Moments To Remember (Forever Plaid)

Alright! Back from extended hiatus!! Like BSG or Heroes!! Go me!!!

Ok, so obviously I haven't blogged since July. I will attempt to bring ya'll up to date, a month at a time.

August: The start of the search for a new house for my parents. I didn't actually help much with that part, but we had my mom's birthday party this month. It was the last big bash we had at my parent's old house. It was awesome, and I was stoked to see my friends had come to the party as well. Which of course made it awesomer. Also this month, movie night at some really good family friends' house. I don't actually remember what the movie was, because I didn't pay attention to it (it was recommended that I shouldn't), but it was still a lot of fun. It had Divine (Devine?) in it though. My god that woman is fluffy-fied. Ok, so, the drive up was horrible. The 58 was closed, so I had to take the back road in. Here's a secret-I HAVE NEVER DRIVEN THE BACK ROAD. And I don't intend to in the near or even far future, if I can help it. I did it though, and got to Stallion and called them to let them know I'd be a little bit late. Once I got there, one of them (aka Personal Bartender, or P.B.) started making me an amaretto sour. I told him to forget the sour part and just give me the amaretto. Granted, it was in the same glass, so it was almost a juice glass full of amaretto, but it tasted wonderful. I finished that before dinner, and had another (same size) with dinner. After that I had hot chocolate with amaretto-after that I was better. :) The next day mom & dad went to look at a possible house, and had all but signed the contract by the time they got back to our friend's house. So, they essentially found a house in the same month they started looking for one. Not too bad, wouldn't you say?

Septemer: Lots going on this month. So, very beginning of the month one of my aunts had a birthday party. Happens every year, what can I say. However, another aunt (hereafter known as Typhoid Mary) decided to make the party about her and her problems as opposed to focusing on the "Yay, my sister has been alive for another year" aspect of the party. How did this happen? Family drama. What it boiled down to (bare minimum, here) was somehow my grandmother and Typhoid Mary got attacked by my cousins' wives. 2 wives, with perfectly sound reasoning, suggested another way of doing-here's the punchline-Christmas gifts. What we've been doing is $5 gifts from the adults, to EVERYONE, and $1 gifts from the kiddos, to EVERYONE. My family has 20 some-odd people in it. Unwrapping takes forever, and you don't actually enjoy the gifts, for the most part. Sometimes you luck out, but most of the time they're not that great. But somehow my grandmother and TM twisted it around as being attacked. And here's the other shoe-Christmas Day is ONE DAY. Out of 365 days a year, doing something different one of those days would not kill anyone. So, stupid, I know, really really stupid. But as a result no one has talked to my grandmother, grandfather, TM, her husband/my uncle, and my 2 girl cousins since the birthday party. At this point, they've ruined not just one day, but years. So, we did not spend my birthday, which was a nice dinner in Tehachapi with friends, or PreThanksgiving, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or anything for New Years. And my grandparents have also missed the birth of their first great-granddaughter. So, until the baby was born (December), I was the only niece again. In between this, I helped my parents with packing and moving. And my favorite birthday present? My friend that's in Japan called me the day of my birthday and we were able to talk. That definitely topped it off for me.

October: The annual Halloween party at PB (and Jelly's) house. Once again, an awesome party. This one actually had more people dressed up than in previous years, so that was really cool to see. The theme this year was 80s, and I was surprised to see that people actually dressed up, for the most part, and didn't just do bell bottoms and screaming shirts. We had Pat Benatar, 2 versions of Michael Jackson (Thriller and the mask/one glove look, if anyone's curious), a scary mask lady, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Marty McFly, and leather and chain punkositys. Some people, including my parents, went with an 1880s motif as opposed to 1980s, and they looked great. I myself opted for pigtails and an adult-sized onesie-hey, if I was born in '86 that means I would have been a toddler during that time frame. It was a load of fun. And we got my parents moved into the new house completely, so I made quite a few trips to Tehachapi. Also, during this time my other aunt (aka Disney Aunt, or DA) started visiting me during the week. She was taking a diet class that took her near my neighborhood. I've been enjoying it a lot. It was nice starting to feel like I could actually count on my family. For more than extended phone conversations and drama, that is.

November: Prethanksgiving was awesome. People were there that I hadn't seen in a while, and once again my friends were able to show up. I had a blast, and so did everyone else. Actual Thanksgiving was, well, not too bad. It was kinda different without Typhoid Mary or my grandparents there, but there was a definite change in pace. But the surprise came the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Mom had called and left a message, saying that PB, J, and them were going to go up north to the Dickens Faire, but plans had changed and would I like to go? Of course I accepted and went up with them the Friday after gobblegobble day. On the way up, I texted a friend I knew was up north to see if she wanted to come down and meet us at Faire (aka Missy). Missy agreed, and I met up with her and her sister, and we had a great time! We tried on as many hats as we could find, made fun of each other, and pined after some coats. There was one booth we found that had gorgeous jackets for sale. I particularly liked the Winterfield coat and the men's Bailey coat. We found the shop the first time, Missy and I went back in for a second time, and I went in for a final time before closing. http://www.samiah.com/_Samiah-Womens-Clothing.htm

December: Missy came down to Bakes the weekend before Christmas and we had an awesome time. We watched the new Narnia movie, saw Plaid Tidings at the BeeKay, talked, and watched anime. We also went to see the Christmas lights in Haggin Oaks, which I highly recommend. Christmas Eve I drove to my parent's house, and stayed with them until the Monday after Christmas. However, I think someone in the family was sick and didn't 'fess up. I was just finishing getting rid of something (a cold or congestion or something-it was hanging on by its fingernails) but the Monday after both mom and I started coming down with something. So, I'm downing the orange juice and tea. Also this month, Dec. 30th, my cousin's wife had her baby. I didn't get to see her, but mom sent me a picture. She looked adorable.

January: Still a work in progress I've had 2 days of it. I will be going up north this week though, because my friend is back from Japan for a little bit, and we're going to have an awesome time!!! Hopefully I'll return to my blog after my trip but I make no promises.

"Moments to Remember (Forever Plaid)"-Plaid Tidings crew