Recent life wrapup

"Are you planning on blogging today?" - I hear this question often, and I'm honored to have such an anxious audience. Having just completed a six-day weekend, it would seem that I've had plenty of time to blog, but a lazy schedule leads to a lazy Keith, so here I finally am to tell you all what's been going on.

Super-weekend started Tuesday afternoon, when work-manager-guy told me it wouldn't be necessary to show up on Wednesday. I wasn't too surprised; I had figured on spending only a few hours there Wednesday, but I was quite glad to begin my vacation early.

I picked up brother Todd after work Tuesday and took him back to Long Beach for a couple days of fun. There was some basketball, both real life and PlayStation, a 'Beauty and the Geek' marathon, burritos at Moe's, and, of course, plenty of rest.

On Thanksgiving, the plan was to pick up Grandma on the way to Mom and Dad's place, but it didn't quite happen that way. We did attempt to pick up Grandma, but, upon arriving, we were informed she was headed for the hospital due to an accelerated heartbeat and labored breathing. So, Thanksgiving was less giving thanks and more waiting by the phone. Despite our worry, we all had a nice evening. Thanksgiving can be particularly vegetarian-unfriendly, so I had a very starchy meal, but I loved it anyway. Thanks Mom.

I think the only thing I accomplished on Friday was getting a haircut, and then Atom came over for the evening. We got some beer, and I ended up finishing Sarah's last-weekend wine and got completely surprise-drunk. Our evening consisted of some Thai delivery, supplemental rice-making, cigar smoking, and a Sarah/Atom text-message-relationship. Also, we watched a Barbara Walters special because we are gay.

Saturday was my big doing-things day... first, lunch with Atom and roomie in Plainview, followed directly by a surprise visit to my parents' house in Melville. Apparently Dad is turning the basement into an awesome hangout place, what with the pool table and new humongous TV. That's nice, but couldn't this have happened when I was 12? Afterwards, I did a little shopping, getting myself a couple of shirts for skiing and a couple of family Xmas gifts. I then met my parents and brother at the hospital to visit Grandma, who is now doing fine and is back home. After this I got a quick burrito at Moe's, and then went over to Enston's house for a couple of beers. I got to meet Heather's sisters' new baby, and I think we really bonded. In particular, we both enjoy staring and sitting upright. I came home (and parked 3/4 of a mile from my house... grrr) and got to do some instant-message peacekeeping, but everything settled down well enough and I finally went to bed.

On Sunday, I accidentally slept until 1pm. Aside from that, I think I got a burrito. That was my Sunday.

This brings us to today... it was a real get-a-few-things-done day, or, rather, an intend-to-get-a-few-things-done day. Aside from food shopping and some job-reading, it turned into a real sit-around day in which the highlight was an accidental nap on the couch. See, when I have a block of time off like this, I really think I'm going to get a lot done, but I tend to fall into this rhythm of not having to do a single thing. By the final day, I'm almost completely useless.


In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are ten things I'm thankful for:

1. A December that is just jam-packed with fun (look at my Myspace calendar - I'm a real social butterfly now).
2. The willingness of my Mom to make meatless stuffing for me in addition to her household-renowned sausage stuffing.
3. Still having a Grandma.
4. Peeps (not the marshmallow treats, but rather the flesh and blood treats who listen to me whine and tolerate me when I drink too much).
5. Beer.
6. My two blankets and their ability to coexist, and even complement each other, rather than struggle for dominance.
7. The fact that I have very little to complain about, even when my entire life is a giant question mark.
8. The early part of the NBA season, during which neat little story lines spring up, like: The Utah Jazz are good now, what's the deal?
9. Sarah surprise-visiting last weekend.
10. My darling acoustic guitar, who keeps threatening to break for good, but always allows me to successfully repair it one more time...

And in the spirit of curmudgeony-ness (yes, please suggest a better word), here are four things I am definitely NOT thankful for (life rule: always maintain a 2.5:1 ratio of things you're thankful for to things you're not thankful for):

1. Columbia House, who simply cannot get their shit straight and accept things on my terms.
2. The approaching cold weather.
3. Work-night insomnia.
4. Getting really excited to have some Total Raisin Bran only to go to the kitchen and find that I don't currently own any.