So Much For A White Christmas

Alas, Christmas time has come and gone once again.

I have to say that this has been one of the most interesting Christmas' that I have had in a long time.  I can't really say that it was anything too special or extravagant, but I was surrounded by some of my favorite people, so I suppose that counts.

I don't know if the feeling of the "Holiday Season" ever really sank in this year.  Perhaps it's because the weather was fairly clear (with some rain) and 50 degrees pretty much everyday for the past couple of weeks.  Also, I watched the original Halloween movie like 3 days before Christmas, so maybe that killed the mood as well?

It could have also been the fact that I actually had to decorate for Christmas.  Who does that, honestly?  All I know is that I broke a sweat hanging like 30 stockings, using a bag of men's underwear donations to break my fall,  getting stuck under the tree, and had some close calls with a few light strands.  But it was for the Nativity House, so it's all worth it in the end.

Things improved throughout the days (including my self-diagnosed case of whooping cough) until I accidentally decapitated Joseph in the Nativity scene.  It went like this---we had a Christmas Eve worship service and of course we needed to bring out our Nativity scene from the shed.  After fishing out this mangy looking box and checking for mice, I brought it inside.

As I was pulling out the figurines and dusting off the grime (shows how often it sees the light of day) I didn't realize that Joseph was a little more fragile than the rest.  So, as the Queen of Hearts so eloquently states, "Off with his head!"  Oops.  However, Joseph was sort of in a kneeling position with a perfect little nook in his arms, so I just placed his head in there, like he was holding it.  I thought it was a fun new twist on the classic depiction.  I think Washington Irving would have been proud of my comparison of the Headless Horseman to Joseph, but we eventually had to use another set.  Oh well, no Sleepy Hollow style Christmas set for Rachel this year.

As for the actual days of celebration, they were fun.  The majority of my time was spent at NH with a multitude of guests, volunteers, semi-pro football players "giving back to the community," and assorted others.  I was told "Merry Christmas" by at least 200 different people and received nearly as many hugs.  Honestly, there is no other place that I would have rather been.  

I also got to Skype with my parents and family members in the morning and spent the evening at my boss, Dominique's, mother's house watching basketball and hanging out with the "Bro Club."

Now it's back to the awkward week between Christmas and New Year's.  I look forward to babysitting a 9 year old boy named Ben for a few days.  We have big plans to discuss Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, well playing legos and watching Despicable Me.

Life has never been so good.

Yes, I am still alive.

I survived Thanksgiving.  Things actually went off without too much of a hitch, which I am thankful for.  I think the biggest speed bump was learning that one of our male guests does not wear underwear.  Then, to make matters worse, I got to experience that he was indeed telling the truth when his pants fell down.  Thankfully, I only caught the tail end (haha...both literally and figuratively) and wasn't exposed to nearly as much as everyone else.  I still shudder at the thought.

Things have been good for me the past couple of weeks in the work area.  It's been pretty quiet around the House due to everyone getting paid.  Checks on the first, live the high life for a couple of weeks, then back to the shelters.  It's a sad truth for many.  On the plus side, donations have been coming in like crazy and it's awesome to actually be able to have/distribute all of the things we're asked for daily.  Also, I'm really excited to spend Christmas at the shelter...it's going to be great.  One of the Jesuit Volunteers, Megeen, and I decorated Nativity House this week and it's cool to see the place actually look more festive and less like a jail.

On the health side of things, I've been better.  After my pink-eye cleared, I developed a weird rash on my hands.  Anyways, I had an allergy to latex/maybe oranges as well as overly dry skin/something else.  To make a long story short, it sucked.  My hands were bumpy, red, itchy, etc.  Thankfully, that's mostly cleared up, but not without some new fun nicknames.  I now answer to Cootie Woman and Murphy's Law ("Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong).  Whatever.

Oh, and the highlight/low point of my week thus far was when this old drunk man named Don snuck up behind me yesterday and kissed me on the neck.  It was really gross to be nuzzled by this old gross man. I told him that was not okay, but he's also got mental issues....he also calls me MaryAnn (maybe a Gilligan's Island reference?) Either way, I had nasty old man spit on my neck all day.  Gross

Until next time.