Edit: this was my post from yesterday - which I posted in the wrong journal as Laima pointed out:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I want to read all about your weekend tomorrow night, after you have had enough time to recover from your hangover and post.

Myself? I am (first time ever) designated driver tonight! WOOO! I got lots of cool drink for myself: starbucks frappacino, diet Rock Star, Sobe Orange Crush drink and a diet coke. We also made deviled eggs for tonight's party, and will bring along some irish liqueur chocolates, a bottle of champaign and drinks for the Hildog and Tim (beer and wine I am guessing).

Last night at the Inferno was fun. I danced to 22 songs! Tim danced to 20 and we even got Lowen in on the action and she danced 12. I mean, this is ... like stuff we haven't done since early college. I drank lots of PBR and for some reason this time -- I didn't really get drunk. Oh well, I guess I'd rather have felt okay for this day which was spent sleeping in, and on the couch playing Kingdom Hearts all day. Now *that* is what I call a weekend. A lazy day. Oh it' nice. I didn't even bother to go with Tim and walk the dog.

I am a little nervous about being designated driver...but you know what? Aside from stalling every now and then, I am a good driver. I can do this. Now to go and get ready...I have no idea of what to wear. None.

See you on the flip side! Just think after today, I am no longer required to post every day. I bet you'll miss it.

Today we searched for two lost dogs in Waupan for 5 hours. We didn't find any, nor did the score of other volunteers. I hope they get found. They have been missing since December 20th.

Going to the Inferno for a night of Classic Club hits - or so they say. We'll see. I am completely prepared to bail. Gotta go so we don't have to pay a cover charge!

Tim's parent's were just here to visit and they gave us a 25$ gift card to Borders. I told Tim that is going towards the purchase of an item that will both give us years and years of pleasure -- The Joy of Cooking. :)

I really need to write my creative assignment for my writing group...it was due on Thursday. I almost did it today except I got into a big long discussion with a coworker -- not the good kind. Which sucked...but you know those are her issues, not mine. It did however, reinforce my belief that I can be a real hard ass when I want too.

BUT, I'll do that tomorrow. For tonight, I'm making some mac and cheese, having a cider and playing some Kingdom Hearts II.

Alll right....I just finished paying bills. I think ... what, it's this month? Or next month that is everyone's most depressing bill paying time? (although I am sure, for many, that depressing time is EVERY month). I was a little worried...but I had sacrified a lot of things for this month

-paying min on student loan
-working extra to make up days
-not doing tkd or fitness clubs
-sticking to the christmas list and not feeling pressured to buy gifts for the wrong side of the family (though they like to get us stuff even though they have an off year, for example, Tim's parents are coming over tomorrow...and I have a feeling they are packing gifts...we don't have anything for them and I am not going to feel guilty that is the case. They know the rules...every other year - so it's fair to both our sides of the family).

In fact, considering we had to travel to and back from Milwaukee twice, up north, stay in a hotel and visits lots of people, in addition to having a big Christmas party -- we did really well. I had to only take $374 from savings and add it to checking...(well, plus an extra 200 for the end of this month + new year's cushion). That is AWESOME! All of our hard work paid off, and we finished paying for the most expensive month. :) Now come Jan to June -- which historically are frugal months.

Niow that I have done my big duty of the day, I need to next take a shower -- clean up a bit in anticipation for the parental visit, shred some potatos for dinner (potato deluxe...a recipe curtesy of my coworker) and play some Kingdom Hearts II. OH, I also have to pack up the two forgotten gifts for my brothers to send out tonight.

Last night Tim played open faced cribbage with me! It's a game we learned from Kelly and Ben last Friday in Milwaukee. IT's fun. I want to play it with everyone. I just want to play games with people. Sit around and play cribbage, scrabble, abalone....you know. That is a cozified winter activity.

I also want my dog to knock it off. As I said to Tim in my morning email to him:

Pluto isn't back to his normal schedule. A whole weekend with the dog sitters has left him utterly spoiled. Now our couch isn't comfortable enough -- he sits down and then gets up suddenly to walk down the hall, come back and consider the couch again. Pacing back and forth. He's not getting enough attention - constantly following any of us around and expecting more than his usual amount of attention, which is about...what? A couple minutes? He wants a couple of hours. AND where the fuck are all his bisquits? (speaking for pluto)....I don't know if you noticed, but all but one of his bisquits that I packed for the weekend (a little more than twice the amount of normal) were all gone. He must have averaged at least three treats and a greenie or rawhide a day.

He's kind of a pain right now.

walking around morosely, giving me those eyes...pacing....standing in odd spots and whining....staring at me. ...whining....not laying the hell down....

For real, it's a HUGE pain. He's not back to his normal schedule. I know people think you can't give a dog enough attention, but I beg to differ. You don't have to live with that dog after the attention surplus has stopped. I do. It sucks.

I've been trying to think of some highlights that maybe I didn't mention before, regarding this past weekend.

--Christmas Eve was awesome. Tim and I spent the ..oh wait I wrote about that.
--Christmas Morning we went over to Mom's after eating a belguim waffle, orange and pastry for breakfast. Ditto and his fiance (Did I mention that story about how I noticed the ring on her ...no? I didn't? Here it is.

Ditto (aka James) called earlier in the morning to see if we were there. He said he would be over in an hour. An hour later he showed up with his girlfriend. I didn't think it was any big deal, but Mom and Shane later said that was the first time the girl has ever come into the house. Ever. Usually she sits in the car waiting. It's debatable whether or not she does this because Ditto asked her too, or she did it on her own accord. The reason (because I know you are asking this in your head) is because Ditto was ashamed of his upbringing/current status of the house and didn't want anyone to see it. Either because if they did they would associate the state of the house with Ditto, or because he didn't want them to feel pity for his family or both..anyway, we are all victims of this in one way or another).

