A brief blogging respite

Just in case you all wondered where I've been.... I took this week off work, which means they just call me a dozen times a day since I'm not THERE. It also means I am not blogging, or commenting on all your blogs, for the most part. I miss you all, and I hope you miss me too. We've had lots and lots of snow since Christmas Eve. It's beautiful, really. Today was sunny and gorgeous. Youngest Son, Oldest Son, and Oldest Granddaughter went skiing/snowboarding and said the conditions were the best in ages.

Christmas was terrific. I have photos. I will post them next week when life is back to normal. In the meantime, hugs to you all, and Happy New Year to my blogging family!!! You are all awesome!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The streets were no longer snow-packed, and most of the snow had melted from sidewalks, driveways, rooftops, and even yards. It was starting to look like a patchwork Christmas. This morning I awoke to - SNOW! The Spouse is not happy, as it will make driving a lot more treacherous, and all those people who can't get out of or into Denver are none too pleased, but you can tell most everyone else in these parts is pretty thrilled. We WILL have a white Christmas after all.

I just finished reading Lorraine's posts about their ordeal, complete with photos of the "Big Ass Tree". I had to laugh at one photo. It showed a male cutting a branch into firewood - with a hacksaw. City people. I wonder how many blades he broke? 'Round these parts, we all have chainsaws, or at the very least, wood saws, even those of us who never get firewood. It's part of the residency requirements. You have to be able to make a living as a logger, firewood gatherer/seller, or contractor at the drop of a hat. That means you must have a) a chainsaw or b) a wood saw and circular saw and c) a pickup or utility trailer or d) all of the above. We have d) all of the above. And The Spouse has gathered firewood, worked as a contractor, and worked in a mill during our tenure here. You do whatever it takes to get by.

Quickly

I took this "what pinup girl are you" quiz I found on Evangeline's site. It said I'm "The Innocent". Interesting. The tag line said "You're sweet, occasionally shy, and men can't resist your virginal appeal!" Riiiiiggggghhhhhhhtttttt... Well, it was fun, even it is a lie.

The Staff Party

This morning was our annual staff holiday party. Everyone brings a bunch of great food, some of us contribute to local charities, and we just visit and have a great time. Oh, and I always write a holiday story incorporating every staff person, and as much as possible, some distinct aspect of their job or personality, or both. In past years I've done a version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, where our maintenance guy is awakened in the middle of the night, and asked to come down to the library to help get Santa and his reindeer off the roof and patch the hole they made when they crashed landed. Of course, every staff member is called in to action, using their particular skills, in order to get Santa back on his way, thus saving Christmas. And it all rhymed. One year it was a take-off on The Grinch - again in rhyme a la Dr. Seuss. Last year I did a version of A Christmas Carol. One of our youngest staff members, Leah, filled the role of Tiny Tim. She was called "Little Leah" - a name that stuck for several weeks. This year, the theme was It's a Wonderful Life. Leah again played a pivotal role, acting as a sort of Charlie the angel-in-training. Actually, it was more along the lines of the Chrismukkah episode of The O.C., in which Ryan and Taylor are knocked unconscious, and awaken in an alternate world where they have to figure out what they need to learn in order to return to the normal world. That was sort of the theme in my story. It was fun. I had two people going to jail, one for embezzlement, one for sexual assault (all trumped up, of course), people working as waitresses and receptionists, all sorts of crazy things, all because one person thought his job didn't matter, so he had to be shown what the world would be like if he didn't work here (ergo the prison sentences and other bad stuff). But people missed the rhyming, so I'm doing a New Year story for the staff, with rhyming.

