Happy Thanksgiving

We get to leave work in a few minutes. I guess I'll go to the store and see if I can find some books. I only have two books to get me through 3 days right now. That just won't work. It seems that at family functions Dave and Rachel aren't at, I don't pay attention to the people. Hmm. My dad called me earlier and said he's getting his new van today, so we can take that instead of the stupid Taurus. But apparently my mom is sick so we might not go to O'boro until tomorrow morning instead of this afternoon. Which is ok with me because that way I can chill and sleep in my own bed and hang with my cats. There are more people than we originally thought at my grandma's house, so I think I get a couch. But my dad said he would sleep on an air mattress and I could have his bed. Which I would never do to him, but that's so sweet that he wants to do that. He said it seems to help my migraines when I sleep well. I guess that could be true. You'd think I could've figured out my triggers in the past three or four years. I think it could just be the stress of family gatherings and close quarters that disturbs my sleep and or causes migraines at the holidays. As Shannon told me yesterday, "Giblet gravy and family tensions, yum!" Or something like that. Sorry, Shannon I don't remember your exact words that came after the family tensions part, but I quoted you anyway. Cause I can. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving to all!

play it safe

I bought a new cd recently and one of the songs is called Boys Don't Cry. While I disagree with the title, I really love the song.

So what would you say to me
if you could talk to me?
You could ask anything
I wouldn't lie
but you're ok with this
damaging awkwardness
so I'll just play it safe
and keep it inside
'cause boys don't cry

That is how I am with most of the people in my life. I am so scared that I can't start anything. Now, I have always fought with my mother and Mark, and I don't know what it is about them that I can yell at them. But anyway, with pretty much everyone else, I will just wait and wait. Love was generally conditional at our house, so I have always been so afraid to have people be mad at me. I always thought one fight would end a friendship. Now I know better.

Christmas Questions

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? either-it depends
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? wraps them
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? generally white-it's classier
4. Do you hang mistletoe? no, but i think my grandma might
5. When do you put your decorations up? i don't actually have decorations, other than a bell wreath for my door. but i help my dad put up my parents' decorations because my mom gets really grumpy about christmas and won't help anyone do anything
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? hash brown casserole
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: waking up so early it was practically still the middle of the night and waiting until i heard dave get up and then following him downstairs at our grandparents' house (also there was one particular year i remember it snowed in louisville on christmas when i was maybe 7 or 8 and that was way cool)
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? i'm not really sure, but i think i was maybe 7 or 8-i remember dave and i woke up so early that the adults were still putting our stuff together downstairs(my grandpa and my dad generally didn't start until like midnight or 1, though), so we snuck back up to bed (dave probably already knew when this happened, but i had not known, because he wasn't a crappy brother who told me just to be mean)
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? our family has done that the past several christmases, but we never used to
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? i don't have one, but my parents got a new one last year, so i convinced my dad to get new ornaments (their glass ball ornaments were older than us kids and all scratched and crappy) and then we didn't use as many of our homemade ornaments either
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it
12. Can you ice skate? not really-i haven't even tried in years
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? i got the barbie dream house (with an elevator!) and some furniture and one of my favorite barbies one year
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? being with family
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? cheesecake! but it's not just for holidays :)
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? ummm...i don't know, we don't really do special stuff
17. What tops your tree? a star
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? giving!!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? i'm not sure-i really like a lot of them
20. Candy Canes! yuck or yummy? yummy
21. Fave Christmas Movie? i don't know, maybe it's a wonderful life?

Sleepy

I had to pick up my poor father at the hospital this morning. He was having a procedure, but my mom totally just dropped him off there at 6 this morning and then they called me when it was over and then again after they woke him up. The problem is, they put him to sleep and tried to do it and all, but couldn't so now he has to reschedule and do it all over again. And he was so pathetic after I got him home that I felt really bad about going back to work, especially after they made me sign that paper that said I would be responsible for him for the next 24 hours and wouldn't let him make any important business or personal decisions. Which I don't think he is, because he fell asleep twice before I even left and I called him about an hour ago and he said he was still in the same place-he hadn't even moved since I left him there at 11. I totally haven't seen him much lately, but he calls to check in with me every few days. He's such a good dad.

I read an excellent book the other day. The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picault, in case you care to read it. I've liked everything I've ever read by her, but this was a little different. And it had a little puzzle in it! I bought it Saturday night because my friends and I are so exciting that while we were waiting for a table at Outback, we went to Sam's Club and wandered around. And I found some books! Also, some pillows, but I didn't buy them. I did have a Wallaby Darned once we finally got our table at Outback and by the way, it is a very good drink even though it sounds silly.

Also, I totally can't believe that even though in my last post I mentioned both Canada and Jeopardy, I didn't mention that Alex Trebek is Canadian!

Celebrities and Canada

Celebrity Jeopardy starts today. I don't usually watch game shows, but if I do, Jeopardy would be my pick. And they have the girl from Law and Order: CI (Kathryn Erbe) and the dude from SVU (Chris Meloni) and also Bebe Neuwirth. She's awesome. They also have Sam Waterston and Miguel Ferrer, who both rock. It would be funny if they had the tall dude from CI (Vincent D'Onofrio) and he turned out to be a moron, since his character is some sort of genius.
My dad called me the other day and said, "You have a package...from Canada." Like that was something requiring a dun-dun-DUN! It was just the rest of Mark's present, but I thought it was weird he said it that way. I love Canada! They made You Can't Do That On Television (which we weren't supposed to watch, but did anyway) and now they make Degrassi, which I am way too old to watch, but love anyway. In fact, Shannon humors me and watches it with me and last Friday we even tried to play a Degrassi drinking game, but I think our rules were too broad because I got drunk really quickly. Anyway, Canada gave us Alan Thicke, which led to them giving us The Alan Thicke Show. They also gave us Naked News, which is thankfully completely unrelated to Alan Thicke and his show. I always enjoyed Due South and The Elephant Show was one of my favorites when I was little. I don't know why I just spent that much effort on Canada, but I hope you like Canada too.

Jury Duty

I got a summons to serve jury duty in federal court. Apparently it is different from regular jury duty because the letter says I only go one day a month for 18 months. Sounds like a hassle. I can't find anyone who has ever had that kind of jury duty. I'm just curious-I've never even had regular jury duty. I had to fill out a weird form for them, too. Anyway, so that'll be different.
My small group has apparently decided to go caroling, which is funny because only two of us are in choir and neither of us came up with that idea. I like to sing, but I totally don't do outdoors. They didn't even know how we were going to decide what to sing, so I offered to bring a hymnal so we can look at the Christmas section. I don't think I've ever actually caroled, so it should be interesting.

girly?

I haven't worn any make-up for a while because I've felt crappy for a year or two. On special occasions I put on foundation. I used to love make-up and I would wear eye shadow every day. I never understood eye liner, though. It always looked wrong on me. But the other day I hauled out my basket 'o' make-up and went through it. I have a ton of never used eye shadows and a few blushes. I love blush-it's just fun. Shannon and I went to the store and she helped me buy some eye liner and told me that I was doing it right. It still doesn't look right to me, but I think I have the hang of it. So I'm back to eye make-up. I did discover this weekend that brown eye liner just made me look like my eyes were red. So no more chestnut eye liner for me. I enjoy being a girl! Sorry, just felt like breaking into song. Also, Tuesday I got the most awesome parts of Dave and Mark's Christmas presents and now I'm all excited about that.