I’ve been dreading posting to LJ, ’cause I’m, well, honestly, a bit compulsive and obsessive (I know, all you guys that know me are shaking your heads in astonishment now) and there’s so much that I’ve not commented on, it now seems like a thoroughly daunting process to even *try* to catch things up with any degree of clarity, consistency or completeness.

I suppose I should just give up my anal-retentive desire to have a *complete* update and just start talking again, eh?

Christmas was lovely. Michigan was cold and remote, but beautiful. There are many tractor dealerships there. Jeff’s family is tres normal, which is pretty nifty. Our visit with Paul and Kate (outside London) was wonderful. I had my first real Christmas pudding, complete with booze and flames! The dollar being so low compared to the pound made After Christmas 50% Off Sales nearly meaningless. Huff the hedgehog was even cuter in person than he is in photos. I think I’m only a little allergic to him (but that might still be too much). Department stores in England have *fabric* and *yarn* and *notions*. London was cold and windy, but fun. Harrods still does a great tea and if you try to eat all the wee sandwiches and pastries you will not want dinner until waaaaaay too late to get dinner (say 10pm). Wagamama is the best noodle place ever. Plum wine mixed with fizzy water makes something vaguely cider-like. Germans celebrate New Years in a very raucous fashion. Fireworks (even the biggish ones) are apparently completely legal there. Even if you take a regional jet like Ryanair between London and Germany, you still need to remember that you’re crossing borders and you’ll have to do the whole customs thing (no, I wasn’t smuggling or anything, it was just a lot more rigmarole than I was expecting for an hour long flight). I took some pictures (which aren’t adequately labeled. Sorry).

(ok whew.)

The biggest thing on the horizon is that I have to have knee surgery (ACL reconstruction) on the 22nd, as my knee went “flippy” twice over the holidays (this is twice more *after* the original injury on 12/2). I am more than a little ookie about this, but honestly, I’d rather get this over with (pay for the pain up front, as it were) than continue to have my knee give out (“pivot shift” is the technical term for the badness) while doing completely normal activities like shifting position while sitting (I kid you not). Ick.

The good news is that my doctor, Dr. Higgins, seems to be very well-regarded in his field. And I trust him (which is worth a great deal in and of itself). I’m getting an allograph (contrast: autograph, from one’s own tissue), which means I’ll get a dead guy’s knee bits. Sorta ookie about that too (which is funny, since I am an organ donor!). Though it’s outpatient surgery, they want to keep me overnight for observation — and apparently as long as I don’t stay more than 23 hours it’s still outpatient! Odd. I go over to the hospital on Thursday for my “workup” (which sounds like something the mafia would do to me …) . (It’s a good sign that he travels with the Duke basketball team, right? They wouldn’t trust those knees to just anyone…)

Things are further complicated by the fact that the movers *were* scheduled to come the 15th-17th to load Jeff’s stuff on the truck, after which it was going on a merry journey of time-killing while he looks for his pied-a-terre in NY. Apparently the stuff can live on the truck for up to a month with no charge (and, in doing so, probably see more of the country than I have!), which is a very good thing, as he hasn’t even looked at places yet.

With my surgery now scheduled for next week (and they couldn’t do it this week), Jeff had to scramble to see if the movers could switch their pick-up to the week of the 21st. Of course the only day they had open was the 22nd, so we’re hoping the timing of the surgery itself and the desire of the moving dudes to come get his stuff don’t directly conflict. We’ll work it out one way or another, because if nothing else I can drive myself *to* the hospital…it’s just driving home on Wed. that will be out of the question.

And this weekend we went up to Maryland to go to Jeff’s friend Carolyn’s daughter Charlotte’s First Birthday Party. Then, on Sunday, we IKEA’d. All very good, if a bit exhausting, and it was a good distraction from the urgently logistical mess we’re in at the moment.

Not thinking about my knee. Ew.

(1) I have from now until JANURAY 4th off!!!!  (I only found out yesterday that we get the third as the “New Year Holiday day” — Hooray! — and I have too many vacation days left to roll to next year, so I have to burn them).  Am planning on sleeping, reading, sewing, seeing friends and generally relaxing which I understand is Good For You (and which apparently which I didn’t do enough of this year), *except* for the following:

(2) This weekend is the Annual Norman Family Dysfunctional Christmas Shindig so we’re heading for Charlotte.  In addition I’m “doing Christmas” with my Dad (aside from the ANFDCS) and my mom and Grumps.  Busy, but have high hopes for familial harmony.

(3) I am doing family things *this* weekend because on the 23rd, I am heading to Michigan (!!) to meet Team Bacon (actually I’ve met most of them, but I’m meeting the second sister for the first time) and see East Tawas (a place so small that you had to drive a half hour to buy underwear when Jeff was growing up) for two days, then to London (to see the friends Paul and Kate who have the hedgehog http://www.lintqueen.com/craft/misc.shtml) and then to Germany to meet up with the BMW riding group for New Years.  This being the first time that I’ve actually “done my own thing” for the holidays (though perhaps exchanging my family stuff for a two-day snapshot of someone else’s  ;-) I am ecstatic (with a tinge of guilt around the edges).

Happy happy!!! Call or email if you want to do something next M, Tu, Wed or the 3rd, 4th.  :)