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Christmas, 2007 . . . the aftermath!
18 years ago
I had my first Christmas off from work (except from midnight to 5 AM) since 2003.
A few hours after work, we headed up to my sister Katie's around 9:30-ish. I did manage to get a 90-minute power-nap that wasn't very effective. I sort of bumbled and stumbled my way out the door, remembering to bring the two CD's previously mentioned in the LiveJournal entry---King Crimson's "Red" (1974) and ELP's <i>Tarkus</i>---along to sharpened up to keep me focused, as these albums are intense and dark yet awesome ("Red")and frenetically crazy and awesome("Tarkus"). And sure enough, they did the trick. By that time in the morning, my ADHD medication, Strattera, has completely worn off, and I am generally addled and scatter-brained---not to mention tired! also, I'm usually curled up in bed, falling to a deeper level of sleep.
Getting to Katie's was fine, but without that music playing I probably would not have been able to properly concentrate on driving. I said little, and whenever Kathy and Patrick asked a question I was startled enough to cry out a bit. Kathy probably should have driven on the way up, but she'd had very little sleep herself though she was by no means a hurting unit. After all, the daytime is her waking hours . . . oh well, we got there in one piece, didn't get lost (!!!) and when I got out of the car I felt like I was about 90 years old.
I did enjoy the day very much, though I freely admit I was much too tired to fully appreciate it. Nevertheless, I did take some raw, crappy footage with my digital camera.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=000_0010.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0747.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0748.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0749.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0750.flv
THE CAST:
Paul Doyle---the bedraggled dumb-ass filming and narrating most of these clips---that's me. Wow, I really do look half asleep here, and as usual when I'm very drowsy I sound drunk (though I do not drink alcohol!)
Kathy Doyle---my wife, Ms. Googly Eyes. 'Nuff said. I think she films a little bit.
Patrick Doyle---wearing the dark blue vest, son of Kathy and myself.
Hugh Doyle---my father and Patrick's grandfather. Sitting on the couch.
Katie Bavier---my older sister, sitting on the carpet.
John Bavier---Katie's husband, my brother-in-law.
Luke Bavier---the adorable blond-haired three year old boy bouncing around, Katie and John's adopted son.
Boomer and Rhody---Katie and John's dogs, both Labrador retrievers.
I did take a power-nap there, too, but it didn't really work. Katie made an awesome dinner, but again I probably would have fully appreciated it if I was fully awake.
Aroiund 4 PM I took my meds, and I gradually "woke up" at long last, though I only had enough energy to briefly run around the basement chasing Patrick and Luke, with the back of my T-shirt pulled up over my head like The Great Cornholio from "Beavis and Butt-Head". I proabably should have gone in-character as a sanitized Pauly the Anthro-Dragon, but I was just too damn tired to do that so I just was a generic monster going "RAWR!" and "Muahahahaha!" At one point I even hid in Rhody's dog-house, which completely backfired since Rhody noticed and licked me half to death, wagging her tail.
Kathy and I squared off against Katie and John at their pool table. Kathy kept on talking about how she sucked (simply because she hadn't played it in years!) but I tried to cheer her on a bit (a small part of my master plan, which is to help her overcome her depression and low self-worth) and apparently it worked, because she got the winning shot. Good for her! She needs to be a happier person.
When we went home, Kathy drove, something that was a foregone conclusion. I fell asleep not too long after we got home, and wound up sleeping most of the night (which is my day) away. For once I did NOT feel guilty about oversleeping . . . I think I earned it?
We opened presents belatedly, which is typical given our crazy schedules, and Patrick didn't complain since he's used to it. This was the first real Christmas we've had since 2004, but even so we had a very challenging year so we had to go very bare-bones. We simply did not have any money at all in 2005 and 2006. Patrick got a few little things this time, but nothing like what he got from his relatives. I got a new pair of slippers and a Wal-mart chair-massger seat cover from Kathy (nice!) and a VERY cool dragon poster from Patrick.
