days whatever and 23:

yeah, being home makes me a slacker. but just a computer slacker... because i don't think i sat down other than dinner in the past 2 days. i've baked 3 types of cookies, made 2 dinners (really good pork loin inspired by bobby flay and salmon i made up last night), celebrated christmas with two different sets of neighbors, and worked part of my growing butt off at the gym.

no, seriously, only my butt is growing. i've NEVER had a butt. and suddenly, POOF, it's there. and it's round. and it's not fitting into jeans.

anyway.

i will be taking a hiatus (again) for a few days. tonight begins the epic marathon christmas. leg 1: our little immediately family opens 400000 pounds of presents, making us all feel a little embarassed but secretly thrilled. tomorrow we leave for pittsburgh, thursday night it's off to akron, come back on sunday, and leave for toronto on tuesday. all driving.

maybe i'll finally finish making that scarf i've been crocheting for a year.

merry christmas and happy new year!!

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days 18 & 19: home, sweet, thundersnow?

i failed to post yesterday because i had to wake up early, finish packing, clean out the fridge, clean up the kitchen, pack up the car, take a final, eat the waffle shop (if that place can poach an egg when there's a line 100 yards around the building, then the freaking deli in silver spring can poach an egg..), and then drive home. i then had to lay on the couch, watch 4 hours of law and order, go to wegmans, eat chicken, help mom and karen make 2 pans of lasagne and a pan of stuffed shells, drink coffee and eat cookies, watch 2 more hours of law and order, and go to sleep.

so you see, i just didn't have time.

but this morning, i've already gotten up, eaten some toast and cranberry juice, elliptical-ed for 30 minutes, biked for 20, did 100 sit-ups, showered, had a cup of coffee, ate an apple, and just got this lovely picture from my sister:

that is the view of vp's snow-covered snowman. yay for thundersnow. i don't care how it comes down, i just want my white christmas!!

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day 17: fall back in time

tonight i racked the very depths of my brain, tried every password-username combination i could think of, and finally resorted to google searching strings of text from memory to dig up my old "blog" from highschool. i say "blog" because "blog" wasn't a word 6 years ago.

SIX. six years ago i started that thing.

and, to my surprise, i really haven't changed: i'm still way too obsessed with gilmore girls, despise capital letters, study harder than i probably need to, stress out over everything, love thanksgiving and christmas, and define my life by song lyrics.

a few things have changed for the better: the number of people i consider my "best friends" has dropped to three (and i actually trust them with my life); a 7-page paper is no longer the worst thing ever; and all of my emotions and psychological well-being no longer reside in the hands of someone else.

i kind of miss a little bit of that last point, though... i think know i'd be a lot more careful now. i know that my entire life doesn't need to revolve around someone, and that someone else can't always (and shouldn't be the only thing that can) make everything better.

on a lighter note, i love how some things come full circle (ie. fulfilling a late night, "i'll never admit this outloud" dream 4 years later), and how happy i was about everything. even on my worst days, i wrote it down and felt better.

i want to do that again. i am going to do that again.

i have to say, though, for as fun as it would be to live in those moments forever, i kind of like being able to cook myself dinner, go to bed at 8pm or 8am, accept a job offer and start looking for apartments, and drink wine. legally. at restaurants. with people who don't think these things are stupid and share my penchant for goldeneye =)

yeah, i don't think growing up is so bad at all.

*relax silly boy, i'm an excellent driver

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day 16: what?

i have no idea where i was going with last night's post. perhaps deciding to blog after dinner and splitting a bottle of wine wasn't the best plan.

but dinner was a GREAT plan. the great thai restaurant here in state college, cozy thai, moved across town to a much bigger space, and i love the new location. it's more open, not FREEZING, and fits the style of the food much better. plus, it's still BYOB, which i clearly support.

i can never remember what dish is my favorite, and last night i was confused AGAIN. i'm starting to think they took the spicy mushroom thing off the menu, but everything else i get instead is just as good. i began my love relationship with their pad thai, but i've moved on to lots of other noodles and stir fry. i don't think i really have a favorite, except for the green papaya salad that we usually get as an appetizer. it's SO spicy, but it's SO good.

my favorite thing about asian restaurants is eating with chopsticks. it takes skill and makes me feel very accomplished.

=)

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day 15: wine, anyone?

miraculously, i managed to stay out of the kitchen all day, save for pouring cereal and slicing a grapefruit. whoever invented the double-pronged grapefruit separator that williams-sonoma sells is a genius. legit. when i took the knife skills class 2 summers ago, the only thing i couldn't do was supreme (soo-prem) a grapefruit. i ended up just eating it. it was a mess. but every morning, without fail, i manage to make perfect segments of graprefruit to enjoy along with my lovely bowl of kashi go lean. not crunch. i kind of love those weird little "fiber sticks." hold your "she's 90" jokes, please.

that's really all i have to say. my mother just set the dinner table for dinner on saturday. val and i have a crazy mother.

=)

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