1. Two presents down, 8 million more to go.

2. Wendy Williams is becoming my favorite 10 am tv show.

3. I'm looking forward to actually meeting a city councilman for the first time tonight. Hopefully he'll give my church a crap ton of money.

1. Counting down to vacation.
2. I was SUPPOSED to have my heat fixed today. Just got a call that it won't be until Thursday or Friday. It's been 49-50F/9-10C in the house in the mornings. (weep!)
3. I've bought zero christmas presents yet.

1. AAAAAHHHHHGGG finals. lots due. Argh.

2. Not sure when Christmas shopping & card mailing will happen, due to #1. It has to happen before Friday though, just like my finals.

3. Am massively looking forward to having a little time off and not worrying so much about things. I don't remember being quite this stressed about finals and grades last time I was in college.

1) Massive headaches with insurance company on getting my kid's various treatments covered. I think in this case the Giant Blue Health Insurance Company is more or less acting in good faith and the health care provider's office is giving me the run around. This is miserable to sort out and deal with.

2) Winter storm watch for tomorrow afternoon/evening, with a prediction of up to 10 inches of snow. Do. Not. Want. Snow ceased being fun many years ago. It may look pretty falling down but it turns black quickly, snarls traffic and makes it impossible for my kid (who refuses to wear mittens) to go outside and play. Sigh. I have no right to complain about this since I live in Chicago and snow is simply a fact of life here.

3) Playing Mah jongg tonight, yay! The ladies are coming here and I'll have good treats and we'll play in front of the fireplace. I know it has a reputation as an old lady game but OMG it is so fun and it's my youngest hippest friends who taught me to play. Last time we played I won $2.75! My sister and brother take every opportunity to remind me how truly pathetic I've become but I don't care .. Maj is so fun.

1. Started off the day extremely productively and then got sucked into the hole of online scrabble.

2. About to go mail my mother's xmas present. Hopefully it will make it in time for xmas.

3. We got our tree last night! it's a balsam, because the smell is the most important thing to me. Husband thinks it is too skinny, but I think it's perfect.

ooooh, mah jongg is on my list of things I want to learn. I have a really pretty set, and a book of instructions for beginners and no one to play it with, boo.

1. Crazy busy week ahead, starting with a possible 12-hour work day tomorrow. Thursday, we're going to see a taping of "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" (yay!) and Saturday a family get-together with partner's side of the family.

2. Got the tree up and decorated last night! I don't know when (or if) we'll have time to hang lights on the outside of the house, though. Maybe Sunday.

3. It is so damn hot in my edit room, and so freezing cold in the hallway, that when I open the door I expect a storm cloud to form in the doorway.

1. No tree for at least another week.

2. Went to municipal court this morning for the first time ever. I had gotten a ticket because I forgot to renew my vehicle registration (since July). The cop was an asshole about it, keeping me for a LONG time in order to find out if there was anything else on me. But anyway, I got it cut by half, in front of the judge.

3. It's damn cold here this week!

1. One game ends; another begins.
2. I stand in judgment.
3. Problems are problematic.

1. Back from an interesting weekend trip to Miami for two very different purposes: Art Basel and my grandfather's unveiling.
2. I am filling in for my boss at a one-on-one meeting with the new company prez tomorrow and I feel muy importante. I should be thinking more about what I'll say and less about what I'll wear.
3. This week is booking up quickly with plans. I think tonight I'll just catch up on tv.

1. It's butt cold here.
2. I'm going out to freeze my butt off in it.
3. Is being buttless that bad of a thing?

1. Though I often really love the gift-giving part of the holidays, my family has opted to do a relatively small budget for Christmas presents this year. And to my surprise, I actually really like it, because it simplifies the whole choosing-shopping thing and allows more time for some other enjoyments.

2.Last week was so busy that I'm really looking forward to just chilling at home the next few nights, as much as possible. Tonight: decorate our new tree, which we got yesterday.

3. When we got the tree, the Rotary Club woman who sold it to us taught us a wonderful new treehacking trick to tie it onto the roof of your car. Instead of popping the tree on top and then tying it, you double your rope and make a cow-hitch loop around the tree trunk at the top and bottom. Then you have two strands of equal length, secured to the tree, that you can bring into the car and secure inside. Super easy!

1. In Dalby. What did I do to deserve this?
2. It's damned hot - 46c yesterday afternoon.
3. Thankful for air-conditioning.

1. Saw professional concert of "Messiah" last night. Never ceases to amaze me how 15+ musicians can be EXACTLY in tune together and play REALLY COMPLICATED trills and shit AS IF they were ONE voice.

2. Still chuckling over watching Robin Williams last night. Best line (spoiler): "come out, come out, seven of nine!"

3. Facing the realization that I'll never be good at smalltalk, and that going to the holiday company party is not likely to net me any new best friends or important ideas, I'm thinking of skipping it.

1. Neighborhood's xmas house tour is this weekend and I've managed to volunteer for everything: running the website, editing the newsletter, delivering street closing flyers, hanging wreaths from light poles (short ones fortunately), letting two other volunteers use my garage to assemble luminaries and then leading at least two 2-1/2 hours tours through the neighborhood. Hopefully I'll be awake for the big volunteer party afterward on Saturday.

