MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

and here's a very special Christmas gift to all of you, from me and J:

ummmmmm

okay, the titling posts with sounds thing may have to end here- i'm out of sounds. not much to write about today though, so the sound may be appropriate after all.

it's raining here, and will be all weekend- bummer. "i'm dreaming of a wet Christmas" just doesn't have the same ring to it. though i'm sure that there are many colorado-ians (-ites?) who would be more than happy to pass on the white Christmas they're having- yikes, that's a lot of snow! looks like kristoise got out of that state just in time...

had my Christmas night with J last night, and, as usual, it just dissolved into a night of drinking too much wine and falling asleep on the couch watching a Christmas episode of south park (see sarachkah- you're really not missing much). decided to skip "IAWL" (too long to write out), as it's actually a pretty depressing movie, and we were late getting to dinner. our waitress at dinner was a total beeyotch, even though J and i gave her every opportunity to redeem herself ( too bad for her really, as we are very generous customers, and she screwed herself right out of a great tip).the german village thing was fun though, complete with carolers. i love Christmas in the city.

walking around the german bazaar made me think of my Dad. the last time he visited me in Chicago, we went there and he bought me a purple knit hat which i still have, even thought it's too small for my head. i saw the same hat stand and my eyes misted up a bit. i was talking to a co-worker yesterday about him and it re-sparked my interest in writing down my family history (in fictional form, of course). i have been meaning to write a short story/ novella/ play/ screenplay about my father and his various wives and children for some time now, but i just can't seem to get started. maybe i will make that a goal for the new year (i won't say 'resolution'- that's just doomed to fail). i have a snazzy title and everything, and i've already cast the movie (i will be played by ms. kate winslet, of course...), so writing it out should just be cake.

well, back to a long day of not working. my friend R is coming up to meet me for lunch and stocking stuffer shopping, so that should break up the monotony. hope it stops raining by then...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! LET THE FUN BEGIN!! WOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!
i am officially ready to start enjoying the holiday season- all of my packages are neatly packed and ready to ship, and as soon as i drop them off at the post office (in about an hour) they will be on their way to spread holiday cheer throughout the eastern seaboard! at this point i am so happy that they are done that i don't really care when they get where they're going, but they should (according to the post office...sketchy...) be there in plenty of time for x-mas. YAAAAAAAY!! I'M DONE!!!

so tonight, in celebration, J and i are going to have our annual Christmas night (it used to be a whole Christmas day, but since i have entered the 9 to 5 world, we've had to scale back). we're going down town to the "christkindlemarket", this cute little german village they set up under the huge Christmas tree in daley plaza, where they serve gluuwein (hot mulled wine- yummmmmmm) and sell all sort of very pretty (and totally over priced) hand made ornaments. then we may even catch the late showing of "it's a wonderful life" at the local vintage movie house. fun! it's raining right now, which is kind of a bummer for walking around down town much, but at least it's not terribly cold.

that's it really, that's all i have to say. no bitching today, cuz i am ready to kick back and enjoy my 5 days of Christmas. merry merry one and all!

pffffttttttttttttttttt..

i think i'm going to start all of my blogs with random, made-up sound words. i like it.

that sound i started with today is something like a long drawn out raspberry of disgust. i'm in a mood, and by that i mean a grumpy one. it's a week til Christmas, how could I be in a mood? i love Christmas (so much that i insist on capitalizing it, which should say something), i truly believe that it's the most wonderful time of the year, magical and tingly and warm and all that jazz. but this year it's stressing me out; i don't know how, but it really snuck up on me. i was so sure that thanksgiving (see, no capitalization there) being so early would put me way ahead of the game, that i would be relaxed and excited by now, all of my gifts bought and wrapped and all of my packages safely en route to my various family groups on the east coast. but no. i may not even get all of my family's packages out on time to reach them by Christmas- &*%((*#&@()@#!!! i did get some good gifts for every one this year, so i guess better late than never, but now i have to print, wrap, bake, assemble and pack them all, then stand in line for five hours at the post office in order to pay an arm and a leg for them to arrive late anyway. AAAACCKKKKK! i wish my family would buy into the grab bag idea; it would save me a lot of time. but, since they don't, i will most likely be up until the wee hours tonight getting everything ready to ship out. ho ho ho.

