Merry Fucking Christmas

with what could be one of the worst christmases of my life, i happily bid adieu to 2008. its been a hectic month and with the cash outflow being much bigger than the in-flow, i was a bit on edge anyway. hosted a big ass chrissy dinner on monday for about 12 peeps and was cooking all day the day before and prepping baked goodies a couple days in advance. the gay husband did NOT make good on his threat to help out (i was more than a little peeved with him) as he was too busy with his new boyfriend ( how do i compete with that?).

anyway, the party went well; heaps of food. yes, took photos but unable to post them due to the lack of photoshop. the menu was:
pumpkin soup
a for real roasted turkey (i actually had to order a 12 lb. butterball from "the meat guy" which was delivered frozen the day before for me to thaw out so i could cook)
mashed potatoes
green chicken enchiladas
greek salad
veggie plate
cheese plate
sushi rice (thanks mom!)

everyone got a little take home dessert bag filled with:
a mini irish cheesecake
stained class cookies
a peppermint brownie
a couple of cranberry raisin oatmeal almond crunch cookies
a candy cane
gummy bears
toffee

plus i made heaps extra so there were desserts everywhere for people to pick at. also various chocolates on several plates around the room.

it was a nice dinner but i was thoroughly exhausted. the month was wrapping up and classes were slowly coming to an end, i had finally made rent money, i was in the 8th inning when disaster struck: i got the stomach flu.

it just hit me BAM! like a ton of bricks in the middle of my dear students' nice little dinner party on christmas eve. i turned green and had to go sit in the freezing cold bathroom to catch my breath . . . twice. after the second time, i had to leave since i could barely move and i didn't want to yak all over my student's house. my exit also ended the party, which i felt terrible about. i came home and keeled over. i promptly chucked up (it would be the first of 5 bouts of barf that night). i crawled into bed and thought i was going to die. at that point, i had made up my mind to cancel my next day's lessons but as it turns out, i got up too late and had to teach. the pale face, sunken eyes, disheveled hair, and horrible outfit stunned and repulsed my morning student. i managed to keep my composure and get through the lesson. i crawled back in bed until my next lesson that evening.

although i was still feeling shitty, by the end of my second lesson, i had somehow come around and was hungry. my dear friend E came over to help me celebrate christmas by joining me for leftovers from the party and a slice of ice cream christmas cake and nutty Japanese televsion. this was not the christmas we had envisioned.

feeling much better now, though still not 100%. am looking forward to putting the last part of this year behind me . . .

as for christmas schwag, i got heaps of candy, some very cute clothes from Anthropologie, a scarf, some gloves, a few pairs of socks, a lot of hand cream (to keep from getting what the H calls "man hands". hmmm, i wonder if people are trying to tell me something), some soaps, a wine holder, and a few other goodies. thanks to everyone; i know i'm impossible to shop for cuz i don't need or want anything (well, nothing realistic anyway).

and on to 2009!