She brought goodies with her and stood most of the time. At one point, I was trying to think of small talk to say and looked at her hand. There, on her left hand was a ring the size of texas.

"Are you engaged?" I asked her.
"Yep," she replied and looked at her hand.
"When?" I managed through my shock.
"August," she answered and looked to Ditto for confirmation.

"Yeah," Ditto said. "I told Mom about it then."

"Mom!" I exclaimed. "Why did you tell me that Ditto got engaged!"

"Well, I didn't know," she explained. "He said he wasn't going to get married until next year."

"Mom! What do you think "Engaged" means?" I said, quite exasperated.

So...my little brother Ditto is engaged. The wedding is set for sometime next September. I have to figure out what weekend Mark is getting married, and tell Ditto so they don't get married on the same weekend. That would seriously suck, especially since we already made a committment to go to Mark's (and Tim is a groomsmen).

After Christmas there, we headed over to Jessie's place. It was such a good time. They had saved their presents for the kids to open that night, so we got to take part in watching kids open presents! It's so much fun. Becca, Lucas and Dean are SUCH good kids. I told Tim that I wanted to adopt Becca as a "special adult" in her life that would always remember her birthday and send letters to over the years.

The last thing on our docket, was to head back to Menomonie and visit Ditto's place for our customary Christmas drinks. We played ping pong with her kids, pool with Shane and had some wonderful conversations before wobbling back to the hotel to crash.

What else? (I'm losing steam right now) -- oh we were quite happy to get ack to home and realize our cats are the best cats in the world. I will never again say how fat they are after seeing so many obese cats up north. Geez, ours looked like midget Olympians.

Okay...shower time.

Wow.

Just.....wow. It's been quite a while since I have anticipated and subsequently devoured a book - World War Z by Max Brooks doesn't disappoint.

I'm feeling a little, post "great book" syndrome and therefore will have to update tomorrow.

Finally home. I should really do a big update ... but I'm kind of tired and just want to veg out. At the same time I am not quit sure just ...what to do. I mean, I know have unlimited amounts of free time...(or at least it feels like it)...should I:

A. Watch TV
B. Read World War Z
C. Play Kingdom Hearts II
D. Catch up on the internet/livejournal, wazika...

See? Too many good choices. I am also hungry but I am in no mood to cook. I wish a tater tot casserole would just appear in the oven, all cooked and ready to eat. We did have breakfast at 1:00 this afternoon .... and I dumped a pot of coffee on my lap - thank god for a change of clothes. But that was a long time ago, also all the riding in the car gave me a kink my back. I hate kinks.

Yeah...I'll update at work. What else is that for? ;)

Good day. I'll update more later.

Tim and I just finished playing four games of Abalone -- one of his Christmas presents that ONCE AGAIN he guessed. Damn. The game is pretty fun and really easy to learn. We are also enjoying the Door Country Christmas wine...it's goooooooood.

Merry Christmas folks -- here's to getting something good to eat.

Cheated? Me?? (See comment two entries ago). No! I thought I mentioned that I was so tired I forgot to hit post....and then this morning I had some publishing problems so...yeah.

ANYWHO...guess where I am? If you guessed the Super 8 in Menonomie then you are correct! We have wireless access, so I will be able to keep my pledge of posting every day. ROCK! *pats self on the back* So I am sitting here, enjoying a glass of wine in a plastic cup and cookie out of the cookie tray that I made for ourselves and checking the internet. It's a slow day, so I got to the posting right quick. Since we are in this hotel for three nights for Christmas, I decided to make it cozy. When I was making the cookie trays/plates, I made sure to make a little one for ourselves, a chocolate bar, and some liqueur chocolates and two bottles of wine. One of which is that infamous Door County Christmas Wine that I see commercials for all over the place. I'm saving that one for Monday or Sunday night. :)

So we left Madison about 2.30 and got to Andrew and Lori's at about 4:00 and stayed until 7:00. We had such a nice visit with them. Alex and Andrew both actually started talking near the end! Amazing. Lori, of course, is a great host and introduced me to the wonders of coconut creme creamer. Oh my god...it's like eating pie and drinking coffee at the same time. I HAVE to find myself some. We exchanged gifts -- and seemed liked they liked their presents. It's so hard to figure out what to get so many people ... it's like our gift list is actually bigger when my Mom get's Christmas, because of the trek up north and all the brilliant people we just have to visit along the way. I mean, when I think about it, this is the most I ever gotten...well the most for the most people anyway: Andrew, Alex, Cody, Lori/Frank, Dad/Barb, Mom, Shane, Ditto, Josh, Frank, Hilary, Leta, Mina, Hilary/Jason, Jessie, Curtis, Dean, Becca, Lucas, Tim, Amy, Rhyse, Dane and Janet. That is a big list, in my opinion.

They gave us gifts! It's amazing how much I appreciate the thought that our friends and family give us when they give us stuff. I never expect anything in return (probably from growing up with rarely getting anything), so it's so cool when we do get things. I mean, they are total icing on the cake, and everything seems really wonderful. I mean, I am pretty happy with my haul so far. Lori gave me some lemon something hand lotion that makes your hands feel so very soft and good smelling (perfect because I have begun to be afflicted with dry skin and I have no lotion in the house), a blue glass pendent (I can't remember the last time someone has given me jewelry ... I think it was a necklace that Amy made me three years ago), stamps, and ....get this....and....I mentioned that I wanted to play Kingdom Hearts II for a while now...and Alex went into his bedroom and produced the very game! They said I could borrow it...how freaking awesome is that? I can't wait to get home and get started on it. I have been itching for a video game for *quite* awhile. :) And I have free time next weekend to play now that all the preparation for Christmas is done...all we have left to do is the good stuff...the visiting. It's this time that makes all that hard work worth it.

Not to mention the booty that I got from Hilary -- Amy Sedaris's party book, a journal and the kitchen type stationary, the Helium Vola CD from Tim, the War on Z and awesome skirt I got myself...man, it could end now and I'd be happy.

