A post in which I eat out with friends

I continue to enjoy feeling better. I’m still not sleeping very well, but I’ll take what I can get.

Because I was good last night, I decided not to be tonight. I set up dinner out with Donnie, Mark, Kimbley, and Laura at Liberty Tap Room. I still had the gift certificates for them that I got a month or so back. I also wanted to show off the new windows and the house a bit; Lord only knows when it will be this clean again.

I talked to Justin on the way home. We firmed up plans for Saturday. He's coming to the house tomorrow night to stay over. Then we can have brekkie and get going first thing. I'm really looking forward to it!

When I got home I started to fret over the things that weren’t done, and then I just made myself stop. The house looks pretty good. It isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. I settled for dusting the coffee table, lighting some candles, and doing the garden window. I’ve been putting off putting anything in it until it was cleaned and just haven’t gotten to it. But I wanted them to see it for the first time with glass in it. I hastily cleaned it out, used window cleaner on the shelves, and pulled pieces at random out of the cabinets and displays to fill it up. It looks good. Not great, and I’m sure Justin (and I, for that matter) will want to move everything all around this weekend anyway, but it was nice to see it loaded with stuff.

The other thing that I did was move Gracine around and back her in the driveway. I had to go out for a pack of smokes anyway. But like most ladies designed with a more practical bent, her best angle is not seen from the back side. So I turned her around to show her at her best the first time they saw her.

I also wanted to get Donnie’s opinion on the bedspread. He loved the spread, but really didn’t seem to be much more sure about what colors to use on the walls than I am. He eventually settled on a pale blue for the walls, and a pea green for the ceiling. I’m not sure how I feel about that. He also told me definitively that the valance fabric I wanted to use in there is out. The most I can get away with will be a solid damask, and I'd prefer a geometric pattern even then. The bedspread has a very busy pattern, and with the Indian rugs in there too, the room just can’t take another pattern. I wish I could find some fabric to match the bedspread, which would give me some breathing room. But thus far no dice.

There was supposed to be snow tonight, but no accumulation – the best kind. Everyone was kind of excited at work, and that carried over to the group tonight. There’s just something about snow that brings out the child in any Southerner. It’s a novelty to us. Even I – self-proclaimed snow hater – was a bit more vibrant.

The restaurant had a plate glass wall, and while we were eating the snow began to fall. It was quite beautiful - the snow falling through the light of the street lamps stood out in stark, white contrast to the dark buildings across the street. The food was very good. We were all in the mood for fish and chips, and so that’s what we all got (except for Laura). The fish (purportedly flounder, but not, Michael) was battered in a very tasty beer batter and fried. The batter on the fish got to be a bit much for me after the first piece, I shouldn’t have finished mine. The fries were good too. It’s hard to really screw up fries (unless they're cold - these weren't), but I don’t eat them that often and really enjoyed them. The piece de resistance on the plate was the blue cheese cole slaw. I was skeptical too, but it was wonderful: crunchy shredded cabbage and carrots in a lightly sweet sauce that for some reason really worked with a liberal chunking of blue cheese. It was gorgeous, but so rich you really didn’t want more than they gave you. I ate every bite on my plate like a pig.

By the time we visited and did dinner, it was almost 10pm. D&M dropped me at the house and I went on to bed. It was a lovely evening, and so good to see them - not to mention to be gratifyingly complimented on my new windows.

A post in which I continue to do well

I woke up today feeling OK. I’m still slow in the morning, but by the time I move around a bit I get up to speed pretty fast.

I had coffee and a cigarette in the house because it’s just too butt-ass cold outside to go out on the porch. I’m not sitting outside at 18-21F. Eve gave me a peppermint-scented candle that they said was so strong they couldn’t stand it, but it hasn’t bothered me, and keeps the house from smelling like cigarettes. That’s a good compromise for while it is so incredibly cold.

I put gas in the car today – I had about an eighth to a quarter of a tank left, but didn’t want to worry about it since I planned to do a bit of shopping after work today. It took 8 gallons to fill it up, and there was about 330 miles on the odometer. That’s over 40MPG, and I can so live with that. I just started laughing when the gas pump cut off. I guess I only have a 10 gallon tank.

I felt pretty good again today, although my blood sugar got messed up. That’s just never a good thing. But other than that, I was fine.

