Back in Nashville. My time at home was half relaxing, half depressing. My dad, while doing splendidly in comparison to the patients I see in the hospital, is really not doing all that great. Intellectually I know that it's awesome that he's walking around, driving a little, and generally taking care of himself after an MCA stroke. Emotionally it sucks to see him fatigue so easily, and not be able to do all the things he wants to do. It sucks even more emotionally to know intellectually that he likely won't improve all that much. Sigh. It's for the best that I didn't plan to come back on Sunday. I need these next two days to really decompress before school starts up again.

Sorry for going all Debbie Downer on you guys.

The main things I hope to accomplish tomorrow (technically today!!) are grocery shopping and organizing my closet. As far as food goes, I'm anticipating having both the time and the energy to make real meals again! While eating hospital cafeteria food is preferable to not eating, the cost adds up. Also, I'm eating meat again. My mother had a huge serving of smothered chicken, my absolute #1 favorite dish, waiting for me when I got home. She then told me that she was planning to make jambalaya the next day. What was I supposed to do?

On the clothing front, I've got to get my heavy winter stuff put away in favor of springtime gear. It's back to wearing clinic clothes, slacks + blouse every day. That means I'll have to put a little thought and effort into what I wear. As opposed to the tshirt + scrubs + socks that clash with all of the above, a look I've been rocking pretty consistently since November. I'm also hoping to unburden myself of clothing that no longer fits. I'm going to try Craigslist first, since a little pocket change wouldn't be unwelcome.

Oh, my final goal is to start working out consistently again. Starting tomorrow morning. If I wake up in time.

I leave for Nashville tomorrow afternoon. This week has gone by quickly, but I suppose that's to be expected when you sleep ten hours at a time. I needed this time to just relax and turn my brain off* (see below). I can't say I'm not a little jealous of my friends who went to fun exotic places. But neither of my parents is in any shape for traveling, nor could we afford it even if they were. So I spend my vacations at home, hanging out with them. Our time together is precious, don't you know.

*The other night Mom and I played a thrilling game of anagrams. Dad would pick a random word from the dictionary and time us as we came up with all the anagrams we could in three minutes. One of the words he picked was 'coccidiosis.' Mom submitted the word 'coccidiosi,' saying "I made it singular!!" A great time was had by all. Seriously, the older I get, the more I understand how I became the nerd I am today.

In honor of my family's dorktastic-ness, I decided to find an anagrammatic poem to share with you guys today. The number of websites devoted to all things anagram is making my head swim. Oh, the internet. It never ceases to amaze.

Every line in this poem is an anagram of the title. And it's a sonnet to boot!

Washington Crossing the Delaware
David Shulman

A hard, howling, tossing water scene.
Strong tide was washing hero clean.
"How cold!" Weather stings as in anger.
O Silent night shows war ace danger!

The cold waters swashing on in rage.
Redcoats warn slow his hint engage.
When star general's action wish'd "Go!"
He saw his ragged continentals row.

Ah, he stands - sailor crew went going.
And so this general watches rowing.
He hastens - winter again grows cold.
A wet crew gain Hessian stronghold.

George can't lose war with's hand in;
He's astern - so go alight, crew, and win!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season. I, of course, get some extra fun this time of year. I got to celebrate my birthday twice: Friday night with classmates, Sunday with family. Friday's partying was also a celebration of being halfway done with third year. A group of us had dinner at PF Chang's, then went to Annie's house for cake and dancing. The plan was to eventually go out downtown, but by the time anybody brought that up it was almost 3am. Seriously, I don't think there was a single 90s pop hit that we didn't dance to. On a related note, I've resolved to (re-)learn the choreography to such boy band classics as "Bye Bye Bye" and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."