The food - we had chorizo quiche (YUM!), bacon and cheese quiche, bagels, brownies, cheeses, salami, all sorts of wonderful, fattening, salty stuff. And then I had a doctor's appointment, during which I noticed my water-retaining ankles, just about the time my blood pressure reading came back on the high side. Wow, if there were ever a case to be made for not consuming salt, the way I looked at the doctor's office would be it! Thankfully, I know what the cause of my puffiness was, and the doc was very understanding. This doc, by the way, is the one who delivered Youngest Son. We hadn't seen one another in quite a while - I have been going to a nurse practitioner for my annual exams for several years - so we spent a little time catching up. He is truly one of the greatest doctors of all time. He's such a nice, caring man, and he loves his job, especially the catching babies part. He has a way of making you feel as though he has nowhere else to be but in that room with you, when really, he has an office full of patients to see. He manages to even be on time for his appointments, despite the time he spends with you. He's pretty special. When I lamented my out of shape condition he remarked "Gina, you have an excellent record of keeping yourself in great shape. You'll get back there. This is a tough, transitional time. Don't be so hard on yourself." Wow, what a guy! He got me to agree to get back to exercising regularly and drinking plenty of water after the first of the year. That's doable. So, I'm fine, just going through the things a woman of my age can expect to go through, all the parts are where they belong and operating properly, albeit a little erratically (also normal at my age), so that's always good to hear. He even said I looked very youthful for my 51 years. I told you this guy was good!

Lorraine, I've got your back

The TiVo is set to record BSG Monday night, 8PM PST. Tuesday morning, I will save it to tape. Lorraine has sent me her address, so I will pop it into the mail Tuesday, and Lorraine should be watching her beloved BSG, albeit in archaic VHS technology, by Wednesday or, at the very latest, Thursday. If I could get it there faster, I would, but FedEx employees are not allowed to use their discounted service during peak season, and the US Mail should be able to get mail from Sandpoint to Seattle overnight, shouldn't they?

Only one thing I don't like....

I used to have it setup so that when you clicked on one of the links to the left, they opened in a new window - easy to do with HTML tags. I can't for the life of me (yet) figure out how to make that happen in Blogger beta. Anyone with any info, please leave me a comment or email me.

Where's the Thing v.2, Part 2

YES! Got a comment from Sling who told me that JP had a lorraine update. Long story short, all are well, but still without power, so JP is doing the all-80's, all-request you-know-what video playlist in her stead. But really, JP does such a great job of telling the tale, you must go read his post here. Then, watch the videos.

Oh, and another thing... I finally got my Haloscan comments to work in the new Blogger Beta templates so.... though it may look pretty much the same, I do have a new beta template in place. Also, because you can, I had Blogger Beta sort my blogs of note alphabetically. That meant, of course, because it's a computer and not a person and it doesn't understand that articles like "the" and "a" are not to be considered when you alphabetize stuff, it put The Elective Whisper down below Sling's Domain, which is simply not right. So, to solve the problem, because I do, after all, work in a library, and simply cannot have my alphabetized blog roll alphabetized incorrectly, I numbered each blog according to its proper alphabetical location. The only exception to that is the link to my other blog, because it just has to be at the bottom of the list. So there.

Where's the Thing v.2, Part 1

So, I'm "borrowing" JP's post title because, well, you know. JP was up at 11 PM his time worrying about Lorraine and her gang. That was 9 PM my time (and Lorraine's time), and I'd already checked half a dozen times for a new post from her. Nada. I went to bed at 10 worrying. I got up at 5:30 and the first thing I did was go online, check my RSS feeds, and saw nothing still. "Okay", I'm thinking, "her power got turned back on in the middle of the night, they were tired, cold, and hungry, so went to bed before it got turned back on, so she hasn't blogged yet 'cuz she doesn't know it's on." Makes sense, right? We all know better. We all know that when the power goes back on, there will be all these lights blazing that they forgot were on, the fridge will kick on with that usually unnoticeable but now loud as a chainsaw hum it makes when the compressor starts running, and all sorts of everyday electrical noises you never pay attention to will come alive, startling them from their restless slumber. And we ALL know that Lorraine will, at the very least, post a short entry on her blog letting us all know she is alive and well, albeit starving because Dominos could not send drivers out into the tree covered streets to deliver pizza to them (see JP's above linked post for this reference). Obviously, the power is still out. I decided to check the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's web site for the latest local news. Here's what I found out:

About 700,000 customers of Puget Sound Energy, the state's largest private utility, were without power early Friday, and about three-fourths of the circuits were down in the company's nine-county service area, spokesman Roger Thompson said. Some people could be without power for as long as three days, said Dorothy Bracken, a Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman. Half of Seattle City Light customers -- about 160,000 in all -- were without power Friday morning, the utility reported. That number had dwindled to about 86,000 by 7 p.m. Friday, though city utility officials estimated it would take 48 hours to restore power to many customers. The number is expected to be cut to 30,000 by midnight tonight.

