Hair of the Eve That Bit You
If there was ever a lesson for today, it would be
this: if you're going to polish off a decent helping of merlot, one bottle of water before bed isn't enough to curb the hammer-like headache awaiting you in the morning. I probably needed at least two bottles of water. As it is, I got to celebrate Christmas Day by waking up and popping some Advil. Fortunately a long, hot shower cleared away the worst of the unpleasantness, leaving me to believe that in the end, I should just celebrate with shots (Sake or otherwise) instead. Those don't tend to wreck me until their numbers reach double digits.
But all in all, it was a very good Christmas. Mel handled most of the kitchen-organization detail while I prepped whatever she pointed at. I'm sure her family would be stunned by this; Mel can cook, and quite well, but she doesn't like to since she views it as more of a chore. Growing up, she rarely ever cooked (probably because she figured if they knew she could, they'd put her on kitchen detail all the time) and it's a bit of a running joke how I'm usually the one in the kitchen. Whenever they say things like that, I always notice this strange, smug little smile on Mel's face. I wonder why...
Christmas swag was good and swaggy...swaggerific...swagtastic? Unfortunately, a few gifts meant for Gary, Mel and myself didn't arrive on time due to a backorder issue. They're enroute now, but sadly I'm not holding out hope for a pre-New Year's arrival.
Still, good times were had. We sat down with my mother for a mid-afternoon dinner (and she lingered for more than a few hours, which was a pleasant surprise considering how fast she's vanished in years past--though this could be due to all the Henson-related Christmas videos we were showing. She doesn't have any of them, like Muppet Christmas Carol or The Christmas Toy, but we always watched them years ago, and they have that nostalgic feel for her.) and enjoyed quiet, drawn-out conversations revolving around nothing epic in particular. When she left later on in the evening, we sat back and watched a bunch of random shows or anime. It was a good way to cap off the day.
Especially considering that yesterday was Boxing Day. As a retail grunt who's worked every Dec.26th for the past six years, I can say I hold a hearty disgust of this day. I mean, hey, if you want to check out those sales, go right ahead and enjoy yourself. But I think that once I manage to procure a job that let's me take the 26th off, I will be going nowhere near a mall or big-box store. I loathe the crowds, I'm morbidly amused by the inevitable mob mentality that ensues in some places, and strangely there's usually very little in these sales that entices or tempts me...with the notable exception of turkey meat from Hickory Farms at half-price.
On the glass-half-full side of things, Boxing Day for our store was disturbingly easy. The crowds yesterday were no different than the crowds we've experienced & contended with for the past three Saturdays before Christmas. In fact, with no boxes and a dwindling supply of stock, two of us working the full shift had an easy time of keeping the store clean, restocking everything and handling customers. It was beautiful, and quite frankly I'm terrified to think of what this means, since some horrific cataclysm will have to restore balance to this whole ordeal.
So if you're asking about me, I'll be wrapped up in the new dress shirts that Mel bought for me: curled into a fetal position and muttering about how the customers will no doubt eat me during today's shift.
Labels: for once Boxing Day pulled its punches, On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me a hangover
posted by Phillip at 6:27 AM