Anyway. Tomorrow is our visit with Myrna and possibly Melinda (an old high school friend that I haven't seen in 15 years...IF she calls me), and stop by my Mom's place to drop off some food. Other than that, I want to take it easy and possibly go and see Night at the Museum at the theater. I have been wanting to see that movie since I first saw a preview for it a month ago.

I'm getting pretty long winded here...it might be the bottle of wine that Tim and I killed going straight to my head. I had a pretty light dinner of jello, a bite of smoked salmon, a piece of cheese and four pieces of small raisin bread....oh and a cookie.

Sometimes, I think it might be my serverside of things that muck things up. In any case I was too tired to hit post I guess...and now today there seems to be problems updating. Hopefully it will resolve itself before we leave.

This morning we slept in until 10:30. Man, sleeping off a night of open faced cribbage with Ben and Kelly in their adorable house in Milwaukee, after dropping of Pluto to his dog sitter, with a few glasses of wine/beer was ....great. Ahh. Christmas part II was a success.

So this morning I made (am making mincemeat pie). While I was making that, I poured myself a cup of coffee. Later I took a sip and almost spit it out. It tasted awful. I had Tim taste it, and he agreed it was horrible. "What did you pour in it?!" he exclaimed.

"Just the usual....cream....su...." and then I realized that making pie crust and a cup of coffee at the same time is a bad idea. Instead of sugar, I had poured salt into it. :X

Yeah, I hope that isn't the face of things to come. Today, we start the trek up north. Stopping at Lori and Andrew followed by Dad/Barb and then the hotel.

Things I still have to do:

-take a shower and get dressed
-pack
-finish wrapping gifts
-clean the car
-find music for trip
-pack car
-drive
-oh and feed the cats and possum

If I don't manage to post (and I'll try VERY hard) ... Merry Christmas to ALL, and to all a good Day.

(that is if I can get this to post)

My contacts are so dry they almost fell out...so tired.

Today was BUSY!

Hilary, Mina and Leta came over at noon with a coffee and McChicken for a break. It was the perfect inspiration to get off my butt to take a shower and start cleaning the house. After they left, Heather came over for a visit while I made nut rolls and fudge and started putting together plates. I made one for Hilary, Laima, Oliver, Tim's boss, Pluto's sitter and Ben and Kelly as well as for one for Heather and Nick (at least for tonight). Of course I felt terrible when I remember JUST as we were leaving Oliver's that he has a nut allergy and almost everything in there had nuts...everything except the sugar cookie, gingerbread man and saltine toffee. Oh well, I suppose the saltine toffee matters the most.

In addition I also got a box of homemade chocolates in the mail from Jen! (an internet pal). COOOooooll....they look so delicious. I have made up a box to take over to the mail tomorrow...watch, it will arrive on Tuesday...but the cookies/candy shouldn't get stale...in fact these are the kind of things that are better with a little age. Anyway...we went over to Hilary's for the grand start of Christmas! I got awesome stuff: Amy Sedaris's party book, a journal and great kitchen paper kit (memo, letter box, etc), Tim even walked away with a 12 year bottle of scotch. DANG!

Here are the pictures after the gift frenzy...it's the best I could do with out obessing. ;)

My neighbor brought over some cookies! Man, I ate my half already - why do other people's cookies taste better than mine? Geez, I feel like mine are so BORING. It's an interesting collection so far...maybe it's just that *i* made them that make them unappetizing to me.

I got a letter from Sarah today -- it rocked! I totally want to write back right away too...but I think I'll try and make myself wait. At least a little. Besides, if I wrote back right now that would be more of a procrastination thing (not making my mincemeat cookies, nut rolls and fudge -- to finish out the cookie plate).

Yeah. My Mom called me at 4 -- waking me from my now daily nap. We talked for about 45 minutes, and I was getting more and more irritated as it went on. She would drop her voice so low that I had to say "WHAT?" after every few sentences. I can't adjust the volume on my phone so I had it pressed against my ear...and....well come on. I am visiting in less than a week....we don't need a huge phone-a-thon right now. We have to save stuff to talk about on Monday. Sheesh.

We ordered a salad and sandwich from Glass Nickle and are waiting for it to arrive. I think I am going to watch a movie and try to finish wrapping gifts.

Thank god for beer.

Today I baked -- a lot. I made: russian tea cakes, extra peanutty brittle, gingerbread men, spice cookies dipped in chocolate with pecan bits, more saltine toffee and peanut butter cookies with chocolate middles. I even had the gump to make dinner - which was awesome, but I am too tired to put away. I'll make Tim do it.

I have this pain in my back..like a muscle or something that could be cracked? that has been plaguing me for weeks. I sometimes I wish I could give myself a massage and get rid of it for good. Exercise seems to aggravate it, as does any kind of .. well...like cooking all day. So I decided go, lay down and enjoy one of my favorite Christmas presents to myself (aside from my very awesome skirt) - World War Z.

The book is awesome. What is not awesome is how I obsessively bite my nails -- since I officially quit doing that in 2000 -- I bit the skin around it until it bleeds. :( It's a life long habit I've had since I was 5, it's hard to quit --especially when I am concentrating. Other incidences include: social situations where I am nervous and when I am watching a movie in a theatre (oh man do I suffer then, because I don't have the light to examine what piece of skin needs to be pulled off and how far is too far).

I also got to open another present yesterday from Tim - Helium Vola (I think -- too lazy to get up and check). It's great! I have already listened to the album three times now.

Man, Christmas is fun when I get things I want -- music, book and awesome, super comfortable and cool looking skirt...perfect.

Pet notes:

• Arkham snores when he sleeps.
• If you're not careful and make sure the door latches, Migo will open the closet door to raid food.
• Innsmouth's is the only 'meow' that will wake Tim in the morning, even though it's the quietest and she rarely does it.
• Pluto hates crows and owls and will get aggressive (barking and posturing).
  
