NikB's latest update (#23)

[NikB]

H haha - are you teasing me about that Duraflame?? Hey it's a heckuva lot easier than chopping up wood!

Um yeah - I thought that jacuzzi might be tempting til I realized that it was frrrrreeeezing outside and I'd have to get from there back to the room!! For perspective I should've taken a photo with me in it, shivering in my down filled jacket! It looks all sunny and warm but that was sure deceptive (Sunday was nice but I took those pics on Saturday when it was already cold, topped off with a bone chilling wind.. BRR!).

Had a pretty good day today and a great night tonight. Slowly but surely getting the ornaments up on the tree... frustrated I didn't get it done sooner but giving myself permission not to stress on it. Tonight I went out to dinner with my friend and we saw National Treasure. LOVED IT!! That was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow finishing up Christmas prep, and tomorrow night having dinner with my bro, SIL, and Dad. Bro couldn't get any time off work around Christmas (has that day off but that's it), so we're doing a little early celebration.

The rest of the Christmas plans are kinda weird this year, but I decided no matter what I'm doing my normal brunch here at my house. Invited H if he wants to stay.. originally told him he could invite his mom and grandpa too and then realized I don't want to be around her right now. I'm not sure she'd have come anyway, but I backpedaled and told H that I'd actually prefer she not be here. So for now it'll be me, my mom, possibly my grandma, possibly H - and I decided to invite my friend over too (same friend I spent Thanksgiving with). She wasn't able to get home this year so she was spending the day alone - glad she can come over for awhile! I wanted to invite her to dinner as well but I think it's going to be awfully weird (I described it to her and she kinda politely declined before I even asked my dad.. you'll see why in a sec!).

Christmas day dinner's going to be really weird. It's at my dad's house... my sis talked my stepmom into coming over there and cooking for the family! So it'll be me, my sis, my dad, my stepmom (separated from my Dad and planning to D next year), and her son (major source of strife between them during the M). yikes. I hope it goes OK.

Kinda bittersweet side note - my sis really wanted her mom there overnight "for when Santa comes!" (she's 11 so this is probably the last "Santa" year.. or she may already kinda be past it but still hanging on one more year). Anyway she was really begging stepmom to come overnight and kept saying things like "You don't even have to sleep in daddy's room, I'll set up my princess tent for you!" Aww. Broke my heart, I can't even IMAGINE what it did to stepmoms.

I was quite obviously excluded from Christmas Eve dinner at H's mom's and Christmas day at his sister's.. which is fine, as it would've been tough, but I still thought it was kind of rude. (it came up as "Oh I assume you're not coming with me right?" from H.. nice). It upset me a bit more than it probably should have, but I didn't get completely upset or freaked out - so I'm glad for that.

As long as we're NOT talking about his mom or sis things seem positive.. not GREAT, but small positives. Getting along well, he seems to want to be with me and miss me when I'm not here, has been a lot more caring and affectioinate, those kinds of things. Yesterday he was showing me the gifts he got for his family (this is the first year he's had to do his own Christmas shopping in probably 10 years!). He then said that he knew none of the gifts were "very good" - "but I did great on yours, yours was the only exciting thing that I got. You're going to really like it!"

Soon as his mom or sis come up - even if it's totally NOT R related, he gets all dark and starts talking about what a jacka$$ he is. And yet he's spending a lot of time with them... it's odd. Oh well, not my deal, I know, but it's just odd.

Hope everyone's doing well!