Okay, I've been refraining from bullet points but I can't any longer. I'm genetically predisposed. Thanks, Holly.
Best Christmas Ever
Nevada. Is gorgeous. Is undescribable. You lucky ones got pictures emailed to you, but if you weren't that lucky, I'll be posting them soon. There's just something incredible about grocery shopping with snow-capped mountains in the background, or seeing a sunset with five different colors over dinner. Makes everything seem majestic, even the really simple things. And the way the snowy mountains are juxtaposed with the desert scenery ... and the way the trees look so perfect that they seem fake ... I was incredulous. I think I'm going back for spring break.
Nevada. Has no fat people or smokers. It was just so weird - like stepping out of America, the heaviest country in the world. My uncle's a doctor, and his average patient weighs 50 lbs less in Nevada than in Virginia. Everyone seems so athletic. Oh, and they all process oxygen more effectively because, let's think about this, there isn't any. It was crazy spending 7 days bouncing back and forth between a mile and 10000 ft above sea level. But it was nice being so outdoorsy ... snowboarding! Hiking! Biking! All so much more interesting when you can watch mountains, too.
My camera. Is pretty. Holds 159 pictures and 200 seconds of video with sound. Looks harmless, but actually can create blackmail in .0003 seconds. Love it. His name is Karl. ::sigh:: That was all I asked for for Christmas, but no, there was more ...
The Five Parts of Christmas: Chris, Ashley, Nevada, Home, Birmingham. And I think some are still to come. The clear winner? The Happy Bunny stocking that says Naughty Girls Get Presents All Year Long. And the Simpsons Clue. Rock on.
No annoying relatives. Seriously, I got to see nearly all of my family members that I like and NONE of the ones that I don't. How'd I pull that off? I have nooo idea. Missed 'em at Thanksgiving, too. Gee, too bad. Send me presents from afar. Thank you.
Nevada (this is something of a theme, it would appear). Has prostitution. And gambling. Gotta love Vice State. I wanted the shirt with the map of Nevada that said "Guide to Nevada's Pleasure Palaces" with all the bordellos located on there. Bunny Ranch, Mustang Ranch, Kit Kat Ranch ... oh yes. And of course, the slot machines. 10 feet from the boarding gates in the airport, all over Nevada.
Best Year Yet
Well, uh, it sure came in with a bang, for one thing. Haha, that was a New Years I won't soon forget. And Tara and Katie, I know I don't see you guys much anymore, but I still miss you and think you're awesome.
Melissa and the UT boys, coming along at just the time that I needed that more than anything. Valentine's Day, chips and salsa, pb&j ... and all along, I knew I could count on you for anything. And Sewell, who I can still count on for anything. Thanks, guys, you made a sorta tough couple of months into wild and crazy and SO much fun.
Moo and Roo and my Drunkles (and my Stepfather, whom I have not met): You have ten thumbs and would kill for me and I love you. Texas had a Whorehouse in it, and no one had more fun there than we did. The yellow rose represents us all, the acorn remains firmly in the posession of she who most deserves it, and the family, however disfunctional, remains pleasantly intact. Tonight, I will be your naughty girl. I don't know where any of you will be after this year, but blood is thicker than water, and Roo is thicker than that.
The Nerds and Science Olympiad, making Pennsylvania a bearable state. Hehe, never have I been so much in awe of random dinner table conversation, but similarly, never have I felt so much like a mother. Brilliant, but lacking in the common sense department. These are, after all, the ones who blew up a microwave at UT. But a good striptease will make up for that, right? Right?
Cantarito Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with the boys - Cushy, Kevin and Joe particularly. You've made me so desensitized to everything ... I can sit and hold a conversation on the merits of my own personal hemline or cleavage without batting an eyelash, which is good, because if I batted an eyelash you might all take it as an invitation. You boys crack me up, even without your good buddy Al. You will visit me in college, and if you ask real nice, I'll wear the skirt that blows up.
Tony, really and honestly gone. And with him, the last whisper of the ghost of two years ago. I'll miss him, and I finally managed to get out how important he's been to me in the form of a card, and so even if I never see him again, I feel an odd sense of Finished. I said what I needed to. He came, he changed, he left. Fair enough. Your mountains are waiting, Tony.
