there are entirely too many days off during the christmas holiday in denmark. it all starts the december 24, which the danes think is christmas, although in truth it is christmas eve and in fact, they even CALL it juleaften, which can only be translated as christmas eve, but still they open all of their presents that day. it continues the 25th (first christmas day--and what the rest of us, who can read a calendar, like to call ACTUAL christmas day) and the 26th (second christmas day, or boxing day, as the canadians call it (not sure what that means, but i do like the idea of it, even if i sometimes accidentally call it wrestling day in a fit of sports confusion)). then, this year, came a weekend on the 27th and 28th. so five whole days of everyone being around underfoot. and i was sick during all of it. then, there were two days where people could have ostensibly worked, but why go to work when it's only two days and you have six weeks of vacation to use up? then it was new year's eve and seriously, who wants to work that day? obviously on new year's day, there's no working, there's just the recovering from the party the night before. and today, which could have again been a potential work day, it's already friday, so why go to work? that would mean showering and shaving and dressing and inconvenient things like that. and then, it's the weekend again. and have i had any peace? any alone-time? any quiet? you may guess that i have not.

and i have grown accustomed to my alone time. for the past year, i worked mostly from home, so i had whole days all by myself in the quiet of the house, with the music i wanted to hear playing in the background. i had at least from 8:10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. alone every day. and apparently, i became dependent on that alone time, because all of this togetherness is driving me a bit batty. there's always noise of some sort...whether it's supertramp (it's a disease husband has and i don't really know how to cure it), or the Wii, or the 600th episode of hannah montana. now sabin's big sisters, who live mostly with their mother, are back and that makes her all chirpy and excited and she never, ever stops talking. and they watch hours of inane crap on MTV, which used to at least play music videos once in awhile, but apparently has stopped that in favor of all kinds of "reality" shows about celebrity homes.

on the whole, it has me feeling tetchy and generally out of sorts. it doesn't help that the laundry has piled up, the bathroom sinks need cleaning, the floors need sweeping, the christmas tree needs undecorating, and we're totally out of foodstuffs (the grocery stores were closed many of those above-mentioned days) and are reduced to toasting the mold off a couple of heels of bread because at this point, frankly a little antibiotic action would probably be good for me.

and i did both bathe and venture out today, along with six gazillion other people who were also out of pasta and milk and eggs and green vegetables after days and days of being holed up in their houses with their families. and, contrary to my desire not to consume, i bought nearly $200 worth of groceries (we were out of EVERYTHING including toilet paper and laundry detergent), some embroidery thread, printer cartridges and a pretty white macbook laptop for K for her birthday, which was new year's eve.  how am i ever going to draw all of that? especially if no one will leave me alone along enough to concentrate on it?

do you sometimes just want to be left alone?