<p>Happy Holidays to the iPeeps! I’m offering hot coffee to all. And if I make it to RVA, there may be Duck Donuts next
time.</p>
<p>Momannoyed: how was college S’s interview? Did he remember his shirt-packing lessons?</p>
<p>Tx5: I’m sorry that your S2 didn’t get the cool internship but I’m glad that you have all your chicks back in the nest for the holidays.</p>
<p>G#: Whew! I was worried that you had been captured by one of those beady-eyed ruffians. Congratulations to your sugar-mama, er, DW on her new job. Will she be driving the new car to the new job? Wishing your D2 good luck on her GREs.</p>
<p>alicew: is your globe-trotting D home for the holidays?</p>
<p>I am rejoining the Land of the Living after a week of the Head Cold from Hell, which flattened me. S1 earned a 4.0 in grad school this semester - he’s only got 4 classes standing between him & graduation. S2 continues to pay his dues to the iBanking industry with insane hours & very little sleep. At least he is not required to do surgery, like a doctor in residency.</p>
<p>12rmh18 - glad you are rejoining the living. </p>
<p>Coffee is hot, and there are muffins from Dunkin Donuts. </p>
<p>I am sort of working, and in between am in technology upgrade mode. New iPhone activated and loaded with work stuff - check. Now off to upgrade quicken. If that isn’t too painful, perhaps I will download Turbo Tax too. </p>
<p>I should post this in the “Good Buy of the Day” thread…went to Office Depot to buy son’s desk chair we promised him for Hanukkah (he can take it with him when he moves). They one he liked was the last one in the store, actually the floor sample, so they gave us a discount. :)</p>
<p>It’s blue and nice looking, and adjustable so he won’t get a crick in his neck from peering at the computer. :)</p>
<p>No, haven’t heard about the job yet, tho he says the interview went well. They said the first week of January they would let him know. </p>
<p>Happy Boxing Day All! I hope that you are kind to your servants all day and don’t take their songs about you too personally. ;)</p>
<p>12rmh18 – Glad to hear that you are back amongst the living! Whether or not DW will be driving her new car to the new job is TBD. However, I can tell you that my experiment worked… I “hid” DW’s Christmas presents in her new car and she did not find them. ;)</p>
<p>Momannoyed – Congrats on the “Deal of the Day!” The email came in. What do you think, should I go for the Bengal’s playoff tickets?</p>
<p>Showmom – If you are still around, DW may need SUP lessons… Thanx to Santa. ;)</p>
<p>Our little snark monkey, I mean D2, is home for a few days. They asked at work if anyone was going anyplace exotic for the holidays. She told them “Yeah, rural Virginia.” Clear evidence of her mother’s DNA. She is getting re-acclimated to trees, open spaces, real sweet tea, and WAL-MART. She is also getting acclimated to DW’s “sub-igloo” thermostat setting and claims that in NYC it would be illegal for the landlord to set the temperature that low. </p>
<p>We had a fairly low-key Christmas gathering with D1/H, D2, my mother, and my younger brother. For years, we had Christmas at our house, but with my FIL and father passing this year, DW wanted to do something completely different and we had dinner in Williamsburg and then walked around being touristy and checking out the decorations.</p>
<p>The most CC relevant gift this year was a quilt that DW had made for D2 from various t-shirts from events she attended in college (Princeton… it’s not just an education, it’s a wardrobe ). A few years ago, the daughter of a friend of ours was in an auto accident on the day or her college graduation and because of still on-going injuries / surgeries has never been able to hold a “regular” job. However, she makes beautiful quilts so we had her make one for D2 with an orange and black backing… very well done!</p>
<p>Happy Boxing Day and Happy Holidays to the iPeeps! I’m offering coffee with frothed mild on this special occasion.</p>
<p>G# - you will be pleased to know that S2 gave me a set of RVA coasters & an 80FORK cookbook with recipes from prominent RVA restaurants. Did your D2 like her book? </p>
<p>Momannoyed - I love those kinds of deals when you find exactly what you want, only to discover additional discounts.</p>
<p>We also had a low-key Christmas. S2 made his Dec 23 deadline & arrived home around midnight. We woke him up at the crack of noon to open gifts, but the best gift for him was the gift of sleep. We enjoyed a board game of “Empire Builders,” which is kind of like Monopoly but with building a railroad network & hauling freight across the US. This is a 20-year old family tradition which began when S1 & S2 were little & served as the bankers while the adults built their railroad empires. Each year we wrote the name of the winner in the lid of the box. Some families record their history in the family Bible; we record our family’s history of Capitalism in the box. I guess it’s only appropriate for Boxing Day.</p>
<p>Anyone else watch their fav college team in a bowl game?</p>
<p>Ours lost. College S and his parents, all 3 of us alums of the same school, wearing our colors proudly and…oh well. The atmosphere was fun and the beers were good.</p>
This working from home has me all mixed up. I almost forgot that it is Friday.
