Tuesday, December 22, 2009

All the Leaves are Brown and the Sky is Gray

Here is an upside down Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling of the Deadwood. Merry Christmas!

Hey, kids. Tomorrow is my last day of work before the holiday and not a minute too soon. The handful of us who didn't take vacation are as squirrely as hell. One of the grad students I hadn't seen for a while showed up for work and we had this quaint little exchange:

Me: Hey, long time no see.

John: Yeah. Where've you been lately?

Me: Oh yeah. I took last Wednesday off. I needed a day to party. I got drunk at 8 am and stayed that way all day. It was really fun picking my girls up from school in the afternoon...

John: See? I have no idea if you're kidding or not...

I made a big point to run outside tonight, since who knows when I'll get another chance. The song "California Dreaming" by the Mamas and Papas came on the minute I started slipping on a patch of ice but caught myself in the nick of time. It was perfect.

I spent most of this evening doing some disaster preparing. If there's one thing I learned from the tornado, it's to arm myself if there's even a slight chance of bad weather shit going down. I got a bunch of food we can eat if we lose electricity and can't cook and some more flashlights and I was book lusting, so I stopped into Prairie Lights and bought myself Marilynne Robinson's book Home. (you know, just in case I finish the 5 other books in my reading queue in the next couple of days) I used to always make sure I had candles, but right after the tornado, we had gas leaks all over the place and for some reason fire and gas don't mix...Well, when they do it's pretty dramatic anyway. I just think the better prepared I am for an ice storm, then the less chance there will be one.

I'm not sure how much I'll be on the blog the next few days. I'll definitely try, but who knows what will happen. There could be an ice storm where we lose electricity, or else we'll be doing some traveling and then I also might be drinking wine and too relaxed to get on the internets. There are just so many excuses.

How about all you all? What are your holiday plans?

10 comments:

rel said...

Churlita,
I wish for you the happiest of Christmas holidays. Storm free of course!
rel

Pamela said...

Hope you get to travel. I'll be heading to mom's but back for new year's.

laura b. said...

haha! I love that exchange with your grad student co-worker. Keep 'em guessing.

It never hurts to be prepared...and I do that voodoo thinking too :-)

I work until 1 tomorrow and don't come back to work until Monday, January 4. I am soooo excited.

Ananda girl said...

I have my usual plan... heaven only knows until it happens. I only know that family is involved at this point.

Merry Christmas to you and your gals!

SkylersDad said...

We are being real casual and just staying home. I will probably try and get a run in after presents. I wish you a wonderful Christmas, take care.

Mnmom said...

Come on over - I just blogged about my plans! We have plenty of food, but no source of heat if the electricity goes down. MERRY CHRISTMAS!@!!

AlienCG said...

I hope there are no major disasters in your neck of the woods for the holiday. Take it easy, relax and I hope the power stays on.

I'm just hanging out with the family on Christmas day. That's about it.

Tara said...

I hope the tornadoes stay out of your area so that you can enjoy the holidays without any disasters! It's smart of you to prepare, though.

I'm actually getting ready right now to head over to my mom's place for Christmas Eve. My brother and his family will join us in the afternoon. She made stuffed cabbage roles and Christmas balish (a pastry with a sugary nut mix filling). Then we'll tear into some presents!

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year!

booda baby said...

The Deadwood's gone so fashion-edgy!

I wish you were here with us. You and A. could handle all the Spanish. I DO have my c's and z's doing the 'th' thing down.

Merrrrrrry holidays, you wonderful of wonderfuls!

Mr Atrocity said...

Have an amazing holiday and I hope the storms keep their distance.

I'm having a couple of buddies over to join my beloved and me fr lunch so there's a good lump of beef rib in the fridge awaiting the oven tomorrow. Bon ton roulet.