Coming back to work after a couple days off is always much easier when there are presents.

Our office Secret Santa was on Thursday, but I missed it because I was having a fantastic time in Seattle. I was a little sad I was going to miss the fun, because a) presents are awesome and b) I was really excited about what I got for my recipient. I drew the name of our co-op student from Rio de Janeiro, so I got him a Team Brazil scarf and lanyard because he’s really into football.

I went nosing around the tree this morning in the office, because there should have been a present for me. What I found was TWO presents for me, each made up of two packages taped together. EXTRA PRESENTS! I don’t know why I got two; I asked the Lab Admins if there had been a mistake or if my name was drawn twice. Doesn’t look like it; everyone who participated received a present from someone else – so yes, for some reason I had two presents. Squee! One of the packages was full of chocolate – a giant Toblerone that I will use as a weapon because it is deadly and huge, and a box of hedgehogs. The other present was from my Secret Santa; a laser pointer pen and an awesome Hello Kitty keychain that lights up with disco LED goodness. Hooray! I do so love getting presents!

My Seattle trip was cut short, but I had the best time while I was there. The original plan was for Josh, Shan and Ed to take the train down on Friday night to spend Saturday in Seattle with me before coming back later that evening, but on Wednesday evening we had a change of plans. Sasha isn’t doing very well – she’s come down with a wicked case of old – and I didn’t want to leave her alone for 2 full days. There were other reasons as well, but it all boiled down to a frenzied postponement of the Seattle Adventure for everyone else.

As for me, I had a great time and came back Friday night instead of Saturday. I left early Thursday morning and leisurely made my way down to Seattle, stopping at various places along the way to complete the majority of my Christmas shopping. I arrived at Ali’s house around 5pm, and got to watch River dance in circles around the kitchen. Doug made us all dinner, then Ali and I were off to the Showbox to see Amanda Palmer.

The show was awesome, naturally. I actually liked the Vancouver show more – it was much smaller and more intimate, and the venue wasn’t dotted with assholes throughout. I don’t understand why people would pay money to see a show then spend the entire time talking loudly about ridiculous things, or be so rude as to engage in obnoxious conversation while people around you are trying to listen to the show. One part of Amanda’s show features a reading of names of people who died in school shootings – it’s a fairly emotional piece, yet the idiots sitting next to me were giggling over German verb conjugation. Stay classy, guys. Numerous people told the various talkers to shut the hell up already, including Ali. They were just .. unbelievable, really. I don’t get it.

After the show, Ali and I stuck around to meet Amanda and get an autograph because I am a huge fan girl. Almost every CD and poster I own is signed by the Dresden Dolls, but this is different because she signed it in front of me:

Friday was some more fun with Ali before I hit the road at 5:30 to drive back to Vancouver. The roads were terrible, but I made it in one piece. Sasha is doing better – we changed both her food and her eating schedule, and she seems to be keeping things down easier. I’ve had pretty much non-stop fun since Wednesday, and it just keeps on coming: stuff is good.

If you haven’t already, check out the Cans in the next post!