Girl time with Ashley, the proud giver of the Naughty Girl stocking. If for some reason I end up at USC, this girl will be the reason why. I wouldn't have made it through the first semester without her giggling and gossiping all through MEH, and talking incessantly about Adam (but it's okay, because I get to talk incessantly about Chris). We're pathetic, but we're even, so it's okay. My mother got Ash a Christmas present agAIN this year, and I think it was actually a better one than I got! Hehe ... stick around, LLL.
Keeping in touch with Ben, who I was scared I was going to lose to the clutches of UVa. I mean, who could blame him? It's gorgeous. But he has proved himself to be The Only college kid (you kids who I met when you WERE in college don't count) who can keep in touch, and for THAT he gets the best present. Yeah he does. What would make Going To College even more spectacular than it's already going to be? Going to college with Ben. That's right, I said it. Crazy boy. And at the beginning of the year, we were not speaking. I love irony, and revenge, and subsequent forgiveness. And you, darling ;-).
I'm realizing more and more that this is about the people who have made my year what it is, proving once again that it's the people, not the places, not the things, that really stick with me. "I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason," and all of you did. It's been pointed out to me recently that I don't always do a good job making my feelings known, so I'm gonna tell you all right now: Thank you. I appreciate each and every one of you, no matter what's gone down between us in the past. There is no one I dislike right now. And so, without further ado,
Chris. Just, Chris. Chris who never (hardly ever) gets tired of me, Chris who hangs out with me when I'm in pajamas, when I'm tired and uninteresting, Chris who makes me want to be a better person. Chris who I never, not ever, not in a million years expected to fall for. But I did, and now I can't imagine my senior year spent with anyone else. Love you.
Happy New Year's, y'all. Be safe, be happy. See you on the other side.
So Long, Astoria.
18 December 2004 0941
Hott: Senior Sweats and nailing a Yoakley test.
Hott-tastic: Celebrating Christmas break and the demise of the first half of my senior year IN TAHOE. AND SAN FRANCISCO.
Hott-tacular:
That's right. This may look like conceit but that's just because ... it's well-earned and poorly-disguised conceit. Love, kisses and good luck to everyone, though, and congratulations to Kbo, who showed Duke how it's done.
It is indeed a very magical time of year, as evidenced by our Christmas tree. Dad wanted to buy an artificial one, but called us from Knoxville to tell us that they're too expensive and he'd buy one after Christmas. When we protested that we had to have SOMETHING to put an angel on, he went out to the back yard and cut a tree down. It's a v. Charlie Brown tree. I pouted, and to shut me up, they decorated the tree enTIRerly in Joy ornaments! I Love My Name.
Also, I'd like to tell y'all what Chris got me for Christmas. He got me a pair of orange UT gloves. For which I thanked him. No, really. Okay, everybody got slightly disgusted looks on their faces? Excellent. Moving on, he says, hehe, or maybe I got you something else, too, and pulls a bag from behind the seat. My ears perk up, if unobviously, and in THIS bag, I find some nice candy, a little stuffed raindeer ornament, a pretty candy cane. Still slightly disgruntled? He gives me a minute to sit there, and then giggles again and says my REAL present is in the trunk. And NOW he drops this massive bag on my lap that came up above my eye level and I find more assorted candy, this aMAZingly soft pillow, an adorable bear, a JOY ornament, a stocking, and the 8th season of Friends! And at this point, I'm sitting in the passenger's seat of his car simply drowning in wrapping paper, bags, bows and presents and I can't stop giggling. Then we had to get the whole mess inside my house, where I repeated the whole thing for my parents and then made Chris watch Friends until I'm sure he wished he'd never bought it. The whole thing couldn't have been sweeter. And yes, I'm going to wear the gloves. Thank you, darlin.
Thanks also to Jesse for a really sweet comment that made on the last entry. I'd link to it but I'm not that smart. Don't tell MIT. Owen's already threatening to tell them that I can't turn on a microscope. However, I feel that this is not relevant because I will Never be a bio major. So there. Don't tell them, though.
It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Even Mrs. Yoakley gave us a present- a matching section on The Power and the Glory test! The quality of mercy does have the habit of showing up in the strangest places. But now, a Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night! (morning?)
