1. Got about half my presents wrapped today- then took a nap. Will have to wrap the other half tomorrow.

2. Partner got the injection in his spine this morning, and is walking around now without crutches for the first time in a month. w00t! So good to see him out of pain, finally.

3. REALLY want to order out pizza for dinner. Mmm... pizza.

1. Have tickets to AVATAR tonight! I feel great and foolish about it at the same time.

2. Making pesto/gnocchi/chicken sausage for dinner, with a pink rhone wine. . .

3. Haggling with wife: We want to dump our old winbox (after moving pics, taxes, writing, etc etc off it). I want to get another macbook, for either me or her, and she wants to just share ONE macbook, which sounds reasonable, frugal, etc but dammit I want my OWN computer. We share a car but a computer? No thanks.

3a. Very happy for BP's pardner. . .Hope BP gets a few bennie's from it. . .*smile*

1. I had a dinner crisis tonight - a friend was coming for dinner and the piece of pork I defrosted turned out to be rank, so at the last minute I had to drive to the supermarket to buy something else. We had chicken, cooked Ina Garten-style - stuffed with a whole head of garlic cut crossways, a lemon (ditto) and a handful of thyme and rosemary from the garden, the skin rubbed with butter and sprinked with salt and pepper. It was delicious.

2. After dinner we decorated the Chrismas tree. I need to get a bigger (artificial) tree in the January sales, I have so many tree ornaments. But it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in here now.

3. I have a little set of four mini plush Birds of the Northeast that a friend in Ohio gave me and which I always hang on the tree. When she thought we weren't looking, Bailey pulled three of them off the tree and hid them in her bed. She couldn't find the fourth one. They are all now safe amid the branches, high up the tree.

1. Allegedly, there is an epic snowstorm that is scheduled to arrive tonight in just a wee bit over an hour. I am very tempted to stay up late and then go outside in the super duper wee hours of the morning and go make a snowman in the yard. Of course, that might be a bad idea because it is a giant cliff off the back of my property and completely dark because there is no lighting back there. Still, it's a thought. And people think I'm strange enough as is. :-/

2. My mother has called me 3 times today to check and make sure I have everything I need in my house. I went to the store yesterday, so my pantry and cabinets are well stuffed with foodage. I even bought milk! (But no bread. Or TP.) I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to work on Sunday, but I'll give it a shot. I wish I knew why people assume that I'm up before noon on the weekend for me because that is rarely the case.

3. Tonight I plan to get some domestic tasks done, like hemming my veils (or at least just FrayChecking the edges), putting the buttons on my thumb zills, and FrayChecking my jingly scarf because I noticed one coin has fallen off. I'm ready for holiday monies from my folks so I can get more DVDs and pay for my winter dance classes. I'm even thinking about finding a gym or something. I'm not sure if my brain is ready to handle that healthily yet though.

BP, so happy to hear your partner has some relief!

1. Thanks to the title of this very thread, I am going to go make latkes RIGHT NOW! I mean, in a minute, but very nearly RIGHT NOW!

2. Have spent the afternoon making food gifts of all kinds --- some to freeze, some to pickle, all to give away. Darn it, I always forget to make enough goodies for me to keep some.

3. Just realized that the expected two-hour drive to visit family next week will actually be a three-hour drive on unfamiliar roads and taken after a long day. And then we go home, and make another long drive and back the next day.

danf: Solution = MacBook for the two of you, then buy yourself a little netbook!

1. I'm snowed in and had to walk home 'cause my car wouldn't make it and I have venison stew cooking and the puppy went ripping around in the snow and you wouldn't believe how much snow and ice his little coat can hold and it was the last day of exams and I have all my grading finished and I have Star Treks and B5s to watch and there's stuff to make hot chocolate and I believe there's even some brandy in the cupboard downstairs if it should come to that.
2. I didn't really distribute that effectively into three points,
3. did I? Whee!

1. I am in a super ridiculously bad bad mood.

2. This is very unusual for me.

3. Not entirely unrelated: I freaking hate snow.

1. I made a chili con carne gumbo using ham stock as an experiment. It worked! One of the most flavorful dishes I have ever made.
2. The kids are out of the house to watch a movie.
3. Silence reigns.

I put a little cumin in the stew and it's just perfect.

1. We got out of NYC just in time to avoid the snow! Yahoo! I just walked the dog in a t-shirt and bare feet and I was barely cold!
2. My new Flip camera arrived and it's so fun and easy! Soon I'll be taping EVERYTHING.
3. I can't wait for Christmas yaaaaaay. But there's fun before that- sister comes from WPB tomorrow, a holiday show Saturday night, a pancake breakfast for a local youth jail Sunday morning, cousin + baby cousin arrive Monday, and more!

1. just had our usual Friday night nachos - yum!

2. going to see Avatar tomorrow - yay!

3. supposed to get more snow Sunday - yay!

1. So tired it actually hurts. I have been sleeping poorly and working way too much. Have to work a lot this weekend to prepare for my vacation. During which, you guessed it, I will be doing work. Sigh.

2. I am contemplating making soup for dinner tonight.

3. We had our holiday party at work today. I had to work during the party and missed all the toasts. Sigh.

4. I am so freaking grateful to have a secure job.

Later in the night update:

1. pizza= oh yeah.

2. bennies= OH yeah.

3. I barely care that the furnace just went out AGAIN. After we just paid over 500 bucks to have it fixed. We'll deal with it tomorrow. For now we have fire in the fireplace, space heater in the bedroom, and anti-freeze* in the veins. Heh!


*Yes I know booze doesn't really warm you up and you radiate heat, etc. But we're inside and will be fine. Also, boozy.

1. Sorted papers.
2.Met someone who seems like a platonic kindred spirit (not on mefi/cha)
3. Channukah songs at temple (latke celebration was last week) and late night screening of Brothers. Pack of thugs giggled away during the most intense parts.

3. I barely care that the furnace just went out AGAIN. After we just paid over 500 bucks to have it fixed. We'll deal with it tomorrow. For now we have fire in the fireplace, space heater in the bedroom, and anti-freeze* in the veins. Heh!

SHUDDER.

In theory mine is fixed. I'm out of town, though, so will have to send a friend on reconnaissance to determine. I'm positive it's NOT actually fixed, however. Because that's how they seem to function.

1. insomnia. neither of us got to sleep before 4 am
2. we have some stupid family portrait thing to do this afternoon with my stepsisters. Love them, hate getting our pictures taken.
3. we have done absolutely no christmas shopping, and it's all going to have to go on a credit card.

sorry I'm not more cheerful. see #1.