heather: December 2008 Archives

So I've had a full week off now. I had a long list of to-dos, checked it twice, and have done exactly nothing off of it. My house is a wreck, my closet hasn't been organized, I've not worked on the Disney scrapbook. Nada. I've been a lazy frigging bum. I've stayed up late every night (2-3am) either gaming or reading and slept in every morning (9-10am). And it's been glorious! This is definitely the schedule I'd keep if I didn't have an 8-5 job.

Christmas Eve we opened presents at my parents' house and had dinner. Mom got me a new windshield for the Blazer (desperately needed and since it was the fourth one in the 10 yrs I've had the car; I hadn't felt all that urgent about forking out another $200 myself). Dad got me Iron Man on DVD and an Oral B electric toothbrush that I'd picked out. Micah got me a beautiful silver celtic knot bracelet. Jenni got me Dr. Horrible on DVD and a manicure set. My nails are now a wonderful festive candy cane red. It was a semi-light Christmas... we'd intentionally made Disney our big expenditure of the year although we did surprise Jenni with a new laptop (thank you HP employee purchase program) and Mom with a 14k white gold charm bracelet. I baked a honey glazed ham, red velvet cake and 2 pecan pies. Mom made deviled eggs and broccoli-rice-cheese casserole. It was a good evening.

Christmas Day we had lunch at Micah/Nana's. Micah made a delicious prime rib. Seriously it was to die for. It was his first time but he'd googled Texas Roadhouse's recipe and it came out perfect. Paired with some mashed potatoes and the leftovers from the night before, it was another delightful meal. Afterwards we played a couple of games of Alhambra and Collosseum. I'm happy to report I smoked them in both of the Collosseum runs. Yay me for winning for a change (usually I place right smack in the middle).

Jenni and I did manage to go see Twilight again last Sunday. It was her second viewing and my fifth. What can I say? I enjoy it, I want to spend my consumer dollars on it. I'm personally trying to send a message to the Hollywood execs. This was definitely my "year of the woman" between it, Mamma Mia! and Sex and the City. Helllllo!?! Yes I like Batman movies but I like REAL chick flicks too (not that crappy sentimental predictable rom-com you guys like to pass off as chick flicks).

I don't know how much to share about this next tidbit but I'm being pursued romantically by a 19 year old. I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking the same thing. I've gently broken the news to him that I'm not interested in a relationship. Didn't sway him from his course. I've crassly tried to deter him but he's persistent. He's fun to flirt with but beyond that...   

No New Years Eve plans yet. May stay in and game and drink. Lowkey sounds kinda nice.

This is the box Dad made for Cordy's remains. I would be remiss if I didn't first tell the story of the wood itself. In 1977 a real estate developer cut down the walnut grove that stood behind our neighborhood in Fremont, CA. My Dad, being one who likes to "cut wood" on any given Sunday, stealthily went out one night with his chainsaw (ok perhaps not so stealthily once it fired up) and slabbed some of the trunks & stumps that hadn't been carted off that day and stored them in our garage. Walnut is a beautiful wood but it takes at least 10 years to dry naturally; chemical drying is faster but compromises much of the color. My father is a very patient man. So in the past 31 years he moved these walnut logs, approximately 450lbs in total, from Fremont to Charleston, SC then to Houston, TX and back to California. (Thanks Lockheed, who paid for all of those moves except for the last trek back to the west coast).

Anyway, feeling 31 years was ample time for proper drying and having a new project he wanted to start (baby crib) Dad had his walnut slabs professionally cut mid-September. He called me from my parking garage exclaiming, "31 years man!" I went down and saw his van loaded to the brim with stunning lumber-- colors resembling the sunset with brilliant pinks, deep reds, oranges and of course every rich variation of brown imaginable. Really pretty wood. Most people don't know what true woods look like; they're only aware of what the "stains" look like. For example what color comes to mind when I say "cherry"? Probably a deep red/brown color right? Cherry itself is actually a very light colored wood, it just happens to take stain very well which is why all ritsy furniture you see in a department store is cherry.

Lesson learned my friends. Anyway, so Dad ambitiously wanted to make the baby crib out of his beloved walnut. As we hit mid and late October he started to worry about having enough time remaining to start and complete this ambitious project. So it was only fitting that when the worst happened, he used some of it to create her box. Then using the laser engraver that we own, I was able to customize it the way I wanted. It's now sitting in my curio cabinent, a couple of shelves above Boo Bear's remains, surrounded by flowers I dried from the various arrangements I received while in the hospital. It was a huge relief to me to finally have her remains with me in my home. Now Dad is back on his kick of making the crib, since he has plenty of time.

In other recent news, it hailed in Morro Bay yesterday. Super rare occurrence. It was kinda fun (other than the waking me up at 4am part). I actually busted out all of my old CO clothes. 

Have you see all of this hubbub about John Barrowman exposing himself during a radio interview on BBC1 while a live web cam was streaming? Ugh. I've seen 4 different articles and apologies about the incident now. Tsk, tsk. You know what they should be apologizing for? Not uploading that sucker for all of us John admirers to download! Friends and I have scoured the internet and it is no where. I don't believe said video ever existed. I'm bummed to not get a glimpse of John's fruit and nuts. Yah, I'm a perv.  

The mortuary finally called today with Cordy's remains ready for me to pick-up. Good thing too-- another 2 days and I was going to call the funeral bureau in Sacramento. (That sounds worse than it is. I didn't actually seek out this bureau, it was listed on all of the paperwork I had to sign when I made her arrangements).

On that note of paperwork... One of the odd things I'm struggling with is this "mother" word. It's not an aspect that had a chance to get integrated into my identity. Yet I have all of this paperwork that lists me as a mom.  

I have Mom and Jenni done insofar as Christmas shopping goes. I know what I'm getting Dad, just haven't found the right one yet. I don't know what to get Micah. Hopefully the muse strikes me soon.  

I miss having True Blood to look forward to on Sunday nights and it's only been a week since the finale. I hope they do all of the books as seasons. Even though they made a few deviations, I still enjoyed it. The fourth, Dead to the World, is probably my favorite installment (although books 6 & 7 are nearly as good, I'm a sucker for Quinn as much as Eric.) Oh well, it did inspire the name of our new group for Rock Band 2-- "Merlotte's" with Micah playing lead guitar as Sookie, Jenni drumming as Tara and me on bass as EricNorthman. My throat has still been too iffy to tackle lead singing.

Speaking of television though... if the networks keep to their planned schedules, Friday nights may become a nirvana of sorts:

8:00 on fox: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

9:00 on fox: Dollhouse

10:00 on sci-fi: Battlestar Galactica

Now if we can just convince Fox not to canel the first two...