Holy Hannah, I've been busy...

Y'know, after being off work since the afternoon o/Christmas Eve, it's taking some serious work to really get back into the swing of things. I'm having a really awful time concentrating on anything today & it's a struggle not to roam the internet. I'm compromising by running an industrial Pandora channel in the background and typing this entry up in Notepad during breaks from today’s tasks.

My holiday time off was actually *way* more social than I originally planned, which was fantastic. I spent very little time @ the apt., returning briefly to do laundry or grab something before going back out again. Stayed w/the folks Christmas Eve & Christmas Night, then headed back to the apt.on the 26th. I was supposed to hit one or more of three Christmas parties to which I'd been invited, but for some reason I was feeling kind of off-kilter so I didn’t follow up on either. Had it not been for Michael's unrelenting insistence that I get over to the ALL Tower & hang out w/the crew for once, I'd have likely just stayed home & watched movies 'til I crashed, but I listened to him & ended up having a really good time & feeling better as a result.

Sat.night I just stayed in, apparently the *same* night that everyone else on the planet decided to head out to Spellbound that evening. ::chuckles:: I guess it was a shame I didn't know about it, but honestly I was perfectly happy to just go home, fall over, curl up & sleep that night b/c I was exhausted.

Sunday I hit the folks' house, helped my Mom, then went to Katiedid's where we stayed up *far* too late making 2 mammoth vats of stew while bouncing around the kitchen being rowdy & ridiculous to industrial and hair metal. I was supposed to stay the night in Rockville, but about 6:30a I got a call from Pat. The poor guy'd accidentally locked himself out o/the apt.& no one else w/a spare key was in town, so I jetted (have to remember to get a few things back from Katie's house) & headed back to let him in just before he headed out to work.

Tuesday I went to Hampton w/Katie & Nicholas to visit their friend Johnny & hit up a club. I haven't had that much fun at a club in forever (it's held @ Wave on Wednesdays for anyone reading this). The turnout was full, the dance floor was never mostly empty, the music was good & most importantly it didn't seem that anyone really had much of an attitude about club status/popularity/whatever-the-Hell, etc. The crowd was comprised of a *lot* of new blood, there were all kinds of diff.people enjoying the Hell out o/themselves on the dance floor and I didn't really notice any of the disdainful looks being flung one way or the other that's a bit more obvious in other scenes. It was a great time and I'd love to go back.

Party at Johnny's after the club, crashed out around ??? o'clock, then packed up & headed back to No.VA the next day after a quick stop at Waffle House (hash browns!). Went to Kohl's for my first time on the way back, met Nicholas's parents (they're great & make me want to make them food of some sort), then back to Reston. Showered, changed, then back out to the ALL Tower w/Katie, Nicholas & Dave to hang out for a bit before returning to Reston for movies & pajamas. Good stuff.

Last night no one was really feelin' like wings, so Nicholas, Katie & I decided to see 'Gran Torino' instead, meeting up w/Dave beforehand. I loved this film. I really like Clint Eastwood, always have, but the film itself was fantastic in so many ways and I think there were some pertinent facets of this movie that weren't necessarily advertised as strongly as others. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, it made me slap my hands over my mouth & my eyes but out in shock. I don't really want to go into more detail about it at the moment, so I'll simply say I seriously recommend it.

After the movie we were hungry as Hell, so off to the 24hr.Korean BBQ in Annandale. Sushi wasn't available (damn!) but the food we got was pretty damned good. I got the Jap Chae (basically sliced beef w/sauteed vegetables over glass noodles) w/boiled dumplings as an appetizer and there was NO way I could finish everything, not even close. Everyone seemed to like what they got & went home full & happy.

So that was my holiday! Good times for everyone & far too much food. I'm actually making a New Year's resolution this year (I never bother with these usually) to join a freakin' gym & ACTUALLY GO. I'm tired of feeling blech about my physical appearance b/c I weigh too much and I want to actually do something about it. Plus, even though getting into an exercise routine is difficult for me, I *always* feel better once I've started, so my goal is to've decided on a fitting membership by the end o/Jan. I think I can do that. I'd also like to look into yoga. :)

That’s all for now. More later.

~E.

Oh, hey, it’s my birthday...

All right, so, my birthday’s coming up. It’s officially falling on Labor Day once again (Ha! Sorry, Mom...) and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to celebrate considering everyone’s varying schedules/plans, etc. Usually I’ve done some kind of gathering/RennFest deal, and I’d like to do that again this year. However I don’t think it’s going to work out all on the same weekend this time & I’d really like to see as many people as possible considering I’ve not been too terribly social of late. So! Here’s the plan:

1. Party this Friday night, to be graciously hosted @ Brian & Ben’s place, starting around 9ish. (Original plan was Sat., then realized there was a soccer game). If you don’t know where this is, let me know, I’ll give you the address. Bring alcohol, please, and food/mixers if you want some. I also believe they have a grill on the back porch. Parking is pretty much first come, first serve as far as I’m aware. Please let me know if you can/can’t make it so I can give the guys a head count.

If you cannot come to that gathering, that’s okay, because...


2. RennFest next weekend, specifically Sat., September 6th. Know why? B/c the weekend just before my birthday is “Magic” weekend. Fuck a bunch o/”Magic” weekend. However, the weekend *after* my birthday is IRISH weekend. Hells yeah. Plus it means that whoever isn’t available this coming weekend, or whoever’s not able to come out to Sterling, may be able to make it to Faire, and everyone has a good time there. Again, let me know if you’re down either way, love to see you there if you can come out.

So that’s that. If you’re able to show either day, awesome. Other than that, just drop me a line/give me a call if you should have any questions. :)

More later.

~E.