21 days until Christmas

If you were to ask me what I'd been doing the last few days, I would have no idea what to tell you. I do know that I've spent the majority of those hours surrounded in various and assorted bits of Christmas. All my household decorations are up, including the stockings you see here, and I'm happy to say that my place is looking quite festive. My kitchen is usually the last section of the house to be festooned, but this time, the stockings were the last pieces to be put up. Mainly because I didn't know where to put them, until I decided that this particular wall was looking a bit naked, and was all, "What the hell, let's go all the way." And so now my living room is crazy Christmas-y with stockings taking over an entire wall.
Also, and I'll brag about this a little, I got some Christmas shopping done today! Huzzah, Target! I love it ... presents, presents, presents! It makes me so happy to buy stuff for the people I love. I spent some time with my list this morning, decided that there was no reason for me to wait until next week to get it crossed off, and dragged my baby over to Target for a second time this week. I distracted her with a bag of pretzels, handed her every toy she was interested in to occupy her while I shopped in earnest, and was able to cross off a significant portion of my list. Tonight, I regroup and prepare for another trip out into the world of gifting.

It's fun to write in birthdays

Well, I'm surrounded by Christmas-ness. Not all of it is were it should be, nor is it where it will be, but it is everywhere right now. I started digging through the decorations this afternoon while Sydney slept, and did a lot more after she went to bed tonight, but I'm still skipping over piles of the stuff in my office. Interestingly, I've got a pile that I don't want anymore. My goal was to lessen my Christmas by a full bin/box, and I think I may have done it. Of course, I have a bag full of new stuff, but that's neither her nor there. Something I did choose to bypass, but still kept, was the collection of window gel clings that I use on the windows (duh) and mirrors. I actually decided at Halloween not to use them anymore for a while, because for some reason, I became bored with them. I kind of like it without them, but we'll see how it looks when I'm done.
Also, I got my new calendars this afternoon! Yay! I have never, never been so late in filling out a calendar. These things are usually all taken care of by mid-November, at the latest. You want to know what I got? Boston for the kitchen, as usual, Planet Earth for the office, Winnie the Pooh for Sydney's room, and The Princess Bride for my closet. If I'm done with my decorations by naptime tomorrow, I may get them done then. But if not, you know I'll have them finished by the end of the weekend. I love calendars ... la, la, la.

It's a circus and a funhouse on iTunes

I downloaded Pink's new album, Funhouse, and pre-ordered Britney's Circus this afternoon. The deluxe version of Circus includes a video and a bonus track for pre-orders, so of course, I had to get that. I got the deluxe version of Pink's Funhouse as well, which also includes a video.
But someone tell me about this "Digital Booklet." Is that like the actual little book that comes in real, plastic CDs? (Full disclosure: I just figured that out.) Does it include lyrics? Cool! I guess I should take a look at that, huh? Well, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to look at Britney's, but I could look at Pink's tonight.
I probably won't though. I'm tired, and kinda lazy.

An Apple-tini instead, please

I decided to bail on the Apple Store this morning. For a few reasons: 1.) I don't have the money to repair anything wrong with the computer; 2.) I'd rather just pay to buy a CD's worth of music twice (once on iTunes and again on plastic) rather than credit card the repair. Besides, I rarely buy a plastic CD anymore, so it would only happen two or three times in a year; 3.) It won't be too long (I hope) before I get a new laptop anyway; and 4.) I really needed to visit the grocery store instead of the Apple store.
All these may sound like spectacular excuses, but really, I'm okay with all of them. I'd been on the fence about the fix anyway. And right there are four reasons to hop to the side of "not do anything."

"Dear Santa ... I'd like iTunes cards for Christmas, please."

Updates on that adventure to come, I'm sure!

ITEM!: So how cool is this? I am living across the street from a Christmas tree lot! Awesome! I don't smell the trees, because they're still a bit far, I guess, but I can certainly see them. And this is just the thing I need to push me over the edge into crazy holiday giddiness. You know what this means, don't you? It means that Brian and I can find and buy a tree, and just carry it across the street, like they do in all those big city-based shows and movies ... and best of all, it won't get all kinds of needles in my car!
ITEM!: I always love it when the space shuttles land in California at Edwards Air Force Base. Maybe, some day, I'll get to watch a landing, or even better and more incredible, a launch. From the inside, yeah, from the inside.
ITEM!: I'm taking the laptop in to the Apple store tomorrow. I would say that the errand should be interesting, but really, I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk away from the place disappointed. Somehow, I doubt they'll be able to fix my little door issue, because the computer is so old, and they'll tell me that the video problem is some inherent software hiccup, and, oh look at that, the whole piece of machinery may just melt if I take it home without a ridiculous amount of money paid to their Genius Bar.

