HOmies, HOlidays and (gay) HOckey

I’m a day late and a dollar short, but I wanted to update everyone on the end of the my semester before my next one begins. I also need to tell you all about my catch up with Lloyd (a great friend from my Jackie O’s days), before Sierra, Becca, and Theodore visit tomorrow! I’ve already gotten three times the visitors in California as I ever got in Georgia, and I can’t blame my pals one bit. So-Cal is so much cuter and kinder than the dirty south.

So my biggest news since my last update — Lloyd was in town for work a couple of months ago, and he drove into Long Beach to share a meal and some memories!

For those of you who might not know, Lloyd was one of my very best friends from my time at JO’s. He started as a morning cleaner and eventually made his way to the dish tank and then pizza, but he always held a chief spot in my heart. We got incredibly close during our few years working together, and when I last saw him, I worried that it might be the last time. He left Athens, then I left Athens. Life moves fast. But luckily, he made it to Pittsburg, I made it to LA, and our paths — they just keep on crossing!

Lloyd loves to surprise people with his presence, so he hit me up a few days earlier to tell me he was in town for work and would love to get together for food and hangs. (Lloyd is a chemical engineer, which is the best kind, and he was in town making repairs on a waste water plant that he helped build. He’s a forward-facing customer service guy, but that’s about all I can tell you, because it’s still largely over my head.) We scheduled to link up a Tuesday night, so after a full day of work and classes we met up at La Tavolata — a small, local Italian place, where they make all of their noodles in house and fresh daily.

It was soooooo good to see him again! I feel like it can often be nerve-wracking to meet up with old friends after so much time, regardless of how close you are, but the second I saw him all worries when right out the window and we picked up exactly where we left off. We caught up on each others lives and how far we’ve come since our dishwashing days, and we reminisced on our favorite memories with our favorite coworkers. The last time we met up in Athens we discussed writing a screen play based on our years at JO’s together and calling it The Line. The Bear tried to steal our whole thing, but ours would be much more realistic and way funnier, so it’s not yet a dream deferred. In fact, I’ve been thinking more and more about actually putting pen to paper again, and I think that time of my life would make for a pretty interesting story. With names and certain facts changed to protect the not-so innocent, of course.

While nothing could beat the conversation or the company, the food at La Tavolata was also pretty great. I had the spaghetti southern, which was just pasta with garlic, olive oil, calamata olives, spinach, and chopped tomatoes. Lloyd had the spaghetti alla bolognese, and we split a bottle of wine with our meal and and an affogato for dessert. I’d never had one before, and I love trying new things with friends. Now I’ll always think of Lloyd and our dinner in Long Beach ever time I pour espresso over ice cream.

We weren’t ready to say goodbye after dinner, so we walked over to a local sports bar called Shipmates to continue our catch up over a couple of after dinner drinks. And we sure had a lovely time! The last time we hung out I left worried that it would be the last, but this time I went home knowing that I’d be seeing plenty more of him in the future. Some paths just keep crossing. (It helps that there are more crossroads in LA in general.) I guess I’m just really proud of us. When we met we both had big dreams and open hearts, and now we’ve made those dreams our reality. Our cups are full. And we’re still friends!

I sure am grateful for my Lloyd and Seiter.

Other than Lloyd’s brief visit, I pretty much spent the holidays by myself. I spent most of Thanksgiving break grading and gaming, but I did cook myself up a mini feast. I picked up a hazelnut and cranberry field roast in a puff pastry from Lazy Acres and some unexpected cheddar mac and cheese from Trader Joe’s. I made mashed potatoes with a garlic parm butter, and Brussels sprouts in parm as well. Slapped some caramelized onion and thyme gravy across the top. I’m getting much better at cooking for one over the holidays, but I still had enough left overs to get me through the entire week.

The best part of my Thanksgiving would definitely be Facetiming with Yontz and J-Row! I miss our Athens Friendsgivings so much, and my happiest holidays since moving out of my mom’s house were spent with our gang of misfit outcasts without anywhere else to go. Megan also reached out to me to tell me how much those days meant to her and how much she missed them as well. It felt good to have them close, despite being thousands of miles away.

Christmas and New Years had a very similar vibe. I cooked up pretty much the exact same fare, and this time I Facetimed with Yontz, Adami, and Megan — all of whom promised to try to visit me for my birthday this summer. We’ll see if that actually comes through, but I sure hope it does! It seems like the more I see my friends the more I miss having them around. I love California, but I miss being around people who love me.

As far as gift giving, I got Lemon a knee bone and a tear-apart hamburger squeaker stuffy. Bernstein received a scratchy board and one of those “live” birds, which he was interested in for all of five minutes. I bought myself a couple of puzzles and a coffee mug, but Jeremy got me Hades for Playstation! Now that I’ve beaten Horizon: Forbidden West (which Jeremy also turned me on to), I got into that over the holiday as well.

And while not technically a holiday (even if it should be!), Theodore celebrated his second birthday on Dec. 20, so we officially have a toddler! Woohoo!! 🎉 Becca and Sierra told me that he’s been super into foxes lately, so I got him a giant stuffed one, and the fam Facetimed me in while he opened it. My screen captures were all blurry, but his moms sent me this video of him enjoying it a little later in the week. My whole heart! 🥰

I sure can’t wait to see him and squeeze him and his mommas in person tomorrow! I went to the library over the weekend and checked out all sorts of books to read while he’s here. We’re going to largely play it by ear while they’re here, but I’ll make sure to post all about those adventures next week. ❤️

But before I go — Heated Rivalry.

Girl, I don’t know what is wrong with me. This series and this story has got a death grip on me that I just cannot account for or explain. Jacob Tierney (who I JUST learned was the little blonde boy from Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?) lured me in with the porn and hooked me with the yearning! I didn’t even think my heart worked like this anymore. These men have me listening to fae erotica on Quinn! I’ve ordered all of the books and I’m practically that meme waiting for them. (You know the meme…of the lady with the purse and the cigarette, pulling her lawn chair over to the mailbox to wait for delivery? Only instead of a purse and a cigarette I have a bowl and my laptop. So I can watch season one on constant repeat.)

At this point, I’m not just addicted, I’m unhinged. I’ve lost all grip on reality. I’m embarrassing myself. I’ve given myself the ick, and I simply cannot stop. I even designed this little tattoo — I’m just trying to decide where to place it. Send help. Or don’t. If this is wrong, I don’t ever want to be right. Or to quote Ilya Rozanov, ” I don’t ever want that problem to go away.”