Sunday was my real birthday, and also my family's Christmas party. Mom woke me up that morning with breakfast in bed. Then I spent the morning wrapping gifts for our Secret Santa exchange. Through a stunning feat of Brain Ninja-ness, Mom also tricked me into wrapping my own birthday present as well. She told me, "I always buy extra gifts just in case (true). This is for Out-of-state Cousin, who's in town (true) because her grandmother's sick (true) and might stop by our party (FALSE)." Well, I guess a big part of it was just lying, but who expects their mother to lie to them on their birthday??? Only the children of Brain Ninjas.

Everybody came to my house for Christmas dinner. It was a lot quieter and less raucous than usual, so as not to tire out my dad. Like I said on Thanksgiving, he's doing well overall, but still gets tired really easily. He's also sad about not being able to work. He knows that he physically can't, but he always kept himself busy before and is going a little stir-crazy now. Not sure what I can do to help cheer him up.

Well, I'm back in Nashville. The past week was as enjoyable as it could be, given the circumstances. My new goal in life is to live in such a way that I get the kind of sendoff my Momo got. The church had a capacity of 400, and it was filled to the brim. As in, there were people who never managed to get in. The amount of support my family got from the community was amazing. Sure, there was sadness and crying, but that only took up a small amount of time. The rest of the week was spent catching up with relatives I don't get to see very often. Which was fun, because I have the most awesome family known to man.

My Momo (grandmother) passed away on Saturday. I'm currently in Baton Rouge... don't expect updates until some time next week.

Mom+aunts+Momo+me. Trip to the mall. Great fun. I ended up spending most of the time by myself. I was actually shopping for stuff and there were several stores I wanted to get to. Being a lot younger than everybody else, I could get around a lot faster. I made one circuit of the entire mall before they were out of their first department store. Then I made another circuit before they got from the first to the second. Of course, they stopped at some of the smaller stores in between, and I didn't go into every store. The first trip around, I looked for stuff and compared prices ('cuz I'm a cheapskate). The second trip, I actually bought stuff. But not much, for I am...that's right, a cheapskate. I got some kiwi-flavored gum, which was a regrettable waste of $1. I got a day-by-day calendar and a journal from the bookstore, while resisting the urge to buy SO MANY OTHER THINGS (because I am a cheapskate). I got "Oh, Inverted World," my first CD purchase since August. I looked for shoes, but didn't buy any because there was no store for people with huge, wide, flat feet. I looked for pants, but all the cute ones were for average people. I looked for a watch, and actually found one I liked, but I'd already spent like, 25 bucks and the thought of spending 60 more just about made my head explode. Maybe I'll make another trip out there later, and actually buy the watch.

Oh! Oh! Before the trip to the mall, I took my mom to a doctor's appointment today, in the medical plaza where I worked over the summer. So I went by for a visit! It was very nice; the nurses and MAs were calling out to me left and right. They were super-busy, of course, but Dr. H-P even stopped to chat for a few minutes. It turns out Jenn doesn't work full-time anymore (did she ever?), so she wasn't there. But it was nice to see what had changed, and what was still the same.

Today was officially designated Recover From Christmas Day. I found all the social interaction a bit tiring, but my poor mommy was way too close to exhaustion. There was the all the shopping and preparation and cooking...oh, the cooking. Not to mention entertaining the people who seemed to show up every time she had a free hour. Mom's not as young as she used to be; she's got to take better care of herself. So I didn't let her leave the house today. She slept soooo much. She needed it. Because tomorrow, there's:

Visiting my sister, who had minor foot surgery today
Clearing away all the Christmas decorations
Giving the house a thorough cleaning to prepare for New Year's (because if it's a mess at 12:00am January 1, it's gonna be a mess all year long. I don't see the problem...)
Taking care of Momo, who is coming back here tomorrow, I think.

And some other stuff which I cannot think of right now.

I dare you all to name a song with a more pretentious title than my Current Music. Pretentiousness points will be docked for songs for which the title is taken from the actual words to the song, as this one is not. I'm aware that the founder of this band used to be in Taking Back Sunday, which also uses the annoying method of song titling. I just don't like it, not one bit. What's wrong with taking a phrase from the song? Bah.

