Over the past few years, I have grown tired of Christmas to the point of even blatantly saying "Fuck Christmas." I still hate the winter, I still hate the cold, and I still hate the snow...but Christmas - and life - are new again, recharged and renewed.
Several things have contributed to this restored faith, so allow me to not-so-briefly fill you in. On December 18th, Jeff returned home for the holidays. As you probably know, he's living in California right now, serving the Navy...I haven't seen him since May (when I only saw him for like 5 days) and then before that, February.
This guy is/was like a Siamese twin...we used to be inseparable, but now we are separated (physically) but we're still as connected mentally as we ever were. We filmed one last
Orange Hour segment at the airport when we picked him up. We actually were just filming for the sake of filming - the idea for the segment didn't come until later. Frankie and I are addicted to
Degrassi: The Next Generation...and beyond the embarrassing addiction, we find their little catch phrase (
"It goes there.") to be absolutely hilarious. So we occasionally poke fun at it, while watching the show (example: "Black people...yeah, it goes there."); just absolutely goofy shit, ya know?
So I took this footage we shot at the airport and turned it into a "preview" of an upcoming episode of
Deorangi. Yeah...it goes there. And that was the last segment needed to complete
The Orange Hour and so I set out to save it and burn all 5 episodes to DVD. That was a lengthy process...
Anyway, the next few days we just hung out around the house and didn't do a whole lot out of the ordinary. I did my Christmas shopping during the week (I finished on the 23rd, with two days to spare!) and we even stopped by Romantix, the adult store, to browse. ::shrug::
Then, we experienced like...the second snow of the year (surprising, really, we're usually coated with snow from Halloween until Easter) on the night we decided to go to dinner at this little Chinese restaurant. Now, I don't know about you, but I find this to be absolutely astonishing...when I say "we" went to dinner, I am referring to
21 people!
I don't know, I just think that's insane.
Later that same evening, we cruised at a smooth 35 mph to Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, where Frankie, Jen, Jeff, and I plucked down $5 each in slot machines. Yeah, we're poor and stuff. Big spenders, I know. But it was fun.
Then we went to Okoboji Bar & Grill on the 23rd (aka Christmas Eve Eve) - "we" being Jennifer, Jeff, Frankie, Wendy, Steven, and I (not that I necessarily expect any of you random readers to recognize these names) - and we got sloshed.
Yes, I admit it. Jeff, Frankie, and I all got hammered...drunk...wasted...fucked up...whatever you'd like to call it. Frankie drank two pitchers of beer and had a shot of Jaeger, while Jeff and I had the following:
Jack'n'Coke
Shot of liquid cocaine
Shot of Jack
Shot of Jaeger
Yeah...all three shots of Jaeger were free. Or stolen. I don't know how that happened, but we were about a block away and I said...
"Did we pay for those shots of Jaeger??" and Jeff went...
"Nope!" Whoops.
On
Christmas Eve, we did most of our gift opening because my sister was eager. Well, everyone was eager, I suppose. I got:
Video editing software
D12 poster
Edge's WWE autobiography
$15 Best Buy gift card
$20 Best Buy gift card
The Jay-Z/Linkin Park CD
A little suction cup sign thingy of Cartman that says "Screw you guys, I'm going home"
A Motley Crue window sticker sorta thing
A singing Tigger doll and a Tigger T-shirt (don't ask...)
Shady Gear hoodie
A Twiztid T-shirt (looks pretty fresh)
Richard Hamilton Pistons jersey
Axe Body Spray
$50
$30 gift card to Jordan Creek Mall
Pizza oven (for my whole family, basically)
Homemade Hatchetman bulletin board
Bottle of Jack Daniel's (from Jeff, lol)
The Orange Hour shirts, stickers, and magnets for me, Scott, Frankie, Wendy, and Jeff
That's alot of stuff and nearly all of it appeases me. The shirts my mom made are fairly simple (they're those collared/half button-up shirts) but they're fuckin' sweet. My Rip jersey is sweet, the Twiztid shirt is sweet, the hoodie is sweet (and warm!), the software is going to kick ass (I think/hope anyway)...etc. Money is always good, too. I'm thinkin' about picking up one of these Under Armor shirts my uncle wears because he says they keep you warm when it's cold...and my basement is ungodly cold this winter. I don't know what else to buy.
I bought my uncle a Julius Erving 76ers throwback. Set me back $80, but I don't regret it at all. He told me last night (I believe it was last night...) that it's one of the all-time best gifts anybody has ever given him. So it was well worth it, just to give him somethin' to smile about.
Christmas Day night...Frankie, Wendy, Jen, Jeff, and I went bowling. Yeah, I know...I probably haven't typed it here, but I've said it or typed it somewhere - I hate bowling. I haven't done it since I was 10. But I went ahead and played and had a blast. Of course, by the end of the evening, I had consumed 4 Smirnoff Ices and was once again majorly sloshed.
Yes, I admit it again. I was fuuuuuuuuuucked up. And ya know...being drunk isn't exactly what I expected it to be. Of course, maybe I just haven't drank
enough yet...it's a bit dizzying, but in the right atmosphere fun as Hell...and, I didn't even wake up with a headache (even after Jen shook my head around several times...ass!). But like I said, maybe I just haven't drank enough yet...it was crazy, though. Good times...good times.
I finished burning all 9
Orange Hour DVDs at like 10AM this morning. Last couple of days have just been a slowing down period, as I transition from "social guy with friends and stuff to do" to "typical computer geek Jason." I ate dinner at Applebee's tonight with Tim and then Jeff and Jen came over and chilled for a little bit.
He leaves tomorrow.
Frankie and I (and, of course, Jen) are going to the airport to see him off...which means I should probably get to bed, since I have to get up at 11AM. It's gonna be hard, I think, to go tomorrow because Jen will be upset for obvious reasons and Frankie is an emotional guy (shit, I didn't even get into the "shit hit the fan" story of Christmas Eve Eve/Okoboji...) so I guess we'll see if I stay composed.
Besides that, I hope to send off these DVDs to the SW Kliq and Anthony...but we'll see about that. I also hope to possibly get some shopping in, especially at Best Buy and Jordan Creek (hey, I'm stingy with my money...no doubt...but these gift card things? I gotta spend them or they'll annoy the piss outta me).
It's honestly been the best 10 days of my life (at least in recent memory). The gifts are obviously cool, but this isn't even necessarily about the materialistic side of Christmas. I spent time with my closest friends and had some great fucking times, I saw Frankie and Wendy reunite as an actual dating couple (I tell you, I am the ultimate peacemaker, bitch!), I lit up my uncle's eyes with that Dr. J jersey (I also lit up my sister's eyes, I think, with her Pink Ladies zip-up jacket...but I can't take full credit for getting that for her), I spent time with my best friend in the world (Jeff), and I completed Season One of our very own straight-to-DVD variety show (that's been a year-and-a-half in the making...)...it is seriously as if the stars and the planets and the moon and the sun all aligned and provided me with the most amazing time.
Not that things were terrible before, by any means, but the past 10 days have simply been...
Well, in a word...
Euphoric.
Live life. Love life. Two fingaz and I'm out...
