Upswing
I’d perceived in the last couple of days that the “meh” that had been plaguing me this holiday season was being tempered with some really good interactions.
The druid and I had occasion to visit a nearby café we’d not patroned until now, and had ourselves a lovely meal, me with my smoked salmon on pasta, the druid with an epic sandwich, more meat than bread. Aside from the bartender/order taker who approached us five times in the span of three minutes before we had a chance to view the menu long enough to decide on something quickly, and how few salmon flakes there were in my meal, and how I had to remind our server three times to bring me the bread that was supposed to arrive with the meal and the pumpkin pie I was looking forward to, the druid and I had a nice time.
I texted the geek somewhere in there with an invitation to join us for something a bit different than the usual watering hole, and while she did not reply, she did show up shortly after work and ordered something as well. We were pleasantly amused to see a petite but chubby Siamese cat wandering around, and sat strategically in front of the druid as he kept offering his cold cuts to her. She wandered away somewhere in there in due course, either to sleep or bum food off of other patrons.
The next evening, the druid worked, and I had an evening meal with a group of friends I’d known back in 2005 on my first foray to this city. We sat and talked for like three hours, not wanting to depart, as one of us now lived in San Diego and who knows when we’ll be able to gather together like that again. It was our holiday gift to each other, just the opportunity to reconnect, catch each other up on our lives (not that we needed much debriefing, most of us are on Facebook and keep in daily contact there), and enjoy some really good burgers at “our” place. That was cool. :)
And today, the gamer and I ventured forth in pursuit of food, a little something-something to treat ourselves to, and to get out of the house. Our original goal was that aforementioned café, which was closed for the duration of the year. Sushi was agreed upon, but they were also not open for business. We ventured on to PSU, where two food carts were open while the rest were closed and locked for the holidays, and decided to wander a little further, finding ourselves at a place that sells pitas. Gyros and Ceasar chicken pita sandwich messes were had. I ordered a couple for the druid and I to share this evening, to which the gamer was similarly inspired to drag one home as well.
I went on to the store to grab enough edibles to get us through tomorrow, and have spent the evening reacquainting myself with alumni I haven’t spoken to since 1992. That really is a long time ago, isn’t it. o.O
Pitas have been noshed upon, the geek brought home beer for all of us, and hard lemonade for me specifically because I’m not at all a fan of beer, we’ve been talking together, hanging out, very comfortable and amicable.
It’s turning out not to be such a bad holiday season.
Oh, right, one of the highlights of today was when the gamer fumbled with my expensive, never-used camera I’d purchased years ago and dropped it on the hard concrete. After assessing the minimal damage (the battery door hinge doesn’t quite lock and it’s a little wiggy but still functional, if tempermental), I asked him if he’d like a Yule gift. He felt really bad but honestly, while I still want a camera, it is five years old and I’m pretty certain that technology is even better now than it was then. So at some point in the future, when he has a job and can set some money aside, we’ll pool funds together and get me a new unit. And he gets my nearly new camera for Christmas.
He warmed up to the idea after apologizing profusely for a bit. He still winces at it but he’s certainly not unhappy with how things turned out, and honestly, I don’t feel bad that he dropped it. There was a moment of, “Errr…” but it’s just a thing. It’s one of my most cherished nice things, sure, but it’s replacable, and as I’d never used it anyway, I am not that attached to it. I even have the original box it came in, somewhere in my mountain o’crap. He’s been using it since he got here, as I lent it to him in order to have something with which to capture the memories he can no longer use his camera phone for. He likes it. So he can have it. :)
I told him about another gift I was trying to arrange to get to him but because of lack of money have not yet been able to–an acoustic guitar. He blinked and wondered what brought that on. I was inspired because one day he asked to play with my recorder flute, just to futz around with music for a bit. Musicians will be able to empathize with the random, urgent need to just make music, in whatever form one can. I either couldn’t gather the funds necessary for the item, or the guy selling the item wanted more. Things hadn’t come together enough to get that yet. And the idea became less urgent when I found myself with a second musical keyboard a couple weeks ago, when the ex brought me the graduation gift I’d received back in 1992, and had to leave behind in my exodus away from him. I have no need for two keyboards, and offered this one to him. He blinked, but accepted that, the day I got it. Hehehe.
Of the druid, I wanted to make him a game board with tablero squares on one side and chess squares on the other. I haven’t yet been able to get to the hardware store to procure the wood, the stain, the brushes, and the “bar top” lacquer stuff the gamer has talked about. Ah well, it’ll happen.
And today, we found a possible mechanic for my poor car, in an unlikely source–the boyfriend of the druid’s boss. Kewl.
Not a bad Christmas, after all. The druid and I are celebrating our second one together.
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Challenge yourself to Holidailies 2009 by writing one entry each day in December.
