2002-10-13 ~ 8:04 a.m.

Va-ka-see-on

I'm in the middle of a vacation. I didn't really have anything planned for this vacation except for get my room in order since I haven't since we've moved.

(Looking around.) Yep, that's going really well. (ahem)

I think it will just take me getting a bunch of crap that I no longer wear/is too stained to wear into a bag for Goodwill. I've already scoped out the Goodwill receptacle in the parking lot of my friendly neighborhood grocer, and it should just about fit my 10 years' worth of crap. There are some toys that I'm going to put in there too, but I'm not sure that I can let them go. Oh, no, these are not toys that I've had since childhood, these are toys that I've bought or that were bought for me in the past 3 years.

A few days ago I went to my boyfriend's parent's house for his sister's birthday/her friend's baby shower. The Boyfriend told his parents he wasn't going to buy the friend anything because he didn't really know her. Me, being a woman, felt the obligation to buy her something for her newborn, so imagine our surprise when they picked up a package that neither one of us had wrapped and said, "Oh, another one from C&C." I leaned over to him through my really-trying-to-hide-the-surprise smile and asked what he got them, and he leaned back with his pleasant trying-equally-hard-to-hide-the-surprise smile and said "No idea." He's much better at the smile than I am. Apparently, he's used to people getting presents from him that he had no idea he got them.

Then we played most of a game of "Balderdash." I'll admit, I'm not used to this "family time" thing. It's almost downright embarrassing. I mean, I have NO idea how to act around a family. I'm not sure of what to say. I'm not sure if what I say isn't completely moronic. It strikes a bit of fear in my being to go over there. Not that I don't like them. I like them a lot. But WOW am I a reckus nervosa.

And though The Boyfriend may not be comfortable with his sister's friend yet, I'll have to admit I appreciate every bit of her. I can tell she's just as uncomfortable around his family as I am. I don't think she's used to the whole "family unit" thing either. It's just nice to have someone as uncomfortable as I am. I'll bring it up to her in the distant future at a future family gathering, and I'm sure we'll laugh about it. In the meantime...... countdown to Thanksgiving...

I went with The Roommate and his boyfriend to the Renaissance Festival tonight. It was delightful. We had a good chuckle at Ye Olde Shaved Ice stand. Then, after all of that, everything was Ye Olde. There was a kid with Ye Olde Mohawk. We got drinks that came in nifty blue bottles. I bought him and me corks for it that had pewter decor on the top. I noticed a sticker on the cork and said, "Ah, yes, made in Ye Olde Taiwan."

I also got a Family Crest. Now, a long time ago, I looked up my last name in a book of crests, and my family's crest was really punk. It had these little chickadees in it. I figured, "oooh, I'm sure that really struck fear into the hearts of our enemies." The MIGHTY CHICKADEE!!! Everytime I described my crest to someone, I would say that there was even a chick knocked over with his little feet in the air. Seriously, can you be serious about a family crest with tiny birds? I'm serious.

So, since then, everytime I passed a stand that sold printouts of one's family crest, I politely declined. I couldn't face the embarrassment. But tonight, I decided, well, hell, I'm the last in MY family, so I may as well be proud of it. I decided to buy one. I decided that the MIGHTY CHICKADEE will live. I got it, and guess what? no birdies. Well, birdies, but ones that DO strike fear in the hearts of enemies. Notably, the griffin. YEAH!!! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!

There's a bird of some ilk on top of the helmet on the crest. I'm guessing that where the variant of the crest that I saw came from.

So, here's the funny part of the story. Since my crest wasn't what I thought it was, The Roommate decided to get his crest as well. He ALREADY HAS his family crest tattooed onto him, so he was a little nervous of the outcome of his crest. But he got it, and thank our ancestors, it was the same one.

and now..... I sleep.....

{ previous ~ next }