LISTENING TO: KEXPfm... and the odd holiday CD.

READING: The Lovely Bones. Fantastic read so far. (Have to add my hearty endorsement to 'Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal' by Christopher Moore. BWAAH HA HA! And hee.)

ADMIN: Note the removal of 'sign my guestbook' and the tagboard. They weren't being used and they made my page look as amateur as it is. Off with their heads! Note also my membership in the 'Astruc Sucks!' webring. Because she does. Oh, so very much.

Well, kiddies, as usual – it has been a while. I’ve just been way too busy being festive and partying with all my wild friends to do a diary entry.

A hee. A hee hee hee! (knuckles tears from eyes) Yeah… that’s a good one.

So, what have I been up to lately…

Well, mainly holiday stuff, really. A few gathering-type events. With no further ado…

12/21 Con-fab with the Vancouver Rowdies

Some on-line pals got together for a pre-holiday lunchy thing at the North Vancouver Quay. There were 8 of us – FXWizard, Nico, Javina and Donuts from the Great White North, and Peter, Poodle, SuzyQ and I representing the Yankee Imperialist Pigs.

SuzyQ and I carpooled up, which was a treat in itself – she’s great company. I am jealous of her job at Holland America and was very sad to hear that ‘cheap-cruise’ benefits don’t extend to friends. Rats.

So, we left obnoxiously early, but that left us time to shop. We made a pit stop at the Outlet Mall in Blaine, where I stocked up on stockings, then at the Real Canadian Superstore where Susan stocked up on store-brand Claritin. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the FDA, but I also love my neighbors to the north and their phantastic pharmaceuticals.) A run on the Skytrain, a quick jaunt on the Seabus and we arrived a few minutes early to our rendezvous by the Second Cup.

A brief stroll around the quay to kill time, and we returned to find FX, Donuts and Javina waiting. Susan and I got hot drinks at Second Cup, and I promptly burned the crap out of my tongue (much to the amusement of FX, who taunted me about it for the rest of the day). We adjourned to the food court where we waited for the late, great Peter and Poodle. Much merriment ensued, and I believe I laughed myself close to sick. (That’s a very good thing.)

After a few hours, Susan, Poodle and I got a lift with FX to meet his rabbit, Max. On the way, we three women teased FX mercilessly and laughed until our sides split and our cheeks ached. We paused to stop at Electronic Arts Canada for FX to run a report for Monday. (How long did it take me to figure out that ‘Electronic Arts’ and ‘EA Games’, as in The Sims, were the same? Embarrassingly long. And how come everyone else has cool jobs and I don’t?)

At long last, it was bunny time. I knew Max was large for a bunny, but this dude was HUGE. Like the size of a small dog huge. Like this bunny doesn’t go hop, he goes HOP. BIG bunny. Bunnius Maximus.

Eventually, it was time for Susan and I to head back south. FX dropped us back at the Skytrain and we had the shortest wait at the border in the history of ever – one car. Of course, the underworked INS boys had to slag me for not bringing my passport, but at least they didn’t search the car this time. Maybe I look more dangerous than I figured.

12/24 and 25 – Christmas Hoopla

As usual, spent at the homestead with t’Auld Man and The Mom. This year, we had the addition of my housemate – made it interesting.

Christmas eve was spent in the traditional way – Dad making Christmas Rolls, everyone else trying to stay out of his way. A few visits from friends for fresh rolls, a few deliveries to others and the traditional evening activity – a Chinese dinner. We were all ready to crash when we came home, but it was only 7:30p, so we watched ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ until Potter took Uncle Billy’s money and drifted off…

The following morning, many Christmas rolls were consumed and many presents opened. I got The Mom some Christmas CD’s she wanted and a certificate for her to get her nails done. T’Auld Man was the proud recipient of router bits. Cyndi got the DVD of Charlotte’s Web hot off her Am@zon wish list.

The Utah contingent made out pretty OK themselves. Dev got some clamps he needed, Scooter and Bink got YuGi0h cards and robot toys, and the Haggis got some groovy duds. Sis didn’t do as well, since I had to be practical and inflict the HEPA vacuum filter she wanted, but (if we’re lucky and she and the Lads can come up during Spring Break to see my new place) I’ll make it up to her and take her out to do something fun then.

Speaking of the new place, I got some great stuff for it. Got a fantastic tool set from the Twins, two cool objet d’art for beside my fireplace, duck shower curtain holders for the Ducky Bathroom, and quite a bit of cashola. I’ve decided I’ll probably spend it on The Costco Couch, provided the green matches my new carpet. (Watch this space.)

The Christmas dinner was absolutely wonderful. The Mom really outdid herself, and everything was beyond delicious. We worked off many calories playing a hilarious round of CatchPhrase – ask t’Auld Man about his clue for ‘man hole’. (OK, he has an excuse -- he was on pain meds.)

“God Bless Us, Everyone.”