Back to the real world…

Fate has a sense of humor.

It’s a sick, malicious, meanspirited sense of humor, but it’s a sense of humor nonetheless.

The first day of my Christmas vacation. I started getting sick. By Christmas eve I was miserable–stuffy head, sore throat, you name it.

Christmas eve I slept crooked. Christmas day, i woke up with such a serious muscle spasm in my neck and shoulder that both were effectively paralyzed.

At least I’ve recovered from both conditions just in time to go into the office tomorrow…

At any rate, I really shouldn’t be complaining. I had a good time nonetheless. My old friend Thumper and his wife, who moved to Boston about five years ago, spent most of the week with us; it was great. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it is to spend time with old friends.

Thumper oficially forfeitted his bet with me. In 1992, we each made a bet that the other would be the first to have children. The bet ran like this: We put twenty-five cents in the pot, with the understanding that the first person to have a child would forefeit the pot to the other. Each year,t he pot doubles–twenty-five cents, fifty cents, a dollar, two dollars, four dollars, and so on. He was sure my wife and I would have kids.

Well, now his wife is expecting, and I’ve had a “proceedure” that ensures I’ll never be a father, so he gracefully acknowledged I’d won. Twenty-five cents doubled every year since 1992 is now worth $128. 🙂

We had a party yesterday evening, with some new friends and some old. One of my oldest friends, who I met in high school (and, truth be told, had something of an intense crush on back when I was fifteen) was there; she’d disappeared from my life about twelve years ago, and reappeared just as abruptly after looking me up on the Internet. Even after all this time, we still get along beautifully.

We played drinking games and talked and laughed and played Mao, a very strange card game where the players (other than the dealer) aren’t allowed to know the rules when the game stats, and are penalized for not knowing the rules…much fun.

I’ve come to the conclusion that L. just might be even more creative than I am. I am in awe of her devious, kinky imagination. I’ve had more practice than she, though, so I may yet be able to hold my own. 🙂

I’m leaving for San Francisco in six days! MacWorld, here I come!