• The Fish is still alive -- after not having a water filter in it for over a year.
  
• Koopa comes out during the day when she's hungry and runs.

Actually, I do like the beta blogger...I haven't had nearly as many problems with it, as I did with the old version. So change over!

Man, I just got home from a shop-a-thon day! Whew. Our last stop was Borders where I got myself a Christmas present - World War Z using my 30% off coupon. The line there was HUGE at least 40 people in it easy. They had to make an announcement telling people that it wasn't actually that long because people were leaving. Whatever, it was a long line.

I tried making the nutz today, and ... I burned half of them. I used a dark pan, and ... they burnt. The temperature was too high, the pan was too dark = nasty nuts. :( To top it off, Tim said the ones that weren't burnt weren't even that good. Damn. Hilary said cooking nuts was touchy business...I guess so.

I also realized I don't have any sugar, so there is no baking to be done. Well, I do have some sugar and gingerbread cookie mix (since I can't seem to make ginger bread on my own -- even with Sarah's awesome recipe card). I could use that since I have oodles of powdered sugar...but quite honestly. I am a little tired, and kind of want to just veg. I got a medium cup of awesome coffee at Border's so I can't take a nap. Plus I do want to sleep tonight so a nap is probably a bad idea anyway. I guess I'll just wrap gifts and see what's on TV.

Oh. How do I start?

I mean. I knew it would happen. Someday. I know logically, it's something that happens to everyone....eventually. I just didn't think it would happen to me. Not for another four years at least. Also, I thought it would happen gradually.

On our way back from walking dogs at Lake Geneva --- I was looking in the mirror. Actually I found a fork and decided to comb my bangs -- (it was clean...sheesh), so there I was combing and suddenly I glimpsed something.

White....wire-like. I gasped and slammed the mirror shut. Tim swerved slightly and said "What?"

"Oh no," I managed and reopened the mirror, slowly. Carefully I pulled my hair aside and there it was...a white hair. Not grey. WHITE!

"It's not a grey," said Tim. "It's probably just dirty."

I pulled it out. "This isn't dirt, darling," I replied and examined it closer. It was so clear, and crystal it could reflect light to the moon. I am sure of it.

"It's probably just a fluke," Tim consoled me, stifling laughter. I desperately rooted around looking for more. There...in the back. I showed it Tim. He saw it right away.

"Purge it!" he yelled. I pulled it out...it wasn't just white at the end, it was almost all converted to white with a little hold out light brown at the end. I put both of the white hairs into my journal. Feeling a little shaken.

I expected it to grey. To slowly turn gray. Not to have a bunch of WHITE hairs show up. And tell....where is the research on this? Why does the whole thing turn white so fast? How does it get thick and wiry? How does this happen? Why hasn't there been a documentary on this? A camera fixed on hair to see how it changes so quickly. Where are the clinical studies? How can we stop this?

I came home and after a bath, and bunch of Hallmark movies to console myself, I find - to my horror that there were THREE more. Two more at the temple where I found the first one, and a second in the back - actually Tim found it. It was a little growing white hair. Is that the answer? But why wouldn't I have noticed this sooner? I mean come on, this is in the front. It's not hidden. How did it escape my attention this long? It must has magically happened over night. I am sure of it.

And white? Seriously. White? What happened to grey?

I was supposed to go grey with grace. But I gotta tell you, after yanking them out (a solution I can't possibly continue) I am finding it hard to find the gump to do that. I can't dye it...I am still very allergic to hair dye. At least I was three years ago...am I ready to retest that theory? Oh man.

What a stupid Christmas present. :(

And Tim's advice? "You're getting older Laura."

Nutz. Why do all the work parties have to be at 3:00? I mean, dude....I only work until ...1.20 (although today Tim managed to drag me in at 8:25)....still, even if I made up that time that only brings me to 2:00. I would still have an hour to kill before the party. Besides, what does the party have to offer? Some appateasers? A few lame drinks? Yeah...screw that. I don't need it. I can have my own goodie by making some cheese ball crackers (munch munch -- gooood).

Last night after I made my post, we actually ended up just going to bed. Yep, nothing was played but slept was had. I guess we are set for another night of fun later this week. We don't have any plans for this weekend....so maybe then. We were tired and it seemed like a good idea. I love treating myself to early bedtimes. Besides, I was overfull from the dinner I didn't need to eat of minced fish sandwiches (shurefine battered fish) and veggies.

Well wait, we are going to have an afterwork beer at the Come Back Inn with Oliver at 5:00 tonight. Then we have to go home and catch the season finale of Battlestar Gallatica (how can that be the season finale though....it only came on in October...that is barely three months! are they going to make us wait another 8 effin' months before we get new stuff?!...cCome on already.

That means there is nothing on TV for me to watch. I did watch the Lost Room miniseries on Scifi this week and quite intrigued with the idea, but very disappointed in the ending. I went to the scifi forum to see what others thought (since I know none of my friends give two shakes about any of my scifi interests until a couple seasons later when it's old and boring), and they agreed too. Too many unanswered questions. Many seemed to think scifi was baiting us to see if we would be interested in that as series because Stargate SG1 is on it's last season. I dunno, it might be true. That is how Battlestar got its start...as a miniseries. But the difference is, Battlestar as a miniseries was a complete story. Sure there were questions, but they were future questions not questions of the nature of "What the fuck just happened?" I have been getting my overfill of unanswered story lines lately.

I am thinking about what kinds of things I am going to bake. I gotta admit I am not too much in the Christmas spirit this year. I don't know why...I was last year. But I am still young, I need to keep up doing the things: cards, parties, cookies, gifts -- because I need to ingrain [I just had to look up how to spell that....engrain vs ingrain. I spent too much time discovering that engrain, in indeed the wrong spelling for my meaning -- Ingrain: To fix deeply or indelibly, as in the mind.]

