Christmas '08 is in the books.

and what a Christmas it was.

we drove up Sunday to my brother in law's in northern California and spent the night. the next day we headed over the summit to my sister in law's for the fun.

we had to chain up partway across the summit...THAT was fun and the best damn $40 we spent.
ever.

of course, i could blah, blah, blah for ever, but what you want are photos.
and i believe in giving the public what they want.

yeah, i know. it's a fountain. but it's a frozen fountain. the only thing flowing is the top part. the rest of it is water falling down ice. just before i took it, there was a bird having a drink.

talk about an ice cold soda.

the Boy and i - taken by his sister. see - only two chins this time. i knew i liked that girl.

speaking of...

i don't think i need to explain this...do i?

Christmas lights. in the snow. on the roof of the garage. cool stuff.


i love the insanity of presents with kids.

i love sitting in my sister-in-law's bedroom for three hours wrapping gifts.

i love the view from my niece's bedroom.

i just plain love being there.

tomorrow: the last post of the year and photos of me sledding. for real.

Merry Christmas!!

and a Merry Christmas to you & yours from me and mine.

bad english. no cookie for me.

it's started out quietly enough and i'm completely good with that. Santa came last night, bringing unnecessary goodies in our stockings (including Silly Putty, a key chain pinball machine and a pocket Etch-a-Sketch.

goody! now i can lose my mind while trying to draw on a pocket Etch-a-Sketch. or, maybe because it's smaller, i'll only lose a smaller part of me noggin.

Santa brought a new suit, extra pants, black dress shirt and a new black tie for Brendan. Elvis got a clean litter box (believe me, that is truly the gift that keeps on giving), a new batch of kitty grass to eat and kitty treats to nosh.

oh, along with some bites of ham for breakfast. dang cat lives better than some kids.

Santa also brought two dvds for Yours Truly, along with the Bind-it-All i wanted.
wise one, the Big Kahuna is. very wise indeed.

my parental units are off to Disneyland again, spending another day with the grand & great grand kids.

did i not tell you? my stepbrother's oldest daughter, her husband and their three kids are out here, along with her mom, brother and various other family members, visiting Disneyland on Make-a-Wish's dimes.

oldest daughter's oldest son has leukemia. he's been on treatments for almost three years now, and they believe they have it in remission. thank God.

five is too young to be knowing so much about hospitals, ports and other such things.

anywhooo...

Make-a-Wish contacted them, asking if he were chosen, what would he like to do? his answer was to take his family to Disneyland and meet Sully from "Monsters Inc".

and so it came to pass that the good people of Make-a-Wish flew Kyler and the whole famdamily out here and Disneyland arranged a special party so Kyler could meet Sully.

probably a good thing i wasn't there. all my mascara would've been somewhere along my jawline.

as for us right now, we're both in our jammies, Husband is still napping, we have a James Bond movie on the TV and the cat is searching for a nice, quiet lap to lay in.

indeed - all is calm.

wishing you the magic only this day can bring. Merry Christmas.

SO not PC.

the other day, i did something completely NOT politically correct.

i wished someone a Merry Christmas.

i know, i know. i'm a rebel and i'll never be any good. but dagnabbit, i'm tired.

i'm tired of tip-toeing around this time of year.

i'm tired of offending, when i end up feeling offended.

i'm tired of apologizing for my beliefs.

so, in the grocery store the other day, i took the bull by the horns. i wished the clerk a Merry Christmas.

she didn't really know what to do. or say.

come on. i have several friends who are Jewish. i wish them a Happy Hanukkah. i have no problem with that, but when it gets closer to Christmas, i'm saying Merry Christmas.

dadgumit.

what really put me over the edge today (besides the espresso that i'm CONVINCED the barista @ Starbucks put in my Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha) was when i passed a church on my way to work, and their message board wished everyone Happy Holidays.

OK. wait a minute. if a church that teaches the birth of Christ wishes you a happy holiday, well...something just ain't quite right.

meanwhile, rebel that i am, will be wishing a Merry Christmas, right up until tomorrow night.




in other news....

today was a short day @ work. and we also had our white elephant gift exchange today.

most fun we've had there in a year.

there was the usual - candles, a hot cocoa set, toaster, a small, very used tv, pig lips.

yeah, i said pig lips. in.a.jar. oh dear googly moogly.

oh and a macrame belt kit from Singer. the sewing machine company. it came with hair extensions.

did i mention i got that one? and that the macrame kit HAD to be from the late 70s? and it still had late 70's dust on the package.

baby, you just can't buy quality memories like that. but apparently someone has, and has given it to the white elephant fiesta.

i can't wait till next year.



so on Christmas eve, i want to thank you for your love, laughter, tears and friendship you have extended to me through your blogs, and in a few cases, real life. i am blessed beyond reason by your gifts to me.

and to all of you, from Brendan, Elvis the Wonderkat and yours truly, we all wish you, Gentle Reader, the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of memories and peace on earth.

OK, Elvis is really only interested in tuna, but the rest of us really do wish that for you.

peace.

what i did during my blackouts.

and no, not the ones caused by benders.

the ones caused by Husbands Who Feel It's Necessary to Take the Laptop to Work.

not bitter. noooooo.

but i DID forget i promised you photos. here you go.

this is for one of our friends who just had her baby earlier this year. you can't tell, but i think babies made Santa nervous. he looks terror-stricken when you look at the photo up close.

next we have...

letters with a kitty paw for a friend

back...

and front of an ornament for a good friend from work. (sorry, i couldn't get the photo to rotate without losing half of the bottom.)

and these are the ones going to my work group.

and an altered tin for a gift card. man. i hope the dang card fits.

there you go. what i try to do on weekends.

the answer: about two weeks.

the question: how long does it take to get over a bad hair cut?

i'm in mourning. i never realized how much i've missed my hair stylist girl since she's been gone.

on maternity leave. pffffftttt.

come ON. it's just a baby. we ARE talking about my hair here.

kidding. but you knew that.

