Christmas Hangover

After all my denial that the holiday season was here once again, Christmas is now over. Every year I complain that holiday music seeps into our lives way too early, I laugh at those getting an early start, and save my shopping for the very last minute. The result is on December 26th, I rue that I did not savor the season enough.

This is the first year that I had money left over (in fact I even got paid today). This is also the first year the holiday activities forced me into a mini-coma. I was so exhausted from the past week of fitting in parties, work, shopping and cooking that I fell asleep last night at 7:30 and did not get up until 9 this morning. I felt great until I walked downstairs and saw my living room looking like Christmas threw up on it. So now I must clean. I hope you are having a great holiday week so far!

My weekend in Plano so far...

...has been delightful! It started Friday evening with the extended side of the family. Look here for explanation.

Last night, I attended the 15th annual gift exchange for all the girls that I have known for 25 years now. They're catty and loud and nice and great fun to be around. Our gift exchange is one where you can steal people's presents. It gets a little heated and everyone screams at eachother. The hot items are house wares for those who live in surburbia. I got a gift certificate to Sephora.

I have been unable to attend this party in a few years, so it was interesting to see how the group dynamic has changed. There was a lot of baby talk, which I don't understand. Everyone looks good and has calmed down quite a bit, which fit in more with my personality.

Now, I have to drive back. Boo.

Restaurant Stories...

Those of you who follow my blog or my life in general have been privy to interesting customer stories. It's quite amazing the people and situations I have faced--every time I am in such a situation, I feel that it will never get weirder/grosser/meaner than that instance. Here are some stories of a certain group. It does involve a little background, so be patient with me...

I work in one of the more affluent areas in Austin. As such, the panhandlers are of special breed. There are 3 or 4 (depending on the season) that hold down the corner. There is a papa bear, and a blind bear (he doesn't come around very often) and two faux military cubs, one of whom's barf I had to clean up. Papa bear is pretty cool. He has Parkinson's and his disability barely pays his rent. You can always count on him for a kind word or extremely raunchy joke. The others I could punch in the face. Would you like to know what happens after shots of tequila and many beers? Neither did I.

A few months ago, a customer approaches me to inform me the men's room "needs a little attention." I sent a waiter in there to see what the problem was. He immediately came back with a horrible look on his face and informed me someone had vomited over the entire bathroom. That's right, pizza! How he got pizza is beyond me... Anyways, that evening I found no less than three piles across the restaurant of regurgitated pizza I had to make disappear. Somehow, now he has become the responsible one.

Younger cubbie bear likes to make the waiters do extra work and then not tip. Well, actually, that is not true. His favorite phase is, "Here is my tip for you: don't walk in a dark alley without a knife. Har. Har. Har."

So, I guess in one's life you can expect to clean throw up from now to then, but this dude did something that made my jaw drop. He was very upset that we were not allowing him to drink anymore. So instead of leaving, he took his empty glass to his nose and blew out as much snot as his body weight. Trust me when I say you would be surprised by how much snot a human body is capable of putting into a pint glass. He then put the glass on the bar as if nothing ever happened. Seriously?

I have no cute way to wrap up this story. I only wish this dude a job and mental stability. And that he will not visit my establishment until both those things grace his life.

Are you curious?

My sister's blog is always so interesting. She has the amazing ability to turn a mundane activity into an enthralling blog post that leaves you wondering what will go on in her life on the next day.

When certain things happen to me, a lightbulb goes off and I say to myself, "that is very blogworthy. I shall blog about it then." So when Joolie and I were at Target the other night and something very interesting happened, I called "Blog!"

So my sister and I were at Target on Saturday shopping for Christmas tree decor. She needed a tree skirt for her very first real tree. It was not a second after we decided all the tree skirts
were trash that the power went out. It got so dark that people screamed. I immediately grabbed for my sister and grappled for my cell phone (one of my favorite flashlights). The lights were out for less than 30 seconds before the back up generator kicked in. By the way, Targets have a back up generator for power outages. We continued to shop at 25% power and walked with our purchases in no more time than would usually take. Target people walked around the aisles pretending to assist us in finding what we needed. We were on to them, they were making sure we were not thieving.

What was most surprising about the situation is when we left the store a gentleman stood outside and offered us escort to our car. The parking lot was pretty dark.

I told my friend this story. I highlighted the near seamless transition from full power to generated. He said that once, while shopping at Walmart, a freak storm blew in and the power went out. All patrons of the Walmart were immediately sent out in the elements with not so much as a "Have a nice day," or "Come back when it is not raining." The doors were locked behind them and it closed for a few hours. I guess that is what people get for shopping at Walmart. Score one for Target!

I think my sister would be upset with me if I didn't mention that in the darkness we purchased the wrong lights and had to return 15 minutes later for more. We were a little sad to find the Target up and running like nothing ever happened. The end.

What a week!

Not very much going on here....

It snowed on Tuesday. For the first time in my life I decided to not see it. I was already in bed with the covers to my chin before I heard on the news of a wintry mix. I was too warm and comfortable to see it. Oh well.

Other than that, it has been work and run and nothing else.

I'm going to lunch with my sister today, and maybe some Christmas shopping, but my legs hurt from my run this morning, so I can't make that promise.

Have a good weekend!

Brrrt

Bert ran 11 miles today! I rarely stopped to run. I feel pretty good about myself, but my knees are quite upset with me. My race is only 2.1 miles more than my run this morning, so I am confident I will do it and kick some butt!

Anyways, there are only 42 days until my race. That seems like a long time, but not with how fast this whole experience has passed me by. If you are interested in seeing my fundraising progress, please go here.

After my run, my dear Jeremy took me to a breakfast deserving of a truck driver. Then, it was naptime!

Haven't done much since....

Jeremy is hanging Christmas lights and I am going to quit rambling.

i Can't Believe i Just Did This...

Yesterday, I bought a new running jacket. It is so soft and comfortable. What makes it so special and cool is a secret inner pocket for one's ipod. It even has a little loop on the collar so you can run your earphones and not worry about cord interference. They make things so technology convenient these days.

I first sported this jacket last night at my team run. We run on a track and quite fast, so high-beat music is a good aid. After the run, we do core exercises and listening to music would be rude to the coaches. So, I put my ipod in that cool little pocket.

I just finished a load of white clothes this evening. As I was putting my clothes in the dryer, I noticed something tangled in my socks. Can you guess what it was?

That's right, folks, my ipod! I am not holding out hope that it is salvagable, my experience with technology has taught me that electronics do not like a whole bunch of water. I am very sad because I have become quite attached to that little bugger. It is perfect, and I am stupid sometimes....