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(Even though it's not Chinese New Year yet.)
So...Christmas Day dawned decently early. I stumbled out of bed in pajamas at a reasonable hour, around half of eight (even though I wanted to sleep in till much later) and we had breakfast crepes because it's our Christmas tradition, and then we opened presents. Pretty much all the presents under the tree were for dad, and they were tools of some sort or another. Shaz and Wayne got mum a state-of-the-art slow cooker, and they got me a gift certificate to a bookstore (which is always a great gift for a bibliophile like me), and it was super good times. Then we dressed and had lunch and mum and dad spent most of the day making their super special turkey dinner while I crocheted. Shaz's best friend from high school Nicole came for Christmas dinner, and we had Christmas crackers and played cards and it was super super awesome. After cards mum and dad went to bed and Nicole talked about life on the base in Okinawa (she was a marine) and then I went to my room to work on Cody's present while the other three stayed up and talked about married life.
I was on the shuttle early on Boxing Day to head up North to see Cody. Slept some. Read some. Wrote some. Discovered that I don't get too sick in a van if I'm careful. It was so, so good to see Cody when we finally got up there. We ate the lunch mum had packed and then set about driving, listening to music (I learned some new songs from him, including one he'd played me on the piano, and he gave me one of the songs he wrote, which is one of the best Christmas presents EVER), singing along and being as weird as we like. We made it home in time for tasty supper, which also included Christmas crackers. We sat around and read the Christmas story out of the red sleigh like we did when I was a kid, and we cracked up at spelling errors on old typed cards (typed on a typewriter, so there was no spell check), and then Cody and I watched a lot of Full Metal Panic.
On Monday Cody and I ran around doing errands mostly - rolled out of bed late, got ourselves onto the same page, and then hit the town. We saw RED, which was fabulous (Helen Mirren with a machine gun FTW!), and then bought me some snow pants. We had supper with the parents, packed up our gear, and watched even more Full Metal Panic. Between the two of us, we got pretty good at contorting ourselves on the lounge chair in the dining room (as my parents' sofa is not wide enough for two people to sprawl together). We also went ice skating, which I haven't done in years. All be told, I only fell twice, and usually because I was avoiding someone else than because I just straight up lost my balance. I'd have fallen many times more, but Cody has great balance and reflexes and caught me every time. (I'm not going to lie - it's nice to know my boyfriend is that strong.)
Tuesday was...wow. We got up super early and drove up to Brian Head. We got a little lost around the fancy snow lodges, but eventually went to a rental place and got me a board and some boots for the day and found out where the lifts were, and then...then we went snowboarding. Yes. We. Which means me, voluntarily out in the snow, for more than the time it takes to get from my car to the building of my destination. Cody was a super amazing teacher, though, patient and encouraging the entire time. He taught me to side-skate, which was disastrous until we reset the bindings on my board so I'd ride goofy, and he taught me to stop. Then he taught me how to get off the lift (which I never quite got the hang of - I biffed it pretty much every time), and then...then it was up the hill. Sitting on the lift itself was pretty fun, despite the massive piece of fiberglass attached to my foot. My first run down the hill was...disastrous. It took us almost an hour, and I couldn't figure out how to stand up on my board, which usually meant Cody had to haul me to my feet. He was very sweet and rode down the hill backward to help me with my balance. Near the end I had sorta figured out how to get to my feet, and on the next couple of runs I managed to make it down the hill. I fell backward out of panic more than I fell forward because I caught the front edge of my board in the snow. We discovered I had an easier time pointing my left side down the hill, so we switched the bindings on my board again (and then discovered I can carve with my right foot forward but not with my left foot, so now I'm just confused). Cody tried to teach me to ride backward down the hill on my toe edge, but to no avail. My balance is pretty darn terrible.
