Merry belated holidays, St. Vincent readers. I hope yours was pleasant and wondrous, and that you had as good as time as I did.

My last two posts have been rather short, because really, who wants to read about my personal life? But I must share with you the gap between Christmas and New Years.

I worked (and still am working) full-time at Borders, and had the standard retail holiday heck come down on my head. People quit, people freaked out about books not in stock, some lady left her whole purse in my store (which spawned a hunt for her), I had a kid punch a hole in a chocolate Santa on display, and one man yelled and then hung up on me for calling him. According to our records, he had ordered the book “Pat the Bunny.” Goodness. I don’t call people at home for kicks.

 I also headed to holiday parties, both of the friend and family variety. Christmas was semi-formal and held at my friend Jens house, and a very good time. I walked in the door, and though I hadn’t seen her in months, it was like I had never left. In minutes we were making food and setting up the tables, and then forcing ourselves into formal wear. Even the guys dressed up, which is a feat unto itself. We ate, danced, and were generally idiots. Grand in the extreme.

On Christmas I hung out with my family, and became the cool cousin to one of my youngest relatives. We played Barbies together, basically. And no, Party!Ken did not make an appearance (he was, however, at all of my friends parties). Instead, we played with her Hannah Montana doll and one of the Cheetah Girls. I do not know what the latter is, but hey. Gracie, my cousin, was thrilled that a big person (and I quote here) “knew how to play.” I love kids. It made my day.

In terms of gifting, I scored some awesome books and a bunch of tea. The nerdiest item had to be from the boyfriend, who got me a heart-shaped tea strainer and some literary items I had been lusting after. Yep, I know you’re jealous. My gifts to him were also quite delightfully dorky; in addition to an altered book, there may or may not have been perler bead video game inspired housewears.

New Years was to be at my house, but then it was moved to my friend Jared’s farm so more people could come and welcome in 2008. Sadly, his plumbing then broke. The festivities migrated to Kylee’s residence, where all manner of shenanigans went down. The main event of the evening was the massive Tetris battle that went down and then the watching of the Chappell Show…and I do mean all of it, thanks to DVD. See, kids? You think college life will open up wild parties, but really, you just turn into an uber cool dork.  

In addition to those there have also been some smaller shindigs and moments of just hanging out and enjoying life, but I must say I do miss my St. Vinny’s companions. As I am still Internet challenged off and on, communicating with everyone has been rough—especially when you add in the hectic schedule that has been my life.

But….I will be with them all for a few months in a row, so I suppose I can handle the separation.