Yay! I had a good Christmas.
I woke up at 3AM to put the fish in water so it would be ready when I needed it and planned to go back to sleep for a couple of hours while it soaked. Except I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and started working on the baccala around 4AM. Around 10 or 11, the whole thing started getting to me, the repetitive nature of what I’d been doing for 6 or 7 hours making it all seem silly, like a word repeated too many times. Then I kept doing it until I was totally out of flour, finishing around 1PM. So, nine hours on my feet, cooking the then bizarre-seeming food. Good start, eh?
After that I went to my older sister’s place where everyone was getting together for supper. I guess there was some conflicts or something, because two or three (or more?) people had to run out crying over the course of the afternoon, but as usual I had my politics & drama filters on, so barely know what was going on. Anyway, the food was good, if thermally confused, and apart from the people who felt the need to run out crying, the company was good too. I think everyone had a good time. Then everyone opened presents.
I wish I had had the money to buy everyone more than baccala. Everyone looked so happy opening their presents. Heck, I was really happy opening mine. I just … wish I could have added more to that. Anyway, I got a lot of really good and thoughtful things. In no particular order: the Minority Report DVD, A stuffed Gir (watching Minority Report with me right now) and a Gir postcard, the out-of-print Material Issue CD I wanted, the most recent book in the Series of Unfortunate Events, some disposable razors, some Mint & Eucalyptus Foam Bath, a couple of calendars (one a daily trivia calendar, which will help me pick up a few more useless tidbits of knowledge), and two double boilers (one small, and one extra small, which is great). I think that’s it. Ooh, and some chocolate I just ate.
From there, Angela and I went on to meet up with Zoe and Amy and some of their family, and Raoul. Zoe and Amy were very thoughtful and generous, giving me not just free popcorn for a year at Harkins, but $1 drinks for a year at Harkins, and Harkins movie money as well. Which for those of you that know me and my tendency to watch 2 or 3 or more movies a week, every week, already know is a great set of gifts. Yet they did not stop there. They also got me a variety of coal-tar-based shampoos and scalp treatments for my itchy, flaky scalp. Hooray! And then we all went to go see Catch Me If You Can, a very fun and entertaining movie that makes me want to find a copy of the book it was based on to add to my collection of books I haven’t found time to read, but love the movie versions of.
Then home, and very tired, but still feeling good. So happy about my coal tar (already, I’ve begun treating my head with it) and Harkins accessories that I sent another thank you email to Zoe and Amy. Sent out a couple of last-minute Merry Christmas emails, and … did I comment on something? I don’t remember. I was so tired. It was after 11PM by then. A long, but very good day, overall.