I am not sure which power company supplies power to Lorraine's neighborhood, but regardless, it doesn't look good. She could be without power for the entire weekend - and then some! I know we're all on pins and needles here, waiting for an update, an email, a blog post, something to let us know everything is back to relative normal for Lorraine. I'll do my part, and I know JP will be checking in as well.

Prelude to Lorraine's All 80's All Request Weekend

In an effort to get you all warmed up for Lorraine's all request, all 80's weekend, here's a video that will take you from the 50's to today. My sister sent me this link. It's called "Evolution of Dance". I started off smiling, then found myself chuckling out loud as it went on. I'm embedding a YouTube version, but the resolution is not the greatest, so if you want a better resolution version once you've seen the embedded video, click here.

In the meantime, watch this, and smile along with me, get your dancing shoes out, and have a little fun. The guy is talented.

Hit counters

I'm jealous. I admit it. I have had this blog for two years now. I have had a little over 7,000 hits in that time. It's not bad, but it's not nearly as high as some people. I guess I am just not that interesting a blogger (sniffle, sniffle). I probably wouldn't know that 7,000 hits in two years was a low number if it weren't for that damned Lorraine. I love the woman to death, but really.... 20,000 hits in a year? Yes, she's a funny, talented, beautiful, brilliant woman, but still. Twenty-thousand? And guess who her twenty-thousandth visitor was? You got it. How nice of me to help notch up her hit counter to insurmountable heights. Unbeknownst to her, I am probably responsible for something like a dozen hits a day. Damn that woman. I feel like I did in high school - unpopular nerd on the outside looking in. Sheesh.

Love ya, Lorraine. Congrats on the milestone.

World Wide Words

After reading Lorraine's post (she seems to inspire me a lot, doesn't she? That's 'cuz she's so smart and witty. I hate her. Not really. I heart her.) - actually, after reading comments left on her post about her Christmas plans - I had to look up the origin of a saying used by Seattle Coffee Girl in her comment. The saying she used was "in like Flynn". Many of you may wonder if it's "in like Flynn", or really "in like Flint" - or maybe you won't wonder at all. I knew I had to find the answer. In my googlequest, I found this really great site. It's called World Wide Words. The subheading says "Michael Quinion writes about international English from a British viewpoint." Sounds right up your alley, charlie! There's a plethora of information, links, and definitions there for those who like words and phrases. I like the sidebar entitled Sic!, which highlights the humorous results of grammar and spelling errors found in a myriad of publications. Here's an example:

“I live in Colorado,” says Monica Hensinger, “where they recently passed an ambitious smoking ban. Signs have popped up everywhere informing people of the ban, but the most entertaining one I have seen was in Boulder, where a city-wide smoking ban has been in effect for several years. It read, ‘No Smoking by Boulder City Ordnance’. I didn’t know the city had its own artillery, but it’s probably a good idea to keep people from smoking around it.”

As one who counts Eats, Shoots, and Leaves among my favorite books of all time, this site is right up my alley. If you are similarly inclined, give it a look.

Oh, and for the answer to the "in like Flynn" question, click this link: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-inl1.htm. I learned something.

Merrappy Chrismukkahzaastice!

