Holiday Consumption:

It can leave you hollow and empty (and drunk), or full and happy.

Polar bears, vodka shots, rockstars, jager bombs, gin and gingers, gin and tonics, red wines, white wines, a singular bloody mary, a plethora of beer, and of course, whiskey sours. Making bad decisions all the time. I've come to Guelph to recover from the hangover that has been accumulating since the twelve shots of Christmas.

I can blame this on celebration: all the Kane kids reunited, a last hurrah for P.I. in Oakville, Christmas eve, and Friday. There are varying degrees of legitimacy, yet there always seems to be justification. The consequences? Besides the obvious health related problems, not much. Some drunken emails, a blog post (since deleted) where I sloppily declared my love to friends scattered across Canada, giving shout-outs to "peeps" in the East and West coast, nothing too embarrassing. Blackouts aside, it was a memorable Christmas.

I'm kidding about the blackout part, but the memorable part is true. Everything resumes with Alan and Will as though they never left. Alan still has me walk across his back. I still scratch behind his ears. He still calls me cute and makes fun of my ankles. Will still hasn't found that filter that most people have. The regular order, think then speak, is reversed. This seems disastrous, but it ensures honesty. He's also just as convincing as ever. From the mouth of the cell phone hating vegan, "If I were a rooster I'd want to be a cockfighter" and "If I were to buy a cellphone I'd get that PC one".

On Christmas morning my Grandma opened a toy plastic gorilla from Will and loved it as though it were diamond earrings. I opened an envelope full of old photographs from my grandmother and loved them more than cash (which was in the next present from her). Alan received two copies of Steve Martin's Born Standing Up so he wound wrapping paper around one copy and passed it to Ben. Ben accepted it as thankfully as if Alan had planned and purchased the gift specially for him. I purchased the materials for my gifts from the Re-Use Center (cheaper than the salvation army, more organized than the dump) and still, despite some shoddy workmanship, the presents were loved.

Responsible gift giving, irresponsible drinking.
One last day of the year to justify. Tomorrow I will celebrate a birthday with Will, a new year with friends, and a reunion with friends who are family. Cheers.