i want to be able to relax and enjoy this week! after Christmas it's all downhill until summer (which, in this part of the country, is at least a good five months off), so i need to be able to enjoy this time! after wednesday- aka: D(elivery) Day- things should calm down a little. i am happy that we're staying in town this year; at least we don't have to worry about traveling stress. just to complicate things for myself, i have invited several people over for a Christmas Eve buffet dinner, which i will now have to shop and cook for this weekend, but i actually enjoy that kind of thing. J even ordered us a goose for Christmas dinner from the chef at his work; how very Dickensian of us! (i was going to try and make a figgy pudding, but that may be pushing it). so i just need to focus on getting to the weekend. ironically, i have most of J's presents already, and still have all day saturday to shop for him. well, at least i won't be stressed as i battle the panicked last-minute masses to buy a few stray stocking stuffers.

okay, so i'm in the final countdown to Christmas cheer and relaxation. that makes me feel better, to realize that by this time tomorrow it will all be over. i am doing a Christmas show with my band tonight, and i almost wish i wasn't, so that i could have the extra assembly time. but i'll just come home, fix myself a glass of wine and go on a packing spree.

gee, it's not so bad after all (must be the Christmas magic kicking in...)

tah-dah

well kiddos, i'm back. driven back by boredom- make that extreme boredom- with the internet. that and a guilt-inducing comment made by MAH that i never update my blog. don't know why it induced guilt, actually, but it did, and so i'm here. blogging. but i refuse to capitalize, so there. i'm too tired to capitalize.

last night was my and J's third annual holiday party, and while it went off with nary a hitch, and was a truly delightful evening, it left me plumb tuckered (to steal a descriptive phrase from Hee Haw- damn, tricked into capitalizing by a seventies hillbilly variety show!). i think my tiredness (is that a word? too tired to check...) may be due to the fact that i spent the last week in feverish prepartion for said delightful holiday soiree, including ( i do not know why, so don't even bother to ask) baking over 300 cookies from scratch. right now, of course, all i want to do is lay in a soft clean bed and stuff my face with the (many) leftover cookies and wine currently sitting on my dining room sidebar. i do NOT want to be sitting at work doing absolutely nothing even remotely useful, as i desperately surf the net for new and interesting celebrity gossip/snarky comments and count the seconds until i get to go home to my couch, my tv and the formerly coveted leftovers. as a bonus feature of this tedious, tired-out day, my allergies are acting up and i have already sneezed myself into the double digits. joy. nothing a fistful of lemon bars, a nice glass of shiraz, and a tivo'ed 70's Christmas special can't fix.

the only thing that is not good about having an easy and totally laid back job is that it does often lead to mind-numbingly dull days, especially when the job is at a university and all of the students have left campus for a month but i still have to show up and look busy for eight hours a day. well, it could be much much worse- i could still be shilling tickets to tense, spoiled tourists, riled up to a state of perfectly stunning unpleasantness by the pressure of the holiday season. very glad i'm not doing that. very very. and the boring job provides insurance and paid vacation- double bonus.

so after that whiny little diatribe, is anyone really glad that i started blogging again? maybe i will just turn this into a bitching post, a way to vent my frustrations and practice my typing. god knows i have been meaning to write more, and this is writing- kinda- though hardly deep, pulitzer worthy stuff. a bitching post- i like that. maybe i'll even implement a name change for the page. dead parents is just such a downer way to introduce yourself. i think it's funny, but i have a feeling that most people just find it unsettling.

well now i'm just rambling. and no one will read this anyway. so i should probably stop talking to myself online and go now.