Today was the whitest Christmas I've ever had. We didn't get any snow here in Baton Rouge, but in Gonzales, the rooftops were all dusted with white. Of course, that means the entire area was practically in a state of emergency. Every bridge over the Mississippi from Destrehan to Sorrento was closed. I know this means nothing to anybody who isn't from the area, but it's worth noting.

The Christmas party crowd was definitely smaller than usual, but it was still fun. It saddens me that the Secret Santa seems to be getting less personal each year, as more people resort to giving cash or gift cards. The humorous speeches are still good, though. My dad gave a really funny one about my cousin Travis.

Gifts. I mostly got clothes. I had asked for some warm clothes, and was bombarded with more sweaters and fleece and knit scarves than I'll ever know what to do with. My 'broken ox' t-shirt, ordered from television without pity, was wrapped and given to me, even though I'd ordered it myself. I'm wearing it now, because it's the awesome. Throughout the day, Mom kept telling me to show it to everybody, but nobody else watches The Amazing Race, so nobody understood the tribute to Colin's breakdown. Anyway, I got lots of clothes, and a digital camera. And my aunt Dorothy, who recently went to Canada, got me a scarf embroidered with a maple leaf, and VANCOUVER. Pretty cool.

It was weird being no longer the youngest person in the adult secret Santa. And with two college freshmen, I got like zero questions about college. That was weird too.

Today was Dad's birthday, but he worked all day so that wasn't very fun. Mom did make gumbo for him, and we gave him his gifts once he got home. Keva gave him a tin of pecan candy which was promptly hidden, hehe.

Anyway, the day started earlier than I would have liked, with the dress shopping for Keva's wedding. Because it's going to be a small, simple wedding, the dresses of the wedding party will only be tied together by color. That's how we were able to shop for only my dress today. The color theme is black and platinum, meant to evoke "an elegant evening affair." So we three bridesmaids will be wearing black. I actually saw a similar theme (red was involved) in a bridal magazine a while back, and considered it for my own wedding. In the unimaginably distant future. I probably won't use it, because a) my sister's using it, and 2) it's actually more depressing, than elegant, in my opinion. Like a funeral.

Despite my doubts about the color theme, my mantra for the day was "It's her wedding." My only requirement was that the dress be reusable on other formal occasions. The final choice is a strappy black number, with silver ("Platinum!!!!" says Keva) spangles on the bodice and kinda trailing down one hip. I like it a lot, and Keva loves it. Mom had some objections, but I kept repeating my mantra. Hopefully when I get married, everybody will remember that it's my wedding? Ha...and then I'll wake up.

Meanwhile, Momo (who was with us) hates the choice of colors, with the fire of a thousand nuns. She made that fact known with loud protests, every single time she had to be told that Keva's getting married, and that the black dresses we were looking at were for that wedding. That amounted to...three rants in the first store...two rants during the drive to the next store, seven or eight in the second store. We struck gold ("Platinum!!!!") at the third store, thankfully. But I'm not complaining. After all, exactly one year ago today, I would've given the world to know that I'd be able to spend this day reminding Momo about the wedding.

The temperature hovered just above thirty degress today. It was pretty windy, though, so I did wear a scarf. However, everybody else went cuh-razy with the winter gear. All these people we saw at the shopping centers had jumped at the first chance to whip out their thick fur coats. Hopefully not real fur coats; that's cruel. There sure were a lot of them, though. I couldn't help but chuckle and think of walks from Woodruff to Emerson, in colder, windier, rainier weather, wearing a whole lot less than a floor-length fur coat. Not that Atlanta is a frozen wasteland, either, I'm just saying. One day, I will live in a place that actually has winter. I was born on the first day of the season, I think I should actually experience it at least once. Besides, today Keva told me that "You can wear a scarf, girl!!" Living somewhere with actual cold would be a golden ("Platinum!!!!") opportunity to use that talent.

