January 06, 2003
More, please.
I want more vacation. A week is just not long enough.
I got home from Vermont yesterday -- I would have updated, but Greymatter hates me, and wouldn't let me. Feh. My week at mom's was great -- the bus ride was peaceful, except for the idiot who kept spraying himself with Eau de Ass cologne every half hour. He started in the terminal, and I started sneezing right after. I don't know what was up with him and the cologne, but I fell asleep briefly, and woke up to a cloud of stench, with my eyes itching and swelling. What would possess someone to spray smelly shit on a bus? Anyway. Uneventful, except for Cologne Guy.
The bus arrived in Vermont right on time (a minor miracle, that) and my mom whisked me off home. My brother and his girlfriend were there, Mom said -- they'd arrived later than planned because they'd stopped to buy something. She didn't say what, and I didn't really wonder -- I figured they'd show me when I got there. And they did -- the lovely vintage engagement ring on my brother's girlfriend's finger. Yay! They stopped at an estate sale, and bought the ring -- it's from the '40s, and is beautiful. I had no idea they were planning to get engaged, so it was the first of many happy surprises. I love my brother's fiancé -- she's very sweet, and funny, and didn't run away shrieking from my odd family. They fit together well, and I know they're going to be very happy, for a very long time.
Once I got there, we had dinner, and then tore into the presents under the tree. I got a book of knitted hat patterns, piles of candy, books, Sims expansion packs, a set of containers for my kitchen, a calendar... I'm forgetting things, here. My soon-to-be sister in law gave me sister-related gifts, which made me teary-eyed. We played with our new loot, and then went to the dining room for one of our usual marathon Uno games. We play with no mercy, and laugh until we all feel sick. (An excerpt from the game, after my mom had dealt her fourth Draw Four card on me: Me: "What, do you hate me or something?" Her: "Yes! I mean no! No! I didn't mean that!" Me: "I wonder if I still have my therapist's phone number...") We went to bed late, and slept in a little, until M. and M. (Hee. M and M.) had to go home. Mom and I went to the mall later, and exchanged a duplicate gift (both she and Lee gave me The Sims: Unleashed, so I exchanged it for Silent Hill 2. Unfortunately, I've discovered I need a new graphics card to play it. Anyone got a GeForce 4 card they want to donate to my entertainment?)
Monday and Tuesday, Mom went to work and I loafed around the house. I started learning to knit a sock, and finished rereading The Lord of the Rings, and watched mindless daytime TV. Boring, yes. My dream vacation? Hell, yeah. Wednesday, Mom and I lolled about on her bed and watched the extended Fellowship of the Ring, then went to Wal-Mart so I could buy my own copy. I also got the next lovely surprise Wednesday -- this news made me laugh, and cry, and just made my whole year. I love Claire and Josh dearly, and I can't imagine a better couple. Except maybe my brother and his girlfriend. :-)
Thursday, I loafed more, and Friday, Mom took off work early so we could have a birthday lunch and movie day. (I'm 30. Egad.) We got excellent Chinese from a place that's been open downtown for years and years, and went to the 4 o'clock showing of The Two Towers. I liked it better this time, the second time around, in spite of the people behind us who wouldn't shut up. (I feel that people who talk during movies should have their mouths stapled shut.) When we left, it was snowing, and we waited to see if the weather would be too bad for me to go home Saturday. It was; more than a foot of snow, and it was still falling the next day. I stayed at her house until Sunday, and then caught the bus -- uneventful, again, until halfway through the trip when a woman and a screaming toddler got on the bus, and sat behind me. The kid screamed for two and a half hours. Thank God for loud headphones.
So. I'm back, work is again making me crazy, and my cat won't leave me alone. Happy New Year, all!
Posted by Mary Ellen at January 6, 2003 10:21 AM