Boondox: December 2007

WHAT a freaking dork!

The Holiday Continues...

When you are going 3,000 miles an hour, it really hurts when you stop. I crashed so hard today... and it was glorious.

My boss was kind enough to let me work from home, presenting 2 hours extra sleep and prolonged pajama wearing. In fact, I was only dressed for an hour today, and all I did was throw on jeans and walk next door to eat pizza with Laura.

After work, Boondocks and I cat napped for a couple hours (with the window open!), so we could fall asleep to the sound of the rain and Dave Matthews Band's Crash. If you have not heard a saxophone in the rain before, you need to get on that.

This Christmas has been nothing short of perfect. I am so grateful for it. But allow me to get back to bed... I've gotta work, pack and buy a dress tomorrow. Something tells me that I really am going to need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

2008 might have to begin with a day spent in bed watching movies... and I am totally ok with that.

The Holiday Begins...

I am pleasantly surprised to find myself blogging again because I slept for 3/4 of our road trip today, celebrated evening coffee shopping with my brother and had a cup of tea with the ladies tonight. Caffeine might just be the devil, but I am overlooking it in this instance because of this seemingly rare (as of the last 3 years) surge of creativity flooding my system.

There are so many reasons why I know that this is already going to be the best holiday ever... and well. Here's a list:

* There is snow everywhere. Your warm, smoky breath sparkles in the cold air against the Christmas lights. Santa even drove by earlier on a fire truck. It's fucking Christmas... and you can tell.

* At the rest stop today, I found Haribo Raspberries. I ate them all before we got out of New York.

* The Christmas tree looks like it belongs in a magazine.


* There are a pair of four month old puppies asleep at my feet.

* My cousins have all the premium channels. And On Demand. After everyone else crashed, I watched The Holiday and cried 3 times. In a good way.

* Earlier today, I wrapped a box of pasta with duct tape.


* I am about to go fall asleep reading Harry Potter... and not have an alarm set.

* The fact that this post reeks of cheesy, holiday spirit makes me swell with pride instead of feel guilty about not being 'edgy' enough. I am so freaking excited that this Christmas is mine... and I'm spending it exactly the way I want to.

A New Home For The Holidays...

2007 is going out with a fucking bang, kids.

Tomorrow is my Dad's 69th burfday, and yeah, he already made the sex joke. I don't really know how I feel about my father still being a pimp, but hey. Mike and I are taking him out to Vasilies to celebrate and this will be the first Dad and the kids dinner we've had in months.

Unfortunately, some bittersweet undertones are already present because the night is doubling as a goodbye. On Friday, in the wee hours of the morning, Mommi, Mike and I are hittin' the road. For the first time in my life... I am celebrating Christmas in Connecticut.

My Mom's side of the family has some deeply rooted attachment up there, and I cannot wait to see what it looks like covered in snow! We usually just go up in the summer, but as my relationships with all of my cousins (two of them in particular) have grown, so has the pull to be up there more often. That was cemented earlier this month when my Uncle Rich passed away and everyone came down here for the services.

I am so lucky to have this opportunity at this point in my life. I get to go up and spend the weekend with the extended fam, drive back and catch midnight mass with Daddi on Christmas Eve, have presents and brunch at Mom's and then go to my aunt's for dinner. Two days later, I'm catchin' a plane to Pittsburgh for my good friend Justin's sister's wedding. But don't worry... I'll be back in time for New Years. Which will kick ass, by the way. As soon as I figure out what the hell I'm doing. It's going to be a fast, wild ride full of people I love and I need it.

The past few months have just been really hard on me. It seems like life always travels in waves, and I like 'em big... so I can't really expect the bad ones to go easy. But I have been blessed -- in ways that I had taken for granted -- and without the recent events, I may never have realized it.

I cannot wait to live the shit out of these next two weeks. I want to look back on 2007 and say that it was the start of something big. I hope to see some of you along the way... if you can keep up, of course.

Face!

So yesterday, December 10th, I was at winterguard rehearsal. Laura was running a new waterfall toss, and I was learning it along with the girls. We were only working a 3/4 rotation, and when I first went for a full 360, I fumbled my right hand and decided to catch my flagpole with my face. Almost immediately, a huge red bump swelled next to my left eye (see pic to the right).

Today, the swelling has gone down, but the bruising has begun. It almost looks like I got a little carried away with the purple eyeshadow. And, no... I didn't wear that shirt thinking it would match (see pic to the left).

I feel a little stupid because I don't think I've ever suffered from a colorguard injury this noticeable before... even when I was a beginner. I really hope it doesn't scare my kids away-- especially after last week, when one of the girls hit her nose doing a horizontal toss and bled all the way down the hallway to the bathroom. Seriously, what are the chances?

Maybe this is a reminder to me that we still make mistakes no matter how seasoned we get. And that the pain is always worth the battle scar.

Sorry I Have Been MIA...

... but my family and I have been busy celebrating the life of my Uncle Rich.

 

Those Bud's were for you, Boss.