Lorraine started it. I guess I have to add my two cents. I'm sick and tired of all the brouhaha over Christmas vs. (and for you young 'uns, that's VERSUS, not "verse" - but that's a whole 'nother post) every other religion's - or non-religion's - celebration of whatever this time of year represents. Puh-leeze! Okay, so America is now more multicultural than ever, which I guess means we have to be sensitive to all those other cultures when we celebrate holidays that have been celebrated in this country since its inception. We have to try not to offend anyone. Right. Since that is clearly not possible (heck, people get offended all the time - by someone wearing perfume, by someone wearing leather, by someone whose skin is a different color, by someone who doesn't smile at them....you get the picture), those in charge (you know - "they") have decided in a lot of cases to simply not publicly celebrate the season at all. Retailers don't count. They celebrate anything that even remotely smacks of increased sales. But thanks to our desire to be sensitive, many public facilities no longer put up Christmas decorations because they realize they are bound to offend someone. Even if they put up a menorah, don't put up a nativity (I still don't get why it's okay to put up a Jewish religious symbol, but not okay to put up a Christian one, but that's a whole 'nother post too), and refer to Kwanzaa (which has somewhat suspect origins) and the Solstice, they're going to get it from the atheists and humanists, and probably the Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, so they've started opting for nothing. How pathetic. Why do we feel compelled to throw away our long-held traditions and celebrations simply because the makeup of our society has changed? I doubt Americans or Europeans who live in Asian countries expect them to dismantle their Buddhas or start putting up Christmas trees and nativity scenes; and even if they did, good luck with that. It's not like the U.S. is the only country in the world with a multicultural population. Why are we very nearly the only country in the world who feels compelled to do these things?

Don't get me wrong. I don't think there is anything wrong at all with putting up symbols from any culture in celebration of any holiday. I think everyone should be able to celebrate their holidays with displays in their windows, on their rooftops, whatever, without worrying that someone down the road is going to sue them. I think every business should have that same option. And I even think public agencies, like airports, should be allowed to do likewise, but because they do serve - or perhaps better, represent, people from such diverse cultures, they should try to incorporate as many cultures in their displays as possible, within reason. But if they fail to represent your specific cultural celebration, don't go getting your panties in a twist. You don't visit Saudi Arabia on December 25 and get offended because they don't have nativity scenes or Christmas trees, do you? This is still a predominantly Christian society, with Christians making up over 76% of the population, with secularism coming in second at 13%, Judaism at just over 1%, and all other religions comprising the other 10%. (Taken from ARIS - American Religious Identity Study). Why do the 76% who do celebrate Christmas have to take a back seat to the other 24% who celebrate nothing or a wide array of holidays this time of year? Please, can't we all just get along and tolerate each other?

In the spirit of tolerance, Merrappy Chrismukkahzaastice to all!

This was "our song"

My first husband used to play his guitar and sing this to me, and he was really good... and this song became "our song".

And now, back to the 70's

This song was pretty much the theme to my high school days. My first husband looked so much like JT, especially the hair, that it was almost scary. He sang almost as well too. Memories....

YouTube rocks!

So, I'm sure this will be disabled at some point (copyright protections and all that), but for as long as it's available, here's the video from Oprah with Michael Bublé, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, and Carrie Underwood singing For Once in My Life. Oh, and watch Michael Buble when Carrie hit's a high note.

I love oldies

Last year I bought the Rod Stewart CD The Great American Songbook, Vol 2. after listening to a couple of clips from it. I was a big Rod Stewart fan back in the Maggie May days. I continued to be a fan throughout the ensuing decades, but I wasn't too sure about him singing the oldies. He surprised me. What surprised me more was how much I really liked the oldies - and we're not talking 70's, or even 60's here. We're talking 40's and 50's.

I suppose my penchant for watching old movies throughout my youth, and the fact that I grew up with most of the great old music from Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Mel Torme, et al, playing pretty much all the time when we were home, makes me wax nostalgic when I hear songs from that era. There is something that just feels right about listening to I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Tony Bennett, or White Christmas by Bing Crosby. So, on that note:

And now, for something completely different

I wish I could take what's on my TiVo and put it here. I am watching Tony Bennett, Michael Bublé, Carrie Underwood, and (be still my beating heart) Josh Groban singing For Once in My Life on Oprah. Call me crazy, or weird, but I love all of them. Tony Bennett is just classically amazing. Michael Bublé is great, as is Carrie Underwood. But Josh Groban is beyond amazing. I fell in love with him after seeing him on Ally McBeal. What a voice! You're Still You is still one of my favorite songs of all time. Listen to him sing opera, and I get goosebumps. I think if someone asked me what one "gift" I would ask for, it would be the ability to sing. Oh, sure, I can sing along to the radio, or my MP3 player, and even can sing along with the congregation in church (probably to the chagrin of those standing nearby), but I could never sing a capella or even if accompanied by an instrument. Back when I was five, my mom told me I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. I believed her then. I believe her still. I think I can carry a tune, but I can't SING, and I would kill for that talent. I think almost everyone who can't sing would. On that note, I wanted to post a video of Josh Groban, but YouTube seems to be down at the moment. Look for an update to this post once YouTube is alive again.