My cargo hold cover came in today for Gracine and I put it in place after work. So now when I send the window things they sent me by mistake back, I’ll be done with it.

I did remember to bring my gift card today, so I went by Barnes & Noble after work. The Bette Davis collection I had my eye on had sold out over Christmas, and was pretty pricey anyway. I looked around for a bit and with the help of the very nice sales clerk found and ended up getting a DVD set of The Presidents, which I had meant to pick up after Christmas anyway. It was on sale too, so I had little balance left on my gift card.

I was just wandering around the store, trying to decide what to get to use up the rest of the balance on the card. If you don’t do it then, you lose the card, or never get around to it, or whatever. Life intervenes. I decided to pick up a copy of Patrick Stewart reading Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I have pretty typical tastes I guess, because Carol is my favorite Christmas story. The Muppets still do my favorite movie version, but for a book on CD, you just can’t beat Mr. Stewart. I checked this version out of the library a couple of years ago, and meant to get it this year to listen again, but never got around to it.

In the same store, I found yet another incredibly helpful clerk. She looked it up in the computer and called another store. She went out of her way to help me because she had to call the other store more than once to get the answer on it. She then put it on hold for me and I drove over to get it. Now I don’t have to worry about availability at the library any longer. I went home well pleased.

I thought about going out to eat just because I felt so good, but there were dibs and dabs in the fridge that needed to be eaten, so I dutifully went on home.

I'm getting hooked on the Food Network Challenge series. It's food voyeurism at it's worst, plus it's reality TV - two things that ordinarily I completely despise (and rant about for that matter) - but I have to admit that I was riveted by the Last Cake Standing tonight. Apparently the fates do truly conspire to make you become that which you despise. Well either that or irony just works overtime in my life.

Justin and I are scheduled to go antiquing on Saturday, and I’m really stoked about it now. I feel like I’ll be able to go and enjoy myself, rather than worry about when I’m going to poop out and how long I’m going to be down as a consequence. Dan’l and Jim’s party is on Sunday, and although the drama has commenced again about going, I’m still looking forward to it. I took Monday off, so I have a long weekend as well. I’ll be able to enjoy myself hopefully instead of just lying around convalescing. So I’m feeling a lot more optimistic today. I love having stuff to look forward to!

A post in which I am starting to feel like myself again

And it's about damn time!

The insomnia continues. I guess its stress related, although I have a lot less stress than I did a week or so ago.

I made it in to work today and just started working – I had plenty of backlog left to clear up. But then I realized that I hadn’t had my usual 1-2pm crash. Hmmm. At the end of the day, I actually felt pretty good – like doing something. That hasn’t happened for about two months now. I wanted to go spend my Barnes and Noble Christmas gift card, but didn’t have it with me. I made a mental note to put it in my stuff to take tomorrow. It was so nice to finally start feeling like myself again! I thought about calling Miss Kat and dana and going for a visit but decided not to push it.

Since I was feeling feisty anyway, I went on home and did some laundry. There was a big load of towels that needed folding.

I also put the new bedspread on the bed, and tried to decide if I liked it or not. Initially I hated it; but as the evening wore on it started to grow on me. I still don’t know if I’m going to be able to use the valance fabric I have or not. The colors are darker than they were in the picture, which is good for my house, and there is some dusky purple in it. That would be a good color to pull out, but I can’t decide if there is enough of it to get away with. The pattern looks very busy next to the Indian rugs. I’ll have to think on it, and maybe get Justin’s opinion, although we have such very different taste.

After that I just did the usual, telly and virtual fish. But it was nice to feel like the day wasn’t an endurance test.

A post in which I go back to work

In the butt-ass cold, which seems to have settled in for the week. Despite wearing boots and hiking socks my feet were like blocks of ice all day today. Apparently I am just never going to have warm feet in the office any more. It was again 21F on the way in today, but Gracine still just topped 40MPG on the way in. That's the first time that has happened.

Work, as expected, was piled high. This is about the only time I take a week off, and even with planning and the holidays there was still a huge backlog, plus month end to do as well. I settled in, rolled up my sleeves, and started to make order again. It helped that my boss was out today and I could concentrate on work rather than running down inane requests.

A lot of the stuff I ordered while I was off came in today. I got my car mats and my new bedspread. I would have gotten my cargo cover as well, but they sent the wrong thing. They're supposed to be sending the correct item, but I'll have to return the window visors they sent today on my day off next week. I was glad stuff came in while my boss was out. I talked to the girls at work about Gracine and how she's training me to drive like an old man in a hat.

