OMG!! The last five days have been quite interesting. Not only with Xmas, but other happenings too. Mon dieu!

Hope everyone had a nice Xmas and spent it with family and friends. New Years is just a few days down the road and then its 2003. What a year ... huh?!? Before I go into all my talk about the "happenings", let me relate what friends, co-workers, family and ole Santa brought me for Xmas. Lots of lovely goodies ... several boxes of assorted chocolates/truffles, bookmarker, magazine, CD holder, keychain, Avon 4 in 1 Companion, toiletries, wine, ferret note pad, CD [Queens of the Stone Age], more scented toiletries, lip balm, sweatshirt, soap, Xmas ornament, book on Teddy Roosevelt, bubble bath, muffin mix, candles, Ansel Adams calendar, basket of edible goodies, power cordless screwdriver and another calendar. Today I'm sending out "thank you" cards and returning phone calls.

Okay ... now on to the "happenings" of the holiday season. Last week wasn't that busy at the office, with the exception of a caterered meeting [free food] on 19th and the companies main holiday party on 18th. As to that later one ... for the most part it was okay. I went with my boss Ed to the party at Copacabana and we only knew a handful of people [literally]. Most of the crowded seemed to be between the ages of 21 and 27. [Guys were talking sports/money and the gals were into primping/ gossiping.] I only knew about 5 people and same with Ed. It was an open bar and the buffet tables were loaded with good food. Quite frankly the disco music was way too loud and reminded me of being at a rock concert, only I'm not grooving to the band. Ed and I only stayed two hours. I went home and he went on to a different party.

Left NYC on Sunday, December 22nd, and head upstate NY for the Xmas holiday. My aunts hubby picked me up at bus terminal and brought me to my parents home. That afternoon Mom and I went shopping, then visited her friend Barbara in a very nice nursing home [was once a posh mansion]. Dinner at home and taking care of Dad, who is still recovering from his hospital ordeal earlier in the month. He's doing better, tho not quite 100% and was regaling me with his hospital stories.

Monday morning we woke up to learn that my Aunt and her hubby had to take my Uncle Bob to emergency. Hum ... doesn't this sound like shades of Thanksgiving weekend all over again. Anyhow ... he's more stubborn than my father when it comes to doctors and hospitals. Apparently blood was gushing from his nose and down inside his throat. While all this suspense was going on I had to drive my father [with Mom] to a doctors appointment, as well as the hospital for X-rays to his left elbow. Fun ... huh ... still with me. Good! We came back to learn from Nick [aunts hubby] that my uncle came home [stubborn man] with his nose packed to stop bleeding, but it didn't stop, so they took him back to hospital. He's been there since then and had to have surgery on inner nose region that Monday night. Hopefully the surgery worked okay and he'll be released on Saturday. Updates on all this next week. Yeah, I know, I can tell your just as excited about it all as I am. Sorry about the sarcasm ... he is my fathers brother ... tho Bob and I never ever got along. A good friend of mine has nicknamed my uncle the "pole" and it fits him to a T. Inbetween all this I'm helping Mom out in the house with assorted chores, painting picture frames, cooking, watching cable tv, phone calls, etc.

On Tuesday, Xmas Eve, I'm up early to get my hair colored and trimmed by my hairdresser in town. Afterwards do errands before heading home to pick up Mom. Dad didn't feel like joining Mom and I in going to my brothers in Schenectady for Xmas Eve luncheon. Mom and I had a very nice visit down at Duane & Michelle's. Hadn't seen Michelle [she's working out at a gym 3 times a week] in a long time and I last saw Duane at Thanksgiving. We had a yummy meal of tossed green salad and Michelle's homemade Macaroni & Cheese. Then we exchanged and opened gifts, plus I took photos. We left their place shortly after 3pm, cause Mom didn't want to be out after dark and its a 70 minute drive. Back home we settled in for the evening, heard Nicks report on my Uncles situation, had a lite dinner and opened our gifts. Instead of opening the gifts Xmas morning we did them evening before ... cause I was leaving early to head back to NYC. Or so I thought.

On Xmas morning we're up early and I whipped up a yummy breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and fried eggs. The weather report said snow was on the way, but nothing was happening at that time of the morning. Plus no other alerts on the local news stations. Nick stops by around 9:30am to pick me up and we head off to Albany Bus Terminal. At this point I'm figuring on jumping on the 11:30am back to NYC. One thing I learned on ride down to Albany with Nick is that he likes Pearl Jam. So I played the Milan 2000 bootleg CD. Yeah! Should of known something wasn't right when we pulled into the bus terminal, but he was in a hurry and I wanted to get on a bus. Nick dropped me off and I walked into a pretty desolate bus terminal. Only one other passenger was sitting in there and a few employees were manning certain posts. Learned that ALL the damn buses were cancelled as of 10am [I got there at 10:30am] until further notice due to the snowstorm. Mind you it hadn't started to snow in Albany, but I guess it was kicking up a mess down south and west of us. Naturally I'm abit annoyed by this "news" and quickly phoned Mom. Asked her to phone Nick on his cell phone and come back for me. I phoned her 10 minutes later ... Nick doesn't have his cell phone with him. Great! Geez! Instead, Mom called a friend of the family [Steve] and he'd come and get me. So I waited until shortly after 12 noon when Steve picked me up and drove me back north. Arrived at the family homestead after 1pm and ate lunch with my parents. Then made phone calls to let my co-workers know I wouldn't be at office tomorrow. Taking an unexpected personal day. Rest of day was spent watching cable tv, playing in the snow [blizzard blew in at 2pm & left after 10pm], continually shovelling the porch/walkway, nibbling on snacks, drinking wine, working on pastels and chatting on the phone.

Next day dawned with about 18+ inches of snow outside, sunny skies and cold temps. Shovelled the porch, walkway, cleaned off Dads car and started it up. Didn't take long for it to warm up. Took Mom to the store for a few groceries. Called the bus terminal several times for updates and schedules. The buses are running ... hurray! Nick and my Aunt Nan picked me up shortly before 12 noon and drove me to Albany, where I got on a very crowded bus leaving for NYC at 2pm. Arrived at Port Authority about 4:45pm and waited 45 minutes on line in getting a taxi to go to my apartment. Ahhhhhhhhhh ... NYC!

Overall it was an interesting holiday, with many little happenings that add up into bigger ones. Until next time......................