Today was very draining for me. Mom and Momo and I went to the mall for our last-minute shopping. This included getting birthday cards for Dad (it's tomorrow). I did NOT cry at the Hallmark store, go me! But it was incredibly crowded, as was the entire mall. And traffic was horrible. And it was too damn HOT. I was not in a good mood, by the time we were done.

Once we got back home, I had to continue the giftwrapping. I kept doing stupid stuff like losing the scissors and stepping on the tape dispenser. Also, all the wrapping paper was predominantly red, a color that does nothing but irritate me (that's why Target gives me a headache). It was also just plain fugly, the candy cane pattern with NO white space being the most offensive. It was like one of those Magic Eye things; my eyes kept crossing. But hey, I use what I'm given. I prefer the wintery blue, silver, and white stuff myself. And one year we had this gold patterned paper that was just a dream to work with. The color didn't come off with the tape or with creasing...where was I? Oh right. Annoyances.

Every time I thought I was almost done, Mom kept bringing in more stuff. I think her only goal for the day was to annoy me as much as possible. Like, she'd go into our gift stash and pull stuff out, saying "This would be good to give to James!" Only, I'd already wrapped like, three other things for James. Now repeat that for every person on our "just give something from the gift stash" list. Be decisive, please.

To top it all off, once I'd finally finished, and had flopped onto my bed in victory/exhaustion, Mom decided that would be the best time to clean out my closet. Despite my protests of "Spring cleaning! SPRING cleaning!!", a whole ton of stuff was brought out and piled in the middle of the room. RIGHT AFTER I'd cleaned up the detritus of three days' gift wrapping. Now, I don't mind a messy room, but Mom does. So I had to go through all the stuff to get it off my floor, where I would've gladly let it stay until tomorrow.

And tomorrow, I get to go shopping for a dress for Keva's wedding. Despite the fact that I'm hormonal and bloating and OH SO NOT in trying on dresses mood. I'm actually never really in trying on dresses mood, but so much less so right now.

I just keep telling myself, it's the most wonderful tiiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeeeeear.

I spent yesterday and most of today helping my sister move. More specifically, last night was helping her price things for her uber-garage sale, which she then held today. I was put in charge of handling all the money. Because of all my strengths, interacting with strangers and manipulating numbers in my head are right up at the top. It wasn't too bad, though. With the exception of the Yorkshire Terrier from Hell, things went very smoothly.

Oh, there were also the Burger King woes. Some advice: If you go to Burger King at 10:30, do not be presumptive enough to think you can actually Have It Your Way™. Keva, Mom, and my nieces got all fancy with the holding of tomatoes and extra pickles and so on. They all got meat and bread. I ordered a Whopper; I got an actual Whopper. I'm just saying. Burger King sux anyway.

I was up at 6 this morning, so I'm going to sleep now.

This morning, my parents asked me whether I would be very upset if we didn't put up a tree this year. I said I have no strong feelings either way. Besides, the living room is already filled with stuff, and it'd be a pain to put up. A little bit later, Dad came into my room and asked me about the tree again. I told him I was fine either way; and that we really don't have room for it. Then Dad replied, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't saying no to the tree for philosophical reasons." Oh dear. Philosophical reasons? Come home bearing a couple dozen potato bagels (had to spend the a la carte money!), let slip an "oy vey," and suddenly you don't celebrate Christmas anymore? It's not like the house isn't already brimming with cheer, anyway.

Take...the bathroom. Now, its color theme has always been green and white. For the holiday season, we've got hand towels with Santa appliqués. We've got holly- and ornament-shaped static clings on the mirrors. A couple of those candles that glow from the inside. None of it that outrageous. But then there's the green shower curtain, covered in white, red, and gold snowflakes. It's that little touch that bounds right over the line between "festive" and "OMGWTF?!?!?!" Did I mention the matching soapdish and toothbrush holder? Yeah...leapt right over the line.

