I'm supposed to be in bed
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Nothing in particular
I was up at 5 am today. This was supposed to be a sign of my sleep schedule being relatively fixed for the next couple days. And yet here I am posting to the blog and chatting on IRC like I'm not supposed to be. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. I should be spanked - hell, if I ask anyone in the #bearcave I'm sure I could get a good cyberspanking. But that wouldn't be punishment, it would be wrong. Very wrong.

Where in the hell was I going with this babble? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be asleep. Dad's already gone to bed, and I'm sure he'll be up 'round the crack of dawn. Hell, he may be awake before the hubby rouses for work. And me, I gotta try and not sleep 'til noon. I'm supposed to cherish these family moments, or some sort of Kodak moment nonsense.

Tomorrow should be interesting. Dad doesn't like to hang around the house all day like I usually do. We're supposed to peep out the sheep on the Ponderosa tomorrow, and I'm sure he'll want to do lunch and random errands.

Yes, I'm going to be good and not milk him for xmas goodies. And shame on you for thinking that. Of course, if he insists...

Crack o' dawn
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Totally Betty
And what in the hell am I doing up at sunrise today? Well besides trying to flip my sleep schedule around (again) before my dad gets here and complains about me sleeping in all day, I'm...

Baking Cookies!

Yes, it's cookie time again. Right now I've got chocolate chip cookes (the cute tree and stocking ones) with pecans in the oven. After they're done and I've got them portioned out I'll start on the white chip and craisin oatmeal cookies. Mmmm... cookies...

Now a large portion of these babies are already earmarked. I'm not sure how many of them are going to be left after that. Also, at this point there's no way the extras will make it to where they're going before xmas. Like you care... I know you just want the damn cookies.

So here's the deal - as soon as I know what I've got to work with, I'll portion them up in sets of 8 or so. I'm guessing I'll have enough for 3 packages. Who wants cookies?

"Lights please..."
Mood:  special
Topic: It's all about me
This is where I step out on the stage (little blue blanket optional), the spot comes on, and I tell a little Christmas tale about the joy of giving, peace on Earth, and other warm fuzzies. Only in this case it has nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas, and like basically everything on this little chunk of webby goodness I plan to make it all about me. Get your cocoa.

In a way, this is sort of a continuation of the bit about birthday gifts. I have weird issues about gifts - I don't know if it's an inherent genetical deal, a strange warped bit of childhood nurturing that has matured into a quiet neurosis, or some sort of Leonine deal I have yet to figure out. The 1st thing is that though I love gifts I am a bit uncomfortable receiving them. Not that you'd notice - the majority of the things I own are gifts in some way or another. If someone tells me they're going to give me something, the answer is almost inevitably 'no, don't do that.' I know a part of it has to do with my pack-rat mentality; I find it very hard to get rid of things, and something being a gift from someone makes it twice as hard. Then there is the usual unworthiness blah angsty crap that we won't get into here.

However, there are times when gifts become expected (sometimes mandatory). During those times those gifts come with a very specific indicator of the time: gift wrap. Now I know gift wrap is cute and fun, and it eventually becomes trash (usually...), but it also serves a very specific purpose, one that speaks directly to my 2nd issue with gifts - surprise. Why would you go to the trouble to make a gift difficult to identify on first sight if you expected the recipient to know what it was in the first place? I mean, if all you wanted was decoration, you could just put a big fuckin' bow on it and save a tree or two, right? Well that's the trouble here. I love surprises. (The good kind anyway, and no I don't cotton to the idea of a surprise party, so you can quit hiding behind the couch and set fire to that stupid horn thing, thankyouverymuch.) I am also very hard to surprise (especially in the good way). It doesn't help that almost everyone I know inclined to give me a gift seems to love making it as difficult as possible for me to be surprised, but I don't mind that so much. The real trouble here is - I'm really fucking picky! It's not that I turn my nose up at whatever I'm given - I love the gift no matter what, because the old saying is quite true: It's the thought that counts. The thing of it is, I like very specific things and asking me what those things are pretty much ruins the surprise factor. And I think it is the height of stupidity to take me shopping, have me pick out my gift, and then wrap the damn thing in paper and make me wait until the appropriate time to tear the paper off and thank you for it. Yes, thank you for the gift, I love ya. Save a tree.

So here we are in Christmas land, surrounded by sappy music (which has been thankfully minimal for me - I try to stick to snappy seasonal swing) and psychotic shoppers all on the quest for the perfect gift for that special someone, and a tasteful (cheap) something they can bag up for the name they drew at the office. The hubby and I were fantastically lucky to have gotten our gift gathering done just before the madness set in. Before we left the mall with the last prize in hand the inevitable question came up: "So what do you want, sweetie?" Here is issue number 3 about gifts. I love Christmas, I grew up with it and you would have to be a horribly twisted gothic child of pure damnation and sticky evil to hate a holiday where you are allowed to eat all the sugary badness you want and then you get a ton of toys you don't need (and maybe even don't deserve, you rotten little bastard). I still love that - really, please spoil me more. But despite my refusal to grow up and be all adult about it, I have a more mature attitude about the giftage nowadays. I don't get into the holy aspects of Christmas - it's not my bag. To me the joy now is decorating the house (and bitching about it), picking out a couple things just perfect for someone, visiting with family and friends, and enjoying the pure bliss of Christmas and memories of Christmas past shining in my heart. If I'm going to have to pick out my own gift I may as well wait until the after Christmas sales and get more bang for my buck - I don't want to pollute the pleasure I get out of the holiday with practical matters.

