tis the season
I could have sworn there was a Thanksgiving write-up but it must only exist in my head. Ah well.
Thanksgiving! Kehau had her senior recital the Monday before, so Mark and I drove down to visit. In a perfect world, we would have flown but, I am still without a driver's license and correct birth certificate (Long story) so that option was out. The drive was ridiculously long but we haven't road tripped in ages so it was mildly entertaining.
Florida was, surprisingly, cold. Herndon was dipping into the 30s and when we reached my sister's house, it still felt like I was in Virginia. Fucking weather! Granted, I am the person that brought a hurricane to Williamsburg as well as the first decent snow in 5 years within a 5 month span so I guess this shouldn't be that much different.
The trip, overall, was exhausting, but insanely fun. What really set the tone for the trip was trying to get the location of the house key out of my very intoxicated sister in between her telling me how happy she was that I was finally in town and her drunk rendition of 'Baby Got Back' in 3-part harmony with her also drunken roommate and a friend. She and her motley gang had gone on to a piano bar (they wanted to wait for us, but there was no way we'd make it before midnight) - but wanted to make sure we wouldn't be stranded outside, so had hidden the house key. Brilliant and thoughtful, but of course that had been done while sober. It took about 10 minutes to keep her attention and then another 5 for them to remember what they had done with the key. The key was hidden with the cap to the gas tank. Like I said, brilliant.
I won't go into the details when I had to call her back to find out how to access her computer network, but it involved her giggling and triumphantly shouting 'MITTENS!' when asked for the password. As expected, that wasn't the password and for the rest of the visit, when one didn't know the answer to a question, the answer would always be, 'MITTENS'. Yes, we really are this silly.
Each night was like a college flashback. Lots of booze, lots of music and going to bed around 4am. Mark enjoyed himself quit a bit and actually ended up having a 'guys night' with some of Kehau's friends - complete with steaks and a poker game. Not wanting to be out done, Kehau, Heather (her roommate) and I went out to a wine bar and hit up the previously mentioned piano bar as well. Kehau failed to mention it was a karoke, piano bar. It actually turned out well (read: no one really sucked.) and instead of pressuring me to go solo, we did a few group songs. It's always easier to sing when you have good voices along (and maybe 2 or 3 cocktails to grease the pipes) - and was really a lot of fun.
It's strange how I always end up doing things I haven't done in a long time (or at all, for that matter) when I'm with my sister and her friends. Well, strange probably isn't the right word. 'Sad' perhaps might be better. There's not many people up here that I'd feel comfortable going out dancing with, or hitting a piano/karoke bar with, or anyone who would actually want to do that sort of thing so I sing at home and maybe boogie when the urge strikes but, for the most part, I don't. So, any time there's an opportunity to visit my sister, there's also a chance that I get to drag the dancing/singing fool that's locked in the closet out for a few days. I dunno what made me think of this now. Maybe I need new friends.
Anyway.
/musicgeek
The recital itself was, as expected, amazing. She performed a marimba solo, tympani solo, xylophone solo w/ marimba ensemble accompaniment and a few other pieces. Surprisingly though, my favorite piece was a steel drum solo called, 'The Honeybee' (Liam Teague). Yes, a steel drum solo. And no, it's not your usual calypso/carribean sort of piece. (If you have Real player you can hear a snippet here.) Should you find the song on iTunes, do your ears a favor and listen to it. Actually, download the entire album, For Lack of Better Words. The more exposure this guy has, the better.
I'm promised video and photos (my camera was dead), so hopefully those'll be posted some time next year. Heh.
/musicgeek
We left day before Thanksgiving. Kehau's boyfriend surprised her with a trip to his parent's place in South Carolina a few days before the trip, so we decided to beat the traffic rush and leave early. The whole day was spent driving on mostly empty road, save a car fire in South Carolina - scary. By the time we got home, we were pretty wiped. Of course, we were also left with an empty fridge, as our original plans included Thanksgiving elsewhere. Needless to say, meh to effort and wanting to avoid last minute Thanksgiving grocery store slashfest. No turkey for November. I really don't remember what we had that Thursday, I do remember being peeved about no turkey leftovers though.
