The Jux Entente

Other than these past two days at work, I’ve been playing videogames pretty consistently since Christmas, as is my custom. It’s great!

Christmas this year was actually really good despite the breaking of traditions, which as you know is something I despise if it can be avoided. Especially at my favorite time of year. This year was the first time that everyone wasn’t living in the same house on Christmas, so Vivian and I slept up in Jasper on our air mattress Sunday night in the spare bedroom upstairs. I was still there waking people up at dawn on Christmas morning: 24 Christmases and counting! It was good to have Vivian there and part of the family too.

Speaking of Vivian, she made some delicious homemade pizza last night. She/We have been steadily working our way up the pizza chain since we moved to Kennesaw in July. I’ve identified a few stages:

Stage 1: Pizza stone, pre-shredded cheese, Ragu pizza sauce, pre-made crusts.

Stage 2: Block mozzarella replaces shredded cheese.

Stage 3: Frozen dough replaces pre-made dough. Pre-made sauce is no more; now we roll our own sauce, baby!

Stage 4: Real mozzarella (the squishy kind!)

Stage 5: Make your own dough. We reached this stage last night.

I also noticed yesterday that my bottle of Axe Kilo shower gel is at least 7 months old, and stil has a few months to go before its out. When I first started buying the stuff I was put off by it costing as much as 10 bars of soap, but damn, it has staying power!

On a final note: Twilight Princess is now the best Zelda ever. I beat it a few days ago and I’m patiently waiting for someone else to do it so I can discuss the ending with them. It deserves a sequel of its own!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. After Christmas I usually get a brief bout of post-Christmas depression as I realize it’s all over and it’ll be a whole year before it comes again.

It’s not happened yet this year, but I can feel twinges of it. I’m going to try to create a Christmas in July, I swear.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Which is why I’m sad (by which I mean angry, since that’s usually how I express sadness).

For the first time in 24 years (actually, longer, but I’ve been present 23 times so I can only personally verify that many) my extended family’s Christmas Eve celebration has been cancelled. The reasons aren’t that important since they’re beyond anyone’s control, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

Some of the best times of my life have been at my Aunt Sandra’s house on Christmas Eve. It always reminds me of the ending of It’s A Wonderful Life…I really feel like I belong and am loved by a large number of people. I certainly love them. A few years ago it stopped being as good as it once was because my father, who’s usually a good man but pulls some stupid bullshit like this now and again, stopped going. It wasn’t quite the same after that, but still good.

I’m going to miss my Aunt Sandra, Steven, Jeff, and the lot this year. I really don’t know what else to say. I was really looking forward to it this year because it’s the first year that I purchased all the gifts for my extended family on my own. But now I won’t get a chance to give them to them in the proper setting.

I can remember playing the X-men board game waiting to open presents with Jeff and Steven. This year…I don’t know what we’re going to do. Make a turkey up in Jasper and try to salvage something, I’m sure. I’m trying to think of something we can all do as a family that will make it feel “right” even without all the people there. Maybe I’ll bring the Wii. Whatever it is, we have to do it together, otherwise it’s just not the same.

I just wish I knew what that thing was, and I wish I could stop feeling like 2005 was the last time we’d ever have a Christmas Eve.

Cook Islands has been the best Survivor since Amazon in my opinion. I don’t want to spoil who won because Vivian hasn’t watched it yet, but the final four was perfect, and the choice between the final two was exactly as it should be. The winner was likewise perfect. This is the season that rekindled my interest in being on the show at some point.

I can’t wait to see how they’re going to pull off the next season though, with a tribe of plenty and a tribe of starvation. How the hell is that going to balance?