When the chips fall, they sound the same

I played, and lost, two games of Connect 4 tonight. On a whim ... Brian's whim, specifically ... we bought the game at Target this evening. He made me promise I would play with him, "like, 10 times," before he put it in the cart, so he could be sure he would get his $10 worth of fun out of it. Two games down, eight to go. What's fun is the level of strategy involved. I had forgotten how chess-like it can be to play. And really, I was totally on board with buying the game. In fact, I would have gotten Operation too, if he'd asked me a second time. I love those games. I can't wait to play games with Sydney! My personal favorite, Chutes & Ladders, will be the most fun, I think. This time next year, Santa will be bringing a nice pile of Milton Bradley (and others) boxes to her. It'll be as much a fun day for me as for her when we get to open and play them!

This isn't our meal; ours was prettier

Well, I hope you all had a happy and fun Thanksgiving! I heard on the news that the typical holiday feast adds up to about 3,000 calories. I could see that. I mean, I love the big pile of stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the bread and butter, and the turkey (but on a sandwich, not alone). And I'm not one to deny myself a second helping of any of those, especially stuffing.
We all went down to Tucson to spend the holiday with Brian's side of the family, and had a great time. The end of the evening was spent in an all-out marathon game of Uno, that stretched about two hours. Oh, make no mistake, I won. It was a particularly competitive game -- happily so -- and we all thoroughly enjoyed the strategy. I didn't cheat, though Brian accused me of it, and I am very pleased with my win. We decided though, that the next time we're all together, we won't wait until the last hour to play. We'll start playing earlier in the day so we can get more than one game in.
I called the Mac place down the street about the CD door on my computer and to see if I could bring it in Monday morning. There was a very unhelpful guy who answered the phone who, first of all, needed to be told three times what the problem was, and seemed to only care what color the laptop is; then, wasn't sure of anything but that he didn't think they had any new doors, or could get any, or that they could even fix it; and finally, thinks that maybe the Apple store would be a better place to get the door fixed. Honestly, I hate dealing with the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store, the guys are super condescending and the whole enterprise is too expensive, and that's why I deal with this Mac places instead. But not about this, I guess. If I remember right, I have to make my appointment online. Okay, I'll head over there now. Let's get this started, yes?

And still a crazy flat stomach

I'll tell you, it's weird how little amount of sleep I've gotten over the last week. There's really no reason for it, except that, damn it, I just haven't been ready to be asleep before midnight since some time last week. I finished a book though, the other night, so that's a good thing. At any rate, my latest bout of nocturnal living is making it difficult for me to get earlier sleep tonight. It's a couple minutes before 10, I'm still sitting here at the computer (that has not been repaired yet), and I'm only really interested in dicking around on Facebook. And Gladiator is on TV. But the positive feeling I'm getting from this is that I don't really want to do anything else tonight, and I just stifled a yawn, so maybe I will get to sleep on time.
So, check her out. It looks like our dear Britney finally has her life back together, and she'll be rocking the newest cover of Rolling Stone, out this week. Doesn't she look pretty, and healthy? I'm loving the new single, "Womanizer," and I'm geeked about the new album, Circus, which drops on December 2. There was an article on Brit on USAToday.com this morning, and it was a positive, emotionally controlled, and logical interview, or so I gathered from the minimal quotes allowed in the story. I think I may buy this issue, and show my support.

New [Old Guys] on the Block

I had every intention of watching The American Music Awards tonight. We actually sat through Christina Aguilera's opening performance and Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue. I guess we stopped watching after Pink's performance ... yes, that must be when, because I can't remember anything after that.
I'll admit to being an old woman in regards to the show tonight. I said to myself, in my head, "Let's check this out and see what all the young kids are listening to nowadays." I think I underestimated either my crushingly short attention span or my lack of real interest, because even when given the opportunity to return to the program, I chose instead to do my nails, watch The Bourne Ultimatum, and wait impatiently for True Blood.
My intentions were sound though. I wanted to see what The Jonas Brothers were about, the same with Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo and other acts that I've heard of, but not from. (Actually, weren't The Jonas Brothers on DWTS last season? I must have blocked it; I don't remember their actual performance.)
Honestly and sadly, I think it was the New Kids on the Block segment that pushed me over the edge. I felt so ... embarrassed ... for my generation. Though the girls who loved NKOTB were a couple years younger than me, I still knew the tunes. And I hated watching them do the same dance to "The Right Stuff," and listen to an older Joey McIntyre sing "Please Don't Go, Girl." Even Brian asked me, "Aren't they a bit old to be singing about being someone's boyfriend?"
So really, even though I would call it a valiant effort to get through the show and educate myself on today's music that's worthy of receiving an award, I didn't force myself into viewership, nor did I even check in regulary throughout the show, feigning an interest.
Sigh. Always the best intentions, but so many times, they fall short. ... Did I really miss anything amazing?

