her temper at Dad for speaking unintelligibly again. (It is our secret consensus that he really just doesn't try to be understood, and then gets pissy when we have to ask him to repeat and repeat and repeat.) She lost it at him when she'd gotten all but one word, and he wouldn't repeat the one word (towards the end of the sentence), but kept starting from the beginning of the long sentence over and over again. Afterwards she had to get out of the car and kept berating herself to me about how she should have the patience of a saint in dealing with him, but I enjoyed that for once she was losing it too.

On Saturday, we went out for more shopping, this time ye olde Target and Wal-Mart. I got my parents 3 CD's they're wanting, and ordered the rest of their gifts off Amazon. Other than making my dad a hat, I am officially done with procuring them presents, I think. That just leaves Dave, Jackie (Heather? Hill?), my Pagina Claus pal, whoever that may be, and um... that's probably it for the major folks I have to go out and shop for that aren't getting jewelry. Woo hoo!

Happily, I got more checks in the mail, plus my class refund, plus a paycheck with an extra $300 in it, so I am somewhat rolling in it enough to handle the rest of the month and start with the savings and paying off Mom. Woo!


As for Dave, for those of you wondering, that last fifth pint of blood they put in him has now put him in a fairly raring-to-go mood, so he seems to be doing fine and dandy. I called him on Thanksgiving and got put on the phone with his mom, who's still wondering when I'm going to be there for a holiday (going on the conversation I had with Mom this weekend, that answer is still "never"), and apparently she got the kittens' sexes wrong, so Lando is now Leia and vice versa. Boy, is that ever gonna fuck with heads.

And speaking of that subject... Jeremy and Rachel are now speaking to Dave again like nothing ever happened and there was no sudden freezeout for his birthday. This annoys me, but Dave is all "Hey, it beats staying at home alone." Honestly, I can't say I'm happy to see them back right now if they're gonna keep on acting like little asswipes who only want Dave around for the use of his car or whatever they want this week, but it isn't my choice to make- I just have to back his up, like it or not. Grrr. I may be losing patience with so-called-friends shenanigans in my old age.


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