1. Off to a friend's for Christmas Eve dinner! Talking to the family tomorrow over Skype. Yay!

2. Packin' for my trip to Cairo and Alexandria bit by bit. I leave the 27th. Debating bringing my computer as there's free wifi where I'm staying but I'm a bit reluctant to take something so valuable so far away. I'll look into getting some travel insurance tonight if I can.

3. The drizzle here is unceasing! I can't wait to get to sunny Egypt! :)

1. Spent yesterday in the Tennessee mountains, seeing my brother and his family. My 3-yr-old niece climbed all over me like a jungle gym all day, and it was more fun than I've had in ages.

2. My dad and stepmom are coming over in about an hour- very much looking forward to it. We're going out for BBQ. :) I'm about to light a fire in the fireplace so it'll really be going by the time they arrive.

3. Guinness the cat is still doing well, though his presence indoors is starting to annoy the other two cats. I kept G back in the bedroom last night, and closed Bob & Kayla out in the living room/kitchen/den part of the house. They spent ALL NIGHT alternating yowling, scratching on the door, and pushing/pulling on it trying to get it open. Taking the occasional break to wrestle with each other, thumping and screaming like banshees. Argh. (They're both fast asleep on the couch now, of course.)

3a. Had to run Guinness over to the vet this morning to get a medication patch on his back taken off- it apparently is toxic to handle and can't be removed at home. Even though we were only there for about 15 minutes, being there again freaked him out pretty badly, and now he's hiding under the bed. Poor guy... but at least now I can just leave him alone for as long as he likes.

1. I am taking the entire day off from mom duties and letting the kids run wild and forage their own food. The computer is set on stun and it's snowing out, so they'll be tired out by bed time.

2. Bruised to hell and back - I have a bruise under a fingernail I got tired of looking at, so I painted them all sparkly red and green. My MMA instructor blocked my shin kick with his knee so I have it elevated and I'm taking some hella meds for the pain.

3. We just moved a ton of shit not four months ago and now the kids are getting more shit - I suppose I should say "stuff" - and their rooms are going to be that much harder to clean.

Though I suppose it can make up for the very late birthays they had due to lack of fundage.

Oh, and I am totally going to make that fudge I heard about on #bunnies last night, except I'm going to use blue vanilla chips.

1) Browned a pork roast and tossed it into the crockpot with tons of different spices, etc. in preparation for making Christmas tamales tomorrow.

2) Am considering making christmas cookies, but I'm also having a hard time motivating to do so.

3) Neighbor cat came to visit yesterday and it was sweet.

1. I purchased Christmas cards. I'll get around to sending them one of these days!
2. I'm enjoying staying in bed until 11 or 12 every day! And so is Twinkie, although that's her usual life.
3. Today we're going to see a matinee of "A Christmas Carol" at a local theater, and then an early dinner at my aunt & uncle's house to celebrate two December 23rd birthdays in the family. Whoppee!

1. Still haven't wrapped presents.

2. Worried about Anubis sounding like he's dry heaving, but he's eating, drinking, and playing normally. Might have to put on pants and run to the grocery store for some of that hairball helping stuff.

3. Not looking forward to shitfuckery tomorrow as my brother is likely to be a dickwad and the sniping between the folks will be in full force.

1. My own Christmas just got a bit richer, hearing about Guinness the cat coming home, about trips to Alexandria and to dinner at a friend's and to the theater, and thinking about all of you celebrating your own holidays in your own ways. Thank you for that.

2. We just learned that The Fella isn't needed at work today, so we can take it easy, have a leisurely lunch, pack up, and hit the road while it's still light out. Hurray!

3. And then I'm looking forward to coming home and having Christmas dinner with (some of) my side of the family: my sister, her daughter, and my mother. Then Boxing Day, which will be Our Christmas this year: the two of us will make fondue, drink beer and cider, and open our presents to each other.

Happy whateveryoucelebrate to all of you! And here's to a happy new year!

1. The CBS Christmas Special tonight was filmed at the Seminary I go to. I'm sitting in the front row and I photo bomb a lot of shots. I'm wearing purple and a bow tie. I recommend you watch it! 11:35 pm!

2. Sadly, they don't seem to be showing the Christmas special here in Tampa. BOOOOOOO ON YOU CBS!

3. I wish I could watch the Broncos today but we're going to a play instead. LET'S GO BRONCOS!

1 - I am wearing all black and leather cause Goth Is Back.