Update: Josh Groban singing You're Still You.

Musical interlude

Dan, over at Dan's Blah-Blah Blog, has a little blurb on his sidebar entitled "Most Spins Last Week". This week's winner is Al Green's Greatest Hits. Seeing that album cover instantly took me back to high school, junior year. I absolutely loved Al Green. I knew every song by heart. I used to sing Let's Stay Together in my car on the way to school at the top of my lungs. Thankfully, the only persons subjected to my mangling of Al Green's ditty were my siblings, and really, who cared about them? I mean, they were my younger sisters and brother. It was their duty in life to endure being tortured by me. Besides, I am pretty sure we all sang along, and we were all equally horrible, but we thought we were the next Jackson 5, except we were white, and there were only four of us, but what did that matter?

Anyway, since Lorraine pretty much has the 80's locked up, I'm going to do a little posting of 70's music now and then, for those who care, those who remember the amazing music we had in the 70's, and those who want to walk down that lane with me. To begin our set, ladies and gentlemen, I give you - Al Green!

Eeeeaaaaarly Monday Morn

Today the alarm went off at 4 AM. The Spouse had to be at work at 6:30. Work is an hour away. The Spouse is one of those people who has to be at work early so he can get his mind ready for work. He also wants to have plenty of time "in case".... "in case" he gets a flat (has never happened in 20 years), "in case" their is an accident that closes the highway (has never happened on his way TO work in 20 years), "in case" the car breaks down (has never happened), "in case" the weather is so bad it takes him 90 minutes to go 48 miles (has never happened THAT bad). You know - "in case". So every day, he's at work 30 minutes early. THIRTY MINUTES! I am lucky to be at work 5 minutes after I plan to be there. If I have a meeting, I'm on time, maybe even early (depends on when the meeting is scheduled to start), but never THAT early. Fortunately, I have the luxury of going in whenever I want to. I'm exempt. That means I don't get paid for overtime, but it also means I can come and go as I please, as long as I get my work finished. And even that is subject to interpretation, as there is no such thing as "finished" in my line of work. I don't have the kind of job where I go home with a clean desk, a sigh of satisfaction escaping as I turn off the lights to my office, and a sense of accomplishment. Usually, I go home still mulling over possible solutions to problems with which I am struggling, often awaking in the middle of the night with ideas about how to address them. My desk, my entire office, qualifies as a FEMA disaster area - really. Most of the time, I can find things I need in the mess of my desk. But lately, even that has been difficult. It is really out of conrol, and that is something I do need to get a handle on. I'm thinking the new year will be a great time to do that.

The weekend was pretty good. We got up early - although not as early as The Spouse had hoped - and headed to Coeur d'Alene to start our shopping. The Spouse was due for an eye exam and replacement lenses at the least (it's been two years), so we stopped in at Eyemasters, the place designated by his vision care plan. His frames needed adjusting (he had stepped on them). Surprisingly, they could do his exam in an hour. That meant we could go to Michaels, just across the parking lot, to look at Christmas trees while we waited for his appointment. I found a tree I really liked. In fact, it's the same tree The Daughter has.

