Party Time

Have you ever been at a party and wondered, 'would anyone would notice if I wasn't here'?

I began my social whirlwind of partying yesterday with a visit to my Auntie Barley's new apartment. She moved a whole two blocks from her condo when her health began failing and the stairs just weren't manageable anymore. If you look out her patio door you have an excellent view of the grocery store, the Shoppers Drug Mart and Tim Horton's so really, with this little gem it's all about location. And I was looking out her patio door a lot yesterday since I camped out in her wingchair with a plate of savory and a plate of sweet to keep me company.

The snow was falling like crazy which, when you're comfy cozy in a warm apartment, lands more on the 'pretty' side of the scale than the 'worried-about-driving-in-this-mess' end of the spectrum. I'm not generally a fan of the white stuff as it tends to put a major crimp in my driving plans. Plus the fact that The Boy has commandeered our double garage for his muscle car and woodworking tools leaves me scratching and scraping the Jeep out of its frozen cocoon every morning. At least unemployment keeps me from that hateful task for the immediate future, although once I'm working again a remote starter is at the top of my list. I think it should be the fundamental right of all Canadians to have those suckers provided as standard equipment on all our vehicles.

The one person who seemed happy to give me any attention was my little cousin Kimberley. The shame of it is, she drives me mad. She's hyper and a possessed attention-seeker, insensitive and loud and brash and I spend most family functions finding subtle ways of moving away from her as she systematically follows me around. This time I had to use my Mom as a shield, something for which I apologized later in the evening.

Next weekend is the early celebration for my Mom's side of the family and I anticipate a bit of a hootenany, at least in relation to yesterday. We have our Yankee Swap and a kick-ass dinner complete with my famous Chocolate Cheesecake. I suspect I'll wish most of this week away, waiting for Sunday. There's not much going in the job ad department, so I'm reduced to doing stuff like laundry and the cleaning of the washroom.

Maybe Santa could bring me a cleaning service?

Posted at 4:39 p.m.