It's January 2, 2006. 2006 doesn't seem weird at all to write. I wonder if it's because everything seems so discombobulated in my head that changing the year seems aboslutely normal. I just got back from my x-mas and new years with my parents. They're here for another couple of days and then they head back to the states. First thing to say is that it's good to see them. 6 months is the longest I've gone without seeing them and as much as I didn't really miss them, it's nice to see they're both still them and haven't changed or gotten too much older = P Now about the trip.
I met my parents at the airport X-mas afternoon, we took the bus back to our place where I got to open a stocking with lots of fun small treats in it, including my coveted chapstick. yay! i also got the stuff that i had requested from home including my soccer cleats, a couple dresses, random stuff that i had forgotten...
then i made x-mas dinner which turned out really really good, glazed ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatos, sauteed mushrooms and pavolva for dessert. very good really! then i got to open my presents which were very cool. speakers for my ipod (though my ipod's having issues), new adorable monkey pajamas, a beach towel, a tent!, slippers, penguin socks....i'm sure i'm leaving some stuff out, but it was a great x-mas for me. prolly because i haven't seen em in so long my mom just buys stuff and it builds up at home for her to give it to me = P (yes, i'm aware that i am a spoiled only child and i do my best to not act that way)
Next morning we caught the ferry down to the south island where we hung out for a couple days, had dinner with alex and his friend marcus...parents and alex all got along really well which made for a fun dinner. then we got our little 20' charter boat and took off into the abel tasman, land of beautiful white sand beaches only accessible by hikers and boaters. spent 3 days sailing around, beaching our boat, and exploring. on 31 dec it was blowing 20-25 knots and we decided to go out for a sail. a bit out from the land a shackle blew on the lower shroud and our mast snapped in half and then fell over. the seas were pretty big and it was definitely a moment of excitement for us all. dad runs up and grabs the bit hanging down into the water, i start the motor and get us pointed into the waves and we eventually get the sails off the broken spar and shoved into the cabin and slowly motor into a cove with a mast bent in half, lying on our deck. i'm sure we made quite the sight. oh well. next people chartering the boat get it as a launch since he can't get a replacement mast quick enough. oh well.
new years eve night was relatively boring. we sat around and played games. got stoned with my parents. had bubbly. said happy new year at 12 and then went to bed. i think my new years resolution might be something along the lines of never smoking that again. i really dont enjoy the feeling very much. never really have. i mean, the perma-grin can be fun, but i just dont really enjoy the sensations. i find drinking much more fun. anyhow. that was pretty much the vacation with the 'rents. couple pics:X-Mas dinner at my place. Me, my dad and the silly x-mas tree I stole from the bar. = )
Me, my dad and our cute little boat with it's keel pulled up so it can go into about a foot and a half of water without hitting bottom!
Happy New Years! My dad and I on the boat with our bubbly in such classy glasses = P


A sunset from our boat in the Barks Bay on New Years Eve. The sunset eventually turned a beautiful pink, but I actually love the blues in this much better than the pink.

It was a decent vacation, but I'm about ready for them to be off back home. I've been without them, living my own life here for 6 months, it's actually a huge adjustment just to have them come visit. I can't do my own schedule, I can't do anything I want to. My dad is really cool, relaxed and fun to hang out with, but i'm surprised at how his age is starting to show. I know that he goes running a lot at home and swims in the lake to keep in shape, but he's got a bum wrist, an occasionally sore knee, a bad back that makes him walk around like a complete cripple, and he bashed his elbow pretty hard on the boat and keeps leaning on the bruise, and also bruised his foot. every other word out of his mouth is "ouch". it's a bit strange. he's still cool though. i dont really know how he puts up with my mom, but i suppose he loves her. that's a good thing. my mom drives me nuts. i wonder if i drive her nuts? she always treats me like i'm young and asks really, really stupid questions that i'm sure she knows the answer to if she would just bother to think about them, and then we're not allowed to buy anything and everything has to be super cheap and yadda, yadda, yadda. i'm not wanting anything lavish here, i wasn't allowed to have an ice cream without a HUGE guilt trip. it's always been that way with her and i HATE it. i'm finally working on having opinions about things and this makes it obvious to me why i dont have opinions. because i cant have opinions when i'm around here. anything that sounds good is either too expensive or it's okay but i'm given a guilt trip about it. so annoying. there's also the fact that i know i have very short patience for my mom. she's slowly losing her hearing and because of it she compensates in really strange ways. sometimes it's by talking in a whisper and nobody can hear her, sometimes it's by pretending she knows what you've said to her even when she has no clue so she just doesn't respond and then you ahve to ask again....or sometimes she does hear you, but doesn't bother to respond so when you ask again you get a grumpy answer in teh manner of "you already asked that why'd you ask again?" it's like "you didnt respond....questions deserve answers". SO ANNOYING. I could go on about this stuff for hours though. me and my mom have lots of lovely history, we were driving each other completely nuts before I left for university way back in 2000 and since then we just fight whenever we're together. it's not really that obvious unless you spend a lot of time with the two of us. it just grates on me though. especially when it's been 6 months and i've been on my own, doing my own thing, working, living...and then she shows up and it's like i'm not responsible enough to be trusted to do anything. nevermind the fact that i fixed all the mistakes she made planning the trip (like forgetting to book the ferry tickets). in any case, it makes vacations with my parents a bit stressful. it would be better if i could get away by going to hang out with friends or at least hanging out with them, or talking to them, or knowing that they realize i still exist. i can chat with mark, and that's cool, but it's still just me and my parents here, MAC is out of town and won't answer to texts which for some reason has got me real pissed off. fucking people should at least respond to a question. Alex is down on the south island til the 11th, so it's pretty much just me and them. glad i'm working, though my working is making it hard for me and the 'rents to do any day trips out of the city itself. whatever.
I don't know why I'm so peeved about my text not being replied to. i think i'm just really lonely and frustrated and knowing that i've got 4 more days of my parents with nobody else around. i'm HOPING dearly that after they leave on sat morning i can find something to do with myself. i mean, obviously i'm gonna have to clean up my place cuz they're good at making it look like a disaster zone, but something else with other people so that i can relax and get out of this tensed up mindset i get in any time i'm around my mom.
I'm in a bit of a quandary about a particular situation. I'm not particularly built for some of the things i've gotten myself into, but i'm enjoying it so i'm making it work. the "toll" on me is somewhat less than i thought it would be, but still in my mind there are certain lines that should not be crossed, people should still consider other people, but i guess that's asking too much. it's weird how self-absorbed every single person is. i'm no exception, though i might think about my (and others) self-absorbtion more than others. this is probably way too long of a post, so i will be stopping soon and hopping into a nice hot bath to do a bit of relaxing, thinking, and general unwinding. actually..maybe i'll just take a shower in the morning. a long shower. damnit i wonder if anyone reads this. i wish i could write interesting things that random people would be itnerested in. insightful, philosophical things maybe, but i'm not really that kind of person. prompted with a question i can some up with interesting points of view, but i dont care to stay on any one topic for too long...meh. anyways...i'm out.
Happy New Year!
May 2006 be the year you want it to be.
i'm sleeping in my own living room...