After the toe-edge adventure, we went back to the truck and had the lunch mum packed for us (she's always packing us food, and cooking, and trying to feed the world by giving us her leftovers to give to poor college kids), and then we sat in the truck...and talked. Honestly. About us, and what we might have in our future, and it was pretty darn awesome. Then we strapped our gear back on and hit the hill. By the end, I only fell about three or four times every run down the hill, but I still biffed it off the lift. We went until the lifts closed, and then we headed to Cedar City. At Ericka's place we changed into dry clothes and chilled with the others, and then a whole gang of us convened at Curry and Kym's place where we had awesome beer-batter chicken, mash, and garlic bread. Weber was even there, and he brought his pretty little girl, and she even befriended me for a little bit. I'm not going to lie, I watched pretty much the entire time she and Cody played with the cat, and it was adorable. One day, Cody's going to be an awesome dad. After dinner we went to see True Grit, which was awesome, and then we went back to Ericka's. Poor Cody was on the couch, but I slept in Ericka's room (and shared her super awesome electric blanket, and we had honest girl talk about boys).
Wednesday morning I took Ericka out for morning smoothies and coffee (I had the smoothie, she had the coffee) and we had proper awake girl talk, and then Cody and I drove back south. We lounged about, had lunch, and then we went to the temple with my parents, which was super super awesome (although there was some confusion for the temple workers when Cody did not have the same last name as my parents but was the one who legitimately looked like their child), and then we had supper. Bob and Faye came over for supper, and they got to meet Cody, and we chatted and laughed and overall had a good time. After supper we lounged about watching anime (which we did a lot of - although sometimes Cody read while I tatted or crocheted).
Thursday was another easy day - we woke, we hung out watching anime and other fine things, we took Cody's car and Dad's truck out to be washed and then we waxed Cody's car so now it's all pretty and shiny and red. Aunt Marge was out getting her mail while we were working, so she got to meet Cody, which was good. We had lunch and we lounged and watched anime, and we had supper, and we went to see Tangled, and afterward we played cards with mum and dad (somehow I won - I've gotten good at this whole five crowns game). Wednesday night and Thursday night Cody and I stayed up talking and having conversations that were pretty important to our relationship. The details are private because I don't know that anyone but us really need to know the details, but suffice it to say we talked about important things, and we talked to each other honestly, and that's what counts.
I tried to sleep in Friday morning, because Cody and I were up super late, but it didn't happen because Dad's voice carries through walls. I distinctly remember waking up and shuffling into the den and then falling asleep on the couch next to Cody, and then Cody woke me up so I could go shower and have breakfast. Dad made his super awesome omelets, and then Cody and I goofed around on his shiny new laptop and had a brief YouTube party, and then we packed. We had lunch, and then we lazed a little, and then we drove up north. I felt bad, because poor Cody was exhausted, but I couldn't help with the driving because his car is a manual, and I slept a bit, and we listened to music some. Our original plan was to go to Salt Lake, dump our stuff at Shaz and Wayne's, and join Angela and Mal in American Fork, but we got out of St. George late and then there was some scary snow on I-15, so we ended up going straight to American Fork. We had dinner at an Applebee's, and while we were there we talked. Most of our conversation was us asking each other back and forth to create characters, first superheroes, then villains. It was like character creation for a game - gift, flaw, backstory, motivation. Cody's got a great imagination, creative and quirky, and I had so much fun imagining with him. (Also, I was secretly harvesting the freshly-spawned plot bunnies.)
We drove to Angela's mother's place, met her mum, and hung out till Mal arrived. Then we took a quick excursion to the Red Box at the local Wal Mart and picked up The Other Guys, which was bizarre but hilarious. After the film we ended up catching the tail end of the NKOTB-BSB performance in Times Square for New Year's Eve, and we watched the ball drop, and we had a toast and junk food, and then we said our farewells. Cody and I headed up to SLC where Shaz and Wayne were on the tail end of a DVD marathon, and we slept.