We have a tree already. It's at least 12 years old. I'm tired of it. It's too big in diameter and circumference. It's "old technology". It isn't pre-lighted, so I wound lights around each branch, and I leave them on when we put it away, which works pretty well, but it's messy. I have been wanting a new one for a long time. This tree looks so real you have to touch it to see if it is fake. It has neat little pine cones on a lot of the branches. It has about 3400 tips and 800 lights, and best of all, it was on sale for 40% off. We walked over to Target to check out their trees. Not impressed. We went back for his eye exam. The first thing the eye doc told him was the he needs to stop using Clear Eyes or Visine, which is only masking and exacerbating the reasons for his scratchy, itchy, burning eyes. I didn't really realize his eyes bothered him so much. The doc told him to get some Systane eye drops. Well, duh! Those are the eye drops I have been using since my Lasik. I had some with me, so as soon as his exam was over, I had him put some in. He couldn't believe how great they made his eyes feel almost immediately. The doctor told him he has probably the worst kind of prescription you could have, because it leads to eye fatigue, headaches, and exhaustion, especially if one doesn't wear their glasses all the time, like The Spouse. He's farsighted, has as bad an astigmatism as I had pre-Lasik, and has presbyopia. The doc told him he must be a very tolerant individual, since he really only wears his glasses in the evenings, when the low light makes it more difficult to see; that he puts up with poor vision that most people wouldn't accept. I was surprised by how bad his astigmatism is. His prescription is +1.00 +1.75 and +1.50 +1.50. Curiously, his right eye is a little better than it was, while his left is a bit worse. So, new glasses were ordered, and off we headed to the mall in Spokane. No decision was made on the Christmas tree.

The mall parking lot was packed, but oddly, inside the mall it didn't seem all that crowded. We strolled through the mall, window shopping. The Bed & Body Shop caught our attention. The fragrances wafting out into the mall were tantalizing. Inside, the store was packed. It seemed as though all those people from the cars in the lot were in that store. I guess the wide array of items in the shop lend themselves well to stocking stuffers and last-minute gifts. One of the reasons we were there was to pick up small gifts for The Daughter-in-Law's sisters, mother, and sister-in-law, with whom we share Christmas dinner. Still on the list - her father, stepfather, and brother. Every year, her father flies up from California and makes a wonderful prime rib dinner for us all. He bought a cabin in the area a little over a year ago, so we've been buying him things to decorate his cabin. The father-in-law and brother are more difficult, but they're both readers, so a gift card to Barnes & Noble or Borders seems logical.

Lunch at Azteca hit the spot, then on to more shopping. We decided to go ahead with the tree from Michael's, so headed back to Coeur d'Alene. I went in, paid for the tree, and waited to have it brought out. The store was packed, with long lines at all the registers. Finally, the warehouse clerk approached me. Despite the fact that the tree had a pouch with several tickets in it - tickets you take to the register to use for paying and claiming your tree - there was apparently only one tree - the display model. I didn't want the display model. It had burned out lights and was dusty. Frustrated, I got a refund, and the number for the Michael's stores in Spokane. We had to head home to pick the grandkids up by 4:30. I called the Michael's near the mall we had just left. They had at least 5 of the particular tree. I asked her to hold one for me. When I called back yesterday, just to make sure they were holding one for me, the girl told me they actually had 13 of the trees. I remembered I had an appointment in Spokane this morning, not far from Michael's, so told her I'd be there to get it this AM.

We picked the kids up. I helped The Daughter with her outfit for the party - she was having trouble deciding on a top to wear with the adorable skirt she'd just bought - and we headed home, grandkids in tow. By the way, remember those adorable Mary Janes Lorraine bought from Payless back when Edy sent her shoes to wear? Well, The Daughter had the very same Mary Janes! And let me tell you, they are even more adorable, and flattering, in person than on the web page. I want some! Anyway, we asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. Nearly in unison they said "Kid's Cuisine"! Grandson favors the mac and cheese meal, while Granddaughter goes for the Taquito meal. What the heck. Grandparents are supposed to spoil grandkids, right? So, Kid's Cuisine it was, and the candy of their choice for dessert. If you're going to spoil them, why not go all the way?

We pulled the futon mattress off the futon in the spare room and dragged it out into the living room, laid out the kids' sleeping bags, and after dinner, snuggled up to watch the movies they'd brought along - their favorites: A Christmas Story and The Santa Clause. I've never been a huge fan of the former, but I do like the latter a lot. A Christmas Story is cute, but despite it being a favorite of so many, it doesn't hold the same appeal for me as Miracle on 34th Street, or even A Christmas Carol (the original black and white version with Alistair Sim). I love those movies. And let's not forget the classic White Christmas. Anyway, we watched both movies, with Grandson falling asleep in the middle of the last one. Granddaughter talked us into giving her one of her two birthday presents - a Jesse McCartney CD. She was ecstatic. Sunday morning meant playing the CD while we got ready for breakfast out.

