Friday, December 22, 2006

The Shortest & Longest Day of the Year...


Oh happy holiday season...the end of the year always makes me run crazed through the streets of Lawrence finding just the right gifts, finishing errands, borrowing money (in the old days that was writing bad checks) and sucking down gallons of coffee. (in the old days that was Chardonnay.)

I made a valiant effort for 34 days to quit smoking, and I successfully stayed nicotine free until I came to my senses and realized that it was December 20th, none of my Christmas shopping/wrapping was done, my house was a disaster, my to-do list at work was still a mile long, and I had no money. So I bought a pack of cigarettes and took deep breaths... perhaps I did those two things in the wrong order. Might have saved myself the lung capacity if I'd thought of the deep breathing first. Don't worry, I confessed my issue immediately to Dr. S, and he's going to hook me up with an alternative to Wellbutrin that has been successful in helping people quit.

I've had some interesting ups and downs during the past couple of weeks. My ovaries crossed the picket line and decided to get back to work, sending me into fits and to the emergency room sick, dehydrated, and in immense pain. The word on the street now is that while the ovaries are tired, they are still hanging in there, so no menopause for me yet. Not that it matters, as I have no plans to replicate the crazy right now. This world may not yet be ready for the spawn of Kallipalooza.

Highlights of the past week included a wonderful Sunday one on one thrift and stuff
shopping spree with the lovely Heather Mac. Heather always makes me feel much more interesting than I think I am. This is a good trait in a friend. I like who I am when I'm with her.

Monday brought the Goddesses together at the Slow Ride Roadhouse, where good music was playing on the Jukebox, the ladies were out in full force, and good fun was had by all. I'll be posting some of those pics soon. We goddesses gathered unloved beauty products, bath supplies, and miscellaneous girly things to put together in gift packages for two of the single moms of kids with a disability who happen to receive services from the agency I work for. These moms typically use whatever resources are available to make sure the kids have a good Christmas, and so we did something just for the moms. It was quite well recieved. Goddess goodness abounds, despite our penchance for feeling each other up in public, behaving in undignified manners, and seeking the excess in all the good aspects of life. Lick it up, baby. One of the goddesses was wearing this shirt.

Tuesday was dinner with Brad at Mariscos, which was sorely lacking in service and quality... something's gone terribly awry out there, folks... save your money. It all started with a 10 minute wait by the front door to be seated until a 12 year old waif/hostess scuttled out of the kitchen stuffing fistfuls of food in her mouth as she approached us, and it did not get any better. The waif/hostess must not have been eating the cardboard Chicken Saltimbocca or the rubber Fried Shrimp, or we would have had to toss her over a chair for the Heimlich maneuver or something.

Wednesday was the usual meeting in Topeka and hanging with friends, all of which are TOO YOUNG. I'd also say there was some sort of planetary misalignment over Topeka because there were serious communication issues all over the place. The fallout continues into this evening, causing the rarest of tears on my part... I hate getting my feelings hurt, I hate thinking I've hurt anyone else, and I hate losing my shit over it. Topeka may have to be put on hold for a while, as it's most certainly fucking with my serenity.

In the meanwhile, it was nice to be back in Lawrence, safe and sound at Sunshine, where no one seems to mind if you say fuck in a meeting. I finished all my shopping today, mailed out all of my work Christmas cards (crap I hope they don't arrive to all 100 recipients late, cause wouldn't that just be my luck??) I've been late for almost every single commitment I've had this week... I'm certain that staying up until 3 am writing isn't going to improve that issue much tomorrow. On the upside, I had a lovely evening with a new friend, who was kind enough to cook me dinner and talk really sweet to me while I wrapped presents and slowly wound down from all the running around. Tonight proved to me that it's time to stop recycling old issues and expecting different results. As a couple of my friends have told me, "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting."
I think that means doing who you've been doing, also.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy Crap! What are you doing this afternoon? It's Friday and I get off (work, that is) at noon. CALL ME!!!

fester said...

I found the Marisco's left-overs to be quite delicious.

"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time . Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." --E.B. White