Monday, January 02, 2012

2011: the last week

It's around 6:00 and I'm in my pajamas with incense burning and it's snowing outside. The wind's howling against the house and I've got a thin-crust chicken pizza cooking in the oven. It's looking like it's going to be a decent night. Barton Hollow's playing on my new IPOD dock (which I take to work during the week to rock out while cutting cucumbers), and I've got a few spare moments to recount the last *hectic* week of 2011.

Monday. With the day off work following the holiday craziness, I slept in till 9:30 (which is a pretty big deal for this early-morning riser). I spent most of the day unwinding from all the hustlin' and bustlin' of the weekend. This koala's social energies had been wholly drained. Rob and Mandy have Mandy's siblings Jakobi and Onaleasha in town for the week, and Jakobi sported off all his new cars. He got a plethora of remote control cars for Christmas, and one's just like the Bat-mobile with 360 degree turning front wheels. Andy swung by on a whim, and we listened to Led Zeppelin and marveled at the genius of it all. I treated myself to some gyros for lunch from Sebastian's, and I went to The Anchor to do a spot of writing. When I came home, Wing was closed down with police cars flashing in the street and policemen running between the houses. I wanted to investigate, but the police frown upon such things. 

Tuesday. I went into work early of my own accord, giving myself an extra hour to unload a big-ass order and fluff up a skeletal salad bar. Mandy brought the kids in for lunch, and she told me that Jakobi woke her up in a panic, thinking it was the middle of the night, terrified because I was missing. She informed him that it 8:00 in the morning despite the dark and that I wasn't missing but at work. I ran some errands after my shift, did some writing at 600, and then Amos and I returned home to shoot some zombies. It snowed this evening in the hills, sleeted in the downtown valley. Cold, windy, miserable. Mandy, Ams, Onaleasha and I ran off to Target, and I made some chamomile tea and watched Portlandia with Rob. 

Wednesday. Another slow day. Sales are down with the holidays, so shifts are getting cut and we're shutting down the store at 3:00 each day. I thought some dude was checking me out through the window only to discover, much to my delight, that "he" was really an "it": a mannequin. Ha. At 6:00 we had the Rock Bottom (post-) Christmas party (see two posts below). It kicked off at Rock Bottom and spread back to the Claypole House, and it was a great night, hands-down. The best work party I've ever been a part of. 

Thursday. I won't lie: I woke up feeling a bit queasy, but a cigarette took the edge off. I lost my phone somewhere downtown where it was *most likely* snatched-up by some wary passerby. No big deal: I just grabbed my old LG Chocolate and activated it to my number. Disaster strikes? No: disaster avoided. I spent the evening hanging out with Mandy and the kids. We watched "Tangled" and I had breakfast for dinner. Mandy and I ran some errands in Clifton, and when I got home I passed out almost immediately.

Friday. We didn't have the salad bar today, so I didn't have to go in till 10:00. We closed early and were home by 3:30. Back home Amos played "Skyrim" and I watched: it's just as fun to watch as to play. It's like a movie, it really is. Enchanting. I talked to Mandy K. for a while, and that was good, as always. It was a very low-key evening, nothing really happening. The most exciting thing was the four of us--me, Ams, Amos and Blake--crowded in Blake's room coloring in coloring books and journaling. Not the most exciting, but I'll be content with it.

New Year's Eve. I gave Amos a ride to Refuge to play nerd games. Mandy, Ams and I hung out for a while upstairs (Mandy got a new flowery bedspread), and then Mandy, Rob and I went to Dusmesh for Saturday Indian. Oh!, how I'd missed that food. Tyler came over and we spent the evening hanging out with Mandy. Zach and Heather, two of Rob and Mandy's friends who live in L.A., came by, and after a flurry of naps all of us headed out to Kassie's going-away/new year's party in Clifton. Fire-dancers, jungle juice, great bands. It was pretty cool; but being the INFP koala that I am, I was quickly filled with the desire for a much quieter and intimate New Year's Eve. I took myself up on the offer and left the party early, and Blake, Tyler and I watched the ball drop for 15 seconds and then rocked out the beginning of 2011 with Band of Horses playing on the scratch-disk. 

New Year's Day. Tyler and I decided to get The Anchor for breakfast, and when we got there, we were surprised to find Amos, Isaac, and Andy already squared away at a table, and we joined them. We drank coffee and smoked cigarettes in the atmospheric warmth of the place, and I feasted on a goetta omelette with a side of home fries lathered in cheese and onions. My God, children. Tyler headed home, and I spent the afternoon writing and watching Isaac play "Skyrim". The latter part of my night was spent hanging out on the east-side. A whole bottle of wine, a good movie, great laughter and good conversation. I fell asleep there and then woke at 6:30 and headed home, and the snows came down like a blizzard. When I got back into the house Rob peeked up from the sofa (where he was sleeping since Zach & Heather were in town) and said, "Your new nickname's Party-Beast." Ha. Hardly.

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