Thursday 12/21, I rushed home from work to throw on a clean shirt and grab Mom’s birthday present and the rest of the Christmas ones before heading over to their house for Hanukah celebrations. Traffic was Terrible, yes with a capital T, because it took me 35 minutes to drive what usually takes about 8. At least I wasn’t the last to arrive and Kassie fed me some bread and cheese when I got there to make it better. In attendance were Josh and Amy with Jonas and Eden, Ernie and Erika, Audrey and Peggy, Ron and Emma. Then there were our 6 plus Skylar so we had quite the group. We lit three menorahs then exchanged gifts and I got a nice scarf, soap and lotion. Then it was time for dinner and Mom had made vegetable curry with basmati rice and grilled pork and chicken with peanut sauce so there was a little something for everyone. The kids all congregated at one end of the table and shared tales of hog-tying Jake and all his business plans for Skylar’s property. After dinner people milled around and Emma brought in the cake she baked for Mom’s birthday which was a dense chocolate and raspberry treat with homemade whipped cream. Then Mom had picked up a couple fruit tarts at Whole Foods so there was much more eating to be done. I was feeling tired and sluggish and totally didn’t want to go to Neighbours, plus it was 9:00 and I couldn’t get out of the driveway because there were so many cars being blocked in. I finally managed to make it out and headed home. I called Michael when I got home and he said he had a feeling I was going to call him that day, which is so weird because I had been thinking about calling him all day. He was hanging out with a friend so I told him he should come to Neighbours and he had some very exciting personal news which I congratulated him on, then told him hopefully I’d see him later in the night. I bucked up and called Susan to give her a status report and started getting ready. It took me forever because my hair likes to be curly underneath, while I would like it to be straight. I called Aubs and talked with her about sister plans, cookies and smuggling her into Neighbours then hit the road. I called Susan when I parked and planned to meet her and Vicki by her car right across from the Egyptian. So I’m waiting there and this guy comes up and he’s like “Waiting for your man?” and I stupidly said, “No, my friends” so he’s like, “Is there any way I could jump your bones, I mean, get your number so I can get to know you?” and I go “Not with a line like that” and he goes, “Your name’s Laura right?” and I say back “Um, sure, yeah, good guess. You’re good” then goes on to rant about how I need a “real man” and luckily Susan and Vicki came running across the street and Susan’s all “Karrah!” and I’m all “Sssshhhhh!” because I didn’t want him knowing that my name really isn’t Laura. So we send him on his way and head down the alley. We talked with the boys on the way in and of course got very grope-y hugs. We were surprised how many people were there so early, which was a sign that a good night was in store. We did a lap and said hi to Tye who said he’ll be there next week then went upstairs to check out the dance floor and finally a good song came on so we ran down and started dancing. Vicki is really hilarious and will approach anyone and tell them to dance with us or whatever, so the first guy we spot is really cute, but we’re not sure if he’s gay or not, and we guess no because he refuses to dance even with his friends helpfully pressuring him. He’s clearly also very drunk. Vicki takes the opportunity to go up to him and tell him to come dance with us and he says he will after two songs, though he never does. We kept our eye on him all night though. Next some guy keeps bothering us and putting his arms around us and Susan tells him to beat it, then another guy comes over and says how beautiful we all are and kisses my hand, then Vicki’s then goes in for Susan and I yell into his ear “I wouldn’t do that, she doesn’t like to be touched” he’s all, I don’t even care, you’re all too beautiful, then went on his way without that kiss. We ended up on the other side of the floor and saw this guy in a hat so we called him “Hat” for the rest of the night and I think he was stalking us because everywhere we went on the dance floor, he wasn’t far behind and watching us from the side. From our little spot where we first spotted Hat, we then spotted this guy in a leather jacket that looked like a short short-haired Craig wearing one glove with the other strategically placed in his back pocket. I thought he looked like Jude Law, so that’s how we referred to him for the rest of the night. Moments after spotting him Vicki insists on going and dancing right next to him, I’m game but Susan took a little more time to make her way over. We were giggling and gushing about Jude for the next 20 minutes next to him and taking pictures with him in the background and me pretending to grab his butt. He had the most hilarious dance moves too, it was great. I told them I should offer to give him a dollar to check his coat so he didn’t have to hold it while he danced, in exchange for a kiss. Unfortunately I didn’t follow through on my brilliant idea. I finally spot Kyle, and he looks like a little goth school boy, with his white button up shirt and black tie with black eyeliner and lipstick on. He’s all “How’s my lipstick” so I said “Perfect” and he goes “Your hair is perfect” well thank you Kyle, you just made my night. We went to go get some water and I totally saw Casey from Tower and I think he saw me but chose to ignore me. I don’t know. I was standing by myself and Hat came lurking around but was pretending to watch people dancing but I knew better and Susan and Vicki conspired to ask him why he was there and looked so bored. Then Susan asked Kyle if she thought he was gay or not and he’s all “Gay!” and she’s like, “You didn’t even see him!” and he’s like “It doesn’t matter, gay!” We hit the floor again then Thomas showed up and danced with us for about 45 seconds and what do you know, Hat shows back up. Susan’s off dancing with Darren and Kyle and Vicki and I are dancing with some Venezuelan guy who keeps asking me why I don’t have a bf and then tells me that his bf is white, “like you”, and also very jealous, not like me. Hat’s sitting there watching like 3.5 feet away and I keep catching his eye, but looking away, because Susan kind of had dibs on him and also because, I don’t know, do I want to make out with someone at Neighbours again? Probably not a good idea. Then there’s this other guy who keeps looking over, in a really obvious way, so I tell Susan and can’t decide if he’s cute enough or not, and she’s like “Oh my God, I think that’s the guy that…” I’m going to leave this part of the story out, because it’s Susan’s, and though it’s hilarious, I’m not going to post it on here, so I’m like “Eww, I think you’re right” and I didn’t pay much more attention to him. Back to Hat (who coincidentally looks like B to me), he disappears and I’m looking all over for him then happen to look up and he’s RIGHT THERE on the balcony, so I look down again, then back up and he waves, so I wave back. Then I dance for a while and look back up and he’s gone so I yell to Vicki “Where the hell is Hat?” and he’s fucking right there and I’m like “Ooh, shit” and he comes over and introduces himself to me as Andrew and says it looks like we’re having a lot of fun then introduces himself to Vicki and lastly Susan who had been dancing with the boys. Somehow I end up by myself on the dance floor with the Venezuelan so I say I need to go and spot Susan talking to Andrew by the stairs and tell them I’m leaving and Andrew says he’s sure he’ll see me there again and I tell Susan bye, then Vicki and make my way out. I got a hug from both of the boys, even Travers, who said there’s a first for everything. Indeed. I ran to my car and crawled into bed around 1:45. I was a little disappointed I didn't see Michael, but I'll wrangle him into dancing another night soon. It was a fabulous night nonetheless.

Wednesday 12/20, I did some more cleaning after work, mainly toilet cleaning, my favorite. At least it was made better by listening to Ratatat. Then I wrapped some presents while watching Wheel of Fortune and made a zucchini and tomato omelet with cheddar and swiss cheese. I then retired to my room to watch the finale from the first Flava of Love, which was really hilarious. Then I showered and crawled into bed. What an eventful night!