Very Superstitious

So it is Christmas weekend. And it doesn't feel like it to me in the slightest. Most likely because rather than sitting at my parents' house with my sisters, I am sitting in my apartment with a set of those dancing penguins from the Hallmark store. Sure they're cute, but it's just not the same. I was hoping that this weekend would be quiet. I was hoping that, if I had to be away from home, I could spend the time eating frozen cookies and enjoying a marathon of the following:

• "A Muppet Christmas Carol"- Greatest adaptation of the Dickens classic. EVER. The music, Gonzo, Rizzo, Michael Caine. You can't beat it. Seriously.
• "White Christmas"- Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. There's singing, there's dancing. And really that should be enough. Also, they wear pretty dresses and shoes. I would kill to be able to dance in 3 inch stilletos.
• "Love Actually"- Cause I'm a sappy romantic girl and from the moment Kiera Knightley gets married in her ugly feathered wedding sweater (I'm sorry, that whole phrase is redundant) to when the shy porn stand-ins find true love, I'm sold. Also, Hugh Grant is great in this movie, as is Bill Nighy. Woo British actors!
• "Jack Frost"- Yes. It's a movie where a Dad is reincarnated as a snowman. Shut up. It is a great movie, very Christmasy, I don't see many snowmen where I live, and after "Multiplicity", I have a very hard time believing that Michael Keaton can do anything wrong. (Although he totally can..."My Life" anybody? Good gravy that is the most depressing movie of all time.) Also, factoid: I have the soundtrack to this movie. Such is my love.

In order to prevent the absolute avalanche of work, I usually have a ritual. Basically, weekends that I'm on call mean that I am sitting on my couch, watching TV, and praying that my beeper doesn't go off. The prevention of beeping is a finely tuned art form. Some people just stay awake all night so they won't be awakened by their pager (these people are stupid because dude, if you don't get paged, you stayed up all night. Sucker.) Some people don't make plans to go out. Here is the rundown of my pager-prevention rituals.

1. Anytime asks me if anything's going on, I reply "Not yet." As if to let fate know, I'm ready. I don't care if you page me. Go ahead. Doesn't bother me. See, fate doesn't like that. It likes to catch you when you're all comfortable and steeped in flannel pajama goodness. Which leads to point 2.
2. I wear scrubs at all times. If I'm on Friday call, I am at the office in scrubs all day. When I walk in the door to my apartment, I usually change clothes. Not so on call days. I stay in these scrubs. And repeat to myself, "I'm probably leaving in a few minutes anyway." This weekend it means that I have been wearing the same outfit for approximately 25 hours. So far.
3. Also, don't climb in bed. That's the worst idea ever. I usually camp out on my couch. Blanket, pager, cell phone, laptop, and TV with captions on. Sure it's not that comfortable. Sure I think one side of my couch is starting to sag from the amount of time I spend parked on it/sleeping on it. But that's what it's there for, right?

So far this weekend, the rituals have not paid off. I think it was probably all for naught when Tom called me and said "You haven't had any pages? That's awesome!" Way to jinx it, buddy. :-p So, we've got two cases. My hair is sticking up in strange ways. And I could pass out at any second due to sleep deprivation. Welcome to my Christmas nightmare. :-p

Homeward Bound

Woohoo!! I'm going home today...work until noon, go buy a couple last minute gifts, and then I'm getting the heck out of dodge. 4 days of no work. I love it. I'm sure I'll probably continue to post from home, but if I don't- Merry Christmas!!

Tis the Season

Apparently tis the season to rob interns blind. I swear- I'm having to spend so much money at my stupid job this week, it's not even funny! Today we had to take in a snack for everyone (20 people.) Then tomorrow everyone's supposed to bring in a dish. I signed up to make sweet potato casserole cause I thought that would be pretty simple. Then, we have to do $5 secret santa gifts, and they want everyone to bring $10 to buy a shirt and tie for the boss- who, by the way, is newer than me and has been tickin' me off ever since he came on board! So, I have yet to contribute (read: they aren't getting my money.) I had to work ALL freakin' weekend, so I haven't had a chance to go to the store. That's me- Mrs. Procrastination. It is 36 degrees outside and I need to go to the store and buy a secret santa gift and some sweet potato stuff. Stupid winter. I hate winter. And I hate my job. 20 more weeks baby! After Christmas, we'll be in the teens!! I'm so excited...I don't think anyone has ever been so excited to lose their primary source of income. What can I say? I'd rather live in a cardboard box than spend my days in a cubicle. Okay, guess I'm heading off into the weather. Laters!

This is more like it

This weekend is more like what I am used to. I have had about 3 hours of sleep and at 10 PM I'm going to go do my 4th case for the weekend. I am soo tired- I love it! Of course, I won't be paid for all of this until about February, but when I am, it'll be pretty sweet. I had to drive down to Dadeville this morning...I can't wait til Christmas!! My house is all decorated and Michaela and Jenny are so stoked about Santa and everything....it's going to be so much fun. Well, I'm going to run because I just woke up from a nap and I feel like my writing is sucking a little bit- plus I want to grab something to eat before I have to head out again. Also, I forgot to turn on the heat for the past 2 days and now it is colder than the backside of Pluto in here. Laters!

A Soldier's Poem

I don't agree with the war in Iraq, but I am the daughter of a couple of veterans, so I love some soldiers. I just had this emailed to me. I've read it a thousand times, but it always chokes me up. So, here it is:

A Soldier's Christmas

'Twas The Night Before Christmas,
He Lived All Alone,
In A One Bedroom House
Made Of Plaster And Stone.

