Holiday update!

Well, I figured that since the new year is under way and showing no signs of turning back, it's time for an update on my holidays. It's been kind of interesting. At least, it was to me and the people involved (I hope!), and figure if you're already here to see what I've been up to, then maybe you'd find my story at least somewhat interesting. Here goes:

Christmas:
Okay, so I've already documented my car woes, so I won't go into those in-depth. Suffice it to say that my car is giving me some troubles. So, getting home for Christmas was out of the question. My parents suggested renting a car, but the week leading up to Christmas was NUTS at work -- had to pull together the last details of the youth-led service on Christmas Eve. The service went great, and the kids impressed everyone -- myself included -- so it was worth it. But that week was madness. Hence, no time to rent a car. So, I had no way to get myself home. So, home came to me! The family (Reese the dog included) came down here to Ithaca and we did Christmas at my house. It was really nice, actually. I was kind of surprised and very much pleased. I thought everything would be weird and awkward, since it wasn't Christmas in the traditional Swanger family way... but it actually went very well. Everyone had a great time. We even had a great Christmas dinner: pork florentine, Stef's famous green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, bread, and oodles of cookies for dessert. We watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which everyone enjoyed. Opened our really fun gifts. Sat and chat. Just generally had a good time.

The Inter-Holiday Week:
Well, I had Monday and Tuesday off from work. Shouldda had the whole week, frankly. Nothing happened. I think in the three days I was at work, I answered the phone a couple times and chatted with the custodian. That's about it.

The big deal, though, is that I bought a new car! Yessir, a new car is in my future: one of those cute lil' Scions. An xA. Blue. I didn't go too nuts with accessories, either -- I think I was pretty good. I ordered one with the side-curtain airbags (Car Talk literally insisted on the extra airbags. I quote: "But if you're going to run out and buy an xA, however, we must absolutely insist that you get the optional side and curtain airbags. This is a tiny car, and if you get T-boned by a 6,400-pound Hummer some day, that $650 you spent on the extra airbags might not feel so very extravagant.") and a manual transmission -- and it's that combination that's preventing me from getting the car until it arrives at the dealership sometime in early February. Sigh. Not happy about that, but what can I do? They didn't have the car I want, but they can get it. I'll wait. Anyway, other accessories: security system (to help with insurance payments in the long term), center armrest (for those long hauls to Wegman's), 8-spoke wheel covers... and okay, I got the blue shift knob, and blue interior lighting system. They looked cool and weren't too expensive, okay? Anyway, I also got the extra rust protection package, because the car's gonna live outdoors, in ITHACA. It'll need the help.

New Year's
Got invited to a party. In Rochester. Did you read the part about my car trouble? Yeah. Didn't think I'd make it, but Gibson came through for me. She came back to Ithaca earlier than she really needed to. She intended to go to Boston with a friend to investigate some job possibilities there, but he backed out. So, she was free to take me to the party! Yay! But hey, it was okay -- she had fun, and actually knew some of the people there, so it was all good. She actually had fun, or so she tells me. The party was at my old friend Sam's, and it was "A Rochester party for people from Rochester who no longer live in Rochester," or some such. Regardless of the semantics, it was nice to hang out with this crew, see some old friends I haven't seen in a long time, and welcome in 2006.

That just about brings us up to today. Today was cool, too. I went up to Ithaca College to chat with Doc about grad school. I won't go into the details here, but it sounds like a pretty good deal. I also grabbed some information about it, so I'll be reading and filling out applications real soon -- they're due on the first of March. I'm also supposed to do an audition, which could be problematic, since I'm pretty much out of shape and don't have any material I've been working on, but Doc pretty much set me at ease. He said that since I'm an alumnus and he knows my playing, I technically don't have to do an audition. I'm doing a quasi-audition anyway, though, because it just seems more honest. I'll do a lesson-type thingy with Doc in a couple weeks, play a couple things with him, and play through some solo or something. So I should get back to practicing, I suppose!