I got up early this morning to dress and then I curled up with Cody on the couch for half an hour before we set off to the airport. We made it in good time and said our farewells at the check-in desk. I made it through security without a hitch and my flight to Denver was fine. I sat next to a nice ER doctor from Vermont, and we chatted, and he was very pleasant. In Denver I had a three-hour layover that turned into a five-hour layover due to a plane mechanical failure, so I had lunch, and then I read, and then I fell asleep on the floor and woke up when the plane was boarding. Kile was super sweet and picked me up despite the delay, and then he took off to The Lair. I went home, checked the mail (no oath card, so I'm going to email someone and find out what gives), dumped my gear, and grabbed my gaming supplies, and then I hit the road. I stopped for junk food but I made it to the Lair in time to game, and we had fun. After gaming I talked to Tomie about Cody, and Tomie was honest and gave some really great advice. Based on most of the advice he gave, it seems like Cody and I are pretty much going about things the right way - waiting till we've lived in the same city to get to know each other better, that sort of thing. Near the end of the conversation, Tomie asked me two questions: Do you think about him first thing in the morning? During the day, when you see something interesting, is he the one you want to tell about it? When I answered yes, he informed me, quite simply, that I am in love, and then he gave me a hug. I like Tomie. If I leave Omaha, he's going to be one of the people I miss the most (along with Lawyer Amber and my crew from Winter Quarters).
Once back at the flat I backed up my laptop (which was long overdue, as I hadn't done it in months) and unpacked and chatted with Amber from next door about living in this building, the HOA, and boys. She's spirited and spunky and I think we'll be great friends. Then I called Cody, and we talked and said our good nights.
Before I left, Dad gave me my yearly blessing, and coolest of the cool, Cody could help. I never realized how important that sort of thing was for me until I realized I might not have it.
Now I have a licensure to follow up on, jobs to follow up on, and some gifts to finish/make.
Christmas break was wonderful.
But I need a job. I joked with my friends that they need to pray or sacrifice chickens so I can get the best job for me.
While in Cedar, Ericka and I hashed out a solid plan for our eternal pipe dream, Idlewild, our own publishing house. I think we could totally do it. And maybe the plot bunnies Cody gave me could help.
So...Christmas Day dawned decently early. I stumbled out of bed in pajamas at a reasonable hour, around half of eight (even though I wanted to sleep in till much later) and we had breakfast crepes because it's our Christmas tradition, and then we opened presents. Pretty much all the presents under the tree were for dad, and they were tools of some sort or another. Shaz and Wayne got mum a state-of-the-art slow cooker, and they got me a gift certificate to a bookstore (which is always a great gift for a bibliophile like me), and it was super good times. Then we dressed and had lunch and mum and dad spent most of the day making their super special turkey dinner while I crocheted. Shaz's best friend from high school Nicole came for Christmas dinner, and we had Christmas crackers and played cards and it was super super awesome. After cards mum and dad went to bed and Nicole talked about life on the base in Okinawa (she was a marine) and then I went to my room to work on Cody's present while the other three stayed up and talked about married life.
I was on the shuttle early on Boxing Day to head up North to see Cody. Slept some. Read some. Wrote some. Discovered that I don't get too sick in a van if I'm careful. It was so, so good to see Cody when we finally got up there. We ate the lunch mum had packed and then set about driving, listening to music (I learned some new songs from him, including one he'd played me on the piano, and he gave me one of the songs he wrote, which is one of the best Christmas presents EVER), singing along and being as weird as we like. We made it home in time for tasty supper, which also included Christmas crackers. We sat around and read the Christmas story out of the red sleigh like we did when I was a kid, and we cracked up at spelling errors on old typed cards (typed on a typewriter, so there was no spell check), and then Cody and I watched a lot of Full Metal Panic.
On Monday Cody and I ran around doing errands mostly - rolled out of bed late, got ourselves onto the same page, and then hit the town. We saw RED, which was fabulous (Helen Mirren with a machine gun FTW!), and then bought me some snow pants. We had supper with the parents, packed up our gear, and watched even more Full Metal Panic. Between the two of us, we got pretty good at contorting ourselves on the lounge chair in the dining room (as my parents' sofa is not wide enough for two people to sprawl together). We also went ice skating, which I haven't done in years. All be told, I only fell twice, and usually because I was avoiding someone else than because I just straight up lost my balance. I'd have fallen many times more, but Cody has great balance and reflexes and caught me every time. (I'm not going to lie - it's nice to know my boyfriend is that strong.)
