Christmasitis

As is often the way, on my first of a whole 5 days off (one of them being Christmas) I appear to be coming down with something. So please excuse me if some of this is hard to follow. You know how it is - you finally have some days off work and have arranged to visit your friends for an afternoon of fun and entertainment, and two hours before you're due to go over you find you can't stomach your lunch, you feel dizzy and ache all over.

Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe I like to have attention and feel that the pregnant girl in the room is getting too much of it and I need some. Maybe I really don't feel like cooking and contributing something for Christmas day to be asked a million questions about it. ("Are these cupcakes vegan? Really? But they would have to have egg in them, right? Really? How do they not just cease to exist without egg or dairy?" "Oh, you don't eat meat. But there was chicken in that dish you made. It was tofu? Really? I thought it was chicken. Are you sure your husband didn't put some chicken in there as a joke? What do you mean he values his life too much? Wait, he's vegetarian? But he eats fish, right?" Have you seen this video? Funniest thing I've seen in ages.)

I could look on the bright side - it is the best excuse possible for taking it easy. It IS the season! Actually, in my parent's house it seems to be the season to run around like a maniac and cook and clean. Does anybody else experience the very strange phenomenon when at some point after the main meal all of the females over a certain age seem to congretate in the kitchen and try to wash and dry up all at the same time? It seems to happen at my parent's house. There will be five people all drying up at the same time and more will be coming up to me asking for dish towels. It's sick, I tell you, sick!

So perhaps getting ill isn't the curse I seem to think it is. Maybe it is the best excuse for relaxing by the pool with a cool drink in my hand and a vegan cupcake in the other, wearing my new swimsuit and ignoring the background comments of "if only she'd eat a steak, then she wouldn't be sick."

By the way, I'm a pretty "covert" vegan in real life. Not many people even know I am, and there were a lot of surprised comments at the work Christmas lunch on Friday. But most people don't really react much, as I don't make a big deal out of it. However, we went out to dinner last night (having called ahead first to make sure they would have something because I think that is the polite thing to do), and when I mentioned to the waitress that I was vegan, her first reply was, "What?" I explained again, "We called ahead, and I'm vegan, so maybe you could ask the chef if there is something suitable." Her facial expression looked like I had leaped up on a couch and done this. She wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the night and didn't even take my plate away when I was finished my meal, although she happily took my husband's plate. What on earth???? I'll agree with some foreign visitors to our country, yes, some of our waiters/waitresses leave a LOT to be desired.