Christmas Wrap Up
I spent most of the day worrying about my first attempt ever to make a turkey. I thought it was going okay, because the oven was on, and no fire had started. I was using the wrong element, which I discovered when after an hour, the oven barely had any heat and the turkey was not the least bit cooked.
I turned it up by about 200 degrees, and then the top of the turkey started to burn. I turned the bottom element on, and the bottom of the turkey started to burn. After many calls to all my moms, I finally lifted the oven rack up by one and turned it down by 100 degrees. It finally started to heat up without burning or sizzling or anything.
I sat down to watch a movie, and 1.5 hours into it, the sister showed up with more boxes of Stove Top stuffing. You're supposed to be able to stuff at least 2 packages into the turkey, but that wasn't happening. I think I got all of 3/4 of one package in there, and it was going all over the place, the sink, the floor, the counter.
I gave up on that and figured we could make it on the stove. The turkey was cooking well in the bag, but I wanted to make sure that it was cooking evenly, so I went to turn it in the pan. When I did so, a bunch of grease that had piled up in the back of the pan dripped directly onto the element at the bottom, which was 350+ degrees. So, a huge fire started that soon put itself out.
Not soon enough though. I am terrified of dying in a fire, and terrified of fire itself (except camping fires, I'm fine with those), so out of terribly fast reflex, I grabbed the oven rack (keep in mind, this rack was under the turkey, so it was probably 350+ degrees as well) and pulled the rack towards me, to get it away from the fire.
I then pulled my hand off the rack LIGHTENING QUICK as I had just burned the shit out of my entire hand. I would have taken pictures of the burns but it was very gross. I will definitely have scars from this event, that's for sure.
Anyway, the guests started to arrive about an hour after I burned my hand. The fire scared me enough that I took the turkey out of the oven completely, left the door a little bit open in case a fire happened again, and turned the oven off. See? I told you I was scared.
Sue came in and saved the day by using the turkey baster I'd asked her to bring to drain a ton of the juices out of the pan, so we could heat up the oven again and get that sucker back in there.
After the potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese sauce, and gravy were done, we carved the turkey and served er up. It was awesome, the meat was falling off the bone and was tender and juicy. Everything else turned out well as well.
After that we opened presents and started playing with the gifts we got. My sister's friend's sister found some of the body art jewels that I bought for Shaunn for the roomie Christmas, and put them on my brother:
Nik, originally uploaded by Neroausity.
We were still in the midst of opening presents, but because a few people were taking a break, I tried to get a good shot of Sue:
She was in the midst of explaining to me why she hates having her picture taken, and that she rarely smiles when someone has a camera pointed at her. Ahh well, it's not a direct shot, but it looks good anyway.
Overall the night was a smashing success. We had beers, presents, turkey, and ice cream cake, as one of our guests had a birthday the night before and was too hung over to eat the cake, so they brought it with them. I was in bed by I think midnight. Everything went over a little TOO well. I am ALMOST thinking about doing this again next year. Am I insane?
Okay.
So, things are a bit better now, although the cat is sooooome pissed at her shitty situation. See, she's not allowed to jump on anything, because if she jumps off again, she can break the broken bones again. She's also not allowed out of my room, which quite possibly ended her life, as the dog is allowed everywhere. We can't risk that he will chase her again, because she will jump up onto the Ledge Of Doom again and will fall again and this time will have 1.2 legs to hold her up. Can you spell "I-can't-afford-$300-again"?
So we are dealing the best we can, I have been feeding her an unholy amount of wet food, which sadly causes her poop to become soft, and because the cast is all the way to the end of her foot, she can't feel when she accidentally steps in the poop, and therefore runs around my room (and on my bed, and all the way up the side of the bed) with poop streamer behind her, marking up her 'territory'.
