The Sixth Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me: Six Geese A-Laying

Inconceiveably enough, I'm led to understand that we are expecting MORE snow tonight. 6 to 8 inches, according to the Weather Channel. This is getting more than a little bit distressing. Kirstin's school was cancelled for the fourth time already this year, and I think they are only allowed 5 snow days before they have to extend the school year into spring to make up for it. I know it doesn't sound bad at first; but statistically, December is one of the *mildest* winter months in Michigan. Usually the bad stuff doesn't hit us until late January and early February; at least in my memory. Every year at Christmas I drive to West Bloomfield to see my dad. That drive means snaking curves around the many lakes scattered around that area of the State. I only remember once in the past ten years when I really worried about the safety of that venture; and in that case, the culprit wasn't snow, but a freezing mist rising off the lakes and making black ice on the road.

In a nutshell, for all the beauty of this winter, it sure sucks for practicality's sake.

This morning I was late for work, because our driveway was impassable. My car is covered with ice and salt, and I would have liked to have gotten it washed and taken it for an oil change and new windshield wipers; but I see the storm clouds on the horizon, so as soon as I can leave work, I will be grabbing Forest and making for home as expediently as possible.

Hopefully then we will decorate our tree. Can you hear me knocking on wood and throwing salt over my shoulder?

Work is incredibly slow today; practically no one is in the office, and the people I need to contact in other offices seem to be out, as well. Still, days like today make me very glad that I have a job which is indoors and has central heat (even though my boss keeps it set on 65) and doesn't require me to travel often.

I've done absolutely no Christmas shopping this week, a fact which is beginning to cause me some concern. Forest and I still have Nan, Mark, Sean, and Darcy to shop for (for whom to shop?) and the time remaining is dwindling quickly. We're both planning to work all weekend, including some afternoon time on Christmas Eve, so really it's got to happen in the next couple of days.

So other than bitching about the weather and worrying about the holidays, I do have lots of other things going through my head. Honest.

My mom's going to chip in on our honeymoon as our Christmas present. I sent a request today to find out what the rates are for the villa Forest and I have been eyeing, and I'm pretty excited about the possibility of actually booking it in the next few days. I was going to upload a photo or two so you could see it, but I'm out of space AGAIN! Geez, I've already got space on three different services for this journal: my photos are on tripod, angelfire, and yahoo/geocities. By the time I get done with a wedding and a honeymoon, I think I may actually have to start paying someone for web space. Wow. I never suspected I would go this internet-crazy.

In other news, Kirstin's Christmas concert with her honor's choir has been postponed for the second time. It was supposed to take place last Tuesday, but they had a snow day, so it was rescheduled for tonight. Today, of course, was another snow day, so it will have to be moved back again. I have no idea when it will happen! My mom's beside herself trying to get this thing solidified.

My back feels MUCH better. I've only been taking the muscle relaxers at bedtime, and have been sitting on a heat pad (actually a rice-filled microwaved sock) a LOT; it doesn't seem like much, but the combination seems to be doing the trick. Last night I was able to walk erect for the first time in nearly a week, and this morning I tied my own shoes without pain. It's just a little stiff now, and doesn't make me want to crawl in a nice warm hole and wimper anymore. That's a big plus. Now I'm eager to begin exercising again, but suppose I have to wait a little longer. I still feel a twinge here and there when I try to actually kick anything. There's no sense rushing myself, though. My taekwondo test last week was cancelled due to the foul weather, and Master Kim hasn't been in contact, so he's probably on another continent by now. I won't have to worry about being asked to perform until probably the second week of January, by which time my back should be well and truly healed.

My office Christmas party turned out to be a lot of fun this year. It was just for my department, so the ten of us gathered in the conference room at noon on Friday. I really didn't know what to expect, and was pleasantly suprised. Someone had decorated the room very nicely, and ordered food from the Olive Garden, which is a lot better than the usual nasty pizzas we order for lunch meetings. Rachel came by with her baby son, who already has two teeth and was the center of attention for quite a while. He has an adorable grin. As I sat there, I realized that I had worked with most of these people for over two years. I'm starting to know them pretty well. I feel prefectly at home yakking with them around the conference table; and that's a strange thing to me.

When we finished eating, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing a tournament of "Spoons". It's a violent card game, and it sure brought out the personalities in the group! Basically, you have four cards, and everyone draws and discards until someone gets four of a kind. In the middle of the table there is one fewer spoon than there are players; and when that first four-of-a-kind hand gets laid on the table, everyone dives for a spoon. In the case of my co-worker Al, this meant LITERALLY diving. He actually lost a shoe in the process. I was impressed.

It made the time pass very quickly, and in some strange way made me more glad than usual to come to work this morning. It's nice to have a break in the routine, I guess.