Thursday, November 20, 2003

    So, things are a little bit better now. Looks like we're having two Thanksgivings now, with us pulling an early PM one at the in-laws, and the later one back here. As much as it's almost losing the battle, it's more of a compromise than anything. No one doesn't want to spend time with their loved ones and family on Thanksgiving, and with the amount of people coming anyway, sticking them all in one area would have been messy. Plus, I get lots of leftovers (including ham at the in-laws which I'm craving even now as I type).

    Again, I'm up very late. Why this time? I really wanted to finish the article that I was writing. Entitled "An Offseason Look: New York Yankees", it's the first of at least two examinations of major league baseball teams and how I'd approach their offseasons. Everybody talks about what they'd do, but I actually took a little time and tried to think of things realisticly. That's what I came up with. The Mets are next (eventually).

    Anyway, enjoy. I'm going to bed.

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

    Yeah, I know, I should be sleeping right now. But considering the fact that I haven't been updating for a while, you should be appreciating the fact that I'm wriing instead of lecturing me about my sleeping habits.

    Anyway, have to vent about the upcoming holiday season. Me, I love the holidays. While it can be a time of happiness, for a lot of people, it's a time of extreme stress, and by no coincidence, has the highest suicide rate of the year.

    One of the bad things about being in a relationship is that choices have to be made around the holiday time. Two families suddenly come together, and their traditions are going to clash, and if the families live any kind of distance, choices have to be made, as bringing the groups together can be difficult (and at times, just plain impossible).

    This year, the whole family bitterness thing is rearing its ugly head around my house. I've just recently moved into the new apartment (which happens to be located in my hometown, above my aunt and across from my mom.) The past few Thanksgivings, no matter where I was living (last year, we were closer to out here as well), we've made the trek to my wife's family's house for the big turkey (among other things) meal. All well and good. There's more family on my wife's side of the family, and it's been easy enough to convince the three members of my family out here to pack into the Yukon and make the drive westbound. All was well in the past.

    This year is different, however. My aunt and uncle are coming down from upstate, as are my cousin and his girlfriend. My aunt and uncle I haven't seen since my wedding (over two years), and my cousin I haven't seen since my dad died (which, naturally, wasn't exactly a happy-go-lucky time). I was excited, and as much as I knew that this would be a little more inconvienent for my wife's family, I finally gave in and expressed my desire to have the dinner out here at my aunt's house. My wife understood, and this evening, proceded to let her family know the situation.

    That's when it all went downhill. Cutting to the chase, my wife was in tears, my mother-in-law (who I've listened to on a regular basis bitch and complain about cooking during the holidays) bitched and complained how she wouldn't be making any holiday meal this year (as my brother-in-law and wife are doing Christmas Eve as is tradition and we're doing Christmas), my brother-in-law and his wife just aren't coming because they think I hate their son and because they don't want to make the drive out with their young daughter (despite driving to Boston with her), and my mother-in-law called back to let us know that they would be coming out and that we should be reminded what kind of sacrifice they're making solely by coming out.

    Ignore the fact that I've driven out there on average one every two weeks for the past two years since we've moved out here.

    Ignore the fact that maybe I have a family that I rarely get to see, while no one out of the ordinary is coming from their side.

    Ignore the fact that maybe, just maybe, the kid doesn't know how to control himself around company and that maybe I'm not a horrible person for smiling and enjoying a five year old screaming at the top of his lungs and doing whatever the hell he wants to without any possible chance of punishment.

    Ignore me. I just drive the car. Life is always about everyone else.

Saturday, November 15, 2003

    Well, after several months of trying, I've finally given up on getting electric in the room I wanted to put "Whitey" (my workstation, in contrast to "Blackie", which is Tara's workstation) in. Instead, I set up my POS computer table in the nursery (which was going to be a computer room/office to begin with) and now have a temporary office until someone can figure out how to put the electricity in the closet-room.

    What does that mean for the buhner.com reading public? It means I'm back to work. Back to where I feel comfortable, and can start writing whenever I see fit, my every couple of days instead of my every month or so. It means actually writing articles and putting them up. It means not having to write another one of these explainations as to why there hasn't been crap here for a month (or more).

    Anyway, working on a Yankees article coming up, and that's almost done, if I have time, I can wrap it up and have it up tomorrow evening. Hopefully.

    Until then, enjoy the fish.