First Fitting

So, I headed to Hagerstown yesterday straight after work. I got to David's Bridal with a full half-hour to spare before my appointment, and sat outside the alterations area while the seamstress pinned up a bride's gown.

Once she was ready for me, I put the dress on (which definitely took more effort than typing about it) and did the whole "stand on the platform, walk back and forth" thing.

The dress fit perfectly--seriously, the bodice was nice and snug (but not tight), and the hem line was just where it needs to be. I'm a little disappointed that the dress is size 14, but that's my own fault for being a bit over-weight.

Anyway, since the dress was perfect, no alterations were needed, and I got to take the dress home. Before I left the bridal shop, I bought a nice ($10) dress bag for it. It's the most expensive dress I've ever owned (and also quickly becoming one of my favorites), so you'd better believe I'm going to keep it as nice as I can, and part of that is putting a sturdy dress bag on it while it's not being worn.

SNOW

Grrr . . . it snowed yesterday. I hate snow. I mean, it's pretty and all, but it's also cold and wet--one of my least favorite combinations.

The allergist was closed for shots yesterday, so I'm going this evening. Spring semester starts on Saturday, but my first class session isn't until a week from tomorrow. This Thursday after work, I'm going to David's Bridal for my first fitting of my bridesmaid's dress.

That last part is pretty exciting--I get a really nice gown to wear, altered specifically for me! But I won't have anywhere to wear it after the wedding, so it'll just sit in my closet getting old and tatty. :( I wish I could afford to take a ballroom dance class. Then maybe I could wear that to dance events and such.

Chinese Zodiac

Saw this on Heather's LJ this morning, so I decided to check out my year, and it kinda described me very well (entry title links to Chinese Zodiac site):

People born in the Year of the Pig are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do,
they do with all their strength. For Boar Year people, there is no left or right
and there is no retreat. They have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. They
don't make many friends but they make them for life, and anyone having a Boar
Year friend is fortunate for they are extremely loyal. They don't talk much but
have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and are generally
well informed. Boar people are quick tempered, yet they hate arguments and
quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. No matter how bad problems seem
to be, Boar people try to work them out, honestly if sometimes impulsively. They
are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep.

Better Holiday Memory by DSDragon

Setting: GGGoH

Author's Notes: The title kinda sucks, but it was the only thing I could come up with. The challenge said "a revelation or unexpected gift." They're not big, but I put one of each in this fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belongs to Warner Brothers.

-----

Perry had given Lois and Clark a few extra days down in Smallville to let Clark recuperate from the Trask debacle (they had sent the story to him by fax already) and to have time with his parents for an early Thanksgiving celebration. Lois, who never turned down food as good as what she'd been fed for the last few days, accepted the invitation to stay when it was given.

Sitting at the kitchen table, she watched Mrs. Kent--er, Martha--putter around her, preparing a full turkey dinner. Well, "putter" was really the wrong word. Martha's gait and ease on her feet were really too vivacious to call them "puttering." *The woman must live on Energizer batteries,* Lois thought. *She just keeps going, and going . . .*

"You seem contented," Martha remarked, startling Lois out of her reverie. "Kind of like the cat that ate the canary, what with that grin you've got."

"Oh!" Lois gasped. "Um, I was just thinking, that's all."

"Really? What about?"

Thinking it would be rude to compare her hostess to the Energizer Bunny out loud, Lois improvised. "Actually, I was thinking how nice it is here. I mean, I wouldn't want to live here, but it's nice not to be mashed into a few city blocks with crowds of other people every once in a while."

"Huh," Martha said.

Perplexed, Lois asked, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, from what Clark's been telling us, and what I've seen so far, I was almost sure I had you pegged for the workaholic, never-leave-the-city-on-your-life type."

Caught, Lois blushed. "Well, yeah. But a girl can appreciate some time off; no matter how much she loves the work, can't she?"

"Absolutely."

Thinking it was time to change the subject, Lois asked, "So where are Cl--the boys?"

A twinkle in her eye as she turned back to the turkey in the oven, Martha answered, "Oh, they're around somewhere. Since this will be our only chance to have Thanksgiving with Clark this year, he and Jonathan decided to hang the Christmas decorations earlier than usual."

"What do you mean? Christmas isn't for another month and a half."

"We decorate on Thanksgiving," came the answer from the sink as Martha prepared some brussels sprouts for boiling.

"Why is that?" Lois asked. "I've never done much more than find a tree on Christmas Eve myself."

"Just a Kent family tradition, I guess. We don't take down any decorations until New Year's either."

"More than a month of Christmas?" Lois couldn't decide whether she was in awe or pure catatonia at the thought of all that . . . cheer. "How can you stand it? I can barely tolerate the decorations they put up at the Planet in the middle of December."

