Bitch fights and the upcoming holidays

I figured I'd start the title with what is most likely to be the more interesting part of this post, at least for any male readers. Last night, I had a few people over for a small birthday celebration--apparently going downtown and getting utterly trashed on my ACTUAL birthday wasn't quite enough for me. I've always been one to make people celebrate my birthday as much as possible...if nothing else, it's a good excuse to paaaarttttyy. Ahem. So basically it was just me, Monica, Jaclyn, Kelly, Tara, Jen, Owen and Jeff (with brief appearances by Richard, Rebecca, James, and John) hanging out, drinking, playing games...the usual Saturday night activities. I was content to keep this up as long as possible, and was trying my best not to drink too much and pass out early, because that's just being a bad hostess. Jaclyn, however, did not have such foresight, and was dangerously close to falling asleep on my bed far before the night's festivities were even close to being over. So, like any good friends, Owen and I went in to kick her lame ass out of bed and make her drink more. Jaclyn was feeling particularly feisty, and when I jumped on my bed she decided to attempt to wrestle me off. Now, I was not expecting this, and she succeeded the first time--eliciting a long OOOOHHHHHH from Owen, and inciting me to further violence, because I was already in the mindset that nobody beats Laura at ANYTHING. Soon Jaclyn and I were wrapped up in a tangle not unlike the Tasmanian Devil when he really gets going, screeching and laughing and pulling at hair and clothes. The next thing I knew we were both on the floor, rolling around and laughing our asses off. Don't worry, no one was harmed in this pathetic attempt at a throwdown...I don't even think I got any scratches or hair pulled out. The funniest part was that Owen just stood in the doorway the whole time with a totally dumbfounded look on his face, unsure of what to do but also thoroughly enjoying himself. When we seemed done he immediately exclaimed "That was AWESOME!!!" Haha, glad we could offer you some entertainment, Owen.

And now for the holidays. I'll just get right to it--I am a TOTAL sucker for Christmas. I love the songs, the decorations, the lights, the idea of having the "Christmas spirit", and even the rampant consumerism and forgetfulness of the actual meaning of the holiday. It's all just a lovely melange of good feelings and stupid traditions, and I fall for it every year. So yes, I've already got my little multi-colored fiber optic tree up in my apartment, and I even bought some pretty iridescent lights and hung them up around my living room window. I'm sitting beneath them right now, and just glancing at them makes me smile; I can't wait to drive around after Thanksgiving, drink hot toddies and look at Christmas lights. Last night, in one of the more hilarious moments, Owen and I discovered our mutual appreciation for cheesy Christmas carols, and I brought out my laptop and blasted such classics as Home for the Holidays, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and we both knew all the lyrics and sang along like idiots--it was magical. I almost wish someone had called in a noise complaint so we could have been busted for excessive Christmas spirit--it would have been well worth it, and of course we wouldn't have had to pay the fine due to some sudden whimsical Christmas miracle.

Happy holidays everybody, and I highly recommend that you try and spread a little of that cheer if possible. It's good for the heart.