Christmas was delightful, as usual. After work on the 24th we traveled to the McKeever house and ate ribs, played charades, and drank. The 25th we opened family presents, I learned how to make chicken and dumplings, and Matt and I made it home to pass out.
The 26th - we joined my family for breakfast at Andy's. Then my father and I hijacked the kitchen to make spinach lasagne and baked ham. Mom was not happy that we 'ruined her plan'. But the food turned out great. The gift exchange was warm and heartfelt, which is something I love about my tiny family. Sure we all know we're going to exchange sweaters... but the conversations and old family stories can't be captured by anything else. We capped the evening with Jon's birthday cake - this year from Around the Clock, of all places. Say what you will about my first high-school dive... they've got a damn tasty bakery. If you live anywhere near Crystal Lake - try their chocolate cake. I promise it's worth your time.
The 27th was a surprise from my folks - we all went and saw Blue Man Group! It was hilarious, as always. Not much as changed since I saw it many years ago. There were parts that I did not remember, but I can't be sure if they were new or my memory simply did not recall. /shrug. Either way, we had a great time, didn't get blocked in the parking lot, and I got to show Matt the stores on Clark and Halsted that I once frequented for more... ahem... exotic purchases. We rejoined the family at Fuddruckers (had to wait while my brother lost and then found his wallet in the theatre). I forgot how freaking huge those burgers are. We left overly stuffed and a bit in pain.
Four days, two families, all Christmas. /content sigh
Oh New Year's. Oh, ouch. Ctef and I finished 4 bottles of champaigne together. Yes, that's right. Four. Bottles. Prior to that I had 3 beers while experimenting with steak and cast iron pans. The steaks were a tad rare for my pallet, but they were delicious. Everyone else enjoyed the hell out of them. We played poker - I drank and lost. This is not new for me. :)
Then we fell into the hot tub and continued drinking. And drinking.
I was ordered to check the time - and happily discovered that there were 19 whole seconds left before we were supposed to shout Happy New Year. We didn't *quite* make it out of the tub in time. So our toasts were a bit late... and I don't think anyone actually kissed anyone else. Hell, even *I* forgot the kiss until Matt and I stumbled up to bed. At 3am.
The dog, by the way, just watched us all night as if wondering what the hell happened to her people. "At least," she thought, "they gave me half a plate of steak for dinner." The cat ignored us. It's what cats do.
I woke up at 8am to let the dog out, as predicted. I was still very, very drunk. I had the presence of mind to drink a bottle of water, give the dog a new rawhide bone and return to bed.
I then woke up at 1pm. That's right. 1pm. I felt like dying. I, in fact, wanted to die. That way I wouldn't have to sit on the bathroom floor and worry about throwing up. Matt, bless him a thousand times, drew me a warm bath so I could relax and get clean. While in the tub I felt a little better, but that all went out the window when I got out again.
The consensus from everyone in the living room was that I looked like death warmed over. I sat in the chair and ignored the smells of their pizza lunch. The thought of food made me sick. I tried drinking water and felt sick. Even the dog was frightened to jump up on me - though I did invite her. /pout. All I wanted was a hug. I'm pretty sure we watched Ghostbusters 2 on tv, but I was mostly trying to calm my headache and my guts. I felt well enough at 4:30pm to start cleaning. We were finished and out of the house a little after 5pm. Back home - Raven was happy to have dinner and curl up in her bed and pass out. Matt and I followed shortly thereafter.
Saturday - I bought our own cast iron pan from Kohl's. Then I played Dragon Age: Origins. Until 1:30am.
Sunday - I played DA:O until the last possible moment before church. Addicted? Why yes. I am. I met Ctef at Woodfield for lunch and Malanka shopping. Ctef WINS this year - she found my dress for $23. Floor-length emerald/teal greek drape. Hooray for discounts! She then took me into the tea shop and I spent the rest of my budget on tea. Yup - more on tea than on the dress. I've got my priorities straight. We returned back home to bake pretzels and try a new cheddar cheese soup. The soup was flavorful, but thin. We're going to decrease the liquid a bit and see if that helps. As I have the leftovers today we're going to see how well it reheats. And yes, we made preztels. They're stupidly easy to make - and delicious. Since they only rise for 30 minutes and bake for about 10 minutes - can have a full tray of pretzels in an hour. That's awesome. I just had one for breakfast with my tea. It was divine. It's only a matter of time before I start coating them in cinnamon-sugar for sweets.
Somewhere in there I also put together the first teaser video for RenQuest2010 - pending approval. I'm not really happy with how it turned out, but I'm dealing with a crippled computer in terms of the windows programming... and you'd be surprised how much difference a font can make.
Matt tells me that there are 3 or 4 games left before Changeling will be over. I'm got a much better grasp as to where 7th Sea is going to end. By my estimate, we'll be done in May. Just in time for me to truly freak out about RQ. Good planning on my part.
So for now I'll drool in anticipation of my delicious lunch, and daydream of playing DA:O, and try to outline RQ2010.
Cheers!
PS - regarding my music: the song has the lyric "You have to study alcohology." Which, I feel, is rather relevant to my Thursday night escapade.
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amused
bored
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