Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and all that jazz

Oh, what a weekend it’s been!

Well, really, not much has happened.

I spent yesterday with Dave, his immediate family, and his dad’s side of the family at his parents house. Dave and I got there at 5 and spent the evening grazing on cheese and crackers, Christmas cookies, wine, and scotch. We played games as a group (telephone pictionary, taboo, apples to apples, and catchphrase) and just hung out. Dave and I spent the night there, along with his brothers and Dave’s sister-in-law, Kate.

This morning was wonderful- we all woke up and opened gifts (I got a gas gift card, a bunch of chocolate, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the two books that follow it and a couple of cookbooks, including the most AWESOME COOKBOOK EVER). Well, perhaps not the best ever (The Joy of Cooking, anyone??), but it’s definitely going to be the new favorite in my collection. It’s simply packed with glossy, beautiful pictures and fun-sounding, different recipes in it that I can’t wait to try. It doesn’t go crazy with ingredients (most are quite basic and could be found anywhere) and the majority of the recipes look very simple, but are still very visually appealing and sound wonderfully delicious. It has something like 1000 recipes and it’s quite thick- but it’s awesome and pretty and eye-catching enough to be a coffee table book. I’m so excited about it.

After we opened gifts we had breakfast- Dave’s mom made scrambled eggs, thick-cut pepper bacon, and toast. After breakfast we all sat around in the living room and watched TV- I spent most of the time paging through the cookbook.

I had Dave drop me off at home around 2, as he was preparing to head out to his aunt’s house for Christmas with his mom’s side of the family. I could have gone with, but decided that I’d rather be at home, preparing my apartment for Christmas with MY family tomorrow.

So! That’s what I’ve been doing this evening. Cleaning things up, hanging out, and reading. Right now I’m watching Pee Wee’s Big Adventure on Netflix… I was in the mood for something familiar and happy. I love this movie.

Two of my little cousins (ages 20 and 21) got engaged yesterday. Puke. WHY does everybody on my father’s side of the family insist on getting married or engaged at or before the age of 21? I’ll never understand. AND yes, this is me being ever so slightly jealous, only because I want to experience the act of getting engaged myself… which is most certainly not a good reason to actually get engaged.

I said engaged, not married. If Dave were to propose tomorrow (hah!) I’d probably want to remain engaged for a few years before actually getting married. I want time to enjoy each stage of our relationship before really moving on to the rest. I don’t know about you, but although I am really excited to get to experience wedding planning, marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth I am entirely unprepared for the majority of them. Also, so much of dating and being in a relationship feels like a build-up to these things, that I’m somewhat worried about a big drop-off happening once they’ve all been accomplished. Does that make sense? And I feel like so many people rush to accomplish them all in such a short amount of time that… well… they don’t really get a chance to enjoy each stage as much as they could.

I may very well be talking out of my ass right now. Take what I’ve said for what you will.

Anyway, tomorrow should be nice. My parents, sisters, and Dave are coming over to my place to celebrate Christmas. We’re having a fairly untraditional dinner of chicken alfredo and will likely just hang out after that. My mom did mention wanting to do some shopping- apparently there are some specific stores that she wants to hit up while in Minneapolis as none of them are available to her where she and my father live.

I want a dog I want a dog I want a dog I want a dog I want a dog I want a dog I want a dog.

Have I mentioned that I want a dog? It’s all that I ever think about anymore. I can’t get a dog for a multitude of reasons (my apartment doesn’t allow dogs and I don’t plan on moving any time soon, my cat prefers to be an only pet, and my roommate isn’t much of a dog person), but I just can’t get the idea out of my head. I need/want/need/want/neeeeeed that kind of responsibility in my life right now. Ugh, I want a dog.

Okay, I’m out.