End of Christmas

As the day winds down, I realize I survived my first Christmas ever totally alone. I accomplished many of the action items I had set out for myself to keep busy, and had a nice 10.5 mile run during this bright and shiny, freezing day.

I ran in a forest preserve near my apartment and the terrain was sometimes muddy, sometimes frozen and often littered with horse manure (as these trails are used for excursions of the equine as well). I swear one load blocked my path like a giant boulder, I'd hate to see the horse that produced that baby.

Organization kicked in, I even went through a large container of cables and electronic equipment I've collected through the years. Although some of the connectors are rather outdated and esoteric, my stash does come in handy now and then. Like when I just set up a wireless network for my Love for the sole purpose of updating her TiVo over the air. Nothing like 6 year old electronic equipment to do that sort of job.

My hoarding instinct was strongly instilled by my father (especially of technical items), who is not only an engineer (and my inspiration for becoming one) but was also raised for a few years in a barn as his family recovered from losing their home on the farm and all their possessions to a tornado.

Just try winning an argument with your dad when he is packing that ammo.

"Dad, why can't I [insert desire here]?!"

"I was raised in a barn, son."

The next sound you heard was inevitably me shutting the fuck up.

My favorite accomplishment from organizing today was separating all the major cable types, binding each cable with a tie or strap of some kind, and then putting them together in gallon sized zip lock bags.

Hefty one zips, by the way. Yellow and blue make green, my ass!

I notice I now own two gallon bags of different colors and lengths of telephone cords. And yet, I don't even own a telephone. Makes you wonder.

I also finished my Christmas cards and will send them out tomorrow after I buy stamps. I do realize, thank-you, that today actually is Christmas but cut me some slack, ok?

I read all the incoming cards, and braced myself for the yearly tale of woe emanating from my parents. This year's did not disappoint.

Opening line: "We started and ended this year with the death of two people we love."

That is verbatim, baby.

My divorce was mentioned in a neat little blurb, and luckily the condemnation for rending asunder what god brought together was omitted. I applaud their restraint.

My final accomplishment was getting through the day without the crutch of alcohol. I celebrated by making myself a stiff Bloody Mary which I am enjoying as I pen this blog.

Oh. Yeah, right. Got me on that one.

Oh well, its Christmas after all. Here is the recipe if you are interested:

1 Cup Vodka (I prefer Ketel One)
1 Cup Bloody Mary Mix (I choose Mr. & Mrs. T's because they used to sponsor the Chicago Triathlon. How's that for brand loyalty?)

After those base ingredients, I slosh in some Worcestershire Sauce (Lea&Perrins) to brown things up a bit, throw in a huge glob of finely grated horseradish (enough to make the drink cloudy, like a bad urine sample), 10 shots of Red and 10 of Green Tabasco. Finally, I garnish with sliced jalapeno peppers and celery salt.

This is the drink that keeps on giving, believe me, so it is a perfect way to wrap up the holidays!