"I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I must be mad."

Evidently I'm just as good at getting hacked in my own house as I am at school.  Cheers, guys.

I'm not quite sure where to start since I've never gone 4 days without blogging before.  I suppose I'll just recap the highlights of the last few days.  

We baked brownies on Saturday.  Let's be clear here: I cannot cook.  I can make anything in a toaster or microwave and I make a mean grilled cheese but I thought that was all.  However, as evidenced by these brownies and my cinnamon streusel Christmas morning, it turns out I can also make anything that comes in a box and has instructions on the back.

Mass was nice that night.  Father Jim sang O Holy Night as per usual, and the reason for celebrating Christmas finally sunk in, and I got my holiday spirit back after that.

Christmas Eve is just as exciting as Christmas Day if you ask me.  It was excellent seeing Aunt Grace, Marianna, Uncle Ignazio, and (Nonna) Marianna, watching Home Alone, and reminiscing the year we got nineteen people to sing I Dodici Giorni di Natale, or the Twelve Days of Christmas in Italian.  Also, the baccala, linguine with clams, and penne  all a vodka were absolutely to die for.

Santa spoiled me so badly this year.  I got an iPhone 4s, Diary AUTOGRAPHED BY CHUCK PALAHNIUK!!!, a shot glass that reads "This is not a horcrux," seven CDs (Scorpions, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N Roses, Tchaikovsky... the good stuff), stuff for my guitar, and a ton of clothes and makeup.  "Happy" isn't even in the ballpark of how happy I am.

I'm testing out the Scorpions at the moment.  They are freaking fantastic.

I love seeing all the little cousins at Christmas.  There is now Robbie, Bella, Mike, Luke, Dario, Ava, and Sebastian who are all under eight.  They are generally cute and mischievous in a fairly even ratio with each other.  Then of course there's...

Cassie: Cassie is probably my closest cousin.  We have this tradition where we go apple picking in Brewster every year and see each other a handful of times in between holidays.  In the old days we used to play Super Mario 64 on Nintendo like it was our job.  We're never at a loss when it comes to keeping ourselves entertained and we are legendary at the games Spit and Spoons.  

The best cousin moment was definitely when Ava threw her temper tantrum.  Ava is two years old and the most gorgeous child you've ever seen.  She's absolutely adorable and she's wicked smart. At Thanksgiving, she was making this pout-y face she makes when she's thinking hard about something, so I made it back at her.  After a minute, she blinked and looked at her mom, my Aunt Ang, and say, "Mommy, Sabrina's mad at me."  Two years old!! Anyway, when she has tantrums, it quite literally takes two people to hold her down and one person to go around picking up all the things she throws.  It's terrifying.  Her parents are used to it though, and make light of it.  It was absolutely hysterical.  Uncle Mark tackled her and screamed, "SATAN, IN THE NAME OF GOD, YOU WILL LEAVE THIS CHILD ALONE! AVA, WE'RE HERE FOR YOU!  DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT?  GOD IS IN THAT LIGHT. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT, I HEREBY PURGE YOUR SOUL OF THE DEVIL. GOD LOVES YOU, AVA," to which Ava replied "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" for several prolonged minutes.  After about twenty minutes of this, she just stopped.  Her dad, my Uncle Mark, just carried her back out and we resumed life.  He suggested that she apologize to everyone for acting up, and she looked ashamed of herself, hung her head, and told us all she's sorry, effectively melting our hearts again.  After this, she proceeded to run around to everyone and individually say she loved them, [insert name here].  UNFAIRLY LOVABLE.

So take a shot in the dark, what losers do you think I spent my night with?  Rebecca and Mike think they're really hot shit.  And of course, they are.  Rolls eyes.

Really though, we spent a delightful three hours Harry Potter-ing and Doctor Who-ing and David Tennant-ing and generally merry-ing all over the place.  Also, Rebecca brought donuts.  Lessons of tonight:  Mike needs to have respect for girls smacked into him, Rebecca will lick or bite anything you put in front of her face (boys, get at her), and no one is above hacking anything I leave unlocked.  Overall, a perfect night.

Seriously though.  I kind of want to write all of tomorrow's blog as a serious analysis of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.  When I read the book I blatantly sob.  The movie is alright, but not nearly as good, yet I continue to weep pretty openly.  I will never, ever get past Post-Potter Depression.

Danielle pointed out to me that there was a perfect Cheshire Cat Smile moon out tonight.  That kind of moon gives me chills.  I can practically see the cat poised mid-air and feel madness coming on.  

"Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes."