Bah, I never did come back after lunch. Indeed, it seems lunch lasted for a good long few days, hm. Anyway, let me go on now at some further length about my holiday. Rick and I returned together to my mom's on Friday night. We had a nice time there. It's nice bringing Rick home now, since he's really come out of himself with Mom. Originally, he seemed sort of on guard, but since his time up at the cottage, stuck with me, Mom, and her friend Ray, he's become a great deal more relaxed. Saturday, I suppose that was the 29th, we all went to see "Ali" which we enjoyed greatly ! Mom got all excited about it, whispering in my ear, "I saw that fight !" and "I remember that !" at several points through out the film. She also told me that my Godmother, Liz, actually went to Zaire as a translator or some such thing and that's damn cool !

Sunday, Rick and I went to D&D at Ryan's house, which lacked a little, but was still pretty enjoyable. We packed up early in order for Al, Carrie, Rick, and Ryan to head back to Toronto. Sadly for Tanya, she arrived in time to discover that we were already packed up. She decided to come over to my house and chat since neither of us have seen each other in a one-on-one capacity since our hike over the summer. Over hot chocolate and Christmas cake we talked about everything from the personal to cats, and then we discussed it all further with my mom who likes Tanya a lot. What's not to like? Tanya has her head screwed on right. If she could just stop wanting to help everyone, she'd be perfect. This is not to say that I think people should avoid other people's problems and turn a blind eye, not at all. I simply mean that there comes a time when she should concentrate on her own life and its improvement rather than wasting her time on other people that never listen to her anyway.

Monday was New Year's Eve day, and Mom was hosting a party for her good friends. I haven't spent New Year's Eve with Mom for a long time, and this year, since my friends didn't come up with anything exciting to do together, I decided that I'd stay at home. It made no sence for me to go into Toronto for one night, or for Rick to come back into Peterborough for one night, so we weren't together. Anyway, it was okay, at least for me. I'm not sure how much fun Rick had since he was suffering from stomach upset. Mom set a magnificent table, as usual, and the food was grand. Mostly it was a good time with good conversation (though, boring for me at times, which is sort of unusual since I find my mom's friends very interesting) and shortly before midnight, we all put on silly hats or masks and clustered around the TV to watch the ball drop in Times Square. I think NBC, or whichever station shows Leno, should NOT have combined Times Square with a live Leno show. It was dumb.

New Year's Day saw me mostly relaxing, which was well deserved - heck, I think all relaxation is well deserved even if it isn't - and there wasn't much to do. Mom and I watched a very good TV production of "Nicholas Nicholby", or rather, the first part, and that was good. Wednesday, I took Willi to the vet because we'd discovered she was full of worms, probably from her days as a stray some 10 months before. Uhg. I got her shots, too, so she really collapsed into an ill-feeling funk by mid afternoon. I dropped by Kerri and Mark's place, but naturally, Kerri was elsewhere so I hung out with Mark and Darien (the baby). Darien has grown tons and is now quite the going concern. I was pleased that he's decided I'm not evil incarnate and actually decided to interact with me. When he was about seven months, all I had to do was look at him and he'd wail. Now I'm okay, and even worth a smile or two. That night, Mom and I watched the second installment of the Dickens story, and then the "West Wing" that we'd taped. Then, bang, I came down with a migraine. This does not mean I went to bed, no sir, I had to take down some decorations. So I did, and I took some Tylenol, which did nothing, and then medicated myself more effectively and watched half of some amazingly weird French film about some school kids that help one of their classmates bury his dead mother. I really needed to go to bed by that point, so I didn't see how it ended. I'll have to look for it now that I have a VCR.

Thursday I was planning to come back to Toronto, but instead I took my sweet time doing other less important things. I denied the need for me to get home to work on my project - I guess I need to work up enough panic in order to finish it - and instead wrote the log entry to the D&D journal. I packed up my stuff and still didn't leave. I finally left early in the afternoon on Friday, in time to get Willi home and settled in, and to clean out my email before getting ready for David and Jeannie's wedding.

