Thursday, December 30, 2004

Holy Merry Christmas!

**Disclaimer: Spoiler ahead.
I will start with an apology to any friends reading this before I've had a chance to talk with you in person. When you read this, call me and I'll tell you all about it.

So, my left hand is heavier as I write this entry. Why? On Thursday, December 23rd, Santa Bryan decided that Christmas would come early. After a lovely dinner in bed (I threw my back out mere hours before), and some amazing top moments of our past year together, I was sporting a honking sapphire and diamond ring on my ring finger. That's right, we're gettin' married.

Oh, and I got a mini booklight and some fantastic books. Really. Did I mention the 3.63 carat sapphire?

Christmas with my family passed in a blur of delicious food and new sweaters. And Christmas in North Carolina has been filled with more good food, lots of board games and wine, and quality time with the O'Connors. And with the weather here a balmy 60 degrees, we are leaving today to go back home to Boston. I am trying not to look out the window and I keep repeating, "I love snow; Ice means nothing," as I prepare to head back to the land of ice-scrapers and rock salt.

I hope that everyone else had as wonderful a Christmas and a happy, safe new year's.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

'Tis the Season

To date:
I've attended a lovely and enjoyable work holiday party at the house of one of my colleagues. There was eggnog with a kick and plenty of Al's African punch. Luckily, I didn't get too sloshed and say anything dumb though I do remember answering rather cheeky questions from one of the 70ish-year-old founders about the slight age difference b/t Bryan and me, our reading/sleeping habits and where we will be living come this spring (all while he was standing right there). Inappropriate Mitch.

I experienced a surreal Saturday night in which I started with dinner in a Mexican restaurant, attended a very Cambridge-like party in...er, Cambridge,with people in their late 20s and early 30s. I discussed travel to China, the importance of global education, and the tastiness of the Indian food that was served. I ended the night at a "dress-up" party in Brighton with a group of early to mid 20-something-year olds all wearing very high heels and make-up that looked like it came from their mothers' vanities; one girl was wearing an aqua dress, black lace gloves, very blue eye shadow, and thick, black leg warmers (on top of her very high heels, of course); she could've been an extra straight out of a David Lynch movie. I discussed how a girl becomes a woman, what the inside of a uterus looks like, hitting on a tard at a bar, and the tastiness of the Busch lite and Twizzlers that were served.

Sunday, Christmas at dad's. A very nice time in which I mingled with some family that I see once a year, and my brothers. The first gift opened by my nephew, Noah, was a big Thomas the Tank Engine set that he wanted to open NOW. When he was told that he had to wait until he got home to play with it, he looked around and said, "Ok, I want to go right home, right now." He wasn't too happy that his request wasn't immediately granted, but we were able to distract him for a few more hours. I scored a new standing mirror, a plant stand, one sweater and some housey knick-knacks that I will find good homes for (other than mine).

I truly love celebrating this holiday, but I am learning that I much prefer giving the gifts to getting them. I so enjoy thinking about and finding a great gift for someone, and then watching his/her face as that gift is opened. Now that I have a house, I am finding that people want to help decorate it for me and this comes across in my gift-getting. And it's not that I am totally opposed to this help - there are plenty of people who could decorate my house way better than I, but I don't like a lot of clutter and I don't like pointless knick knacks. Figurines, snowglobes, wall hangings: Bad; candles, vases, pictures: Good. Someone should write a book about this or offer courses in gift-buying. haha. As if Christmas weren't commercial enough. Anyway, gift-anxiety aside, I am looking forward to the eating and the visiting and the game-playing heading my way over the next week.

I bought a hockey stick and soccer ball for Noah last night, thereby completing the bulk of my Christmas shopping. I still have a few small things to grab, but the end is in sight (with 3 days to spare, not bad). Bryan and I will attend dinner at Kate's tomorrow evening for some more tasty English cooking and a little Facts in Five.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

The Theater

I went to the theater last night on a mystery ride with my mom for my birthday (a gift from my mom's boyfriend). Mystery rides have been around in my family as long as I can remember; I'm pretty sure they were started by my grandmother. It's about getting into the car and going somewhere and only the driver knows that destination. We all enjoy going on or planning one of these days or nights and are quite happy when we can pull it off.

So, last night, I met my mom for dinner in the theater district of Boston, so I knew it was a play of some sort. Course, the thing about the theater district is that there are at least 8 theaters so one can read the marquise and not know which one is theirs. We ended up at the Shubert Theatre at the play Tea at Five, which is a one-woman play based on the life of Katharine Hepburn.

**I have to interject here that the show was not sold out, so they offered to move our seats from the highest balcony to the orchestra level. But, there were several groups of elderly people in front of us complaining that the seats they had been placed in made it difficult to see. So, my tiny mom got up into the ticket girls' face and said, we paid for the first row of the balcony, we want to sit in our seats. The management complied and a nice usher was assigned to bring us up to the hightest balcony. We climbed at least 100 stairs and entered the nosebleed section of the theater, one of the steepest in which I have been. I dizzily followed my mom to row A and we sat, completely alone in the entire balcony, and prepared to watch the play. The usher settled herself in one of the rows above us, since there is some kind of policy that people can't be in the balcony unaccompanied. As the usher shifted uncomfortably, my mom and I settled our chins on the thick, wooden banister (thick enough that I couldn't see down, just out, thank god). As the time ticked by, the usher harumphed, got up, sat back down and got up again. Finally, she approached us and said, "The actress will be an ant from up here. Are you sure you don't want to sit in the mezzanine or orchestra section??" We looked down at the mezzanine section, saw empty seats in row A there and acquiesed. Down the 100 stairs, back to the lobby, somewhat hanging our heads that we had made this poor woman accompany us to the top of the theater, and back to the manager who agreed to let us sit in the mezzanine level. We climbed another 25 stairs, and were ushered to row B. When the usher left, we moved to 2 empty seats (out of many) in row A, once again settled our chins on the wooden banister and prepared to actually be able to see the play. A great move, in my opinion. Good thing we showed them who was in charge.