As I was saying, I need to ingrain the minds of folk that we do that sort of thing. So that one year when we don't, everyone will wonder "What's going on? What big thing happened to Laura and Tim that we didn't get _____?" Instead of just assuming we are like every other American, who justifies lack of Christmas spirit as: political action (consumerism, marketing, santa, TV blah blah blah), being broke, too busy, or religious reasons.) I mostly hate the reason of "busy." Unless, there is a sickness where you are at the person's bedside the whole time...what am I saying? Nothing. I've lost interest in this rant.

Tomorrow we have kennel days. I don't know why we even bother to go. I mean the place is full of "volunteers" who just want to look at the dogs and take them out for one piddly lap around the field, SLOWLY. At tops that is a five minute walk. These dogs have been in kennels ALL WEEK and they only get a five minute walk? They don't fucking care that you give them pets...these are dogs. They want the damn walk. It just pisses me off. We make sure to take the dogs at least two times around, generally three for a good 15 min walk. Our dogs are tired by the time they go back to the kennel, and you can see the difference in the dogs at the end ... the dogs still barking their heads off are the ones who got the special 5 minute deal. Poor dogs. Last time, I just took them out and started walking them again. I don't care what those volunteers thought who saw me or recognized a dog they walked. They should know better. I mean, do they treat their own dogs like this? I guess. These are the same kinds of folks who spent 15 minutes driving around in a parking lot looking for a spot as close to the store as possible.

No, seriously, I think our biggest contribution to this dog thing is being a courier -- bring mail, dogs or supplies down or back. Oh well. I'll do it as long as Tim wants too. I enjoy the time spent with Tim. Maybe I should think about driving there...hm. I don't think I did any driving last week. I have been working on doing it at least once a week. You know, keep practicing and staying "manually" limber.

I was going to expound upon my...ennui. It's just struck me (not as weird as getting off a tread machine last night...I didn't have my land legs for almost a half an hour!), that this week I don't have anything that needs to be done. Nothing pressing that is. I had been spending so much time on those beaded trees, followed by the party preparations...that now I don't have anything. I just kind of wander from room to room wondering what to do, especially during the day. The house was clean.....yeah. I mean I could find busy work...anyone could. But, it was the freedom to do as I wanted that make me feel a little guilty like I should be working on something, and two at a loss as to what I *did* want to work on. What did just Laura want to do? Hm?

Well, the things I have to do are wrap presents, bake cookies .... I am thinking: saltine toffee, sugar cookies, russian tea cakes -- um that is all I have so far. I have TONS of baking chocolate I would love to use, and nuts...and ...yeah. I should look through some cookbooks and find good stuff. I need to finish the christmas cards -- I just got to the "S" section of my address book, whew! Uhh I guess the floor could use vacuumed.

Pluto is still an asshole -- licking his wound at night so it's bloody in the morning. At this rate it will take years for that thing to heal. Plus, imagine how embarassed we are at having to take Pluto to the dog sitter with instructions on his skort. I swear, if that thing is off when I get home he is wearing the elzabethan collar and spending the night on his dog bed in the living room ... panting. At least the wound won't be bothered, although he might have a stress related heart attack by the morning.

Uh oh, I should do some work now....

Gosh, I did not need to eat a dinner tonight. Hilary, the girls and I went out to the west side of Madison to Greenway Crossing to do some weird shopping. Basically look in stores we never go into. After that, I was famished -- so we ate at this surfing kind of restaurant that looks like they specialize in getting people drunk after work. I had a burger, some fries and .... sweet potato chips. Oh my god, they were like heaven in my mouth. I can't tell you the last time I ate something different and was amazed at how it tasted. Oh and I had part of a salad too. So. I finished the burger and a few fries and a big handful of those chips...and was full. Ridiculously full....so full that I was still full three hours later.

The dog walk helped, and then we went to Anytime Fitness to start our two week trial. I went on the eliptical for a half an hour, and then moved to a walking machine...er treadmill for another half an hour. What made this easy? Watching TV. I brought ear buds, so I turned it to the scifi channel to see if the Lost Room was showing again. I missed the last part of the series last night baby sitting...so I was quite glad to catch it. :) It's amazing the motivation of watching TV while working out....I didn't want to quit because I didn't want to miss anything. Tim went off by himself to recreate a monkey bar workout. He later accused me of liking the machines -- being able to watch TV and zone out. Nutz....he's right.

Okay, we are gonna play some Marvel now...maybe even finish it up? I've been pretty bored lately...perhaps I will expand upon that tomorrow. Right now I wrangled Tim into doing something and that's pretty big!

What a day. I am on Hilary's laptop right now. The kids went to bed -- we watched Over the Hedge which sucked...I stopped it half way through to read books because the girls were getting bored. After a few books we watched the end of it, and there was still 15 min to go for brushing teeth and bed time. So they went to bed a tad bit early, but Leta did say she was tired. So. Then I raided the house for food. I hadn't eaten dinner yet, and was hungry. I managed to find: a all natural peanut krispie bar, and a piece of cheese. Oh and they got me some diet coke, but you sometimes you just need food.

Afterwork today I took the bus and went to East Towne mall to do some Christmas shopping -- which was a 45 minute bus ride, so it was 3:00 by the time I got there.... Before that I called my brother Shane to see if he had found his coat yet -- he didn't. While I was at it, I got his pants size and tried to get my other brother Josh...but no one knew. In the end I decided to just get him fleece lounge pants...and just guess double X's on all the clothes. They said to get him clothes because he spends all his money on that XBox 360. I told Tim that when he came to pick me up (what a sweetie!) he replied "It's a sucky world when Josh gets a 360 before I do."

"Yeah, but Josh doesn't have any clothes. You have to sacrifice something for it," I said.

"I don't have to have clothes," he replied.