When Martha's answer did not come right away, Lois looked up. The older woman had a somewhat sad expression on her face. "Bad memories?" she asked.

Lois scrunched her head further onto her shoulders and rubbed her entwined fingers together on top of the table. "I don't really like to talk about it."

-----

Clark put the finishing touches on the staircase. He'd wrapped the rails in garland and white Christmas tree lights—for the next two months, his parents wouldn't have to worry about breaking their necks if they went downstairs for a midnight snack. And, hey, it was also festive!

Suddenly, his super hearing kicked in:

~"How can you stand it? I can barely tolerate the decorations they put up at the Planet in the middle of December."~

*Hmm,* Clark thought. *I wonder why Lois is so repulsed by Christmas decorations?* Shaking his head, he resolved to try not to eavesdrop anymore—and to help Lois enjoy the holidays.

But before he could turn off his hearing, he heard his mother's question. ~Bad Memories?~

Hoping it wasn't true, Clark's heart broke a little when his partner answered very quietly, ~I don't really like to talk about it.~

Desperate now to find a way to cheer Lois up about the season, Clark searched the room. He must have been staring in certain places, because his father was looking at him with a question in his eyes. Clark shook his head in a "not yet" gesture, then spotted exactly what he was looking for in a box balanced precariously on the back of the couch.

Going as fast as he could without alerting the kitchen's occupants (or rather one of the occupants) that he was super-speedy, Clark grabbed a bit of mistletoe, tacked it right outside the kitchen, and went back to his place by the stairs just as the door started to open.

-----

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Martha nodded, and turned back to her cooking just as a timer sounded. "Whoops! Looks like that's dinner. Want to help me get it all to the table?"

"Sure." Lois stood and took the dish of mashed potatoes toward the dining room. She carefully opened the door, and took only a step or two into the other room before Martha called, "Stop, Lois!" She stopped.

Looking back to the Kent matriarch, Lois asked, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," came the answer. "You're just standing under the mistletoe."

Lois looked up; sure enough, there was a tiny sprig of the dratted weed tacked to the ceiling just outside of the kitchen doorway. Her eyes widened--how the hell could she get out of this one?--"Oh."

Movements out of the corner of her eye made Lois turn her head. Clark was walking toward her. *He'd better not do what I think he's going to do,* Lois thought to herself in vain. Clark grabbed the potato dish from her nerveless fingers, gently set it on the table just to her right, and--quick and soft--put his lips on hers.

*Hey, where'd he go?* Her thoughts contradicted themselves as Clark pulled back with a smile.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Lois," he said as Lois mused to herself, *Maybe the holidays aren't so bad after all.*

New Year's and Stuff

For New Year's Eve, Dad, Mom, Jason and I went down to Grandma's. We did the usual stuff, had the usual snacks, and definitely had the salad after the ball dropped.

I've been uber-congested the last week or two. It got so bad yesterday that I got lightheaded from lack of oxygen whenever I blew my nose!

Yesterday I also missed the turn onto the 15 North exit so that I could go to the allergist's office for my shots. It was just after 5 p.m. and would've taken me twice as long to get to 15 via Ballenger Creek Pike as it usually takes to get from Jefferson Street to the allergist's. So I decided to just go home and get my shots after work today instead.

Later this evening, I'm taking Kimba to Outback for dinner. More on that after.

Last night, I had an interesting dream. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember that it was very The Devil Wears Prada. I even had an Anne Hathaway look-alike ('cause it definitely wasn't her in the dream) to show me the ropes. The boss, however, was nicer, even though he was very absent-minded. His name was something like Sir Quentin Quigley. I'm not sure if that was it exactly, but there were definitely Q's, and he was definitely a Sir for some reason.

In the dream, I was immediately set to work asking for donations for something I've forgotten since I woke up. I think there was an accident, or somebody was sick with some terminal illness (the boss was a philanthropist instead of a high fashion magazine editor). When I started out, I was doing fine, then the boss said, "Darcy, call my (here, it was either wife or mother-in-law, I can't remember which) and tell her . . ." then he started to stammer and be forgetful, and finished with, "the thing!"

The weird part is, my Anne Hathaway look-alike always knew what his cryptic forget-a-grams meant! Eventually (I was "working" in that office for three dream-days) I actually asked her for a crib sheet. She made it, and gave it to me on the morning of the third "day," but I didn't use it before I woke up. After that first morning, I pretty much sat there staring at the phone, trying to remember what I was doing. And Sir Quentin (if that was his name) actually complemented me on what a great job I was doing!

Weird dream.