2 - Mostly staying in, haven't even wrapped stuff yet, plan on ordering in Chinese and watching movies.

3 - I am attempting to perfect a holiday cocktail with fig vodka

1. Just went for a run.

2. Ravens are kicking butt, yay!

3. Kid is almost vibrating with excitement about tomorrow. I guess I'm not getting my Sunday sleep-in.

1. Evil!
2. I think last night's extreme drunkenness has finally achieved the required peak to end this ongoing stream of drunkenness.
3. I actually do want regular Guinness updates.

1. First of 10 days off.from.work. They shut things down, so it's not like I'll even come back to any email on Jan. 3.

2. Jewish, so no xmas plans. Tomorrow there will be the taking out of the Chinese food. I have been eating very few carbs this week, so will indulge in chow fun, one of my all-time comfort foods.

3. How many times can I throw the same piece of clay and have it turn into crap each time?

1. So far today I've driven 2 hours, exchanged gifts with my bff & her family, picked up the new house key from Mom's work, introduced the pups to my paternal grandparents (which went really well -- girl pup has been much better about meeting people thanks to the pet sitter visits), had lunch with my aunt & (not so) little brother, and unloaded/reloaded Mom's dishwasher.

2. Next up is cookie baking (Mom has requested spritz cookies and chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies) and finishing the hat for (not so) little brother as I realized last night when wrapping gifts that while we picked names, I had something for everyone but him.

3. The rest of the weekend will be lazy until we go back home Monday afternoon.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

1. Finally, finally, finally. Christmas break is here. I'm off now until the third. It just may save my life.

2. I've had the shits now for three days. Thursday night was the worst. I had bad chills and could not get warm for anything, and, polar bear that I am, I'm almost never cold. I just had some peanut butter and crackers and apple juice, but my tummy's still rumbling. At least I'm home. Nothing like being stuck in a classroom with the shits. (I couldn't take the day off Friday before break; my principal would've written me up, sick or not. And we did not have any kind of holiday celebration for the staff at my school. Not so much as a cookie. The principal sent out a one line holiday email. And he gets thousands in bonuses based on our results. Scrooge.)

3. My mom's in an assisted living apartment now, instead of the nursing home. I knew it was in the works, but my brother forgot to call me to let me know she'd actually moved. I'm not mad, actually. He made all the arrangements and all, and I know that's been a lot of work. He was so flustered when I called this morning, realizing he'd forgotten to call me, that he thought he'd lost his cell phone, and when I asked, confused, what it was he was talking to me on (I'd called his cell), he realized he was holding the phone and that's why it wasn't in its holder (I think we may have to check him in with my mom). In any case, I'll go up and see her during the week. I don't think I'll try taking her out again just yet, though. The last time, she had an "accident," and I had to get her cleaned up and changed (we were at the house, not the nursing home, and she didn't quite make it to the bathroom; apparently, she said, the nursing home had given her a laxative, which, of course, I didn't know before I took her out. It kicked in just as we pulled into the restaurant parking lot. At her request, I drove her to the house instead of the home, and, as I said, she almost made it to the bathroom. I came home that night and Jon said he'd had a rough day; I said, my mother shit herself and I had to clean her up. He said, You win.)

3.Recap: Depressed. Sick. Lonesome. With a terrible dread that next year will only be worse. But the Giants are winning.

1. The mister made a great breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, juice)
2. Visit with Mum is going well - watching DVDs, talking, very low key
3. Haven't wrapped anything - there's nothing to wrap; this feels very weird

1. Just opened the rose & it is tasty.
2. We're home for the duration w/ no relatives or drama. We can stay up til 3 watching movies if we want.
3. Looking forward to catching up w/ surfing next week, since we just have loose ends with 3 - count 'em - THREE kitchen installations that happened in the last week & a half.

Very Happy Holidays wish to all bunnies!

1. Sooo glad to be off of work for two days. We've been told we ARE NOT allowed to wear our Santa Hats, reindeer antlers, any red or green shirts, no turtlenecks with embroidered holly leaves because "someone may get offended". I think it's just the upper management showing how big their balls are, personally.

