Visions of Sugarplums… Or Are Those Diamonds?

Well, the merriment of Christmastime has passed, and I hope it was a wonderful holiday for you all.  I had a nice, peaceful five days off from work.  I should’ve only been off Friday and Monday, but I got a hall pass for Thursday, as well, courtesy of the second Blizzard of ’06.  Colorado Springs, in general, got dumped with about a foot and a half of snow, but levels reached damn near three feet just a few miles north of downtown.  One poor coworker who lives in Monument had to stay at the office overnight because they closed the interstate in his direction.  All flights in and out of Colorado were cancelled, schools were closed, and post offices shut down for two days.  Hey, wait a minute!  I thought mail carriers were supposed to deliver come rain, shine, sleet, or snow.  What gives?

It started getting rough outside Wednesday morning, so I left the office around 1pm.  Even in the early stages of the storm, the winds were so strong that I immediately got caught in a snow drift and had to basically park my car in the road until it passed.  It’s a wonder I didn’t get rear-ended.  I couldn’t see two feet in front of me, and I seriously doubt anyone coming up behind me would’ve been able to either.  None-the-less, I made it home safely, and I spent the majority of my Thursday playing video games rather than worrying about my January 8th deadline for software code changes.  Ah, now this is a holiday!

I am starting to get used to the snow, but it did have rather poor timing.  As I mentioned before, mail carriers closed shop for a couple of days last week.  Well, not only did post offices go dark Thursday and Friday — parcel carriers (UPS, FedEx, etc.) did, as well.  Bobby’s mom was distraught when she realized that the massive box of presents that she had sent two-day would not arrive until after Christmas.  Fortunately (and somewhat oddly) though, UPS delivered it Saturday after dark.  She sent suprisingly nice gifts.  I received some fantastic Victoria’s Secret pj’s, a huge Estee’ Lauder makeup kit, candles, and an electric fondue pot.  Yeah, that last one was a bit random.

Other presents are arriving late, as well.  Bobby ordered all of mine from Amazon.  He paid for two-day shipping, but I still haven’t received them.  He picked out things from my wish list, so I know they’re all things I’ve been wanting.  My mom sent a gift certificate to Kirkland’s because I’ve been wanting some artwork for my apartment.  She also paid for two-day shipping, but it hasn’t arrived yet, either.  My dad sent cash at the beginning of the month, and my brother and Becky also sent their gift plenty in advance.  However, I don’t think I was shipped the correct item.  When I received the package, there was a packing slip inside.  Although the item itself was gift wrapped, the packing slip clearly read, "Another Glass of Wine Apron."  I looked it up on the company website this morning…

Now that is totally something Rob and Becky would send me.  They usually send me something that has to do with wine (crystal, fancy wine screw, etc.) because they know I’m such a snob.  Also, I’ve never owned an apron even though I absolutely love to cook.  I was looking forward to opening my gift from them since I knew what it would be.  Unfortunately, when I unwrapped the present Christmas morning, this is what I pulled from the box…

Uh…  I wasn’t sure what to make of it.  I would never in a million years imagine my brother or his wife picking out something like this for me — or for anybody for that matter.  I’m pretty certain this was the shipping facility’s fault, but I emailed my brother just to check.  Neither of them have emailed me back yet, but even if this is what they meant to send, I think I’ll return it for the apron.

We’re under another winter storm watch for tomorrow afternoon through late Friday night.  The forecast is calling for another foot of snow and possible blizzard conditions.  I’ve planned ahead and set my computer up so that I can work from home if need be.  I think my coworkers were full of shit when they told me that it doesn’t snow much here.  What in the hell do they call this?

In other news, Bobby and I spent some good, quality time together during my office hiatus.  No binge drinking, no endless chatter… it was nice.  I’m still feeling uneasy and a little bit confused about the situation, but I guess I’m just not ready to completely give up on us yet.  Don’t get me wrong.  It won’t take much more for me to send him packing, but I want to at least give this one more shot.

I was alone Saturday afternoon (I waited until then to do my Christmas shopping), and I talked with Alsie at length.  Bobby and Alsie have been email pals ever since he and I started dating, so it didn’t surprise me when she told me that he’d sent her an especially long email.  What did suprise me, though, is what he asked her.  He asked her if she thought that I would — get ready for this — marry him.

What, what, what?!

Yes, the boy wants me to be his wife.  He told her that he’s not planning on asking me in the next month or anything, but that if things continue as blissfully as they are now (?), he’d like to ask me in five or six months.  You know that episode of Sex and the City where Carrie finds the engagement ring in Aiden’s bag — and immediately throws up?  Yeah, I felt like that.  In fact, I’ve been having nightmares about him asking for my hand in marriage.  In my dreams, I say yes — not because I want to marry him, but because I, for some reason, feel obligated. 

You know, I sometimes wonder if I’m destined to live a life of solitude.  This would be my third (or is it fourth?) marriage proposal, all of which I have turned down or backed out of.  However, the one person I would give anything to spend the rest of my life with is all the way across the country — by choice.  By the way, I have also been dreaming about him quite a bit lately, as well.  I can only imagine the things I’m spouting off in my sleep now.

Cheers,
Felina