Tuesday was...wow. We got up super early and drove up to Brian Head. We got a little lost around the fancy snow lodges, but eventually went to a rental place and got me a board and some boots for the day and found out where the lifts were, and then...then we went snowboarding. Yes. We. Which means me, voluntarily out in the snow, for more than the time it takes to get from my car to the building of my destination. Cody was a super amazing teacher, though, patient and encouraging the entire time. He taught me to side-skate, which was disastrous until we reset the bindings on my board so I'd ride goofy, and he taught me to stop. Then he taught me how to get off the lift (which I never quite got the hang of - I biffed it pretty much every time), and then...then it was up the hill. Sitting on the lift itself was pretty fun, despite the massive piece of fiberglass attached to my foot. My first run down the hill was...disastrous. It took us almost an hour, and I couldn't figure out how to stand up on my board, which usually meant Cody had to haul me to my feet. He was very sweet and rode down the hill backward to help me with my balance. Near the end I had sorta figured out how to get to my feet, and on the next couple of runs I managed to make it down the hill. I fell backward out of panic more than I fell forward because I caught the front edge of my board in the snow. We discovered I had an easier time pointing my left side down the hill, so we switched the bindings on my board again (and then discovered I can carve with my right foot forward but not with my left foot, so now I'm just confused). Cody tried to teach me to ride backward down the hill on my toe edge, but to no avail. My balance is pretty darn terrible.
After the toe-edge adventure, we went back to the truck and had the lunch mum packed for us (she's always packing us food, and cooking, and trying to feed the world by giving us her leftovers to give to poor college kids), and then we sat in the truck...and talked. Honestly. About us, and what we might have in our future, and it was pretty darn awesome. Then we strapped our gear back on and hit the hill. By the end, I only fell about three or four times every run down the hill, but I still biffed it off the lift. We went until the lifts closed, and then we headed to Cedar City. At Ericka's place we changed into dry clothes and chilled with the others, and then a whole gang of us convened at Curry and Kym's place where we had awesome beer-batter chicken, mash, and garlic bread. Weber was even there, and he brought his pretty little girl, and she even befriended me for a little bit. I'm not going to lie, I watched pretty much the entire time she and Cody played with the cat, and it was adorable. One day, Cody's going to be an awesome dad. After dinner we went to see True Grit, which was awesome, and then we went back to Ericka's. Poor Cody was on the couch, but I slept in Ericka's room (and shared her super awesome electric blanket, and we had honest girl talk about boys).
Wednesday morning I took Ericka out for morning smoothies and coffee (I had the smoothie, she had the coffee) and we had proper awake girl talk, and then Cody and I drove back south. We lounged about, had lunch, and then we went to the temple with my parents, which was super super awesome (although there was some confusion for the temple workers when Cody did not have the same last name as my parents but was the one who legitimately looked like their child), and then we had supper. Bob and Faye came over for supper, and they got to meet Cody, and we chatted and laughed and overall had a good time. After supper we lounged about watching anime (which we did a lot of - although sometimes Cody read while I tatted or crocheted).
Thursday was another easy day - we woke, we hung out watching anime and other fine things, we took Cody's car and Dad's truck out to be washed and then we waxed Cody's car so now it's all pretty and shiny and red. Aunt Marge was out getting her mail while we were working, so she got to meet Cody, which was good. We had lunch and we lounged and watched anime, and we had supper, and we went to see Tangled, and afterward we played cards with mum and dad (somehow I won - I've gotten good at this whole five crowns game). Wednesday night and Thursday night Cody and I stayed up talking and having conversations that were pretty important to our relationship. The details are private because I don't know that anyone but us really need to know the details, but suffice it to say we talked about important things, and we talked to each other honestly, and that's what counts.
