Whose life is this anyway?

So Friday comes along, supposed to be getting out of
work no later than 4, so i can run home, throw some
clothes in a bag, feed the munchkins and be on the
road.
at 4:30 i am still sitting in my VP's office, with my
CIO on the phone working through a customer issue.
so, i got a late start.
get home, can't find any of the clothes that i want to
take with me, just start throwing crap into my bag,
put out some extra water and food and then, bam
landed right in the middle of des moines flee to the
suburbs...also known as rush hour, but i can't really
justify rush hour in des moines.
so i get to omaha at 7:30.
freshen up, still in work clothes, and head out to the
party. which was pretty good. saw some family, bunch
of old friends and had a few drinks.
then my cousin and his girlfriend (and by all accounts
soon to be fiancee) get into a heated battle. complete
with storming out, etc. keep in mind, this is their
party they are hosting and dan (my cousin) has earned
this whole thing. along with his brother who was
getting his MBA.
not really a mature thing to do in my opinion.
and that was right after i found out one of my other
friends was getting a divorce, which sent me down this
path of trying to figure out how on earth you are
supposed to have confidence in your relationships.
this of course, caused me to wonder if this is why i
have shied away from all this for so long.
of course, after a few drinks you really should not
try to analyze stuff like this.

so we closed the bar, i went home and failed to sleep
in past 9 am... like usual.

met up with the fam' for lunch, did a little (and i
mean LITTLE) shopping. and then was set to head home.
nope, got talked into staying and seeing Return of the
King.
which rocked.
alot.
i loved it.
alot.

so got up early to get a start on the day, rolled back
into town about 11ish...
where i proceeded to do 6 loads of laundry, clean the
basement (aka the kitty bathroom) and get all my
presents wrapped.
tonight, i have 3 more loads to finish and my floors
to clean.
did i mention my mother will be here tomorrow night?
i always swore that i would NEVER do all the things
she did when her mother was coming for a visit.
yeah... at 12, you should never really say NEVER.

so my parents and my sisters are invading tomorrow
night...at some point. and then i am working until
lunch on the 24th and off to Cedar Falls. and i still
have nothing for my grandmother...what on earth do you
get a 87 year old woman who in true irish fashion,
wants nothing more than to die so she can be with my
grandfather? did i mention she has a bit of a martyr
complex? actually, she has elevated it to a legitimate
gift.

um, whose life is this?
certainly not mine, as i currently have no control
over it.

been awhile

things have been pretty busy lately. the holiday season is in full effect. at least at my house. i bought the tree, decorated and have not done much else.
i spent saturday christmas shopping. i think that might have been one of the stupidest moves i have ever made, christmas shopping on a SATURDAY, 2 weeks before the big holiday. on the upside, i did get a fair amount of shopping done. well, at least for the family. friends are going to wait till after christmas. doesn't really seem fair...but i am running out of time and have no idea where to start for most of them.

news flash: i went out on a date this weekend.
kinda odd.
ok, really odd. not that he was odd or anything, but the whole idea of going on a date is the odd part.
so we did the norm (at least what i remember to be the norm) went to dinner and then went and watched a band. had a great time, nice enough guy, but i didn't get any real, and i hate to say thing as it is SOO cliche, spark from the whole thing. i mean, there was never a lag in coversation, and the whole "tell me your story" gig was actually pretty interesting, but at no point did i get the, wow feeling.
i could totally see myself hanging out with him, but not really getting the whole romantic vibe from him.
not sure how i am going to handle that one. i do have an out, he is traveling this week for work, i am out of town this weekend and then it is christmas and i am out of town for that. not going for avoidance here, but trying to determine the best way to break the news.

not to mention that work is crazy insane. things have moved into overdrive and they look like they are not going to stop for awhile. not that work should ever be an excuse, but i am going to be pretty busy for awhile.
lame reason i know.

aside from that, not much else going on. so i am out. more to come later.

sick and turkey

so i spent the 5 days prior to turkey day sick.
fever, chills, what felt like a 50lb boulder on my chest.
it has been a LONG time since i have been sick like that. and to make matters worse, it incited in me a pity party the likes i have not seen in awhile.
all i wanted was someone to take care of me in my infirmary. even with the nasty breath, the greasy hair and the snotty kleenex floating around. i mean it would have to be someone who really loved me to hang out with me in those conditions.
but still, being sick and being single blows.
so i was still raspy and less than healthy for turkey day. but we still managed to have a good time. small crowd for our family this year, but all in all, a satisfactory holiday.
i was able to remind myself never to go shopping with my mother... EVER. she is off the hook with that crap. i thought a few hours, and no worries.
wrong answer.
we spent 7 hours wandering from shop to shop.
i think chinese water torture is less painful than that.
anyway, lots to chat about but i should get to work.
later.