Now, here's where things get really cute. I walked into the living room, where Grandson (remember, he's 5) was standing facing the TV. It is a 53" big screen (older, not the new flat panel kind). It was off. Grandson was looking at his reflection. He had on a button down shirt over a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. He kept standing there, putting his hands in his pockets, and looking down. I realized he was looking at the CD case. It dawned on me that he was trying to look like the photo of Jesse McCartney on the CD. I had to help. Jesse's shirt collar was up, his cuffs were rolled back. So, I upturned his collar, flipped the cuffs back, then told his sister to check out her brother. When I looked back at him, he was standing with his head turned to the side, exactly like the Jesse pose. It was just too cute. He had to go pose for Grandpa too. I had to clue Grandpa in, but he got it pretty quickly. When we got to breakfast with the gang, he had to make sure everyone checked out his attire and got the connection too. Who would figure that a five year-old would care about stuff like that? Too cute.

After breakfast, we went downtown to do some shopping. Unfortunately, nothing was open yet. Nothing opened until 11 (small towns). So, we went back home, did a few chores, and about 3 hours later went back downtown. I knew what was up. The only thing I had mentioned that I even remotely wanted was a new pair of Uggs. I figured we were going to the Uggs store so I could try them on. I was right.

I'm glad I tried them on. I have a pair already - a pair I've had for about 12 years. They're the black Ultimate Tall Uggs. They're great, but they're faded. I wanted a pair of the Ultras, and they felt great on, but didn't realize they don't come in talls. I only want talls. I almost bought another pair of what I already have, but decided I really wanted options. There is nothing wrong with my old pair. So they're a little faded. Big deal. New sheepskin insoles, at just $20, makes them almost as good as new. No, I needed something different. I was very attracted to the Sundance. It's a chestnut color, tall, with exposed sheepskin seams. I don't wear them rolled down, though. Heck, I wear them under my jeans, not with jeans tucked in, so why bother with the exposed seams? I just love the feel, the look, and the color.

So, we bought them. That's my Christmas present from The Spouse. It doesn't matter one bit to me that I have them already, or that I picked them out. I love them! So now, I have options. I could seriously live in Chaco sandals one half of the year and Uggs the other half. Thank you, Spouse!

Now the dilemma is, what to get The Spouse? He's a tough one. I do have it narrowed down to a Shop-Vac, a really nice set of screwdrivers, and candles (he loves candles). Maybe I'll just get them all. Then I'll be finished, with the exception of Youngest Son. He's going to be toughest of all. With his upcoming trip to France, it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy him random Christmas gifts. Everything should be something he'll need for his trip - maybe even just cash. We'll decide once he's home from school next weekend, and we can talk with him about what he wants.

So, weekend is over. Work beckons, once again. The days will only get longer for The Spouse from now until Christmas. Today I will get our new tree. Tonight I will start decorating it and the house. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Final Frenzied Flurry

I'm trying to make up for not being able to blog over the weekend, so I'm blogging like a madwoman right now. It's 6:30 PM. I'm at work. I am not working on work stuff, though, just stuff I need to work on. Got that? The Spouse will be home at about 8:15 tonight. We'll have to catch up on episodes of The O.C. and Day Break, then head off to bed so we can get an early start tomorrow.

Next week is Youngest Son's finals week. He's inundated with last minute homework, studying, the usual pre-finals frenzy.

I have two weeks to complete a project at work that I've been working on for over a year. I'm not sure what will happen to me if I don't meet the deadline. I should be scared, but I'm pretty good with deadlines. Except today, AT&T/Conexant had a big backbone failure, so we couldn't get to 3M. Since I have to connect to a server there while working on this project, I couldn't make any progress on it at all today. The outage affected Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Just my luck. Gave me time to finish my bonus application, though. (Gotta find that silver lining).

Okay, I have stuff to work on.