In other news, I had my Shaw Digital Phone installed today. Actually it was installed a month ago, but I got a phone number today. Sadly, it knocked the other phone offline as well. So now we have NO phone. Needless to say, the technician is on his way back to my house (or will be within the next hour) to get us back up and running. I personally think it's just our two cordless phones + a shitty Telus wireless router (that has caused us issues before), but before I blame any one peice of equipment, I want the tech to diagnose the issue. He had trouble getting a dialtone when he was here earlier, and he said it was because of the plate they installed last time they were here. If he pushed in a single wire on the plate, BOOM, we had dialtone.
Anyway, hopefully he gets here soon, I haven't finished my Christmas mailing, and since one card was returned (with the CORRECT ADDRESS ON IT (thanks, Canada Post, assholes)) I have to re-envelope that one and re-postage it to get it back. However, due to CPC being overloaded this time of year, things take forever, so my best friends will NOT be receiving their awesome Christmas card that I waited more than 2 months to send (Costco gets their handmade cards SUPER EARLY). If I'd known the jackass letter carrier, I would have smacked them upside the head, driven to Coquitlam, and delivered the fucking thing myself. Aaaaanyway.
What a fucking NIGHTMARE
Wow. I don't even know where to start.
We had the Christmas with the roommates last night. It was great and everyone had an awesome time up until my cat fell. And fell REALLY FUCKING FAR. There is this ledge in our place that at it's deepest point, reaches all the way to the bottom of the bottom flight of stairs. I hope I am explaining this properly...
Anyway, a very unfortunate series of events took place next:
One of my dear friends who came over put her purse on the ledge right up against the edge where my cat normally goes when the dog chases her, to get it out of the way, so the dog wouldn't try and eat anything inside it, and so no one would step on it.
Unfortunately the dog engaged in his normal activity of chasing the cat, and she went to jump up on the ledge. The purse was in the way, and when she jumped up, because it's super pliable leather, she tried to find purchase and couldn't, which means she fell of the ledge.
She ran and hid, which everyone assured me was normal. She had fallen a long way, and was scared shitless, so she ran and hid under one of the roommate's bed. She wasn't wining or anything so I figured it was okay.
She ran upstairs after about 3 hours, and one of the roommates noticed that she was limping. I was worried, so I went into my room, where she chose to hide under the bed. After a while, she came out enough so we could look at her. Her back paw was VERY swollen, and when my sister felt it, she said it felt like there were bones sticking out.
We took her to the vet today, and $300 later, it was deduced that she did indeed break 2 bones in her leg (right before where her feet are attached). So tonight she is spending the night at the vet because they had to give her general anaesthesia to knock her out while they set the bones back into place. This means no running no being chased by the dog no NOTHING for at least a month. Which also means I am NEVER going to get any sleep, because when she wants out, she scratches the door until I let her out. I have used spray bottles with water in them, plugging the bottom of the door with a towel, EVERYTHING. Nothing deters this kitty. So now she will be running around in my room only with a splint and a cone on her head for 30 days. After that I have to stuff her back in the cat carrier (which is always fun) to take her back to the vet so he can decide whether or not it's okay to take the split off. That means another $120 Xray to determine whether the bones have fused back together or not.
Sadly, because I don't handle extremely worrying situations well, I pretty much ruined the rest of the night because I was in a terrible mood. I also snapped at one of my best friends. I apologized today, but I still feel bad that I ruined everyone's night. It wasn't anyone's fault which makes this even harder to deal with because I don't have anyone to blame. Sometimes screaming at someone or at least explaining why you are upset can help, but there isn't a single person who wants to hear it. Or needs to, for that matter.
As I was saying, I was initally relieved that I knew what was wrong and that she wasn't going to die (although the way I reacted last night you'd think my cat just did die), so I thought, okay, I'll head with Brooke to her doctor's appt so she could get more painkillers, and then I'll head to work and decorate.
I went home, packed the car FULL with my decoration boxes and the stereo I bought for us to use at work, and on my way there, I got rear ended.
I.
Got.
Rear.
Ended.
When the fuck is my terrible fucking luck going to end? am I really that horrible of a person that I deserve this shit?
This on top of all the stress I'm feeling at work because I can't handle my boss was the last thing I needed.
I just need my car to die, which will be the best ending ever to this year.
Christ.
