11/29/2003 - 9:24 PM

The snow is actually pretty humorous to me. Normally, if I get to come home for a holiday, it's Christmas, and I land in time for some snow just about every day I'm here, and then I leave. The plan, since I live somewhere that gets snow on a semi-regular basis, was to go home and NOT deal with snow. No dice...there's about four inches of snow on the ground, and the driving is crappy enough to keep me at home, instead of meeting up with an old friend for a drink.

Work could not end quick enough on Wednesday, but I made it through and rushed home to do a few loads of laundry before having packing and meeting up with Ted and Dave to see Gothika around 5. The movie...lame. The company...surprisingly abrasive. I've only been around Dale a couple of times, and I really don't know much about him, but he seems to know much more about me, and doesn't hesitate to just blurt out questions that really aren't his business. My rule of thumb is, if I've only heard about something going on in someone else's life second-hand, then it's really not up for discussion. Add to that the feeling of being ganged up on by the both of them and me being EXTREMELY tired, and I think I was a little more touchy than I normally am. I tried to be subtle about letting them know that I wasn't happy about it, but I gathered they didn't get the hint. I'll clear it up with Ted next week.

Went home and packed, and then stayed at Cedric's that night to house-sit and watch the dog. Ced's dog is a big Black Labrador that has an uncanny ability of pushing humans to the edge of the bed they're supposed to be sleeping in, and he proved that once again. I found myself barely on top of the mattress, with only a little bit of the comforter available for my use.

Got up early the next morning, headed to the airport, and found it was much busier than I'd expected. Two planes later, we were landing at the airport, and my folks were waiting to take me up to the nursing home to see my grandfather. (Oh...in between flights, I got to try Gold Star Chili, a Cincinnati tradition that uses cinnamon as a main ingredient, but found that I don't like it as much as Skyline Chili, which I had in Indiana last month.)

Grandpa is doing alright, but he's such a goof sometimes. We spent about an hour with him, and I'm heading back up on Monday to spend some more quality time with him as well. For some reason which I don't understand, he doesn't like to talk to me (or other grown grandkids) too much, saying he's afraid he's boring us or taking up our time. This from a man who was constantly driving my brother and I around when we were kids. He repeats his stories sometimes, and he can be a bit pig-headed (it runs in the family), but I wouldn't trade him for anything.

After that, we headed home to what I had been told would be sandwiches, but ended up being a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, peas, pumpkin pie...I never get bored with that stuff. A Christmas Story was on as we ate, and we moved into the living room to see the end of a classic Christmas movie that I never get bored of watching. I went to bed way too quickly after eating all of that food, and woke up WAY too early to get ready for the drive to Portland.

Okay...part two tomorrow. I feel like my head's going to hit the keyboard if I keep typing. I need SLEEP!

What I'm Listening To: Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's the Limit

First Word That Comes To Mind: snow

What I'm Currently Reading: