so thanksgiving. it was lovely, as usual. i brought karl with me, and he said that he was looking forward to it and hoped i'd ask him and that made me all fuzzy inside because he likes my family yay! and karl must be my good luck traffic charm because this year (and last) i've not had any traffic on the way to and from mom's house, even though i travel at the most horrible, you-might-as-well-just-walk-the-150-miles-cuz-you'll-get-there-faster times, like wednesday and sunday evenings.

we spent the weekend huddled at my mom's cold cold cold house (when you get out of the shower, you have only a quick 30 seconds to dry off before icicles start to form directly on your body and you die from hypothermia, right there in the tub. i'm not kidding.) we did all kinds of homey things, like bake, and eat, and paint christmas figurines (a 10-year tradition that has left me with a dozen painted santa figurines. it's a problem. i need help), and put together puzzles of wholesome american scenes.

i got back to philly on sunday to find a card from my dad. he had to work on thanksgiving, so sent this card saying that he was thinking of things he was thankful for, and me and my sister topped his list. enclosed was a bookmark saying "god danced the day you were born". dad added "and i did too."

worked today, and sigh. it was sooooooo dead. i'm just not making enough money there! and today, i find out that christina, a new waiter whose first day on the floor was today, was hired immediately on dinner shifts! and not just any dinner shifts, but the friday and saturday dinner shifts that are coveted! i'm so pissed about this--several weeks ago the floor manager gave us all this big speech about how it takes months to get promoted to dinners, and how they hand-pick the very best lunch servers to move up to dinner, and everyone had to put in their time on lunches, and how we shouldn't expect to get dinners right away. and here i find out that christina gets friday and saturday dinners immediately! 'sup with that yo? i'm going to have to have a talk with the management. grrrrrrr.