2. I managed to send the December '08 newsletter to the printer and had 250 copies of it made. Dumbest thing that I've done in a while.

3. Haven't even thought about presents/cards/etc for christmas yet.

1. SO. MANY. STAMPS.
2. God I should eat something that's not coffee.
3. Already sick of the gray cold crap.

1. Still beaming over having won $30 over my buy-ins during a 12-hour poker session. Monthly game is still open to newcomers if you're cool and don't mind hanging in Harlem. (Contact me via Facebook if you want in.)

2. Being in the weeds does not refer just to working in a kitchen. (Incidentally, thank you, Anthony Bourdain, for teaching me that phrase.)

3. At this rate, I'll only be able to work on holiday cards DURING THE HOLIDAYS.

1. My phone keeps trilling about a HIGH WIND WARNING TUESDAY ALL DAY STAY INSIDE. I almost wish it'd get here instead of telling me about it.

2. I have no staff and I must scream! People are dropping like flies and we're in the middle of a major upgrade. Everyone's uptight. I wanna leave my desk and get envelopes and stamps so I can send these cards already!

3. I've got a miniature Christmas curmudgeon in the making. Older Boy was literally jumping up and down Thanksgiving week, ranting about Christmas decorations already being up. He's being very particular about the tree - "just get last year's tree. Oh, it was real? I thought it was plastic. Well, let's get a plastic tree. No, not that one, not that one, not that one....."

3a. While I'm over the acute pancreatitis, I've still got some ugly heartburn. Still eating pap.

1. A couple meh-to-graaaar lessons today, one formally observed by my boss. Wonderful. Soothed my nerves afterwards with garlic bread, unfiltered wheat beer and a good deal of standing in the shower and blasting all the bad day vibes down the drain.

2. Finally going for a neck/shoulder x-ray tomorrow...been getting scary headaches and random pain from nowhere. No idea if it's related to the use of a laptop, the height of my desk, my pillow, carrying a messenger bag for ages.

3. Panicking over dates/times/flights to get home to El Lay in February. Sometimes living in regional Poland is a hassle.

4? If Saturday could just hurry up and get here, uh, that'd be great.

1. Making plans for New Years Eve with some old friends. What type of cheesecake to make...Raspberry, Key Lime, or Apple Caramel. Hmmmm.....

2. Finally got a hair cut! Short again, but I love it! Plus, if I don't go back for a couple of months it'll still look good.

3. Got some Christmas shopping done on Sunday; more tomorrow. Finances are very tight, so it's time to be creative. Which is a lot of fun, actually!

4. Decided to self-clean my oven, so now not only will my oven be clean, but it heats up the house! Bonus!

1. Hoping that Jan is OK.

2. Tomorrow will be the last day of this temp assignment.

3. Today, on my lunch break, I was strolling through Battery Park when I found myself face-to-face with a gigantic wild turkey.

4. Gigantic Wild Turkey has her own wikipedia entry.

1. Making my last holiday-gift list, crossing off some homemade projects and adding others.

2. Watching "Thieves Like Us." Shelley Duvall is weirdly adorable.

3. Later, I start making candy to put away for Christmas. Tonight: chocolate almond toffee.

1. It's been cold and clear for the last week.

2. They keep promising snow but have yet to deliver.

3. Been asked to be a moderator (elsewhere); kinda scared and excited at the same time.

Bonus: wild turkey in Battery Park is awesome!

1. We had tacos!
2. I like tacos!
3. Mom ate 5 tacos, though the consumption of the last two were the result of excess politesse ("Oh, but who will rid me of this laaaast taco? Be a shame to hafta throw away this peeeeerfectly yuuuuummy taco...") and subterfuge (putting one on her plate when she wandered out of the room for a moment).
4. There's something undeniably cheerful about the word "tacos" followed by an exclamation point. Tacos! See?

1. Dropped off the Metafilter Cares presents and visited the Costco in Harlem. Yaaaay Santa!
2. Having a little rice for dinner.
3. Going to a Messiah Sing Along next week! Always wanted to go to one.

Good News:

1. I got an end of year bonus and a glowing review of my performance at work today!
2. They are going to interview my friend who really needs a job.
3. I think I finally sold my car.

Bad News:

1. The toilet is stopped up again.
2. It's cold and rainy here all week.
3. Still another 1:10 before I'm home tonight.

1. Not feeling motivated about anything. Possibly due to extreme coldness and going to bed after my bedtime for the past two nights.

2. Went to brother's house for minor car maintenance (AKA really fixing the transmission line leak that he kinda taped together last Sunday) and had spaghetti. Yum.

3. Irritated that I cannot seem to get the hang of shimmies at all. I've been practicing and I just seem to not be able to get my knees to work that way. Argh argh argh.

1. It's hot here and both me and the cat have retreated to the front room to take advantage of the meager air-con. I am down to a sarong and the cat is shedding like a blizzard. I'll send strong visualisations of shimmering dry heat to anyone who wants them.

2. Received excellent news back about something that has been stressing me for three weeks solid. Now I understand that the phrase "weak-kneed with relief" isn't a metaphor after all. I don't have to get lawyer-y after all.

3. Feeling rather smug about avoiding most of the horrible parts of Christmas (like horrifying decorative items and terrible renditions of carols as muzak). Clearly moving to a Muslim-heavy part of town has unexpected benefits!