Tip: Don't let them run around unleashed

With yesterday's dog-walking experience fresh in mind, I approached Assignment 4 for my writing course with a specific purpose. The task was to write a 500- to 1,000-word nonfiction article for children or teens about anything we had knowledge of from our life, but in which we also could incorporate any current research we might do. It really sounds crazy vague the way I just said it, huh?
Okay, here's some help: my topic is how to walk a dog. I basically gave a tutorial, in a bright and refreshing turn of phrase, of course, on how an 8- or 9-year-old kid would go about walking a dog, including the best way to fit a collar, tips on allowing the dog time to sniff around, warnings for possible issues (i.e., eating stuff off the ground, and keeping them on a short leash around other dogs and children), and the reminder to always, always pick up the dog's poop.
I popped out the article in an hour, which makes me angry that I've been procrastinating so, but the more I think about the piece, the happier I am with it. I'm excited to read it again tomorrow morning and get it ready to send out to Judy. The hitch in my get-along right now is coming up with a stunning and catchy title. It's not really a hitch so much as something I haven't thought about yet. I'll get it ready for mailing tomorrow and get it out on Monday. Yay!

Prince thinks gay marriage isn't right

Really, one doesn't very often come across a rock star who goes on record about something that could very easily alienate a number of the star's fans. And it's even more rare that the rock star in question is one that's been around for a while and has legions of fans.
Prince, yes, Prince, was quoted in The New Yorker as saying he does not believe that gay marriage is "right." He said that he disagreed with a liberal "Democrat" view of life, pointing to gay marriage as something condoned by the party that he disagreed with because it clashed with the teachings of the Bible.
Here's a fun quote: "God came to Earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out," he said. "He was, like, 'Enough.'
"[In the USA] you've got the Republicans, basically they want to live according to [the Bible]. But there's the problem of interpretation, and you've got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn't.
"And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you've got blue, you've got the Democrats, and they're, like, 'You can do whatever you want.' Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right."
I'll allow that the quotes might have been taken out of context. And I'll allow that he was probably on a roll about something and may have forgotten that he was talking to a journalist. But the words seem to speak for themselves, and the entirety of the quote leads me to believe that this was not a stray phrase here and a random word there. And my previous life as an intrepid reporter myself leads me to believe that he wasn't misquoted either, that's just what everyone who's quoted saying something they perhaps shouldn't have says to cover for themselves. And wow, I hate to say it, but I'm crazy disappointed in Prince having heard this from him. I always thought he was one of those people, Democrat or not, who thought people could do whatever they want.

It ruined my afternoon, that's for sure

We, as a family, had a wretched walk this afternoon. Today marks the second time I tried to walk both my dogs and my kid around the complex. The first time went okay, but not so bad that I would refuse to attempt it again. So this afternoon, I leashed up my dogs, grabbed my toddler, and we headed down the stairs and around the building. The first half of the walk was fine ... really, it was. Sydney kinda listened to me, the dogs are good on their leashes, and the weather was fine. As we made our way towards the homeward stretch of the loop, we came upon the parking lot that must be crossed. I asked for Sydney's hand; "No." I asked again and a third time; "No." I grabbed her forearm, and a screaming fit ensued. I really ignored it, though the more screaming, the more irritated I got. Once we got across the lot though, I let her go to run ahead with the dogs and pick up rocks. She wasn't interested in listening to me, but I knew that we were close to home, so no big worries.
As we came upon the back stairs to our building. the girl living next door to us was coming down the stairs with her two dogs for their walk. The dogs were barking and straining at their leashes, but she held them well, and I pulled Ollie and Daisy toward the walk around the building, avoiding the now-occupied stairs. One dog pulled out of its collar though, and came ran down the stairs toward my pooches. The girl ran down the stairs to get her dog, but that, of course, brought along the second dog. The two dogs then proceeded to swarm over my puppy. They weren't viciously attacking, but it was hardly playing, I thought. Daisy tried to run, but could only go so far on her leash, and then ran back and wrapped her leash around the other girl's legs trying to get away. I reached down to grab her right as she started to really squeal. I picked her up, and then the dogs turned on Oliver. They ran at him, and were basically flanking him. He had nowhere to go and no way to get away. He circled and sat, and at that moment, the girl finally got control of both her dogs and dragged them away. Thankfully, even though she thought she could help, and did get caught up in some of the leash twisting, Sydney stayed out of the direct line of fire.
After all this, of course, Sydney decides to show me more attitude, and demonstrate more of her not-listening state of mind, so I grabbed her and carried both her (screaming and crying) and Daisy (shaking and muddy) upstairs, Oliver (ever calm, though knowing I'm pissed) following closely behind.
It was when I got home that I started shaking and freaking out. I mean, what if, when I had picked up Oliver, the dogs (which were no bigger than Oliver, but had more of an attack pack mentality) went after Sydney? How do you carry all three of your babies in only two arms? I know I would have been able to do it, but the actual fear that strummed through me when I thought of what else could have happened freaked me out.
So, it'll be a while longer before I try this again on my own.

