"The Holidays"

Hah! I can't believe the last time I signed into this was more than a MONTH ago! Time flies. And my internet connection is spotty.

I guess I should say, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So much has gone on... and I'm sure if it was recounted earlier it would have been more amusing, but for posterity I'm gonna put it down now... before I forget...

It was a whirlwind leading up to "The Holidays", I worked at The Cafe, The MKTG Office, and Scout-sat! Thank goodness for Scout or I wouldn't have gotten MOST of my Christmas gifts done (Snapfish Photobooks for everyone! Well, except Ian. Sorry, E.)

I "partied" with The Locals at the Seal Beach Holiday Parade, my pre-Parade party was my first official Hostessing here (unless you count weekends at The Cafe!). As things go it wasn't much of a pre-party but we rectified that POST-Parade.

Brandy Alexanders were the official cocktail of The Holiday and served up festively in Aunt Lynda's Martini Glasses. (Thanks, Auntie!) Scout just couldn't contain his enthusiasm for the fete and pooped in the middle of the party! Mortifying. Hysterical. Memorable. Only me. And Scout.

Boat Parades are a BIG thing out here at “The Holidays”. I still haven’t managed a Harbour Light Cruise, but I did attend my first ever, Huntington Harbour Boat Parade. Scout hosted.

Then it was on to NewYork!

My first visit in 11 months! Hard to believe. It was GREAT to see everyone: a night in with The Girls; coffee with KennyMack; The Tree with T; liquid lunch at The Plaza with Momma; and a visit with The Hornes.
I love The City at Christmas.

"The Holidays" were made even more memorable by my Dr’s visit; what was supposed to be check-up to make paying my EXORBITANT monthly health insurance bill worthwhile turned into a Walking Pneumonia diagnosis complete with a Z-Pak and Xanax. At least I got the Xanax.

I slept away alot of my time in NEPA. But there was tree decorating, cookie baking, running with Bridget, monkeying around with Grace, meeting Ty and the best pizza party ever at my Big Brother Todd’s.

Christmas was nice. We finally made it to Kavul’s for a Christmas Cocktail between Mass and Gma Rose’s. I’m glad we did. It was fun. And people didn’t question my sparkles....

The Virginia Nehmes were missed at Christmas Eve- as was the Christmas Stork. But as always, dinner was delicious.

Ian had to be the highlight of the evening- while he never goes to church with the rest of us, he showed up in FULL suit and tie (yay! Ian); he also won the gift-giving portion of the evening, receiving a complete set of Craftsman Power Tools- if ever there was a person less likely to require power tools; AND best moment, having thought he scored a seat, he found out the hard way why no one sits in Oreo’s chair, when he had to take his pants off in order to adequately lint-roll the cat hair. Oh, Ian...

Christmas Day always dawns too early now that we’re “grown ups”. Mom and Dad are up first and harassing us “kids” to get up like we’re going to miss the school bus. This year was no exception and none of us were in our finest form. Best Gift goes to Nicholas for buying Ian a grape-jelly purple Snuggie (S-N-U-G-G-I-E, Mom. Not Snugly.) Best Save goes to Dad for finding a gas station mini mart OPEN and selling eggs.

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas holiday is spending some time with Bridget and her family. This year Grace, the Christmas Ambassador, gave a full tour of the tree (in her Princess Belle dress) including which ornaments were “fragile” and which ones were “okay, for Liam to touch”, a detailed explanation of each item in her stocking, and a demonstration of her new bicycle which she estimates, in her own words, “when I’m a little more than 5 these training wheels will come off and I’ll ride like a Big Girl”.
I have no doubt, Kiddo.

Always a forward thinker, she informed me (on Christmas Day) that she has a “skateboard” on her list for next year- she’s just, “going to pretend the basement is the ocean so that I’ll be ready when I visit you in California”. (Yes, I do think she meant surfboard.}

At one point she told me she missed me while I was far away on my vacation and she asked me when I was going home, I had to clarify where she meant when she said home. She meant Pennsylvania. So I had to tell her that I lived in California now. And she asked me why. Well, Grace. That’s a very good question. Fortunately for me she’s 4 and “because” is still a viable answer.

I LOVE THIS KID.

Christmas Night, the holiday concluded, and just when you thought it was safe to go to bed... you are awakened in the middle of the night by what you’re half-asleep brain assures you is one of Mom’s Stupid Cats escaped from the basement and rustling around where they’re not supposed to be. So you listen again, and yep. Stupid Cats...

As you throw back the covers, ANNOYED to have to chase the Stupid Cats out of your bedroom and close the door your stumbled-in-from-McGrath’s-passed-out-on-the-cot-with-the-dog-where-she’s-not-supposed-to-be-brother left open, you FREAK OUT to discover that HOLY-MARY-MOTHER-OF-GOD its a BAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While you’re screaming (sort of) you’re thinking in your head, “ARE YOU KIDDING?!?It’s frickin’ FREEZING. Where the hell did this FREAKING BAT come from in DECEMBER?????????”

Meanwhile, your good-for-nothing-wilderness-loving-passed-out BROTHER cannot be LESS concerned with the situation. Your FATHER comes in and carries on a brief convo with said brother, leaves claiming he’s “going to get something to capture The Bat” and when he returns the bat is NOWHERE. Do Dad or Bro look for The Bat? Capture The Bat? Oh no. Everyone just goes back to bed. And leaves ME! SUFFOCATING. Under the covers. THANKS GUYS.

Nicholas promptly departs for Boston the following day (wuss) and proceeds to send me menacing text messages wishing me luck with The Bat he now refers to as “Dracula”. Jerkface.

Fortunately for me, the night following the appearance of Dracula is the night of the Best Pizza Party ever. I proceeded to drink far to much, send some questionably (in)appropriate text messages, and pass out myself. Which is probably THE ONLY way I was going to be able to sleep in that room anyway.

I was lucky enough not to have any additional encounters with Dracula. Dad called me shortly after the New Year to inform me that he “caught The Bat with his bare hands and released him” out into the night. I’m sure by now Drac is back in our attic nestled among the Christmas Decor and wondering, WTF?

I can’t top The Bat, but I’m not quite finished either...

Before returning to sunny SoCal, Mom returned me to snow-paralyzed NYC. I had a lovely visit with some of my HoHa’s; met Meridith for The World’s Largest Slice; froze my butt off watching The Orange win the Inaugural Pinstripe Bowl; and topped it off with a little Enrique Iglesias karaoke: ”you can run. you can hide. but you can’t escape my love...”. GOOD TIMES.

I worried the weather would screw up my return flight; I was relieved when it didn’t. I arrived at LAX mid-afternoon on New Year’s Eve with no plans. None developed. Not that I tried very hard...or at all. I ran to the grocery store for the basics, came home, took a shower, did my hair (just in case), and then promptly put on my PJs and spent the evening at home. While I was technically by myself I was in good company. I talked with friends. I read a book. And just before midnight I pulled on my Uggs, toasted 2010 farewell, and walked down to the beach to welcome the New Year. It was a very pleasant New Year’s Eve.

I’ll keep you posted.
k8