I was really tired. Of course since I had stuff to do, I had insomnia last night. The Emergen-C helped. I worked steadily through the day, but I was really ready to go home when the time came. Unfortunately some git had an accident right at the Pelham Road exit, backing traffic up for miles. I had to go to the store anyway, but only needed a couple of things. I just decided to go ahead and eat supper out first and wait for the traffic to ease up. I went out for Mexican and finished up my latest Laurell K Hamilton book, The Killing Dance. By the time I headed home at 7 the roads were clear. That doesn't always work, but thankfully it did tonight.

When I got home I really just wanted to go to bed, but I stayed up a bit to feed my virtual fish and chat online for a bit before I turned in.

A post in which I am a good boy, and do chores

I woke up today with some goals. There were some things I needed to do before I go back to work. There were the regular chores, of course, and I got right on them after a little break.

I made some coffee and had Danish butter cookies and coffee, which I had been planning to do yesterday, but had never gotten around to doing. It's the little rewards that count sometimes. I had all the things to make caldo verde, which is what I had planned to eat for lunch this week, so I got right on it. It went together pretty quickly, and afterwards I wasn't as tired as I had thought I would be. After all the running around I did yesterday before the party, and after this morning, I am a believer in Emergen-C!! If only I had listened to the nurse sooner instead of being so bull-headed!

I did lie down for a little bit, just to be careful, and slept for about a half hour while the stew simmered.

But soon enough I was back up and at it, doing wash. I did laundry, ran to the grocery store, changed the sheets, and dished out the finished soup to cool and go in the fridge - pre-packed for lunches. It turned out delicious. I'm really glad that I'm ready to hit the ground running next week to go back to work. I'll most likely be pretty exhausted the first couple of days. Now I can come home and sit down rather than tend to unfinished chores that have to be done.

The other thing I had set to do today was to finally write out my petition to the Kindred. It was a New Year's Resolution to get it done before I went back to work. So I sat down and did it. I had been thinking about what I wanted to say for a while, and it came surprisingly easily once I actually sat down to do it. I meant every word of it, and was happy with it when I finished. I talked to Billy about it, and then sent it out to everyone for whom I had email addresses. Now I have my goals to accomplish and my project for the group to complete. But I'm full of ideas for the project, and looking forward to getting started, not to mention officially being inducted into the Kindred! I'm still, a year later, trying to wrap my mind around the invitation.

I finished up around 7, and was pretty stoked. I really felt like going out and actually fraternizing with some Kindred people. I called Billy, but Russ wasn't feeling well. I thought about calling Miss Kat and dana, but I had to eat before I went over there, and by then I had started feeling cold again. I was running a low-grade fever, which tells me Epstein Barr isn't happy. Apparently Emergen-C or not, I had done all I really should do today. I took an Emergen-C and some ibuprofen, and it was back to the sofa for me. Sigh.

A post in which it is time for the SC Bears Holiday party!

I was determined not to miss this party. The problem was I had shit I had to do today.

First, I had to go to the flea market to get provisions. I've been living on junk food and take-away for the last week, and it was time to lay in some lunches for next week. I didn't want to have to go in the morning because I wasn't sure what kind of shape I would be in after the party. Off to the flea market I went. It was clear, but butt-ass cold and windy. Almost none of the yard sale people were there, which was actually good because I wasn't tempted to stay out any longer than I had to. I got my veggies and got out.

On the way home I went by the bank. The house boy was coming back today. This was a treat for myself. The whole house is clean right now except for the kitchen and bathroom - they seemed to get the worst of the workmen dirt and tracking as well. I am just in no shape to finish up. So I hired the house boy to come back in today to do those two rooms. I ran through the grocery store on the way in. I had invited people to come watch and have coffee. I was out of cream, and had to have that if I had people coming in. While I was there, I finally picked up some Emergen-C. The nurse had recommended it, but frankly, I was skeptical. It's basically just a multi-vitamin, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Robert showed up pretty much on time, and I put him to work. It was difficult, but I pretty much glued myself to the couch. It makes me feel like a slug to lay about while someone else is working in the house. To distract myself, I watched The Virgin Suicides on OnDemand. I had been meaning to see it, and it was free. It was a good movie, but pretty damn depressing. Still, the writing was excellent. I'm sure the book was better, but I don't know if I could make it through it or not.

