Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the flat,

not a creature was stirring except me and the cat.

The stockings were hung from the kitchen bar counter with care,

in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Connor was nestled all snug in his bed,

while visions of Geometry Dash danced in his head.

And me in my PJ pants ready to go,

had just hopped in bed to watch a new show.

And that's because I just finished my parental duties, on this Christmas Eve. The duties of the Santa! I wasn't actually expecting to have Connor here this evening, but as things go...well he's here still and fallen asleep now. But I was prepared, as it's always wise to be around the holidays. As I learned the hard way two years ago.

And I suppose, as things go, it's been a fine holiday thus far. Lights were hung, presents were bought and wrapped, and many have already been opened. I mean really, we had to improvise a bit as Covid seems to be lingering around the family and threatening our ability to gather. 

So tomorrow it may well be just the old folks and me sharing a pizza for our Christmas dinner, but hey, I haven't had pizza in awhile and that sounds pretty good about right now. Connor and I did visit them this morning so he could get his gifts from them and we could delight in danishes, cinnamon rolls, and imbibe our traditional holiday mimosas. 

Perhaps tomorrow night I'll go walk the Rockmont Circle lights one more time, just to hang onto that Christmas spirit a little longer. It seems like such a build up every year, and then in a blink of an eye it's all over. Whoosh! There it goes. Well such is life, I suppose. 

But tonight all least all is calm and serene, and a little bit of magic still stirs in the air. I'm not sure how long the little guy will continue to believe the old fat guy in the bright red suit. This could be the last year, who knows. Though he seems more inclined to believe in the tooth fairy. Perhaps because there's cold hard cash involved in that one. In any case, tomorrow morning should be a delight, as he awakes and discovers that we had a...visitor last night, And he ate our cookies and drank our milk and left a present or two to boot! Ok ok, it was a bike. He left a bike. And some candy canes and Robux in the stocking. 

 

The Spirit of the Season

So I took a walk around the infamous Rockmont Circle yesterday, famed for its holiday decor. I had actually driven around it, playing chauffeur to my parents, at the beginning of the week. And truth be told...I checked it out on Thanksgiving weekend as well. Though not everything was up then. Not by a long shot. 

So yes, this was a repeat visit. But honestly, you can go many times and still not catch the details of everything. And this time someone had a snow machine set up. Walking in a winter wonderland. All told, the residents there have really outdone themselves this year.  It certainly helps one get in the holiday spirit, and at least to feel nostalgic a bit, for days of our past. Not sure what it is about all those twinkling lights that does it, but it just somehow transports you somewhere back into an innocent and carefree past.

And yes, I'll freely admit now that I've been committing the sin of a middle aged woman and watching Hallmark Christmas movies on Hulu. Just a few anyway. And yes, they live up to their ridicule of being quickly produced and heavily formulaic sentimental romps. I mean, how many movies can you have where the story line involves a cute, young female from a bustling city who is lost in life and love and finds herself sent for whatever reason to a small town in the middle of nowhere that is drenched in holiday cheer and has one love lost male who gets conveniently thrust into her life. That's...pretty much the story line of most of them. With mild variations.

But anyway, it's nine days till Christmas, and all through the house, only the cat and I are stirring. Connor come back tomorrow, and next week is the last week of school for him before the holidays. Their last day is the 21st! Talk about cutting it close. And good thing I've actually finished all my holiday shopping, and completed all the wrapping. Ready for the big day! And ready to close out 2023.

My car saga has now concluded. I unceremoniously said goodbye to my old Niro, my faithful and efficient companion for the last five years before it suddenly had a mental breakdown. For all I know it's still in the shop. I traded it in towards. new 2023 Kia Sportage while it was still awaiting a new computer for its hybrid system. And it was somewhat sad to see it go, but even sadder to now be saddled with car payments again. But such is life. And I like the new car, I do, I just wish it didn't cost so much. Sign of the times I guess. Life works out though, it always does. This picture of the new car was taken in the back lot of the dealership, just after its arrival the evening before and before my second test drive. And so, it ultimately came home with me.

And so life marches on, the year draws to a close, and a new year is just waiting to be unwrapped and explored. Though at the moment I have made no plans for the new year, no trips are booked. I haven't even really seriously thought about it. It's basically an unwritten book at this point. I guess we'll see what comes of it. But for the next two weeks anyway, I'll sit back and relax and enjoy the holidays. And I guess, watch some more Hallmark movies. 

The Saga Continues

So the saga of my car troubles continues, like an ill-conceived sequel to an only mildly-successful feature film. It's been in the shop now since November 16, a full three weeks as of today. And no, this is not my new car pictured here, this is my new rental. A 2024 Kia Seltos SX. Top of the line model with all the bells and whistles no less.

I actually got my car back, albeit briefly, last Thursday, November 30. It ran fine. For one day. On the way home from work I stopped by the drive thru of our lovely local Del Taco for some late evening sustenance, and it died. In the drive thru. Same issue as before. Fortunately I was able to get it restarted after a minute, so I could get it out of the drive thru, and the potheads behind me could satisfy their drug-induced munchie cravings. Because let's face it, who goes to Del Taco at 8pm on a Thursday evening? I mean, besides me.

So we towed it back to the dealer the next morning, after it disgracefully sat alone in the practically abandoned parking lot of the Walmart Shopping Center. And there at the dealer it sits still. The one advantage for me is, since their initial repair was unsuccessful, Kia was then required to supply me with a rental car, at their expense. So there's that anyway. And I got an update, last Friday evening, that they started a "techline case with Kia" on it. See, apparently, they aren't really allowed to work on it until the engineers in whatever super secret undisclosed location they are sequestered at give them advice and guidance on how to proceed. 

Yes, and the gods in their ivory tower spoke to my technician, on the following Tuesday morning following their long weekend break, and they decreed that the technician shall "check connections to the HPCU for any loose, bent, backed out, damaged, corroded, or moisture-contaminated terminals." The English translation, or rather interpretation is, "We don't know what's wrong, why don't you look and see if anything looks broken on it.". And lo, the technician followed the Good Advice, and he hath come up with...nothing. Apparently. Because now, they want to order a whole new HPCU Reservoir Unit, which again is just a fancy term for "computer". They are just awaiting approval to order it. And life goes on.

Oh well, at least today is like a winter break day at work, since the faculty are on a one-day strike and all classes were effectively cancelled. More fun times.