Christmas of the Living Dead

It's Christmas! I survived yet another trip through the "we hate life and are going to take you out as well" state of Maryland to return to my parents' home in western PA. We had dinner with my cousins and their 4-year-old, who plays fetch, then I went for hot warm beverages at Eat n' Park with a friend from high school who recently got married. He and his wife spent the holiday with their respective families because they didn't see them over Thanksgiving. And let me tell you, it was a little odd to hear one of the most emotionally repressed guys I've ever met saying "I love you" on the phone to the woman he refers to as "my wife." I am thrilled for them! It's just going to take a little getting used to. ;)

Sunday was church, then breakfast with a young adult for whom I used to babysit, who for some reason looks up to me. Talk about pressure! After breakfast I did a little shopping. Later in the evening my parents and I went to Wal-Mart and emerged 45 minutes later to find a total blizzard outside. Christmas Snow!!!!! There was enough to cover everything and nearly white-out the road on the way home. It was so pretty and I felt like I was five again.

Monday was kitchen time helping Mom prepare for our huge family dinner, three course meal for sixteen people. It was amazing . . . my mother's cooking is truly like nothing else. We went to midnight mass and I really enjoyed the service. Sometimes, God just hits you the right way, and you "get" it.

Today we opened presents (I got a new laptop!) and visited our family friends in Ohio to watch their 3-year-old open her presents and run around being a princess all morning. It was exhausting and I slept the whole way home. Later was dinner at my Aunt's and now I'm just pulling everything together to head back to VA.

Tomorrow is a trip to the Outlets, lunch with my best friend, then goodbyes and my drive home.

A few stats from this Christmas:

Number of people asking if I have a significant other: 4

Alcohol units consumed: 5

Cookies eaten: at least 30

DVD gifts: 3 (South Park movie, American Beauty, and High Plains Drifter)

Money spent on gear that will be reimbursed by government: $406

Txt messages from non-family wishing me a Merry Christmas: 12

Of those, txts from guys I thought I'd never hear from again: 3

. . . which is why Christmas this year could be renamed "Holiday of the Living Dead." Ignoring them for the past two months appears to have worked. I even deleted one of them from my contacts and had to check the area code in the phone book to figure out who sent the txt. So now I don't know what a proper response is. I'm laying low for now, giving it at least a day and a drive home to consider.

Overall, a very Merry Christmas and a joyous one. Here's hoping those feelings can last for a long time.

Beware of Beavers!

CAUTION:
There are some real crazy beavers out there!!

See below for proof:




Haha! This little display is at Forty Deuce in Luxor, in Vegas. I found it today and found it funnier than I did when I was in its presence.

And this is how Vegas lives on in my heart.

Ode to a Troll

If I ever see you again, it will be too soon. I know our paths will cross someday, and when they do, if I don't punch you in your pathetic little face, you will know exactly how much self-control I am capable of.

You have made my friend cry, and you have done so for as long as I can remember. I don't remember the times you made her happy. I don't remember why she could possibly think you are a decent human being. I also don't remember the last time I felt any positive feelings for you.

I can only hope that every time your (forked) tongue says her name, you realize that she was the best thing that ever happened to you, and you hate yourself for letting her go. For the rest of your life, you will compare every woman you meet to her, and when you decide they are somehow better, it's only because you are compromising on what you think you want.

The crisis you have put those who love her into at this moment, will not be the only one of its kind. Because after this alleged "love" fails, you will probably come snivelling back, crawling on your belly through the mud. I can only pray that she has the strength, and self-respect, to kick you squarely in the face and push you away, as you have done so many times. And then you will break her heart yet again when you find your next "I can do better." You are running. You are running from your deepest fear, yet you will inevitably fail. You will be just like Daddy, no matter how hard you try not to be.

Stay away. Stay away from all of us.