"But then you wouldn't be able to leave the house," I answered. "You know Josh rarely leaves the house. Is it really worth it?"

"No," he sighed. "I guess not."

So....I got Josh, Shane and my Mom stuff...and I think I am done. I mean, I was going to get my stepdad a space heater from Menards...but other than that...I might be done with shopping. I can't figure out what to get Tim. He's still the kind of person that if he needs something he just goes out to get it. Although, he is buying ME stuff for Christmas. He said it's because he knows there is stuff I want, but never get. He's right on that. I don't often shop for myself too much...well except for the other day. I wore that skirt to the doctor that day and MAN oh MAN did it make me feel great. It's super full, like a flameco dancer kind of skirt and it totally gave me the confidence I needed. I also love the bracelet. But let's consider what else I got...hm I did get that orange long sleeved shirt at Target in the clearance rack for 3 bucks, and before that I got a powder blue fleece from Old Navy (12) when I went to buy gloves (6) and ear warmers....and before that it was the Armoire that I had waited for over a year to get for the television/entertainment gear. Trust me that was money well spent...although it took 8 hours for me to put that bastard together. What am I saying here? I am saying that if I wanted there are lots of things I could run out and buy...and be a normal american who lives paycheck to paycheck.

So, after all that shopping -- man was that hard. I mean seriously, shopping for men is ... hard. The clothes are in out of the way locations, the clearance racks were hidden, and the longer I shopped the heavier my bag got. I did learn something about department store shopping though -- and that is they usually have boxes! Yeah, I totally got boxes for all the stuff I got, so I won't even have to worry about it! While I was at the mall I picked out one of those wish things and got a 12 year old girl a nice pair of earrings. I almost traded it in for a matching necklace/earring set -- but the metal looked cheap and I wanted these earring to be good. They were red and crystal, drop like earrings...anyway, I would have been thrilled to get a pair like that when I was a teeenager, I hope the girl likes them.

The only thing I allowed myself to get was a cinnasticks when I bought a diet coke to quench my thirst before Tim picked me up. We split them in the car on the way home, when I realized how exhausted I was! Even now, I am quite tempted to just finish this post and take a nap. I very well might do that.

Tomorrow will be nice. No work. I can start to figure out the food stuff's I am going to make and disperse.

Lori, we are planning on using NEXT (the weekend of Christmas) as a travel day up North and doing some visiting along the way -- namely you/Andrew and then Dad. Do you guys have plans that day?

I did some experimenting today to see if I could upload photos onto the intarweb faster...turns out I can. No more having to monkey through the server and all that jazz, I can just hook up to the new computer and pick and choose the photos I want instead of having to go through them all! Oh, this means much more photos (at least it means good intentions of more photos).

BUT...here I am a few weeks ago before I got my hair cut. I spent way too much time doing my hair for the last DJ event of Mike/Chuck hurrah -- but in the end it look fabulous. I wish it would look this good all the time -- the purpose of the new hair cut. Of course I still need to practice doing it.

Here you are, a picture for today's post. :)

Blarg. It's one of those days. Grey, dreary and it's that rotten time of the month so I am not feeling anywhere near hot. Or warm. Or whatever. Well, at least I am home now and I get to pay bills. Hurray! We got our escrow check, and ... we owe $65.65. Whew, that is STILL better than the 400$ we had to pay the first year that we lived here. Still, I would much rather get a refund...but so it goes.

There, the bills are paid and the accounts are balanced. I always feel better when I get the first bill paying out of the way.

Pluto is a huge pain in the ass. He won't stop licking his damn wound. We have been doing the skirt thing, which works if someone is around to watch him and make sure it doesn't come off. But when I came home today, it was gone and his wound was bright red and bleeding again. Tim called and made a useless appointment to the vet for next Tuesday to take him in. Seriously, what are they going to do? Or tell us to do? The wrapping doesn't work, the skirt has issues and he gets so stressed out with the collar. We just don't know what the hell to do anymore, and I can't even fathom would the vet would do or tell us to do. Yes, we also tried the bitter sprays and the invisible bandage -- nothing. He's never done this for a wound before, and we are at our wit's end.

I guess I am just a "glass is dirty AND half empty" kind of gal today.

On the bright side -- I did a little shopping therapy today. I had forgotten my cell phone at work, so I had to go back and get it after dropping off my time sheet, causing me to miss my bus and have a 1/2 hour to kill. So I stopped at Art Gecko to buy a bracelet I have had my eye on for a long time. While I was there I checked out the clearance and found a skirt I have wanted on sale for 50% off. It was the last one, and in my size, so I took it. I decided, why not. Especially since I was having a rotten day (but also was looking good -- so my confidence was built up.) Yeah, you can feel crappy but still look good. So now I have this beautiful black, full skirt...oh it's just gorgeous and feel almost a little too fancy for everyday wear - -even thought it's cotten and could totally be everyday wear. It's one of those article of clothing that when you see someone else wearing you think to yourself "God, I wish I could wear clothes like that all the time and just be free to look awesome and unique." You know, the type -- hair stylists, artists and workers of cute boutiques get away with it all the time. I am trying to convince myself that I can be more like that too.

I washed my hair last night and discovered this morning that Lowen was right, this is a hairdo that I will have to learn how to use products to make look really good. I am so glad that she gave me a few free products -- because heaven knows I need them. What I also need is another lesson on how to do my hair. I am just not skilled at this having never done it my entire life. She did say it would take some practice though. Thank god for hair sticks in the meantime. Which, by the way, are impossible to find. I was thinking of my fantasy wish list today, and that is something I would always happily accept -- hair sticks (as well as wysteria scented stuff, stationary stuff, food items and The War on Z book....).

There...all done. I am going to go and chill on the couch with some Christmas cards to work on.

The party was a smash! WOO! See, all that worry *does* make a good party, it's like magic. Right? Or maybe there was nothing to worry about. There were lots of great food, singing and visiting -- I didn't take photos this time because I wanted to enjoy the party with the guests. Maybe next time.