So there you go - my holiday issues all wrapped up and tied with a bow that's a little abrasive but it certainly gets the job done. The hubby is probably going to drive himself crazy trying to figure out what to get me, thinking that our love demands the perfect overpriced thing that he thinks is great and beautiful, despite my telling him that all I want is for him to be at peace and know I love him. And yes, there's one of them under the tree right now, wrapped up and pretty, with his name on it - from me.

So sue me - I'm a sappy little shit myself sometimes. May your holiday be blessed and beautiful, may your gifts touch the hearts of those you love, and maybe - just maybe one day - there will indeed be peace and love enough for us all.

More December madness
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Life in Texas
Today was a great visit. Went out and had lunch, then came home and got my but whipped at canasta. We gave away Piglet and Cordelia too, so our cat horde is just a bit smaller. I also found out today that my dad intends to visit here next Sunday and stay 'til Tuesday, then continue on his trip out to Cali. Should make for an interesting visit - especially since he intends to drop by again on his way back home.

Geesh - how many houseguests are we gonna have this month? I'm gonna be scrubbing and baking 'til my fekkin' arms fall off!

As an added bonus, my dad coming through is going to save us some postage on sending giftage out Cali-ways. Very handy, I must say.

Oy, husbands!
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: Bitchy rants
You know, I love the man but some days he just drives me absolutely nuts. Take tonight for instance. I've been working on getting the house in shape for the impending ma-in-law xmas special. We're getting a little preview moment tomorrow - our sister called a week back and asked if she and her daughter could come and take us out to lunch. I figured out what parts of the chore list were priority and have been working on getting that stuff done.

Now of course other crapo projects have to get done at the same time. We had to make sure the fence was hot and let the cattle out so the new ones could learn all about the thrilling human realities of property lines and electricity. Then we had to clear the last of the old cotton seed out of the trailer (oh so fun for my back) and get a fresh load from the gin. Then the hubby wanted to stand around and watch the cattle, to make sure they didn't accidentally escape despite the hotwire. Well that's fine, but I had shit to do and I was already running low on work motivation.

So I go in the house and get to finishing up the priority stuff on my list. Mind you, I've been mentioning said list for a week now. The hubby keeps asking me to peep out the window to see what the cattle are doing, as if he doesn't have eyes. We did have to chase one little miscreant back in, but so far they've been behaved. Then, after I'd finished wrapping up the xmas shopping and was on a break, he asks what he can do to help. So I give him a simple task: clean the bathroom. In fact, what I told him was to nevermind the shower entirely (because none of our impending guests intended to use it, and it was as clean as it was going to get anyway short of a sand blasting) and just clean the toilet and the sink. Satisfied that this would keep him busy for a bit, I set to the next item on the list. After a minute I hear him running the bath tap, so I go in there, and he's scrubbing the fekkin' tub! So I tell him "Get out of there! Close the curtain, nobody needs to see in there. All I wanted was for you to clean the toilet and the sink." He tells me "Okay," and gets out of the tub, and for some silly reason I figure everything is okay and get back to what I was doing.

You would think I'd have learned by now.

I finish what I was doing and go peep in on him to see how he's doing, and he meets me at the bathroom door to tell me he's done, give out, and the floor around the stool is clean and sanitized. Okay, here's a quick test for you. Look up there, where I gave him the instructions (twice) and find the two things I specified needed cleaning. Was 'floor' one of the two? Oy! The toilet: still dirty, the sink: still dirty, the floor: halfway clean.

I'm starting to suspect that the fleshy protuberances on either side of his head are purely decorative, occasionally for use to keep lenses in front of his eyes for reading, and little else. And he wonders why I don't ask him to help with the housework.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the cooking thing...

The source of my sweet tooth revealed
Mood:  silly
Topic: Various webshit

You are glucose. People feed off of you. You are
sweet, caring, and a source of energy for
everyone around you. You can inspire others
with your creativity and depth, and you can
keep people alive when in times of famine.
People love you...or at least the way you
taste.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

In no way surprising
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Various webshit

You scored as alternative. You're partially respected for being an individual in a conformist world yet others take you as a radical. You have no place in society because you choose not to belong there - you're the luckiest of them all, even if your parents are completely ashamed of you. Just don't take drugs ok? alternative 88% Lower Class 54% Upper middle Class 46% Middle Class 46% Luxurious Upper Class 29% What Social Status are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Watch out for that tree
Mood:  special
Topic: Nothing in particular
We had a big list of things to do today, but only one of them got done. We're having the hubby's mother over for xmas this year, so I have to get the house clean. I'm going to be busy for the next couple weeks, very busy.

I did manage to get the boxes of xmas decorations out and the tree is now up, twinkling merrily in the space by the front door. That door is now just a chunk of wall for the duration of the holiday. There probably won't be very many presents under that tree, but it'll still be pretty. I'm thinking of just putting random shit and empty boxes under it to make it look cute.

Relatively accurate
Mood:  party time!
Topic: Various webshit

You Are Beer!

You don't need to get totally wasted when you hit the bars. More of a social drinker, you just like to have fun with your friends. And as long as the beer keeps flowing, you're a happy camper. But don't mix things up: "Beer Before Liquor, Never Been Sicker!"

Here we go again
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Head games
I'm gonna have to kill someone. Rondak's Portal is out of service through the weekend and possibly longer due to some sort of dick waving bullshit between their ISP and the phone company. Last night I was wondering why nobody had been posting to the game, but I couldn't get the portal to come up, so I figured maybe they were doing maintenence. Not so - I just got an email letting me know that the 2 games I'm in are stuck in limbo indefinitely.

Just stab me in the eye right now. Right here, in the eye, right now. It would be a relief compared to this crap storm. Why can't I ever have a no-hassle game situation anymore?