Post Christmas Blahs

Even Princess Leia would be mystified

1. Dave chipped a molar on Christmas Eve on the super yummy - but super crisp - bacon on the annual Christmas Eve bacon brie cranberry sandwich. 
2. My laptop started doing that whole "Hey, you don't have a camera connected so you can't video chat with you family." And I started in on the "Like hell I don't, dumb laptop, because that's what I had repaired in October." But the laptop countered with "Oh, yeah, miss smartypants. Find it if you're so smart. And while you're at it, I'm not going to recognize your external hard drive just because you're being a bit of a know-it-all bitch." And then I was like, "Fucking hell, laptop, you're not supposed to do this you piece of shit." Yup . . . I spent a few hours talking/chastising/begging my laptop to work the way it is supposed to. 
3. Whilst trying to find an external hard drive, the Girls and I got caught up in a huge traffic jam (for our town it was huge) and had to go to three different stores to find the one that I wanted . . . and remembered why I hate Walmart (too many students, too crowded) and don't care for Best Buy (I don't have a penis therefore, no one thinks that I need help because I couldn't possibly want anything technological). Alas, Target didn't have the hard drive so I was stuck with the other two options, thank you very much. 
4. Dave woke up this morning with the same pain in his abdomen that he has had for a few weeks now. Only this time, it woke him up. He used my phone to look up symptoms of a heart attack on WebMD because he didn't think he could walk back up the stairs if it was, in fact, a heart attack. Not to worry, he's going to the doctor today, and truly he thinks it may be a really bad bruise from a hard landing a few weeks back. I thanked him for scheduling the appointment because a) I'm not willing to give him up just yet, and b) it will be on my terms when I am. 

Bright spot? We're headed to the train station to pick up Jordan's boyfriend in a few minutes, so the Girls and Shelby's boyfriend will get to hang out in town for a few days before we take them back. Dim spot? An appointment at the Apple store to fix my laptop, which is pretty much the eight circle of hell. The ninth circle? Forever 21.

How was your holiday?

xoxo,
Jill

Sleeping In On Christmas Morning

Seriously, it's 9:49 AM, and the Girls are still in bed. I have a cup of coffee in hand, the ice cream is churning for dessert, the pets are getting restless, and they are still asleep. There are days that I really yearn for the pre-teen years.

Don't get me wrong . . . I don't mind the whole "what the hell do they want for Christmas and how am I going to wrap this when they are asleep and get it under the tree" facade of years past. I do kinda miss Santa (and if you are one of those, "Santa is a lie, and we're not going to raise our children lying to them," folks . . . more power to you, but I don't get that) and all the trappings that go with it.

The presents were stacked on the chair with care . . . is that how it goes?

But I'm not sure I was aware that once you get to be a certain age, the presents that were once carefully arranged under the tree get stacked by two unknown individuals who are still asleep and are getting bras and jeans this Christmas on their father's chair. Must have missed that tradition . . . but I'm pretty sure that it will make a reappearance next year.

Merry Christmas . . . enjoy the moments!

-J

Music To My Ears

Looking for Christmas tunes? I don't have an effing tree up in my living room yet, so go carol yourself some where else. Because while I love Bing Crosby's "Mele Kalikimaka" as much as the next person, I'm having a hard time getting "into" the Christmas/holiday spirit this year. Perhaps it's the weather (pretty balmy until yesterday). Maybe it's the fact that I'm shopping for jeans and boots and bras and a goddamn Crockpot for my kids this year (seriously . . . Jordan wants a Crockpot). Or it just could be that there's a bajillion and one things to get done before saying, "Ho, ho, ho," doesn't send me into a fit of prostitute joke giggles.

A little bit every day . . . helps keep me sane

So what's a girl to do? If you're me, you listen to music and knit and read. Sometimes all three at the same time, but more likely just two of them. Trust me, it's probably not the two you might be thinking of. Last year, my friend Tricia created a sublime Advent scarf pattern, which consisted of a nice lace pattern every day (about twenty rows). By the time Christmas rolled around, I had a lovely scarf that was about 60 - 70 inches long. This year, she decided to do the same thing. Today is day eight, but I'm on day five . . . which is fine, but I'll have to catch up over the weekend.

I'm using the Cascade Heritage Silk sock yarn in a really beautiful raspberry color. It wasn't the yarn that did it for me (rarely is) but the color. Perfect color for a dull winter day. So, I've been knitting a scarf with texture on a size 3 needle. Nothing like adding to the holiday stress level. But overall, I'm really chuffed with the choice that I made. It's a lovely color; it's knitting up like a breeze; it's relatively easy to follow. Holidays be damned . . . this will keep me sane.

With the holidays in mind, I will leave you with a video. Thankfully, a friend posted it on Facebook last night, and I've listened to it about five times since.



Cheers,
Jill