Fast forward to Christmas! Mark gave me the flu. Rock! He was sick the week and a half before Christmas, and I ended up sick til now. I had plans to bake, as I do every year, and Mark was actually feeling okay enough that we picked up the necessary supplies with still a few days to spare. But, the flu kicked in after the first day of baking and well - nothing's done. Also, the worst of it hit on Christmas Eve/Day - so yet another damn turkey dinner missed. Bitter, party of one. Yep, that's me.
New year's plans are shady. We may hit up the in-laws on the 1st, (Happy birthday Nese! I'd rather party with you girl.) but it will probably depend on how we're feeling. It's still funkville here and spending a whole day with chain smokers, as much as I love 'em, makes my chest ache.
Other bits and pieces: holy fuck! where did 2006 go? What the fuck about James Brown? Barack Obama is back on my crush meter and dammit, is it just me or can you just not resist feeling happy and hopeful looking at that man? Geezus. Nyquil still sucks and makes me sleepy for days on end. Vicodin sucks and just makes me numb but not in a fun way. Drinking Mt. Dew after drinking nothing but water for 2 weeks is a really bad idea. While I couldn't taste the Mt. Dew, I could FEEL the sugar coarsing through my veins. It was horrifying. Seriously. The Dog Whisperer? Holy shit. I am addicted to this show. ADDICTED. National Geographic has been running a late night marathon from 2am - 5am for the past week and a half - fuck Survivor and American Idol. Cesar is the man. THE. MAN.
Everything else is pretty good. I'm going to start the employment hunt again - less verbal abuse from the customer base this time around, natch. And we're taking the serious step toward buying a house. It's actually something that could be real by spring - which is exciting and scary at the same time. The past few days have found me perusing real estate listings and wondering how the hell I will survive walk throughs with an agent without "Are you fucking kidding me?!" tumbling out of my mouth when I'm met with yet another example of people's poor taste in home decor. Because honestly? who the fuck thinks that painting all the walls of your home a combination of kelly and lime green (with white chair rail and floral wall paper border) is something that should be done? Do you see how this might be difficult? Who knew home buying would be such an ordeal?
So, here's to 2007. We'll see what happens.
Thanksgiving! Kehau had her senior recital the Monday before, so Mark and I drove down to visit. In a perfect world, we would have flown but, I am still without a driver's license and correct birth certificate (Long story) so that option was out. The drive was ridiculously long but we haven't road tripped in ages so it was mildly entertaining.
Florida was, surprisingly, cold. Herndon was dipping into the 30s and when we reached my sister's house, it still felt like I was in Virginia. Fucking weather! Granted, I am the person that brought a hurricane to Williamsburg as well as the first decent snow in 5 years within a 5 month span so I guess this shouldn't be that much different.
The trip, overall, was exhausting, but insanely fun. What really set the tone for the trip was trying to get the location of the house key out of my very intoxicated sister in between her telling me how happy she was that I was finally in town and her drunk rendition of 'Baby Got Back' in 3-part harmony with her also drunken roommate and a friend. She and her motley gang had gone on to a piano bar (they wanted to wait for us, but there was no way we'd make it before midnight) - but wanted to make sure we wouldn't be stranded outside, so had hidden the house key. Brilliant and thoughtful, but of course that had been done while sober. It took about 10 minutes to keep her attention and then another 5 for them to remember what they had done with the key. The key was hidden with the cap to the gas tank. Like I said, brilliant.
I won't go into the details when I had to call her back to find out how to access her computer network, but it involved her giggling and triumphantly shouting 'MITTENS!' when asked for the password. As expected, that wasn't the password and for the rest of the visit, when one didn't know the answer to a question, the answer would always be, 'MITTENS'. Yes, we really are this silly.
Each night was like a college flashback. Lots of booze, lots of music and going to bed around 4am. Mark enjoyed himself quit a bit and actually ended up having a 'guys night' with some of Kehau's friends - complete with steaks and a poker game. Not wanting to be out done, Kehau, Heather (her roommate) and I went out to a wine bar and hit up the previously mentioned piano bar as well. Kehau failed to mention it was a karoke, piano bar. It actually turned out well (read: no one really sucked.) and instead of pressuring me to go solo, we did a few group songs. It's always easier to sing when you have good voices along (and maybe 2 or 3 cocktails to grease the pipes) - and was really a lot of fun.