Since I have nothing better to talk about...
PROCRASTINATION MEME
This is a meme from Clare at
Ink and Incapability.
Explain what ended your last relationship? A relationship? What's that like?
When was the last time you shaved? This morning.
What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.? I was getting up to pee, and listening to a roommate apologize for waking me up (though it wasn't her fault; I really had to pee.
What were you doing 15 minutes ago? I was outside smoking.
Are you any good at math? Not a chance.
Your prom night, what do you remember about it? We arrived to the dry grad in a very nice car that kept my bum warm due to it's heated seats. There were raffles for many nice prizes, and I didn't win anything. My date left to get beer for us for later, and wasn't allowed back in (fucking Catholic schools and their rigid regulations).
Do you have any famous ancestors? Nope.
Have you had to take a loan out for school? Since I have no college degree, I'd say no.
Last thing received in the mail? A Christmas card from one of my best friends who now lives 10.5 hours away from me (bitch)
How many different beverages have you had today? Well it's 4:25am, and I've had a Pepsi, coffee, and now I'm drinking water and hot chocolate.
Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine? All the time, especially my sister's.
Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to? New Kids On The Block
Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? If I visit a beach before I die, I will do that.
What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had? Well the only one I can really remember is the one that took place less than 2 months ago. I had 1 tooth removed because it was more of a battleground than a tooth.
What is out your back door? Grass? We don't really have a back door, just a side one.
Any plans for Friday night? This Friday I will probably be sleeping.
Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? I've never had ocean water in my hair. However, rain water does WONDERS.
Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? No, but I've thought about buying them for others.
Have you ever been to a planetarium? I think so. I'm not sure where...somewhere in Saskatoon.
Do you re-use towels after you shower? Yes, but only once.
Some things you are excited about? The Christmas Roommate Extravaganza we are having this Sunday (more on that later).
What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O? Not a big JELL-O fan.
Describe your keychain(s)? My friend's family went back to Saskatchewan last year (I think for Christmas). When they came back, I was given an SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance) safety pack. Inside was a keychain. I now use that one, and another one with a green push button light on it, that has come in handy more times than I care to remember.
Where do you keep your change? I don't, I spend it.
When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? When I held a team meeting for the last time to say goodbye to my agents in Kamloops, as I was moving back to Kelowna for the job I have now (BEST MOVE I EVER MADE, WOW).
What kind of winter coat do you own? It isn't so much a winter coat as a cool weather coat that I don't want to replace because I love it. It says Coca-Cola on it (even though I drink Pepsi). I won it at a Christmas party 2 years ago when I worked at the Ramada in the banquest section.
What was the weather like on your graduation day? It was a nice night I think.
Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? I want the door to be closed, but my cat seems to think too much interesting stuff is happening to be cooped up all night (even though most of the time she sleeps on my bed with me and doesn't move until I do). If I close it, she will scratch at it and not give up until I open it. I don't even bother with the water bottle and all that. She'll do what she wants when she wants.
You know what?
I have always wondered something: When someone sets up text messaging on their wireless phone, and they get trivia questions and things in their inbox, what happens when they can't spell?
WOW.
I had an amazing time at my birthday party. We started off at my house, where we had appys and kinda chilled out (oh, and I opened presents, all of which were AWESOME) until it was time to bowl. I was already feeling kinda happy when I got there, and was VERY happy by the time we left. One of the roommates met us there, and my buddy called his brother to meet us. Off to the bar we were. The live band there was not only shitty, they were a complete cover band. Normally I wouldn't mind, except the lead singer couldn't sing worth a shit, and there was no flow to their music at all. Many shots were purchased for me, and many hugs were given. After that, we headed back to my place, where we continued to drink and eat nachos and cheese courtesy the roommates, who are awesome. I don't think I've been that drunk in a long freaking time, and while I really beat myself up the next day (I was so sick I couldn't stop puking, and I missed my birthday present from one of the roommates (tickets to Anne of Green Gables)), I still had an excellent time. I wasn't quite aware of how good a time I had until today, when I saw the pictures. Wow.