I hope everyone's hangover's aren't too bad today.

We went ice skating tonight! They opened Tenny Park -- I heard on the news -- so after peeling those LAME eggs (yes I did the hot water to ice thing, it just didn't work this time), we bundled up and headed out. It's good to do stress relieving stuff like that, or so I hear. I only fell once too, I've gotten much better.

The elizabethan collar made Pluto miserable last night. All he did was pant the whole evening, so we put the skirt back on him so that we would actually get some sleep. I let him wear it again today and so far so good. I didn't let him leave the living room and my watchful eye. Trust me, getting dog blood out of everything is a huge pain in the ass.

I upgraded to the new google blogger. It took them quite a while to move everything over. This is kind of a test post to see. It's funny...okay not so funny -- I really should have posted BEFORE I tried this hijink. I hope I don't pay for it.

Last night Lowen came over and cut me and Tim's hair. I have a fabulous new hair cut, and Tim looks dapper than ever. We had goat's cheese and bread, with salsa and chips for dinner (trying out recipes). I think I made a lot of progress yesterday -- mostly because I left the house and came back with only 2 hours to clean the kitchen and take a shower before Lowen showed up. Sometimes a little pressure does make you work faster.

Today I am cooking. I baked cookies, and made the cheese ball, the meat is in the oven doing the 1st part of the cooking process. I am next going to tackle the egg nogg, followed by cookie decorating and ... I dunno. I do need to go to the store. I need some salad dressing for the deviled eggs, and more butter.

Announcing, the WINNER of the 1st Christmas card recieved this year, who wins my respect and esteem for being so on top of things in this hectic holiday season is ---

HILARY!

Sometimes I feel like I am...on the edge of forgetting my passwords. You know, like when you are crossing a stream on a log - you go nice and slow for the first part for the last part you start to lose it - so you run. That feeling right there when you are running is what I am talking about. I feel like if I pause to long I'll lose it, and then will have lost it forever.

Man, this dog is fired. Anyone want a stupid greyhound? He scraped his outer knee last week chasing rabbits in the backyard, and since then has made his scratch into a gaping wound by licking. Yesterday I came home to find blood drops on the floor and all over the futon sheets. Damn. We have had the ordeal of trying everything: pet bandages, socks, doggie pants, sling, more protective barrier, bitter apple galore -- nothing. Right now, this morning, I decided to just put a skirt on him. Well, it's actually a slip, but he's wearing it and it covers up the wound enough that he won't lick. I just gotta keep an eye on him today. We didn't want it to come to this -- but that skinny bastard is getting an Elizabethan collar. I guess I gotta call the vet today to see if they have any large ones in stock otherwise we schlep out to Petsmart for their collar (that didn't get that high of ratings with Dr. Google). But I suppose it's better than nothing. Unless the skirt works...but I don't think it will for long. Right now Pluto is just upset with us (although not as half as upset as we are with him).

Last night I dug out the tree and bent the branches to make it look more real. I also scrapped off (nigh impossible task -- don't use masking tape on tile!) tape goo from the entrance carpet and cleaned it. I then had to reapply more tape -- but I found this white kind of tape. I don't know where it came from or what it's original purpose is, but it seems kind of water proof and it's holding the rug down. I also cleaned the entry way closet, pared down the coats in there, took off the basement door, washed all the linens, dog beds and blanket throws (I almost broke the washer doing that with two blankets that became very heavy when wet). I even found time to make sausage dinner with carrots, a big rutabaga, and onions. That is the first time I have ever eaten a rutabaga -- it was kind of bitter.

Today it's supposed to be really cold. I don't know if I want to leave the house much. It's kind of nice o have the whole day to me....and another one tomorrow -- with a little focus. The sun is out...I should quit writing and open up the shades to let the light in.

Oh - I'll address comments here:

Yeah - buying underwear for you Mom is weird, but if it helps it's not sexy or anything. They are just cotton briefs. But to my family-- a pack of smokes and case of diet coke can help you "make do" with just about anything.

Ginger in oatmeal? Uh...I'm having a hard time imagining ginger in anything but stir fry (fresh ground ginger that is...powdered ginger in pastries I can understand because of all the sugar and other spices). I will take this oatmeal suggestion into consideration...

Alrighty then....I should go and take a shower..but I kind of want more coffee. I found some french vanilla soy creamer at woodmans and need more than one cup of coffee to test it out. I spose I could make one more cup, I have a few of those freebie one shot coffee things that I got from Tim's Dad and Mom who collects them from Hotel rooms and gave us a bunch. Then it would be diner like coffee -- my favorite. :)

Also, no one has won the 1st Christmas Card of the year prize yet. And it's what? December 7th? Geez.

Fairly productive day yesterday: cleaned guest room, washed blankets, mopped basement floor (Tim did that one), walked the dog, went grocery shopping for the party....okay the menu:

Hot Meat Sandwiches Au Jous
Cheese Ball with assorted crackers
Creamy Salsa dip with tortilla chips
Deviled Eggs
Ham roll ups (with pickle)
Sugar Cookies
Christmas Tree Cake (those cakes with the cookie on the side that seems to be all the rage this year)
Eggnogg
Spiced Wine
Salomi
Awesome Jello
Mini Eclairs (splurge purchase)

See? Doesn't that look like awesome food? Don't you want to come over and celebrate NOW?! You can! Or you can come:

Saturday, December 9th
7:00 PM
Click for Invitation

If you read this journal, or know me, you are more than welcome to come.

We went shopping on Sunday and while I was buying my Mom some underwear, I saw that they had boy brief underwear. Now I remember someone recently said "What? You don't wear boy brief's? What's wrong with you?" So I thought, here is an opportunity to try them out. I do need more underwear anyway and tossed in a three pack.