Happy Belated New Year! (to those who celebrate ).
12rmh18 – Empire Builders sounds fun. The D’s had a computer game called “Roller Coaster Tycoon” with which you could build amusement parks. I used to try to see how few maintenance people, clean up people, and restrooms I could put in an amusement park and still have people pay to get in. Needless to say, you had to watch where you stepped in my theme parks… very un-Disney. BTW, D2’s book is lost somewhere… it was signed for by someone in the store on the first floor of her building, but cannot be found, ugh!
Momannoyed – My apologies on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, specifically the Hokies, for messing up your bowl-day plans. At least you still have the Buckeyes (unless like many UC alumni you are anti-Buckeye).
D2 claims that for the first time ever she was not a social outcast for NYE and had an invite to an actual party. She was also happy that for the first time in 4 years she did not have to study for an exam or write a paper on NYE. She has returned to NYC whereupon she texted me, “I have seen more people in the last ½ hour than I saw the whole time I was home.” Remind me to speak to her mother about that snarkiness of hers. She has had a couple of bumps in the road dealing with vision and dental insurance. I think that bureaucracy is the only thing for which she has less tolerance than immature boys. She is becoming less nomadic and bought some furniture and has a friend who said that she “loves to assemble furniture,” so she texted me pictures of their handiwork.
LOL G# I’m not particularly inspired by the Buckeyes, but happy to see an Ohio team on the national stage! It was not a good weekend for football at our house, what with the Stillers losing (SIL is from Pittsburgh) and the Bungles doing their usual playoff flop.
My TV watching was much more happy…Galivant and Downton Abbey! Two guilty pleasures in one evening.
My H and boys used to play Roller Coaster Tycoon! They sometimes liked to see how horrifying they could make a coaster and still have people want to ride it.
The kids/grandkids leave today. So much fun having a clever 5 year old and a CUTE 5 month old around.
College S should hear from his job interview this week. Still keeping all digits crossed. (Though with this single digit cold snap, does he really want to go to a COLDER climate?) Oh, have I mentioned he seems to have a girlfriend? First one ever. They are both introverted but blossom when they talk to each other, so this seems to be a good thing.
Stopping by on a cold winter day to offer the iPeeps hot chocolate. Baby, it’s COLD outside!
Belated New Year’s wishes to all! Here’s wishing everyone a HEALTHY New Year!
Momannoyed: Sending job PVCs for your college S! My DH is a lifelong Buckeye fan. (He also cheers for teams from ‘that other city’ up north, but we won’t hold that against him. I am sad that the Stillers lost. DH & I enjoy a healthy football rivalry.) He wore his ‘lucky’ Buckeye shirt, which was why they beat Alabama. Here’s hoping that the shirt retains its magic for the game with Oregon this coming week!
G#: We played Empire Builders on NYE & S1 was proclaimed #1 Robber Baron as he mopped up the tracks with his railroad empire. If we couldn’t ring in the New Year with good health, at least we rang it in with faux wealth. BTW, was your D2’s missing book ever found?
I feel like a bear that was hibernating over the holidays because I’ve been sleeping so much. I’m still getting back on my feet from Round 2 of the Cold from the Netherworld.
Still Cooooooooold Outside! I have hot chocolate for all.
S got pinged by a large Dream Job company so he’s sending out another resume/transcript. Very long shot, but he’s flattered that someone (possibly recent UC grad?) who works there asked for his info.
Hoping to see Into the Woods this weekend. Last chance to do something together before S goes back to school for his last semester.
Wishing your D2 good luck on her GREs.</p>
I guess it’s only appropriate for Boxing Day.</p>
College S and his parents, all 3 of us alums of the same school, wearing our colors proudly and…oh well. The atmosphere was fun and the beers were good.</p>