I'll write more fully about the wedding a little later, when I need a break from my school work, but now it's time to get busy. Rick's getting his stuff together and so I need to get down and dirty.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm off to Toronto once more, after a none-too-long vacation here at Mom's. It's sort of sad to go back to TO where I'll have to return to my filthy house in order to work on my final project. I'll have from tomorrow night until the 9th to get it finished. Is it possible? I don't know. It worries me. Also, I must speak to Nick about whether or not he'll actually be able to live with me. If he can't, there's not really any question; Al and Carrie will have a roommate, at least temporarily. This month is going to suck. I suppose, then, it's been good that I've actually had the time to vegetate a bit here at Mom's. It's been a really nice holiday, for both myself and Willi. Who would believe that little Miss Anti-Social Willi-bee would actually get along with Chester and Melody. Willi's been kept completely busy and has hardly been recognisable as her typically irritating self. I wish I could provide her this much interest in my apartment. Anyway, when I move, I'll probably leave Willi with Mom since we know this arrangement works, and it will save me the worry about whether my cat will escape while furniture is moved out various doors.

Anyway, let me give a bit of an account of my holiday. Dinner at the Wissenzes on the 22nd was very good, and, much like last year, Rick's mom spoilt me, but moreso, because last year was only the first Christmas that he and I were dating. Now she seems to want to heap things on me as though I'm one of her own, or soon to be. It's a little daunting, but I really like his parents so I can handle it. We all tootled over to his grandparents' house and ate cookies and had coffee. I like his grandmother lots, I must say. Even Anna, Rick's sister who notoriously dislikes me, was pleasant. She even greeted me and wished me a merry and whatnot. Wacky.

I arrived home on the night of the 23rd after working at Heretic all day. The drive was smooth and hardly a bother at all, the weather conditions were perfect. I discovered that Willi is a LOUD animal when she's pissed off. Apparently, the cat-carrier pisses her off. Once home, Mom made me partake of some small fare before erecting the Christmas tree. I went to bed very late, I must say, because once the tree goes up, we must sit and enjoy it for a time afterward. The following day, Mom and I headed out onto the road again, back to Toronto, to celebrate Christmas at Julie's house. It was wonderful. Absolutely. We brought mince pies and there was lasagna and presents and good fun and spirits. We had intended to go to St George's United Church for the late service, but by the time dinner was over, we were exhausted and only wanted to get back to Peterborough. It was nice, but it certainly is a secular celebration at Julie's. I'm used to a little bit more Christ in my Christmas. Or even carols. Oh well.

Christmas Day was spent at great leisure, sleeping late, and then nursing coffees as we opened presents. I don't much want to chronicle what I got; I'm not that materialistic, or so I like to think, but some things are worth mentioning. Highlights of Julie's house and my Mom's were the volumes 2 and 3 of the Akira reprint, and Eisner's New York. Mom gave me a VCR (joy !) and a gift certificate to Fluevog shoes. WOOHOO ! Fancy feet for me ! We picked up Ray that evening and he joined Mom and I for a lovely turkey dinner. I'd dug up a VHS copy of George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol" and given it to Mom in her stocking and we three sat and enjoyed it very much after the meal. It was nice.

The 26th was a good day, too, full of leftovers and going to a movie. I persuaded Mom to go see "Fellowship of the Ring" at the theatre here in town. Seeing it with her was quite enjoyable. She remarked that it was racist (which it definitely is), sexist (and not nearly so much as the book), and manipulative (also true, though done well). That said, she was bowled over by the cinematography and direction and became totally engrossed in the whole story. She had to hold my hand everytime one of the black riders appeared. She even conceded that she might like to see it again. Success, then, I think.

Leaving Willi at Mom's, I went back to TO to work Heretic the 27th and 28th. The 27th was Rick's birthday, and it was my treat to take him to my favourite restaurant in the city: The Lobster Trap. I swear, I have never eaten a lobster so sweet and delicious as I did that night. The whole evening was only slightly marred by the mildly sour waitress. I do NOT like being rushed through a meal, especially when I'm spending large sums of money. Anyway, Rick was pleased with the book about Samurai that I gave him, so that was very nice.

Oh, Mom's made lunch, so I'll write more later. Whee, I love being home !