break
So, my break was pretty nice.
Things at home were pretty good... my mom commissioned me to make a triple-layer lemon cake for a holiday lunch with my uncle, aunt and three cousins, which was lovely (the lunch, not the cake... although I have to say, the cake was pretty spectacular, too). My cousin Sandra just got back from New Zealand, and she looks absolutely fantastic; the trip really agreed with her. She's working on a children's book... she wrote it (it's in the form of a poem), recorded piano pieces to go with it, and is now working on the illustrations (I saw the first one, it's beautiful). Very nice to see her doing so well.
Christmas with the family was nice... Arden loved the stuff I got him, and I think my parents liked their gifts, too, although my mom kept chastising me for spending too much money and blowing my student budget. I spent most of my time at home reading or trying to play the piano (mostly trying to teach myself the Moonlight Sonata, and playing around a bit with a few pieces I actually sort of know).
The class reunion in Barrie was unreal. I got a drive to Alissa's house with Vyky, Jimmy (Vyky's stepbrother who was also in the class, a few years ahead of me), and Eleanor (who drove, and who hasn't changed a bit). I walked into the room where everybody was socializing with my eyes resting where I expected to see people's faces, and all I saw were chests and shoulders. Everybody got SO tall. There were at least four guys in the room over 6'4 (the tallest being Sam at a giant 6'8 or so). Even a lot of the girls there were tall (Vyky's taller than me, Ange is around the same, Shannon is a few inches shorter but still not short...). Mrs. Shipley was there, and Mr. Holmes showed up later, which was awesome. The evening went well... it was weird hanging out with so many people who I felt so isolated from as a child. Everybody was really nice, and it was good to be surrounded by the kind of conversation offered by those people. I drank almost an entire bottle of wine, but didn't do anything too stupid (just had an awkwardly long conversation about reading with Mrs. Shipley, who taught me in grade 4/6). Poor Ange got entirely fucked up to the point where she had to leave without saying goodbye to anybody. She got really drunk, then REALLY stoned, and told me later that she was having trouble controlling her facial expressions and she felt like her tongue had gone numb. Shitty.
The day after the reunion I got to see a lot of people, which was great... Vyky, Becky, Kait, Bryony, Ange, Mike, Phil (who Mike and I ran into by chance), Sam (another by chance thing), Jeff (and another by chance thing)...lots of time spent in coffee shops. Ange and I stayed in that night, watching The Shipping News. The next morning Vyky and I caught a Go bus to Toronto bright and early, then I hopped on a train back to Brockville.
The day after that I came back to Halifax.
And the day after that was New Year's Eve, which was wonderful. Rob and I stayed in and ate spaghetti and watched Harold and Maude. It was a very nice was to spend the evening.
My digital camera stopped working all of a sudden in Toronto (the day of the reunion, when I was hanging out with Liz in TO before completing the trip to Barrie), so I got pissed and bought a Pentax K1000. With money I don't have. I'm not regretting the purchase yet, though.
I got an mp3 player for christmas. And an orange sherpa blanket which I left in Ontario for now because I didn't want to lug it back and I already have two blankets thanks to the generosity of a couple of friends.
I suppose that's pretty much it, as far as the break goes.
They cut my hours at work and now I really can't afford my rent. Might have to look for a subletter and a cheaper place.