Debbie, my stylist, had been travelling down the crappy infertility road we were on for years. then she, like us, just decided that enough was enough and they were done. she and her husband split up, then got back together.

then earlier this year...surprise!!

she left work in October (which was good, she was swollen and miserable) and i'm hoping will come back in January.

the Husband does, too. he started seeing her as well. and since i've been seeing this girl for the last 10 years...well, ain't no one quite as good.

so, i made a stop @ Supercuts, along with Husband, for a little trim.
and color for me.

Gentle Reader - i had a skunk stripe two inches wide that i never saw until a potty break today, when the light in the room just made me scream in horror.

hor-ror.

same horror i just had, when i saw my haircut. i said, just a trim, and she made some comment that she needed to 'even something out'

oh dear.

but at least when i got home and styled myself, it turned out better.
and the Pepe Le'Pew look is gone.

thank heavens. i SO was not in the mood to be chased around the city by a horny lil' cartoon.



in other news...

ready for Christmas, Gentle Reader? i think i am. just a few last minute things to do. what really ticks me off, is, here i have made Christmas Cards and so have no ambition to address & mail 'em.

and while i love Christmas, love planning gifts and seeing delight, i have no holiday spirit.

not quite a Bah. Humbug!, but neither am i ready to go caroling.

not sure if it's an attitude, or just feeling sorry for myself. which both really are attitudes, right?

if it's feeling sorry for myself, i'm ready for this to be done. things aren't gonna change. Target is not gonna suddenly carry babies in the Baby Dept. Costco isn't gonna have the value pack on kids.

more's the pity.

i think i need a hot toddy (Maureen, why AREN'T i up there?!)and a video night - A Christmas Story comes to mind.

but i'm not even sure that would help.

humbug indeed.

this is getting old.

i'm going through serious withdrawals.

this no computer crap is for da birds.

the Husband has been taking the laptop to work with him for the last few weeks. but man. i didn't realize how much time after work i spend reading, perusing and researching (read: goofing off) on the 'net until my toy is gone from me.

and all these great ideas i have for posts...until i get home and remember that i don't have the laptop and so can't write 'em down.

yet another good argument for ginkgo whatever.

so - let me work on the Readers' Digest version of where and what for me.

• temporarily reassigned to yet another supervisor. this should only be until January and i should be going back to my current supervisor. maybe.
• took today off - did a buttload of laundry, including all our bedding.
• Christmas shopping. and no, i cannot share. he reads here, y'know.
• made a present for a friend.
• napped. naps are goooood.
• cleaned my stove. it was gross.
• embarrassed myself at the laundromat. let me explain how:

at my laundromat - when one of the machines is out, there's a note taped over the card reader (this one uses a card like an ATM, no change needed). i'm loading, loading, loading..

and loaded right into the broken one. and shut the door. and locked it.

dork.

i went off to find the manager, and after telling her my silliness, she laughs and walks away. i'm thinking that perhaps the language barrier snuck up and i scamper (yes, i occasionally DO scamper) after her and ask if she can unlock the door for me.

she walks over and turns the handle.

yep. that was it. the door opened like magic.

New Rule for Valerie #1,648, 287 - DO NOT go to the laundromat UNTIL YOU'VE HAD CAFFEINE OF SOME SORT.

reasonable request, dontcha think?

and for those of you who do enjoy a good Starbucks - let me share my new fave, if you haven't tried it already - the Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha.

and no, i do not want to know how many calories it has.

in other news...

we had our Bunco Christmas party on Tuesday. our tradition is to go out to dinner, then to the hostesses' home for a gift exchange (where we steal presents and it can get vicious)where i went from having a Wedgewood blue tablecloth with matching napkins and some cheesy looking glass Irish Coffee mugs (don't drink that, thankyouverymuch, but would've loved the tablecloth. then i remembered i have a cat who loves to pull things off other things AND to claw things and got over it. the sting was made easier when i stole the $25 Cheesecake Factory gift card. come on over, girls, dessert's on me!).

longest run on sentence ever just now. wow.

next week - at work and at a friend's home - we're having White Elephant gift exchanges.

now that's fun. and, yes i found the most obnoxious white elephant ever.

ev-er.

when at the swap meet last week, i found this cheesy plastic bird cage with horribly ugly birds in 'em.

it has a motion sensor.

oh yeah. it chirps, moves around and is just horrible. hor-ri-ble.

cannot wait.

because nothing says Christmas like a motion sensor bird cage.

i so do not like Mondays.

especially Mondays that i have to work.

which is pretty much every Monday.

Husband spent all of yesterday doing homework. i did laundry, two loads in the dishwasher, fixed a clock i altered for a friend AND did some shopping, while wondering what i'm getting a friend i work with.

and no, i still have no idea.

Christmas is such a wonderful season. the only time when the world seems united by the feeling of joy, peace and love that always feels palatable this time of year.

it's just the freaking shopping that drives me up a stinking wall.

everyone has people on their list that are hard to buy for. some of my friends are dang near impossible.
and it's not as if she doesn't give hints. oh noooooo.

we can go shopping for someone else (or something else) and she will walk the aisle ooohing and awwwing over stuff she likes. she will ask for gift ideas for you, and then turn around and tell you what she wants as well.

it's a little annoying to me, and i'm not sure why.

i'm trying to get over it. after all, this is the Season of Giving, not the Season of Getting an Ulcer.

although sometimes the two walk hand in hand.

happy shopping.