1. Have accomplished quite a bit during some downtime, especially given how much I've been playing Arkham City (and a bit of the original Bioshock, thanks to a buddy). Done a ton of cleaning/dusting/laundry, got my dog's dentristy done, oil change, hair cut/face-mow, etc. Time well spent, really.

2. Oddly, after I left the oil change place, I went to pick dog up and my car battery died. Weird timing, that. Got a jump and made it home and cleaned the hell out of the corrosion-covered Positive Terminal (neg too, for good measure, though it wasn't bad) and it started like a peach. Keeping an eye on it for the time being, but I think a small pain in the ass was averted there.

3. Good thing, since I'm headed to Okie City tomorrow for a quick visit. Going to check out the "From Wolf to Woof" exhibit (and the rest of the Noble museum), and see the Thunder/Mavs game (with longtime MeFi friend tog). Very much looking forward to it. Plus, night in a hotel! (I only do that once or twice a year).

1. Sookie and I are moving into our new home on Saturday.
2. Nothing else comes to mind.
3.

1. I am glad there is another 3 day weekend coming up. Maybe I'll finally finish editing my pics from China and also get to recent shots from visit to Hawaii??

2. I'm surprised how busy work has been, especially as I'm one of the few who is here. It is a strange contrast to the extraordinarily quiet highways on my commute.

3. I'm pretty thrilled with my MeCha card haul. The last ones arrived yesterday. They were all wonderful. Major bunny love to my card crowed.

1. Half day at work today and now off for 5 days. This afternoon felt all weird in my head, but I had lots of cuddle time with Anubis.

2. Tomorrow mom wants to go shopping and I need to pack for a trip to visit my homie.

3. It's going to be serious party time this weekend.

1. I leave for Mali tomorrow.
2. Like Ardiril ... nothing else comes to mind.
3. I'm a little overwhelmed.

1. I'm still sick; I went to work today, but ended up canceling my last few clients and going home early. Dizziness and lightheadedness and coughing are not good.

2. I watched "Showgirls" this evening. I love it, but it's a horrible horrible movie.

3. One of my clients reamed me over the phone this morning and it was pretty much the worst start to a work day I could have imagined. And she was arguing with me over things that either (a) I agreed with her on or (b) she agreed were neither my fault nor responsibility. COMPLETELY AGGRAVATING CONVERSATION.

1. Vacation week and I'm not sick. Yay!

2. Drinking a "Holidale Barley Wine" from Berkshire Brewing that my uncle gave me for xmas.

3. Just got our house's tax reassessment in the mail today and the value went up 49.9%. But this is a county-wide thing and the paper said that the median increase was 50% and since they'll have to lower the tax rate to make the revenue the same, our taxes should stay the same. I think. Weirdly our land went up by 700% but our house went down by 10% and when you combine those it ends up as a 50% increase. Extreme Voodoo.

1. Mum went home yesterday - it was a good visit
2. Rented a bunch of videos this afternoon, watched Bridesmaids - it was funny
3. Going to see Sherlock Holmes tomorrow - yay!

PS: Yay for Ardiril and Sookie!

PPS: I don't think we've seen photos of Anubis. Cough 'em up, sperose.

1. Really frustrated with my sister. Luckily I'm moving out next week.
2. Haven't begun seriously packing yet, despite moving out next week.
3. Hope to make some headway tomorrow.

Vacation week and I'm not sick. Yay!

1. Boy, do I get this. I always seem to get sick around holidays and vacations, and sure enough I've had a throat/sinus thing trying to happen since last week. Felt like shit on Xmas Eve, better on Xmas Day and improving since then. Neti pot and salt water gargles FTW.

2. I'm off work this week, and thank Bob Dobbs I already had it off so I could keep an eye on Guinness the cat, who's recovering from his amputation very well, but not without incident. Yesterday was his first post-surgery bowel movement, and it wasn't terribly graceful... kind of a three-part delayed deployment. I'm just glad I was here to both comfort him and clean up. I think things will work a little more regularly from here on out.

3. 2011 was a weird year for me. Losing my mom in January meant the first three months of the year were busy with arrangements and plans and only when those were done, the mourning and the adjustments. I kind of gave myself permission to mentally "check out" for awhile, and I think I did it all year. I stopped taking photos, I stopped some of my regular hangouts with friends, and kind of became a hermit. It was nice not to worry about anything, for awhile, after 15 years of taking care of my mom and ALWAYS being worried.

3a. I miss my friends and I miss my hobbies, though, so I think I'm ready to get back into the flow of things in 2012.

1. Anxiety
2. Panic
leading to
3. Self-loathing

1. Much to the pups dismay, I spent most of yesterday in bed or on the couch. And I'm still not feeling much better. I'm out of Nyquil so at some point today there needs to be a grocery run and I have two meetings tomorrow at the office so I probably should pick up more Dayquil.

2. I signed up for yoga classes again last week (it was a rather spontaneous action) and now I'm not sure I'm going to make it this week, which makes me sad as the instructors for the Level 1 evening classes this week are my favorites.

3. I'm very much looking forward to 3 days of reading this weekend. I kept buying books & ebooks the past couple months even though I didn't have time to read.

Hugs and whuffles to all of the bunnies who are having trying times.