I tried to sleep in Friday morning, because Cody and I were up super late, but it didn't happen because Dad's voice carries through walls. I distinctly remember waking up and shuffling into the den and then falling asleep on the couch next to Cody, and then Cody woke me up so I could go shower and have breakfast. Dad made his super awesome omelets, and then Cody and I goofed around on his shiny new laptop and had a brief YouTube party, and then we packed. We had lunch, and then we lazed a little, and then we drove up north. I felt bad, because poor Cody was exhausted, but I couldn't help with the driving because his car is a manual, and I slept a bit, and we listened to music some. Our original plan was to go to Salt Lake, dump our stuff at Shaz and Wayne's, and join Angela and Mal in American Fork, but we got out of St. George late and then there was some scary snow on I-15, so we ended up going straight to American Fork. We had dinner at an Applebee's, and while we were there we talked. Most of our conversation was us asking each other back and forth to create characters, first superheroes, then villains. It was like character creation for a game - gift, flaw, backstory, motivation. Cody's got a great imagination, creative and quirky, and I had so much fun imagining with him. (Also, I was secretly harvesting the freshly-spawned plot bunnies.)
We drove to Angela's mother's place, met her mum, and hung out till Mal arrived. Then we took a quick excursion to the Red Box at the local Wal Mart and picked up The Other Guys, which was bizarre but hilarious. After the film we ended up catching the tail end of the NKOTB-BSB performance in Times Square for New Year's Eve, and we watched the ball drop, and we had a toast and junk food, and then we said our farewells. Cody and I headed up to SLC where Shaz and Wayne were on the tail end of a DVD marathon, and we slept.
I got up early this morning to dress and then I curled up with Cody on the couch for half an hour before we set off to the airport. We made it in good time and said our farewells at the check-in desk. I made it through security without a hitch and my flight to Denver was fine. I sat next to a nice ER doctor from Vermont, and we chatted, and he was very pleasant. In Denver I had a three-hour layover that turned into a five-hour layover due to a plane mechanical failure, so I had lunch, and then I read, and then I fell asleep on the floor and woke up when the plane was boarding. Kile was super sweet and picked me up despite the delay, and then he took off to The Lair. I went home, checked the mail (no oath card, so I'm going to email someone and find out what gives), dumped my gear, and grabbed my gaming supplies, and then I hit the road. I stopped for junk food but I made it to the Lair in time to game, and we had fun. After gaming I talked to Tomie about Cody, and Tomie was honest and gave some really great advice. Based on most of the advice he gave, it seems like Cody and I are pretty much going about things the right way - waiting till we've lived in the same city to get to know each other better, that sort of thing. Near the end of the conversation, Tomie asked me two questions: Do you think about him first thing in the morning? During the day, when you see something interesting, is he the one you want to tell about it? When I answered yes, he informed me, quite simply, that I am in love, and then he gave me a hug. I like Tomie. If I leave Omaha, he's going to be one of the people I miss the most (along with Lawyer Amber and my crew from Winter Quarters).
Once back at the flat I backed up my laptop (which was long overdue, as I hadn't done it in months) and unpacked and chatted with Amber from next door about living in this building, the HOA, and boys. She's spirited and spunky and I think we'll be great friends. Then I called Cody, and we talked and said our good nights.
Before I left, Dad gave me my yearly blessing, and coolest of the cool, Cody could help. I never realized how important that sort of thing was for me until I realized I might not have it.
Now I have a licensure to follow up on, jobs to follow up on, and some gifts to finish/make.
Christmas break was wonderful.
But I need a job. I joked with my friends that they need to pray or sacrifice chickens so I can get the best job for me.
While in Cedar, Ericka and I hashed out a solid plan for our eternal pipe dream, Idlewild, our own publishing house. I think we could totally do it. And maybe the plot bunnies Cody gave me could help.
