We Now Resume Normal Biological Functions...

Whoa there. Wow, that was unexpected. Suddenly I found myself sick. Seems like none of this weekend's plans went as we, well, planned.

Despite our mad rush to make sure everything was done in time for our trip to the arcade on Saturday, it turned out that no one else was going. Because the arcade trip was on Sunday. Right. It worked out though, because we didn't wake up until 12p (as compared to 9a), so we ended up having just enough time to get ready for the holiday party that evening.

That party went smoothly enough—much more sober than my last holiday party (heh)—and although Makal had told me, I really had had no idea that the woman hosting it was my photography teacher from college. So that was a trip, seeing yet another social connection He and I had before we knew of eachother's existence. The party, though perhaps slightly lacking in well-combined social groups (at-risk preppy kids combined with hippie adults, with a dash of young adult entrepreneurs=not always fun), did get going once the white-elephant gift exchange got going. We drove away that night with a decent bounty, featuring a new lava lamp and a wicker wine basket travel set (for picnics and the like). Makal's dad got a jar with a colony of moths living in it ("If they stop moving, just bend the sides in a bit and they'll start going again"). It was... special.

Next morning we get up, after a late night Scrabble and jewelry-making session, and headed off to the holiday market so that I could finish a trade with someone for a new hemp skirt (which is really cool and I love it, btw), and we ended up not leaving until nearly 1p, but getting up to Salem at the perfect time to meet up with the friends. We went to lunch, then the arcade, and spent several hours there wasting nickels on old video games and getting tickets for prizes. Makal's friend is surprisingly good at DDR, a game which I do not understand in any way, shape, or form. (Sad thing is, I think it looks kind of fun. I'm one of those people that if I had the floor matt thingy for playing at home, I'd probably try it out a few times and either a)blow ass with my mad uncoordination skills but not care because no one would ever see me to know, or b)rock the socks off of that game and take my mad skillz to the arcadez biatch. Or something.) Anyway, yeah, it was a blast. I was amused when his girlfriend challenged me to a few games of air hockey though—most people don't know that I can beat 50 old men who've spent half of their pathetically dweeby lives in an arcade at air hockey.

And before this post gets any longer, I'll get to the reason behind today's title...

Sunday night, after the arcade, the girlfriend stayed up in Salem and Makal's friend came back to town with us. It was an interesting ride; the highway was all frozen and we fishtailed a few times, but nothing serious. We made a detour to go to the friend's house that he's sharing with a bunch of people (note to self: gotta thing of a name for him, I should see what Makal calls him...). It is a pretty cool party house (were it not a block from the police station) and has ridiculously large closets. Large closets always make me think of miniature dungeons, especially when they have low-ceilings and odd angles. :P

Back on the road, we eventually got back to our house around 12a and watched Idle Hands and Zoolander. Our friend left around 4a, and Makal and I both passed out on the couch, but I awoke a few hours later amazingly and unexpectedly sick. In a very unpleasant way. And so I spent most of Monday alternating between the bed, the bathroom (either a hot bath, making small talk with the toilet, or sprawled out on the floor because I hadn't the energy to move), and the couch, minorly delirious with fever and all that sort of fun. Then yesterday, Makal managed to come down with the same thing, though I think that luckily he didn't get the worst of it. Today I'm feeling better, but my body is still incredibly achy and I'm still quite sensitive to temperature changes. Bah. 'Twas not a fun few days I tell ya.

But now it's Solstice, which is apparently quite a big deal among Makal's circle of friends and family. Given that I was raised with no religion save consumerism, I'm happy with any holiday as long as I get to give people presents. Heck, I once had a Jehovah's Witness friend and would celebrate whatever that one-day-a-year that they're allowed to give presents with her; it was a lot of fun for us. But I digress. So yes, the holidays abound, and may we share our love more readily than we share our germs. And here it is, nearing 1:30p, and I have no idea if we're still hosting that giant party of friends who'd volunteered to come over today, or if we're in the clear because we've been sick. Hmm, should be an interesting day. I figure, as long as I don't plan on anything in particular, it should all work out fine.

Update 2:48p: So apparently Makal made note yesterday that we are both sick, and no one is welcome to come over for partying. It is sad, because it would have been fun, but shit if I'm not still feeling like, well, shit. Oi vay. So damn glad I don't have to clean now!