Diary: December 2010

Traditional Holiday Greeting

Health was the theme for December, it seems. I managed to get a nasty cold that kept me out of work for a couple of days, which was unfortunate. On an unrelated health issue, I ended up on a brief run of antibiotics the day before we left for our annual Vegas Xmas vacation. This led to a very different Vegas experience than what I'm used to: I wasn't allowed to drink alcohol for the first 2 days, and it made a huge difference in my Vegas experience. It was still fun, but it was different.

Before Vegas, I tried to do things a little differently for the holidays this year, and I think it turned out well. Grayskale and I decided to forgo gifts to each other this year, which actually turned out OK. I was concerned that I'd end up feeling frustrated by this, but I didn't. It was actually really nice. I also made my grandmother's Candy Cane Cookies, which is fun to do, and they're delicious. I did a little cartoon for holiday cards (see left) and got 50 of those printed. I had 93 addresses on my list this year, so I also got to support some of my favorite webcomics by buying some of their holiday cards, too. I like supporting artists.

And I decorated a little. I bought a strand of solar decorative LEDs to hang in the tree out front, and I love them. They're still up, actually, and they make me really happy every night when I get home. I actually want more of them for next year so I can set several strands to blinking. Even out front, our yard doesn't get a ton of light, so the lights fade out by probably 9' or 10'o'clock, but they're on for the commute hours, which is what I wanted. I also put the flickering LED candles in the windows. I got these last year, and I love them: they stay on for 8 hours and then turn off for 16, and repeat until I take the batteries out. It's perfect for me, I find running wires around the windows both frustrating and ugly, and they can use the AA rechargeable batteries that we keep around anyway.

I did not decorate the cats. Someone anonymously sent me an elf costume for cats which I have restrained myself from putting on either Mina or Moxie (yet). I do not think this person has my best interests in mind. The cats will kill me in my sleep.

But anyway. We did stuff. We played Monopoly, which really isn't that bad a game if you play by the rules. We had dinner with Grayskale's family. We went to a hockey game with Martini and his lovely wife, and were nearly stampeded by Santas at dinner before the game. Cuban Jon visited.

And then we went to Vegas. We got massages, had dinner at tender, saw Le Reve and Bite, and I got to try the flight of Beer-Ice-Cream floats at the Burger Bar, which was totally worth every calorie. We had a great time, and I tweeted enough that my friends complained when I got home. It was a lovely vacation.

And when we got home, Cabanasloth came to visit, and Drinkywinky held a little New Year's Party, and both of those were awesome. All in all, it was a busy month, and I was pretty well exhausted by the end of it.