2. Curled up with a heating pad, feet up, happy kids, sleepy pets, gifts are wrapped (well, I have to wrap one or two more). I'm comfy and cozy and content.

3. Tomorrow, I'll put a pork picnic in the crockpot while we visit my mother's house and have Christmas with her, my brother, and his wife. Return home, and pulled pork will be waiting for us. Mmmm.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Joyous Whatever Holiday It Is For You!

1. Had our official holiday dinner last night and opened one gift each, which was nice.

2. Lazy day watching football today, and in an hour or so I'm meeting up with a college friend I haven't seen since graduation and her husband and son for a drink -- just randomly found out they were visiting the area through a photo she posted on Facebook -- and I'm looking forward to seeing her and meeting her family.

3. We're all set to record one of the local station's high-definition broadcasts of "The Yule Log," set in the sand next to the ocean, tomorrow morning. I suspect we'll loop it through most of the day.

1. Looking forward to a quick dinner, then headed out with the Bear to see the lights before the rain starts. Carting some hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps and cash to give to the Santas who collect for local food banks.

2. The Bear has made fudge, nut bars, and his unbelievable pistachio chocolate toffee. Also my acupuncturist gave me a bag of Lindt truffles. Hoping to give everything away before I eat it.

3. Loving the Xmas music from all you bunnies but worried about you, Pips, and also Ardiril, whose last AskMeFi suggests some serious health issues are in play.

Happy Xmas wishes to all from this Jew

Metachat is one of my favorite evening activities, and I'm on the West Coast, so I always get to this stuff last:

First off, wow, I'm always amazed at our little cross-section of humanity here. So many little parallels and intersections and commonalities.

1. mdonley, enjoy Egypt! I will be in West Africa myself, not North Africa: I leave for Mali on the 29th for three weeks working on my annual ethnomusicology expedition. After months of fretting, planning, brushing up on my French, and leaking money firehose-like, it's finally happening!

2. Pips, major hugs. My brother is home for the holiday looking after our mom, who is square in the middle of treatment for colorectal cancer... the same kind that killed her twin sister. :-( It sucks to be going away at this exact time, but my plans were set long before she was even diagnosed, and she insisted absolutely that I not disrupt my life for hers. Still very hard. Thank the gods for my brother.

3. gaspode, I had a lovely run today too. On the weekends I like to do it in the style of my old boot camp: lots of steep hills; a quicker pace; longer route; that sort of thing. It kicks my ass but it's a nice reward for enduring my less ambitious after-dark runs during the week.

Best holiday wishes to you all, who are surely off celebrating by now...!

1. Drinking absinthe with the husband in bed, watching the three cats chase each other around, thrilled that we're finally home.

2. Spent the day at my parents' with them and one of my maternal aunts. Tomorrow (Christmas day) would have been my grandmother's birthday, but she died in August. So, it's been a very strange, not normal, not quite festive holiday season. But it's also been very lowkey, which has allowed us all to relax, accept that it's strange, and get around how weird it is not to be celebrating Gram's birthday as well as Christmas.

3. Tomorrow, me & Guy are staying home, trying out a highball made with bourbon and champagne, making poutine, exchanging gifts, and not much else.

1- totally had caviar and champagne for dinner

2- GOT AN XBOX WOOO

3- My Trifecta of Traditional Man Gifts: Watch, Cufflinks, Tie, went over well.

mykescipark: Yay co-Africa-traveler! Have a great time in Mali! Any shortwave/music/awesome radio suggestions for Egypt?! :)

3.update: Thanks for the well wishes, folks. I'm sorry to hear about your mom, mykescipark. I hope she recovers well, and you have a great trip. I'm feeling better today. Jon called his family up in Maine this morning and it was nice to talk to everyone. Later we've decided to do the Jewish Christmas and order Chinese food (I don't feel much like cooking), plus there's a M*A*S*H marathon on. I've no right to feel so lousy. Things could be a lot worse.

All the best to everyone this holiday season. Looking in on MetaChat's always a bright spot in my day.

mdonley: Radio Cairo is one of my favorite stations. If you're actually bringing a shortwave radio, they are very easily heard, although you will also have a whole wealth of domestic broadcasts to choose from on any standard AM/FM radio. If you go to FMScan.org and enter Alexandria (be sure to click on the one in Egypt, not America!), it will show you several hundred stations which should be audible from that location. Happy tuning ;-)