Unconventionality

Well I'm still in clarion, and its early in the morning on the 26th of December... All in all its been kind of a quiet and reflective week thus far. Tuesday I went shopping with Vag for the morning to find "THE" dog collar for her dog Lady. That was fun :) I haven't really hung out wiht her outside of school so it was a treat to just go out and shop and have fun. The rest of the day was spent preparing for midnight mass... I was reallly really nervous for part of the evening until Emilee came and we went over some of her parts... She also helped me pick out my attire, and i must say, i looked hottt! I also wrapped all my christmas gifts for everyone. I still have to stop and get a few things throughout the later week, but theres plenty of time. I usually give candy canes or something dumb to most of my family besides my parents, but this year Vag and I found a sale on toilet paper. So I definitely made that my gift of choice for the year! I printed up some witty cards and bought some colorful tissue paper to wrap them up in and viola, my gifts were ready :) i also had to wrap moms coffee and dads wallet (the same thing i get him every year!) and that finished things up pretty much.

The service itself went really well. Aside from some slight problems in the flow of things since both I and James (the organist) were new, it was a good time. The concert section went generally well. The Rutter piece "Christmas Lullaby" was rather rough, but we made it through and I think my choir had a good time as well. In recognition of our service, the church was giving out gifts... and lo and behold, it was a bottle of wine. So after the service em and i picked up our two bottles. ;) whoohoo. I also saw Nate there, cute as ever i must say ;) By the time i got cleaned up and such we were almost the last ones out of the church, and this lady dressed in fur and sorta toasted i think invited us home with her for sandwiches and to enjoy the chirstmas tree! LOL We politely declined, and instead opted for sheetz-- the only place in town open.

So Christmas eve was differnet than ever before. All of the past 19 christmas eves have been spent in Franklin, christmas morning at my parents (then my moms) house, then down to clarion... This year totally flipped, and from the looks of the weather when em and i came in from mass, that i would be stuck here for awhile. So em and I ended Christmas eve urban family style as we ate our convenience store food and drank our church-bought wine. As the snow came down outside and "A Christmas Story" played over and over again, i got to thinking that htis is my first christmas as a 20-something, and my 1st away from home and the familiar. I think it kind of marks the end of a transition from kid to adult somehow. It was also my first night acting in my first professional job... Where did all the time go?

Christmas morning was just as strange. When I woike up i was glad that i had the electric blanket... Then, as usual, i had the thought, Hey! Its Christmas... Then i realized where i was... But things weren't too different. We had christmas morning here. My mom came over with Craig and we exchanged gifts... my main gift was my laptop, but mom got me a sweater, a leather laptop case, trivial persuit, a scarf, some smiley dollars from EnP, and a lot of various household stuff... This year i made the coffee and have to clean up the wrapping paper, but it was still christmas morning... just with Em and at a strange place... It snowed a TON over night so i decided to stay in clarion for the day... I called dad and let him know! I got ready (i put on my other new xmas outfit) and we all headed to my grandparents across town and had a really nice afternoon. It was pretty quiet since it was just me, mom, craig, em and grandma and grandpa... No little kids, no noisy toys, no elderly great-grandmother to take care of this year... just a quiet meal with fun conversation (we always come up with great conversation at the Moore side of the family's gatherings... this year it was boob-jobs and also "I'm not queer, i was just trying to keep warm!")

All too soon, it was time for everyone to go... I shoveled out grandma and grandpa and mom took me back to the apartment. I've just been hanging around since... I accidentally melted part of the towel rack in the bathroom... oops! I decided to try out some new bubble bath and treat myself to a relaxing bath with some candles... unfortuatley, the one candle was too close to the rack and before i knew it i heard it sizzling! It was scary, and the fumes were AWFUL. I wrapped in one of my new bath towels and came downstairs... I started talking to Clay, which was the best way to spend the evening i can think of.

I've known Clay for a couple of years now, but until recently either he or I have been dating people and never really talked a whole lot in depth. We just messaged eachother occasionally and that was that... but we talked a lot today, and it was really nice... Clay is a wonderful guy, and i would love to spend some time with him... the only drawback... hes from Georgia... All the nice ones are far away...

Oh well, though, we had a fun night chatting back and forth between me cleaning up the apartment and loads of laundry.... I hope I get to talk to him a lot more :) I also touched base with Bob, Brendan, Em, and lots of other friends on AIM... it seems that Christmas was a good event all the way around for my friends... im glad to hear, and glad that no one was in a car accident or anythign with the horrible weather (horrible, yet it is SOOO beautiful out i wanna take pictures)

Oh well, this was kind of ramblings... This has been such a strange christmas, but i still know my family and my friends love me....
I think tomorrow im going to pittsburgh but maybe not to pegs... Kelly and Julian want to go to Hard Rock and see a movie, so that would be cool too... also its Brendan and Kennys special night at the Motel Six... LOL

Later all and Merry
Current music Richar Marks and Donna Lewis
Tori Amos