Presents!

I was insanely spoiled by friends and family this year--I got clothes, linens, candles and the softest scarf ever from Mom & Dad, Lush from my brother's family in Texas, Julphia bath stuff from friends, good coffee, homemade treats, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, cute fuzzy pants, books and a screwdriver set.

A word about the screwdriver set: every time Jay & Sherri visit, when Jay needs a screwdriver, he is always aghast at my extremely limited selection. Each time, I remind him that my screwdrivers tend to be annexed by my father, who sticks them in his toolbox and takes them home with him. So this year for Christmas, Jay and Sherri got me a mini tool set, which includes a handle and various screwdriver heads, all in black and hot pink!

Up at the lake, I told my folks about this, and said to Dad, "I know that you aren't going to walk off with a set of pink tools."

Dad looked at me and said, "Watch me." :)

Post-Christmas lassitude

Christmas was, as planned, just me and the folks and the dogs at the lake.

Unplanned was Bigfoot's reaction to being spoiled on Christmas--two attacks of diarrhea and one of vomiting.

On the plus side, Mom and I got in two lovely long walks and finished an accounting that has been bugging us. Mom & Dad both seemed happy with their gifts, and I was outrageously spoiled.

Littlefoot took the opportunity of our walks to dirty himself up so that he no longer looked as pretty as he did right after his bath. He's still wearing his "bandana," though, and smells pretty good for a dog.

On Christmas morning, Mom had put out stockings for Dad, myself and the 'Foots. While I was in the bathroom, Littlefoot strolled right up to his stocking and lifted out the rawhide chew. There's always one who can't wait for presents!

Happy Solstice!

It's nice to know that the days are once more getting longer. Of course, so are the lines leaving the shopping center nearest me, where I had to go buy a new tie-out chain for the 'Foots. *rolls eyes* I do wish people wouldn't make left-hand turns out of the back parking lot--I spent eleven minutes waiting for idiots who only thought that they'd skip a light and not about the fact that ALL of the traffic at two lights was against them.

Work was tiring today, even though it was entirely sedentary. I'm still not 100% over this chest cold, and it was a long day. By the time I got to PetSmart, I was doing a pretty good job of feeling sorry for myself. As the cashier rang me up, she asked, "So how are you doing today?" and I nearly said, "Crappy, thanks." Then a tiny bit of empathy poked its way out of the rocks in my head, and I thought, "I may have been sick, but I'm not working freaking retail three days before Christmas!"

Of course, at the speed it takes me to think these days, the chain had been rung up, my cash tendered and the change handed back to me.

So to Sharon, at the Chapel Hill PetSmart, thank you for asking, thank you for being cheerful, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. I wasn't being surly, I'm just slow.

Pity party

I'm seeck. I have a nasty chest cold that I am trying to keep from becoming bronchitis. As part of my effort to do this, I am giving up the two vacation days I was trying to hoard for next year in order to stay home the rest of this week. That means no visit to Sherri next March or April. :(

Here at Casa de Jammies, there is much misery and even more grossness, so I will spare my three or four readers and just say that I shall see you when I am better.

Oh no! Timmy's down the well!

Apparently, Timmy never actually fell down into a well. Nonetheless, it's so much a part of pop culture, that when Bigfoot starts running back and forth from me to something else, whining, I call it his "Lassie" act. I typically check the water bowl, the food bowl, and then see if he needs to go outside (unless it's past 11 o'clock, in which case I know he's nagging me to go to bed).

The night before I took lunch in to my team, Bigfoot did his act running between me and the bags of bread I had gotten for the lunch. I laughed and told him, "I don't care how far down the well Timmy is, you're not taking him any bread."

The other night, he did it again, but this time when I followed him, he nosed the doors to the freestanding cabinet in the kitchen where the dog stuff is. Apparently, Timmy needed a pig ear, and Bigfoot was going to be noble and eat it for him. It was so cute (and he does it so infrequently) that I opened the cupboard, got both 'Foots a pig ear and handed them out.

I'm such a well-trained human. ;)

O The Huge Mango!

Christmas cards have started to arrive, despite the fact that I am lame and haven't sent any out since the beginning of this century. I got a really cute picture from JP and The Heather. Not having seen The Mango for a while, I was surprised at how huge he has gotten. He is not fat, but he is certainly tall (I guess it's "long" for babies, since they're not standing up much). He is definitely a huge mango, and adorable to boot.

I also got a very sweet card from my aunt and uncle in Florida (one set of them), wishing me "happy fireplace time at Lakeside with your parents." I am looking forward to a very different and quiet type of Christmas this year, as it will just be me, my folks and the dogs up at the lake.

In today's mail, I got a card from the Pickypants family. It was a picture of my nephews on the Disney island last February. I love the picture, and I love my nephews. That said, having spent a large amount of time with them over the weekend, I'm seriously over the whole little boy experience. Little boys sort of smell, even when they're clean, they like to grunt and belch and say "butt" and "fart" a lot, and they're much too energetic for this old crab.

Still, I think we all had fun over the weekend. Friday night, we went to Blossom Music Center for a drive-through holiday light show, which was really neat. Saturday night, we went to see The Nutcracker at the Akron Civic Theater, then out for ice cream afterwards at Mary Coyle's, which is both an Akron institution and a family tradition.

Sunday morning, the boys and I decorated gingerbread houses, and then I came home and reveled in the quiet and some girly scents. I would have been a lousy mom, but I think I'm a pretty good aunt.

Edited to add pictures of said gingerbread houses:

Seasonal Snobservations

To the lady walking out of the theater before us last night: First of all, the white belt with three rows of grommets was ugly in the '80s and it's uglier now, when we know better. Your pleather jacket with the fake fur trim was as much too short as your white jeans were too tight, and my nephews didn't really need to see your muffin top and your tramp stamp. For future reference, the ballet is The Nutcracker, not The Slutcracker. Next time, bring the class you must have left at home.

To the three houses in a row on Ghent Road on my way home: Okay, this is Northeast Ohio. I totally get why you took advantage of a warmish day in November to put up your Christmas lights. You didn't need to turn them on the day after Halloween. Do you do this just to be irritating, or do you believe Santa is going to be fooled into visiting you early?

To all the nouveau riche who've moved into my old hometown: I checked, and there's no ordinance saying that all outdoor lights have to be white. I'm sure all of you think it's all restrained and elegant, but I have to tell you, that shit is boring.

To Walmart: We know you're the actual Outpost of Hell on Earth, doing Satan's bidding. You don't need to rub our noses in it with that horrible commercial with the toddler who spends all his days asking for STUFF and his deluded mother who's going to get it all for him thanks to Walmart. We need to add a new deadly sin just for Walmart executives.

To my neighbors with the huge amount of yard lights and the inflatable Santa, penguin and nativity: Everyone appreciates that you turn off the lights when you go to bed. And we understand that the inflatables need power for the fans, so they deflate until you turn the lights back on after dark. But could you please put the nativity on a separate circuit and just leave that one up? 'Cos really, not only is it creepy when Baby Jesus deflates, I think it might be blasphemous, too.

A talk with Doc

What happens when you are friends for 30+ years:

Me: Lush or Skindecent

Her: Can't decide. Queen size or full size bed?

Me: Queen. Blackberry or spearmint?

Her: Blackberry. Wait. No, blackberry, definitely. Flannel or cotton?

Me: Cotton. Thick socks or thin socks?

Her: Either, because it depends on the circumstances. Are we done?

Me: Yes.

Her: Then we never had this conversation, we're just really good at picking out presents.

Me: Yup.