Christmas, New Years, and Where I'm at Now

I left Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 2014 and headed home.  I was very excited to be home.  The hustle and bustle of Los Angeles was miles behind me and I could finally breathe and be at peace for a bit.  I found inner peace through lots of home cooked meals, mindless hours in front of the TV, and heading home to Illinois for the Holidays.

I'm lucky to have parents who have stayed together for all these years of my (an their) life.  I'm even luckier that they grew up in the same small town and that you can walk between their parent's (my Grandparent's) Homes.  That is just great!

We had Christmas Eve dinner and presents at my dad's place, late night mass, then off to bed for Christmas morning at my Mom's.

Best shirt ever

I'm 25 years old. A man in the world's eyes.  I can't for the life of me sleep on Christmas. Have never been able to.  Its like I've got all that magic stored up in my little noggin, but my worldly and calloused heart doesn't receive it like it used to, so I'm just stuck, awake, left with my own thoughts as I lay wishing for sleep on Christmas Eve.

That got dark.

On a lighter note!

I'm 25 years old. A man in the world's eyes.  Luckily, I am no such thing to my mother who bought my brother and me Pokemon for Christmas!

As they say, giving is way better than receiving so, here is my master gift. One gift to rule them all.

STORY TIME!

Back in the 90's there was board games. One such game of board was called "Forbidden Bridge", and it was good.  It was so good, in fact, that we played it til the pieces ran away. We were left with on broken game and multiple broken hearts.

Since then, each family member, at one Christmas or another, has searched far and wide for this game.  You could buy pieces of it till you had a full set again off of ebay, but that would cost you upwards of $300. (We loved that game, but come on)

Kevin, the favorite son and best sibling (that's me), during his journeys came upon the fabled "Forbidden Bridge" by a chance acquaintance back in Nashville.  Bryan, keeper of all things that are both board and game, happened to have a pristine copy of the game, "Forbidden Bridge".  Kevin purchased this game and hid it away until the time of the great unveiling known... AS CHRISTMAS!

It was good.

Moral of the story: 

Play board games cuz they dank as hell bruh!

 

Christmas always seems to come right before New Years Eve, and the same was true this year.  I had no plans. Ended up in a cabin with my brother and some friends. Drank, ziplined, burned stuff, drank.  It was a blast!  Thanks Kathleen for the cabin Trip!

I also went dancing when I was home. It was great seeing all my dancer friends again and hanging out at the 5Spot again.  I missed that crew.

Nashville Rainy streets

I also got to see Jack, Blythe, Sean, and Natalie when I was home. You have no idea who they are, but I do, and they do. Hey guys! Thanks for the great time. You made an excellent case for me to just stay in Nashville and hang out FOREVER!

But... now I'm back in LA.

Looming on the horizon is that omnipresent force known as "Responsibility", and my only tool for stopping its crushing embrace of anxiety and fear is Motivation.  Sadly, Motivation seems to be missing right now.  I miss home already. I liked being a couch barnacle and having to do very little.  I like eating good food and doing nothing with my time. I like not having rent to pay.

More importantly, I like my friends and family being so close.

Damn, being an adult is hard. Even harder when you move away from home.

I suppose I'll get my feet under me soon. Hopefully my writing will improve when I do.