I Had Come Down The Chimney
With Presents To Give,
And To See Just Who
In This Home Did Live.

I Looked All About,
A Strange Sight I Did See,
No Tinsel, No Presents,
Not Even A Tree.

No Stocking By Mantle,
Just Boots Filled With Sand,
On The Wall Hung Pictures
Of Far Distant Lands.

With Medals And Badges,
Awards Of All Kinds,
A Sober Thought
Came Through My Mind.

For This House Was Different,
It Was Dark And Dreary,
I Found The Home Of A Soldier,
Once I Could See Clearly.

The Soldier Lay Sleeping,
Silent, Alone,
Curled Up On The Floor
In This One Bedroom Home.

The Face Was So Gentle,
The Room In Such Disorder,
Not How I Pictured
A United States Soldier.

Was This The Hero
Of Whom I'd Just Read?
Curled Up On A Poncho,
The Floor For A Bed?

I Realized The Families
That I Saw This Night,
Owed Their Lives To These Soldiers
Who Were Willing To Fight.

Soon Round The World,
The Children Would Play,
And Grownups Would Celebrate
A Bright Christmas Day.

They All Enjoyed Freedom
Each Month Of The Year,
Because Of The Soldiers,
Like The One Lying Here.

I Couldn't Help Wonder
How Many Lay Alone,
On A Cold Christmas Eve
In A Land Far From Home.

The Very Thought
Brought A Tear To My Eye,
I Dropped To My Knees
And Started To Cry.

The Soldier Awakened
And I Heard A Rough Voice,
"Santa Don't Cry,
This Life Is My Choice;


I Fight For Freedom,
I Don't Ask For More,
My Life Is My God,
My Country, My Corps."

The Soldier Rolled Over
And Drifted To Sleep,
I Couldn't Control It,
I Continued To Weep.

I Kept Watch For Hours,
So Silent And Still
And We Both Shivered
From The Cold Night's Chill.

I Didn't Want To Leave
On That Cold, Dark, Night,
This Guardian Of Honor
So Willing To Fight.

Then The Soldier Rolled Over,
With A Voice Soft And Pure,
Whispered, "Carry On Santa,
It's Christmas Day, All Is Secure."

One Look At My Watch,
And I Knew He Was Right.
"Merry Christmas My Friend,
And To All A Good Night."

Depopulated

I'm beginning to understand why so many people get lonely at Christmas. There are so many memories associated with the holidays, and so much time to think about them. I've been missing Pranathi soo much lately- more than usual. But it's because I've been thinking about all the Christmases that we've spent together over the last few years. The lights I strung in my living room are identical to her set, and last year we hung them up together....as we did the year before. 2 years ago we bought them to hang in our living room...making the room more festive for a Christmas/graduation party we were throwing. That was the year of the MacGyver Christmas tree...literally held up with the miracle of dental floss. It was also the year that our other roommate got "drunk" off of a half a wine cooler and "passed out" in a chair. Pretty darn amusing. Last Christmas we hung up our lights in our 2 bedroom apartment- not for a party, although looking back most of our nights were like parties. Almost every night we sat around talking, laughing, eating (mostly stuff that was horrible for us) and watching "The Simpsons" like there was no tomorrow.

I'm not lonely...in fact, a few of my friends are doing quite an admirable job of keeping me entertained. Lonely isn't the right word...I just miss Pranathi. I think Lamartine said it best:

Sometimes

when one person is missing,

the whole world seems

depopulated.

Bedtime para mi.

Adventus

It's that time of year again- Advent! For some reason, there is nothing more exciting than lighting a candle each week until Christmas. It's not unlike those little interlocking rings of paper that you made in elementary school. Remember ripping those off every day? Makes you feel like you're getting somewhere. Ooh! I should make one of those for my internship....lots of interlocking paper rings and get to rip one off every day. That's a fabulous idea....so symbolic. Countdown to the end of my servitude that looks like a chain. Wow. That's deep.

Last night I went to dinner with Rupal at Rojo...guess who we ran into there! Richard and Steven and one of their friends. What's funny about that is that Richard was supposed to call me to go out last night, and he didn't call me- instead he went out to a place that's literally half a block from my apartment and didn't call me. I think I should be a little hurt, but I was so relieved at not having to go out last night that I didn't really care.

I decorated my apartment for Christmas! I have Christmas lights up, and my parents gave me a nativity scene, and I went to the dollar store last night and got some "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" window decals. I love Christmas. It's going to be strange this year though, not having the customary 2-3 weeks out of school and staying at home. I will only be home for Christmas for 4 days (assuming I have Christmas eve off, which I'm not even sure about.) I have to stay up here and work at the stupid health department. Meanwhile, most of my friends are leaving town, or will have left town when I get back on the Monday after Christmas. Also, I haven't heard from my MIA roommate in India. If she comes stateside for Christmas and doesn't call me, she will be injured. If she goes to Texas, I'm going to go see her- internship be damned. I miss her SOO much.

Well, I'm stahving...so I'm going to make a quesadilla, cause they're quick and easy. Everyone keeps telling me that I should just take the leap and go vegan, but let me tell you people, I love some cheese. It gives me heartburn, but I love it anyway, and there is no way I'd be able to cut it out of my diet. Impossible. Okay...laters!