After that I took a bit of a nap, and we watched part of the Carolina game while he finished up. Disappointingly for him, no one showed up to watch - he likes an audience.

Rodney dispatched, I suddenly remembered that the party tonight was a covered dish. It started at 6. It was 4pm. I needed to make Grandma Shumate's Sweet Potatoes because they are Billy's favorite. After he fixed my computer on Christmas Eve, I'm his bitch for an as-yet unspecified time. I ran to the grocery store and got them in the oven in about 45 minutes, which wasn't bad. While they baked I finished getting ready and wrapped presents. I wrapped my present for the gift exchange, and then wrapped Grandma Shumate's gift. Dick and Eve were going to Wilkesboro tomorrow, and I wanted to send it up with them.

I dropped by their house, dropped her gift off, then started trying to find this party. Of course I hadn't written down directions because I was just going to tap it into the GPS; but the house, of course, wasn't on the GPS. So off into the wilds of Greer went I. I really hate having to try to find places like that, but Russ was very helpful and eventually I got there. I was in a mood when I walked in, but after half a cocktail and some help from my friends, I settled in and felt much better.

I enjoyed the party and the gift exchange was fun. There were a lot of the regulars there, and it was good to see everyone. We were smoking in the garage rather than outside, which was good, but eventually it was just too drafty for me. Every time it would start to get warm in there, someone would open the door to vent the smoke and it would be freezing. I thought they had an exceptionally drafty garage until I walked outside and realized it was still butt-ass cold! The temp was 21F when I got in the car - brrrrrr!

It was time for me to go, drafts or not. I could tell I had already used up my allotment of energy. But I felt fine (not completely drained, just tired) and didn't mind leaving when I did. Gracine went home quietly, and breathed hot air on my feet when she got warmed up. I was glad to get to my bed.

A post in which I truly squander an invitation*

But not by design.

I woke up this morning feeling surprisingly good. Could partying actually be good for Epstein Barr?, I wondered briefly until I got up. The lump on my neck seemed to feel smaller. Then I got up and looked in the mirror. The lump wasn't smaller, just my whole neck had swollen up more. I decided to just wait a bit and see if things looked better.

I lay down on the couch, turned on the computer, and fell into the Manhunt vortex. Apparently George has recovered anyway. I ended up going to see a guy I had been talking to for a while. He claimed to be into BDSM, and unlike most guys that talk about it, he actually seemed to have some experience, and some idea what it is supposed to be about. Unexpectedly, we ended up in about a three and a half hour scene which was great fun, but which left me completely drained.

When I left his house, I had about two hours to get ready for the invitation today and get to Russ and Billy's house to ride up with them. Rich Shaw was having a card party today. He usually has one on Christmas day, and it is one of my favorite holiday things. He didn't have it on Christmas this year because he was out of town, but he had one on Thanksgiving that I missed because I was in Columbia, and then he was having one today.

I really, really wanted to go. I got home, ate a bit, and immediately lay down to rest for a half hour to see how I would feel. Well, tired was how I felt. I got up anyway, and started getting ready to go, but there was just no way. My body was saying "Oh HELL no." Part of getting better from this is that I have to listen to my body. I called Rich, declined the invitation, and apologized. I was truly very disappointed. I also sent a text to Russ and Billy telling them to go on without me.

Knowing that others are out having fun, and that you could be there, just seems to make me feel worse. I did sleep for a while this afternoon, and felt a bit better when I woke up.

I had gotten some potatoes earlier in the week with the thought of making home fries. But I also had my Christmas rosemary that Petal sends every year, and some cream I had gotten for coffee that had gone out of date. I decided to resurrect an old idea from a recipe I got from Gourmet magazine years ago.

The recipe was for roasted potatoes and onions cooked with rosemary and cream. It was delicious, but it was ridiculously labor-intensive. You had to pull the pan out of the oven to baste the vegetables with cream every 15 or 20 minutes for an hour or longer. But my mother makes skillet au gratin potatoes from scratch, and I thought this recipe would adapt well. It did. They turned out absolutely delicious. So I had a good dinner with loving from Petal in it, which made me feel a bit better; plus I used up random ingredients I had lying around, which always makes me feel good. I hate to waste food.