gromek...

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Dad made Carroll drive all the way up to Palo Alto to take us out to dinner. Family for the holidays. I needed that. 

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Forgot how to wake up- 7:20 is just too early to have to get up in the morning. Yes, I know how lucky I am to get to sleep in that late on a work day. I only get up that early to go on my walk. Otherwise I don't need to get up until almost 8:00. Which still seems a bit early. 8:30ish would work fine. 

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It's not really Christmas without a walk around the Big City with all the lights and the displays. Stopped in at the Hyatt before heading  to Union Square. Nit quite the beautiful weather of last year, but still a very nice afternoon. 

(While on the train I saw a couple of teens trying to get tickets. Not sure why it wasn't working... they didn't seem to have the urgency of somebody trying to get tickets before the train left- it was more like they were somehow randomly pressing buttons, or reaching up in the tray trying to coax tickets out. When the train started to pull out, I could read the lips of the girl "what are we going to do?". The boy ran around the ticket area, grabbed a drink sitting on a pole and threw it at the train. Not really sure why- sort of frustration, but he didn't seem quite angry enough. All it did was probably freak out the person sitting by that window, and maybe leave a mess for someone to hose off later)

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Got through over 700 images today. And did laundry. Despite the heavy heavy rain that tried to keep me from changing loads. Did get pretty wet-the spray covers most of the walkway. Took some pictures for evidence.

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Played my Christmas CD all day today. John was downstairs at first, so I played  A Colbert Christmas, and one of the more current CDs. when John came up he played the CD I'd just finished listening to again. Then he put songs on repeat 'Christmas at KMart', 'Jingle Dogs'. 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'. Mike was stoic through it all- although I did see him giving the CD player a dark look as he went to break. I bring in the CD's knowing that John will drive me a bit crazy with them- he prefers the "Chipmunks Roasting On an Open Fire" and the 'Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear' kind of songs. But it's fun to see him play DJ, repeat the most annoying Christmas songs, and just have a good time. It's become part of my Christmas tradition, and I rather enjoy it. I hadn't planned on how crazy it would drive Mike. That was just an added benefit. 

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Good half. Not so good whole.

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About an hour on the phone with my baby bro, discussing family....

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A little down much of the day. That kind of lonely unwanted downess. I guess hearing that Mary Ann was there last night made me feel even more unwelcome. Is it just the sound of my voice that is the problem? Sometimes I wonder. I even wondered if sometimes he rubs my head just because he thinks he should. I took a headache pill at lunch, and felt better later. Julie was finishing her Christmas card, so I joked around a but with her throughout the afternoon. Not sure how much she enjoyed it, but she always seems so friendly. 

Dinner with Pam tonight. She brought some very nice Christmas presents. I'm feeling a bit more festive. 

The apartment is stinky. 

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Huh?

First day of winter- the days will start getting longer. 

Dreary work day- Sunday, the last few days before Christmas. People are either cranky or resigned about not getting rush orders done. Even those whose needs I can meet seem pretty frazzled.

While looking in the yet to be deleted weekly back up folders for a customer's Christmas card, I came across all the stuff I had in my personal folder- Amber's scans, my negs scans, all of it, dragged into the Nov 21 folder, loose. Hmm now how does that happen? Computers just do the strangest things, all by themselves. My guess? Mike really couldn't throw someone's else's work out, so he transferred it into an old folder. Then he could appease his conscience, and be "truthful" when saying he did not throw my personal work away. Steve would be the one to do that when he deleted the older work, which was being kept longer than usual due to the holidays. Can I prove it? No. Am I right? Yes. 

Marc's mom in the hospital. Breathing issues and leg cramps. Hopefully more of a cautious stay. He came home from the city, and headed straight to the emergency room, right as I got off work. I wish he'd let me go with him- I feel like I'm not really part of the family. I really think my being there would help more than hinder, but I know how too many people can be overwhelming. 

I stayed home and watched George C Scott in A Christmas Carol. So similar to the play we did back at Gav. I found myself reciting so many line along with the actors. Some days I really miss being on stage. 

(OK- it's not the 21st- that's tomorrow. But I thought it was when I wrote this. One last day of autumn)