1. Today I have to brave the unwashed masses and buy the last few things I need to cook my portion of our NYE feast.
2. That will prove to be difficult, because the town I live in, which has an annual fixed population hovering around 100,000 has swollen to ONE MILLION since the 26th. Evidently, an additional 300,000 can be expected by the 31st. Gratefully, on the 2nd of January, a couple hundred thousand of them will head out, but most of them will stay for the rest of the summer.
3. Loved the Penny Arcade/Ocean Marketing/Avenger Controller shitstorm. It was my nighttime read last night and I loved every last little bit of it.

Anubis keeping me from doing work on my Wicca notes.

Anubis liking his bed that my mom got him.

On his first night when I brought him home from the shelter. Shortly before this picture was taken, he was cuddling with me and trying to nurse from my shirt.

He's pretty cuddly and is a year and 2 months old.

Liking the Anubis pics. Evokes memories of a couple of my black kitties.

Doing laundry so I can pack for visit to friends in Raleigh. Have kept in touch but not seen them in several years.

Will spend tonight at Mom's and bring boxes down from attic so she can begin the great undecorating.

I installed a kitchen faucet this week - yay! No leaks.

1. I'm thinking of replacing my refrigerator. I suspect the one I have is very energy inefficient.
2. Then I will fill the refrigerator with delicious home-cooked meals that I can take to work for lunch, because:
3. It's too freakin' cold outside to go home for lunch now.

1. My mom had a feeding tube surgically placed on Tuesday. She came through it well and is in good spirits. She's a trooper.

2. I have had a cold for over a week now. Probably should have been no where near my mom or the hospital, but she wanted me to come.

3. This has been a surreal year.

Beautiful cat, sperose!

1. I'm eating anything I want to this week, before restarting the diet Jan. 1. This includes lots of pizza and deli sandwiches.

2. Currently filling out my self-evaluation for work, which I hate. There are too many questions, and there are only so many different ways I can say "I did X projects this year, I did pretty well in this area, and could improve in that area."

3. Very, very dry around here; my cuticles are shredding. I'm going to put a humidifier in my bedroom, to see if that helps.

1. Our new sofa arrived today! It's very comfy -- plush cushions, chenille fabric, and it reclines! The middle cushion even folds down to reveal cup holders and a little table, which is more elegant than it may sound, and way cool. We also got a nice new coffee table with a lift top that doubles as dining room table/work station. Both pieces for about a thousand dollars, plus delivery. Not bad, I think. I did have a bit of drama with one of the delivery guys, who didn't think it would fit through the final door to our apartment (we're on the third floor), but after some negotiation and a call from him to his headquarters to "cover his butt," as he said, he removed a couple doors and gave it the old college try. I figured it would fit, since Junkluggers had just removed our enormous old sleeper sofa a couple days before, without removing the door (though they did have to hack the legs off), and they got it out. I refrained from gloating when the new sofa did indeed sail through, though I did wink at the complaining one's coworker, and he grinned. I also made good on a promise that I tip well, giving each guy a twenty. It was worth it. I'm 45 years old and this is my very first brand new, not inherited or second hand, sofa. So, so comfy. Jon's gonna love it. Lean back, put his feet up, and a place to set his beer. Ahhhhh. Life is good.

2. I have to read 200 pages of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Tuesday, since I'm giving my AP students a quiz on it then. I like to add books to the curriculum that are new to me as well as the students sometimes, but I forget it means a considerable extra time investment on my part (I'm an excellent, but slow reader). Still, there are worse ways to spend one's time than reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We read Innocent Erendira before this, and the students loved it, so I think they'll enjoy this, too. I read up a bit on Colombian history before I started, but I don't like to read too much criticism before I read a book myself. I think I see what Garcia Marquez is doing, and it's not what the lit crit talks about; I think he's exploring what it means to create a world, which is what writers do. They create worlds, and, in this case, a world created from a grab bag of human history, religion, mythology, and a world, since it is a created world, where time, reality, and magic are all in play. Just a thought --

3. I'm making stuffed potato skins (nothing fancy, frozen ones, with cheddar and bacon), and they're done.

1. My trivia team won 2nd place last night, which is respectable. I didn't much want to haul myself off the sofa and head out into the frigid night, but I did...

2. ... and when I got home, The Fella had made cake! He cleared off our big table and set up cake and plates as a surprise for me when I returned.

3. I think I have a little cold, so I'll spend this evening curled up in a blanket, maybe writing, maybe watching TV. Right now, I'm going to make some tea.

amro, I'm glad to hear your mom came through well. How are you holding up? Especially with a dogged cold, you deserve some rest.

I kind of gave myself permission to mentally "check out" for awhile, and I think I did it all year.

BP, I remember doing that after my father died. It was good, until it wasn't anymore. Even now, I really have to force myself to engage in Non-mandatory Social Whatever. (See #1 above, for example.)

Pips, your sofa sounds great and so does your dinner! I have some leftover broccoli soup for dinner, and I think I might make a stuffed potato to go with it. Yum.

Ardiril, how great to hear you and Sookie have found a home!

Here's hoping for a peaceful and joy-filled New Year for all of us.

1. After 25 years of horrible DMV experiences, I find visiting the local BMV positively delightful.

2. I guess it has been a pretty odd year in a lot of ways, I've just been too busy getting through it to notice. Seems to be the way a lot of people have been dealing with it.

3. I remember really loving One Hundred Years of Solitude and my Marquez phase.

People are forever surprising, in any direction, good, bad, neutral.

Anubis is a handsome guy! Thanks for capitulating to my demands sharing, sperose. I used to have a black cat, but my mum kidnapped him. I really should get a couple photos of him.