Now, once you've imagined that level of Christmas cheer (if you can), imagine it in every room of the house. Yes, even mine. I'm afraid an actual Christmas tree would make the house simply implode from the sheer Christmasness. I didn't say I'm fine with no tree for philosophical reasons...I did it for our safety.

I'm really not a Scrooge. On a related note, tonight's Chrismukkah episode of the O.C. was awesome. "Oy humbug" is a great phase, and has me convinced there's a joke to be made with the assonance in the words "Scrooge" and "Jew." I cannot, for the life of me, think of it, but I know it's out there. I'll sleep on it.

Thanksgiving was great this year. It was at my Tee Dot's house, the same as last year. Only, unlike last year, there wasn't a downpour of rain, with flash flood warning and a tornado watch. So we had a lot more people there. I stuffed my face, of course. My stomach has gotten a lot better at making the adjustment from bland school food to rich home-cooked food.

In addition to eating, we also pulled names for the Secret Santa. I got Uncle Robert, whom I actually see and talk to from time to time. So I should have a fairly easy time coming up with something funny to say.

Yesterday was, of course, the huge shopping day, and for the first time ever, I actually went. Woke up at 4:45am, even. We got to the mall at about 5:55, right before most of the stores opened. There were lines at every door, stretching all the way around the building and into the parking lots. Cuh-razy. The sales didn't even seem that good to me, but I'm not much of a shopper, so I really can't say.

After about seven hours of shopping, I was pretty tired. But the second I was able to actually lie down, we got a phone call from a cousin who'd decided to come over.

This cousin and my mom were both pregnant at the same time. Due in January '85, they would greet each other by rubbing their bellies together, in the hopes that their babies would have the same birthday and be "twins". When I heard that story last night, I was highly amused. And it obviously worked well, with my birthday being December 21 and his being February 4.

ANYWAY. These people came over. And they brought a random girl who goes to school with my "twin," in the hopes that I'd make a nice friend for her. Because I do so well when shoved into social situations. It wasn't terrible, but it was awkward.

Then in the midst of that awkwardness, Katie called and asked me to come hang out with people at Coffee Call. Some of whom I hadn't seen or talked to since graduation night. My first thought was "YAY! More awkwardness!" But I decided to go, and I'm glad I did, because it was much fun.

I've grown tired of typing.

Well, I just got back from "up there." The funeral was as nice as a funeral can be, I guess. It was a funeral. It was like a family reunion, though, because we don't really get together a whole lot as a family. We're usually only all together during times like these. So there was obsessive picture taking and touchy-feelyness, which upset my sensibilities. You don't take pictures at a funeral, for goodness sakes. I swear, it's like a whole different culture up there.
I got to meet my cousin Yazmine for the first time this weekend. She's 2 months old now, and fat as can be. She's adorable! Too bad I got to hold her for a total of like 3 minutes.

Today I went to a church service that lasted over 4 hours, where they picked up 7 collections!! My parents and I left after about 3 hours and 4 collections, though. The church didn't have air conditioning either...not a pleasant experience. Every group that sang picked up a collection- except Mt. Olive and Hopeful's choirs. Mom says that they used to have services like that in the old days...obviously, that church is still in the old days. Picture it: right across from the levee, middle of nowhere...no, it's NOT Mt. Olive...my church at least has a town with a store and houses and stuff not too far from it. Back to the scene: Sugar cane fields everywhere...tiny church, no air, no musician...I felt like I was in the old days, allright.

Auntee Jolene had her baby last night!! WHEEEEEE! Yazmyn Simone Natt, weighing in at 7 pounds 13oz. Which just happened to be MY birth weight. We're birth weight twins! I don't know when the christening is going to be...school starts soon...maybe I'll just have to miss school or something. I dunno.

Cool moment of the day (aside from going to church, of course...and finding out about the baby..and driving...come to think of it, it was just a plain old moment) was getting to see Nomar's first at-bat of the season. Talk about an ovation!! It gave me chill bumps, and I'm not even that big of a BoSox fan.