A Christmas of falling snow and running noses

I've been at my parents' house, the surrounding area blanketed by a foot of white, fluffy snow. A potent winter storm pummeled the entire north-east with heavy snow over the last 24 hours, although it didn't start here till the early morning. Snow-plows have been running almost non-stop since daybreak.

I got up around 11:30, greeted by the traditional Griffith artery-clogging break-fast. This is comprised of bacon, eggs fried in the bacon-grease, and english muffins. I selected raisin muffins and drank some high calcium orange juice. Damn it was tasty, and utterly unhealthy.

After plugging up my aorta sufficiently, we retired to the living-room to open presents. Most of mine were clothes, which are useful, if not exciting. I should've thought a little more carefully about my Christmas list, as the most exciting things I got were a leather wallet, a coffee-maker, and a 12-pack of seasonal Saranac beers. Or maybe this is what it's like to get old... now there's a scary thought. Among the fine collection of clothing I recieved were new Eddie Bauer jeans, two pairs of flannel pajama bottoms, two wool sweaters, an interesting polyester, suede-like shirt, and essentials like socks, t-shirts, and boxers. Woohoo. Among the non-clothes items I got was a 1 gallon misting humidifier, so i don't become dessicated in my own bedroom, and several non-stick baking pans. Something a little more thrilling probably could have been mine if I'd have had the brains to ask for it a few months ago.

As a bright point of the day, I got a call from Tatiana around 2:00-ish. She was pretty distracted by the whirl-wind of activity around her at the hotel, but we got to talk for awhile which was nice. This being several hours away from each other genuinely sucks. I'm glad she'll be coming home tomorrow.

Finally, in Ryan's Totally Un-busy day, I've been afflicted by allergies again. I think it must be the damn cats. By sinuses are backed and my face feels like it's gonna burst from all the pressure. My nose has been running like a faucet, literally, all god-damn afternoon. I've hardly been able to do even the simplest task without having to plug up my nostrils with wadded up kleenex.

I was able to practice briefly, and managed to plow through some major and minor scales, 2 octaves. Then, over-come by the irritation of having to blow my nose every minute, I went upstairs in disgust and fell asleep for an hour before dinner.

I'm so sapped of energy from the blasted allergies that all I want to do is go to bed. Fucking irritating. I might even return to B-18 tonight so I don't have to suffer through post-nasal drip hell for another day. I should really try to accomplish something tomorrow anyways. I don't know.

Well, my Christmas was actually pretty good, despite my petty bitching. I enjoyed a comfortable day in a heated house, with a loving family, and I got a call from the best girlfriend in the world. I got some great presents, even though I didn't get anybody anything because of my financial situation. I had a huge, delicious dinner too. Aside from the allergies, it was a great day. But what fun is that to read about? I hope you all had a good x-mas too... make a note in the comments for once & let me know!

And as a fortunate final-note, T. Herman Zweilbel has returned to The Onion from his hiatus! Go read his new editorial, about the Electrical Motion-image box!