I'm a Mac, and I won't open my CD door

It's been a while, so don't you think it's about time for the computer to need some fixing? I mean, it's been a couple years since the great hard drive crash of 2006, so the laptop should really have some kind of meltdown. It does not disappoint me. Currently, I'm dealing with two specific issues: the CD/DVD drive will not open, no matter how I smack, pull or jab at it; and, well, this has been an issue for quite some time, any videos, be they network television programs or YouTube segments, come through all pixelated, start and stop, and never are in sync so far as sight and sound. It's a drag, especially since so many of my favorite sites have streaming videos on them. But the CD thing is what finally tipped the scales toward a visit to the computer doctor. I went to upload the new Pink CD into my iTunes, and could not get the damn little door to open. If you can't insert the CD, you can't upload the CD ... and I refuse to buy the CD and then buy the music on iTunes, too. All that, even if I am living fast and loose with iTunes credits from my mommy. I hate to waste them because of laziness, even though I'm sure the repair of the CD door will cost more than the cost of the music. At any rate and for however much, I'll be taking the computer in to the Mac guys on Monday morning.

Wall*E rocks!

Dude, you guys, we just finished watching Wall*E. That is, by far, one of the cutest little love stories I've ever seen in my life. I mean, really, who falls in love with a robot? But my goodness, it was almost too cute and adorable! Of course, the movie had some great, but sometimes, it was unexpectedly depressing. Great: the little cleaning robot; Eve's attitude; Wall*E's house. Depressing: Earth as a disgusting garbage can; people who don't move on their own anymore; drinking all snacks and meals. And seriously, at some point, my husband said to me, "Wall*E's not going to die in this movie, is he?" I shook my head and said, "No. Not possible. It's still a Disney movie." But even as I said that, I was a bit concerned. Having finished the film, Brian and I couldn't be more enamored of the story, and the love, between the robots! Fun!

I'll miss you, orange chicken with chicken

I'll admit to first, loving Panda Express. It's one of my favorite places to eat; I enjoy the chow mein quite a bit, and I love that Sydney enjoys the chow mein. My usual meal, which I've eaten since I first tried the restaurant's food, is the chow mein and orange chicken. The second item can be anything, depends on what I'm hungry for at that time, maybe cream cheese rangoon, beef and broccoli, spring rolls, or crispy shrimp. So it was with some excitement that I realized that since Sydney and I were at the mall right at lunchtime today, we could eat lunch at Panda. So I ordered my meal -- chow mein, orange chicken, and my second item, chicken and string beans -- and happily found a table for myself and my kid. I piled up Sydney's portion of chow mein, added a couple pieces of the chicken and string beans, and then settled in to my own plate. But when I bit in to my first piece of orange chicken, I was disgusted to realize that the entire piece was a hard and too crunchy piece of fried batter in orange sauce. I don't think there was the tiniest bit of chicken in that bite. So I tried another. Again, it was a hard piece of fried batter in orange sauce. I tried again, because I'm nothing if not an optimist. AGAIN! Piece of fried batter in orange sauce with no chicken! I did not try again. I was grossed out. I moved on to the chicken and string beans. And there! THERE! That is the item that had all the chicken that should have been in my orange chicken dish! So instead of enjoying my orange chicken with chicken in it, I enjoyed the chicken and string beans with chicken in it. And honestly, from now on, when I go there, I will avoid the orange chicken in favor of another, visibly evident chicken dish. Orange chicken is obviously the dish in which Panda Express has decided to cut back its expenses. Because really, if it's all fried batter and orange sauce, who would notice that there's no chicken left in it?