It's strange how I always end up doing things I haven't done in a long time (or at all, for that matter) when I'm with my sister and her friends. Well, strange probably isn't the right word. 'Sad' perhaps might be better. There's not many people up here that I'd feel comfortable going out dancing with, or hitting a piano/karoke bar with, or anyone who would actually want to do that sort of thing so I sing at home and maybe boogie when the urge strikes but, for the most part, I don't. So, any time there's an opportunity to visit my sister, there's also a chance that I get to drag the dancing/singing fool that's locked in the closet out for a few days. I dunno what made me think of this now. Maybe I need new friends.
Anyway.
/musicgeek
The recital itself was, as expected, amazing. She performed a marimba solo, tympani solo, xylophone solo w/ marimba ensemble accompaniment and a few other pieces. Surprisingly though, my favorite piece was a steel drum solo called, 'The Honeybee' (Liam Teague). Yes, a steel drum solo. And no, it's not your usual calypso/carribean sort of piece. (If you have Real player you can hear a snippet here.) Should you find the song on iTunes, do your ears a favor and listen to it. Actually, download the entire album, For Lack of Better Words. The more exposure this guy has, the better.
I'm promised video and photos (my camera was dead), so hopefully those'll be posted some time next year. Heh.
/musicgeek
We left day before Thanksgiving. Kehau's boyfriend surprised her with a trip to his parent's place in South Carolina a few days before the trip, so we decided to beat the traffic rush and leave early. The whole day was spent driving on mostly empty road, save a car fire in South Carolina - scary. By the time we got home, we were pretty wiped. Of course, we were also left with an empty fridge, as our original plans included Thanksgiving elsewhere. Needless to say, meh to effort and wanting to avoid last minute Thanksgiving grocery store slashfest. No turkey for November. I really don't remember what we had that Thursday, I do remember being peeved about no turkey leftovers though.
Fast forward to Christmas! Mark gave me the flu. Rock! He was sick the week and a half before Christmas, and I ended up sick til now. I had plans to bake, as I do every year, and Mark was actually feeling okay enough that we picked up the necessary supplies with still a few days to spare. But, the flu kicked in after the first day of baking and well - nothing's done. Also, the worst of it hit on Christmas Eve/Day - so yet another damn turkey dinner missed. Bitter, party of one. Yep, that's me.
New year's plans are shady. We may hit up the in-laws on the 1st, (Happy birthday Nese! I'd rather party with you girl.) but it will probably depend on how we're feeling. It's still funkville here and spending a whole day with chain smokers, as much as I love 'em, makes my chest ache.
Other bits and pieces: holy fuck! where did 2006 go? What the fuck about James Brown? Barack Obama is back on my crush meter and dammit, is it just me or can you just not resist feeling happy and hopeful looking at that man? Geezus. Nyquil still sucks and makes me sleepy for days on end. Vicodin sucks and just makes me numb but not in a fun way. Drinking Mt. Dew after drinking nothing but water for 2 weeks is a really bad idea. While I couldn't taste the Mt. Dew, I could FEEL the sugar coarsing through my veins. It was horrifying. Seriously. The Dog Whisperer? Holy shit. I am addicted to this show. ADDICTED. National Geographic has been running a late night marathon from 2am - 5am for the past week and a half - fuck Survivor and American Idol. Cesar is the man. THE. MAN.
Everything else is pretty good. I'm going to start the employment hunt again - less verbal abuse from the customer base this time around, natch. And we're taking the serious step toward buying a house. It's actually something that could be real by spring - which is exciting and scary at the same time. The past few days have found me perusing real estate listings and wondering how the hell I will survive walk throughs with an agent without "Are you fucking kidding me?!" tumbling out of my mouth when I'm met with yet another example of people's poor taste in home decor. Because honestly? who the fuck thinks that painting all the walls of your home a combination of kelly and lime green (with white chair rail and floral wall paper border) is something that should be done? Do you see how this might be difficult? Who knew home buying would be such an ordeal?
So, here's to 2007. We'll see what happens.