It's this poster. Never heard of the artist, Tom Wood, though I'd love to find out if he's on any well-known websites since he's made of awesome: http://i9.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/b8/db/4757_1.JPG I'd love to have a tenth the artistic talent of the artist, though in a battle that dragon would be so totally owned by any of the full-sized dragon subspecies in my forthcoming novel sequence *chuckle*
I'd like to acknowledge, and thank, my father for REALLY helping us out. And I will leave it at that :)
I hope everyone reading this is doing well :)
A few hours after work, we headed up to my sister Katie's around 9:30-ish. I did manage to get a 90-minute power-nap that wasn't very effective. I sort of bumbled and stumbled my way out the door, remembering to bring the two CD's previously mentioned in the LiveJournal entry---King Crimson's "Red" (1974) and ELP's <i>Tarkus</i>---along to sharpened up to keep me focused, as these albums are intense and dark yet awesome ("Red")and frenetically crazy and awesome("Tarkus"). And sure enough, they did the trick. By that time in the morning, my ADHD medication, Strattera, has completely worn off, and I am generally addled and scatter-brained---not to mention tired! also, I'm usually curled up in bed, falling to a deeper level of sleep.
Getting to Katie's was fine, but without that music playing I probably would not have been able to properly concentrate on driving. I said little, and whenever Kathy and Patrick asked a question I was startled enough to cry out a bit. Kathy probably should have driven on the way up, but she'd had very little sleep herself though she was by no means a hurting unit. After all, the daytime is her waking hours . . . oh well, we got there in one piece, didn't get lost (!!!) and when I got out of the car I felt like I was about 90 years old.
I did enjoy the day very much, though I freely admit I was much too tired to fully appreciate it. Nevertheless, I did take some raw, crappy footage with my digital camera.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=000_0010.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0747.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0748.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0749.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.....t=100_0750.flv
THE CAST:
Paul Doyle---the bedraggled dumb-ass filming and narrating most of these clips---that's me. Wow, I really do look half asleep here, and as usual when I'm very drowsy I sound drunk (though I do not drink alcohol!)
Kathy Doyle---my wife, Ms. Googly Eyes. 'Nuff said. I think she films a little bit.
Patrick Doyle---wearing the dark blue vest, son of Kathy and myself.
Hugh Doyle---my father and Patrick's grandfather. Sitting on the couch.
Katie Bavier---my older sister, sitting on the carpet.
John Bavier---Katie's husband, my brother-in-law.
Luke Bavier---the adorable blond-haired three year old boy bouncing around, Katie and John's adopted son.
Boomer and Rhody---Katie and John's dogs, both Labrador retrievers.
I did take a power-nap there, too, but it didn't really work. Katie made an awesome dinner, but again I probably would have fully appreciated it if I was fully awake.
Aroiund 4 PM I took my meds, and I gradually "woke up" at long last, though I only had enough energy to briefly run around the basement chasing Patrick and Luke, with the back of my T-shirt pulled up over my head like The Great Cornholio from "Beavis and Butt-Head". I proabably should have gone in-character as a sanitized Pauly the Anthro-Dragon, but I was just too damn tired to do that so I just was a generic monster going "RAWR!" and "Muahahahaha!" At one point I even hid in Rhody's dog-house, which completely backfired since Rhody noticed and licked me half to death, wagging her tail.
Kathy and I squared off against Katie and John at their pool table. Kathy kept on talking about how she sucked (simply because she hadn't played it in years!) but I tried to cheer her on a bit (a small part of my master plan, which is to help her overcome her depression and low self-worth) and apparently it worked, because she got the winning shot. Good for her! She needs to be a happier person.
When we went home, Kathy drove, something that was a foregone conclusion. I fell asleep not too long after we got home, and wound up sleeping most of the night (which is my day) away. For once I did NOT feel guilty about oversleeping . . . I think I earned it?
We opened presents belatedly, which is typical given our crazy schedules, and Patrick didn't complain since he's used to it. This was the first real Christmas we've had since 2004, but even so we had a very challenging year so we had to go very bare-bones. We simply did not have any money at all in 2005 and 2006. Patrick got a few little things this time, but nothing like what he got from his relatives. I got a new pair of slippers and a Wal-mart chair-massger seat cover from Kathy (nice!) and a VERY cool dragon poster from Patrick.
It's this poster. Never heard of the artist, Tom Wood, though I'd love to find out if he's on any well-known websites since he's made of awesome: http://i9.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/b8/db/4757_1.JPG I'd love to have a tenth the artistic talent of the artist, though in a battle that dragon would be so totally owned by any of the full-sized dragon subspecies in my forthcoming novel sequence *chuckle*
I'd like to acknowledge, and thank, my father for REALLY helping us out. And I will leave it at that :)
I hope everyone reading this is doing well :)