The actress who played Hepburn is Kate Mulgrew, famous for playing the first female commander of the Enterprise on one of the newer iterations of Star Trek. I have never seen her act before, but she perfectly embodied the look, voice and actions of Hepburn; it was pretty amazing. My mom and I have always had a bit of a fascination with Hepburn so it was fun to watch her come to life and tell all of the anecdotes and tales that she became famous for (she was quite a whippersnapper). I love going to the theater and watching people, or in this case, a person, completely transform and melt into another life. And I marvel at the remembering of so many lines. My mom and I both agreed that Boston is a vibrant city and the theater is still a great place to lose oneself for a few hours.

Monday, December 13, 2004

The Christmas season is here and is passing by too quickly. I still don't have all of my shopping done, but I did get my first Christmas tree since I lived in Newton in 1999. Course, this brought the realization that I own just 3 ornaments and those were given to me by my nephew for my birthday. I never really thought about how one acquires things like ornaments - I guess just like this: necessity. I have a tree. It's naked. I will purchase glass bobs to dress my tree. Voila, a collection begins.

In baseball news (yes, even in December), the Sox continue to surprise and boggle the fans of Red Sox Nation. They acquired David Wells (boo), haven't yet come to an agreement with Varitek (boo, again) and have let Pedro go to the Mets (I haven't decided if I like this yet). And they put their SoxPax on sale before Christmas, which is good if someone got me one for Christmas, but bad because I am desperately trying to only spend money on other people's enjoyment and happiness. The sacrifice. Sigh.

At work, we are playing a game called Know Your Co-worker where each person submits 3 facts, two of which are true and one of which is false. We will all guess on each others' facts. Here are mine:

I have never bought a television.
I speak 3 languages
I have never been to DisneyWorld

What do you think? If people actually care/respond, I'll tell you the answer in a later blog.

I think I should mention that Bryan and I lost a newt last week. I mean that literally. On Sunday, there were 2 in the tank and on Wednesday there was only Pokey. So, either Snake died and Pokey ate him (possible - Pokey eats his own shedded skin. It's gross.) or Snake hatched a tank-break that put him somewhere in my house. We looked under just about everything, but there were a few things we couldn't move due to sheer weight, so he could be hiding out under the washing machine wishing he were once again back in the luxury and watery happiness of his tank. I feel pretty bad about his disappearance and I hope he is happy wherever he is. Or that he was at least tasty.

That's all I've got for now.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Hot damn!

I think it's safe to say that I have had the bestest birthday ever this year. I got some great gifts, ate tasty food, saw Ani DiFranco with Bryan (who braved a club filled with women who don't like his 'kind'), sang Irish songs at the top of my lungs, kicked ass in 'scorpion bowl races' against a table full of young'uns (22 years old, max), ate meat on a stick, and didn't vomit once. Not bad.

In album list news, Bryan has received all entries for top 100 albums and has posted the results here as the QHS 200. My entries have been folded into the other 9, but he does list each person's top 10. I will post my entire top 100 albums as soon as I get all of the coding done.

Happy (belated by one day) Birthday to Chris

Thursday, December 02, 2004

30

Well, I was going to blog about what the holidays mean to me (playing games), but instead I think that I am somewhat obligated to wax philosophical on this, my thirtieth birthday.

Yes, I have left my 20s behind and entered the next realm of adulthood. I remember in the 80s there was a show called Thirthysomething and the actors on that show were adults, I mean they looked pretty old. Now, I have crossed into that very decade and I'll tell ya, I still feel about 22. Well, I guess I could say that I feel 25 because I was still kind of indescisive and dumb at 22 and I don't feel either of those any longer. I feel like an adult, but I am not entirely prepared for the slightly bewildered looks that I get from others when I tell them I am 30. So, I know that age is all in one's mind and that I get to feel 25, but I had to renew my damn license and I have to click the next box when asked for my age and I still have to admit that I've never seen an episode of Saved by the Bell. So, I'm really 30. On the upside, I'm not supposed to get carded anymore and I have gotten some really amazing gifts on this milestone bday.

To all of you coming up behind me, it's not so bad. My ass didn't suddenly droop at midnight (well, I didn't feel anything anyway) and I didn't notice any new lines around my eyes (besides those caused from being awake at such an ungodly hour). I may have a button made up that says, "I'm thirty and my ass doesn't droop and my eyes are unlined" - catchy, eh?

To really kick off the bday, I am celebrating this Sat night in Boston with some friends and family. Let me know if you are around and want to party it up Jeffrey-style.

I really did have a great Thanksgiving weekend, filled with truly funny family moments and some fandamndelicious pies. I am really looking forward to this Christmas and to New Year's, when I like to look back at the year. I'm gonna have to count 2004 in my top 3 favorite years. Ever.

In conclusion, I am looking for a Honda or Toyota to buy before my inspection sticker expires at the end of this month, I love having the ability to renew one's license via the world wide web, and goodbye to Tom Brokaw who brought a tear to my eye when he said his farewell and expressed his gratitude for having been able to do his job for the past 23 years. I'm holding out for the good stuff from 'ol Danny boy at CBS when he departs in March.

A shout out to Colleen who is starting her first day of her first "real" job after college today. You are going to be brilliant and I'm sure you'll be running the place before too long.

That's all. I hope you all enjoy my birth day.