Last night I finally broke down and took a shower -- my hair was greezy, and I was cold, cold, cold. Afterward I broke in the boy briefs:

1. They are low rise -- not a huge fan of low rise.
2. I feel like I am wearing short shorts.
3. I feel a little frumpier (but that could just because of my atroicous outfit today--it's totally a bad outfit day)
4. I think it'll take a little getting used to. But I did like waking up with them on this morning.

Last night we didn't get to Woodman's as planned. Instead we bundled up Pluto and walked him, then I made some curried vegetables (potatos, carrots, onions and a parsnip) followed by Pecan Swirl quick bread, and I finished cleaning up the guest room. I still need to sweep and vacuum, and wash all the previous linen's/blankets, watched Heroes and did a little paper organizing and played with my new paper cutter.

Okay, so I won't make up for the previous days missed this month, because most advent calendars only go for 24 days anyway. I am going to do my best to do it all the way to the New Year. I think I did this last year too, if I am not mistaken.

This morning was hard to get up, upon finally dedicating myself to the task, I tried the "read something in bed to wake up" method. It worked only a little, but I did stay warmer longer. I had instant oatmeal for breakfast because I have decided I hate fruity pebbles or their knockoff. It's too sweet and gets soggy too fast. Who the hell likes soggy cereal?

Tim complimented me today by saying "Darling, you're a good wife."

Aww. :)

Edit: Okay, the name for this is: It's WiDeBloMo month! (Wisconsin December Blogging Month). I have just recruited Hilary to the challenge -- check her out at: Sabonai to see if she keeping up as well.

Hi there!

So, I have actually been working on a post ... a big part of one starting last week. So before I write some more, let me post that - I thought about backdating it but then that would probably just confuse everyone. So, here it is, I wrote this part on Thursday.

Sorry, I was having a few publishing problems with blogger yesterday and the night before. That isn't the reason that I have neglected wazika though, the real reason -- which is easy to suspect -- is that I have been overproductive! (notice I didn't say busy) I am tired of busy always being used as an excuse for everything, and I hate that I use it as an excuse for everything. So there. [Edit: saying I am not busy or using the "B" word has proven to be very difficult, however I am proud to say that three days into December I have remained strong.]

Today has been eh....yeah ... eh. Tim forgot to set the alarm clock so we woke up at 7:00 from the cat alarm. Arkham sitting on Tim's chest meowing over and over...and then Pluto gets riled up becaue all the cats are...and then he makes a noise and THEN Tim jumps out of bed like it's an emergency. The cats could cry until the cows come home, but if Pluto makes a cry then it's serious business. Thankfully Pluto doesn't know the power he beholds. However, if it weren't for that fat bastard then we would have been later than usual to work. There have a been a few times he has been our morning rooster. But really, is it worth it to have a cat alarm work only once a year and never get to sleep in? I don't know... [Edit: Last night I went to bed at 11:00 and this morning I woke up at 10:00 -- now that was a heck of a nice sleep in.]

Last night we watched Silent Hill while I worked on trees (I finished three last night!) and there was one point where I was so scared I had to turn it off. It made my heart race and feel shocked. At Tim's mockery, I eventually restarted it and watched it again and got through the movie fine (it was ... pretty faithful to the video game), and apparently based on a real story about a town that was evacuated because of a coal fire that burns underground that is STILL burning to this day and might go on for another 100 years. Anyway, that movies....*Shudder*.

We also got Papa Murphey's pizza, cheese bread and cookie combo for 13 bucks. It's awesome, we love papa murphey's. So, yeah you have to pick it up, but it isn't that far from where we live so it's was no biggie and we have lots of cheap, delicious food that I didn't have to make.

I have been thinking about December and the holiday and how/what I am going to do. First I decided to not take TKD this month either, and in addition to not doing any other fitness stuff we are aleady saving moola, secondly I am only going to pay the min on the student loan (usually I pay double or triple the amount), third - I am making up missed days at work so my paychecks aren't any lower -- in fact this month's checking account will reflect an extra 300 dollars, fourth -

That is where I ended. So in classic letter style, let me pick up from there, today on Sunday December 3rd.

Yesterday was my craft show at the Warner Park Recreation Center: Holiday Fest. I worked all week finishing up and decorating 35 little beaded trees. Let me tell you that my left index finger isn't going to feel the same for quite a while. The show (with Laima) went okay. We made our table fee, but overall we are thinking that we need to find a different Craft show. I mean, I like having a craft show to do every year as a focus for hobbing, and I enjoy the time spent with Laima during the day. It's just a fun thing to do, and it's like playing the lottery - "What if I sell out?!" Ha ha....now that is fantasy thinking. So yeah, we are on the lookout for a different craft fair...maybe one that is even more artsy, for next year. If you know of any don't hesitate to let us know. The only sad thing is I forgot to take pictures. :( So I guess I am going to have to take some maybe later this week or next.

After the craft show I came home and tried to take a nap, but couldn't sleep. Even though I had only 4 hours of sleep the night before. The adrenaline I suppose had an effect on it. So I got up and cleaned up the kitchen a bit, made a necklace, made some lasagna for dinner, and put together a paper chain from leftover paper cuttings I got from work while watching the Hallmark movie -- The Christmas Card. I don't know if you know this, but one of the reason's I like December is because there are so many heartwarming movies out. Yes, many of them are Christmas themed...but I eat it up.

Next Saturday is our Holiday Party, and of course since I tried this "Regrets Only" thing I have no idea who is going to come, or even if they want to. I mean, it doesn't really change from having an RSVP because most people don't respond to that either. So .. as Laima likes to say it's "Have a dozen of each, six of the other." or as my coworker says "A horse a piece." I guess. I just have to remember that I know my friends will show up, and for those friends I want to make the party as special as I can. That will be enough. [Edit, you just witness one of my patented pep talks to myself.]

Anyway. Parties, like selling my stuff are both difficult for me. So why do I bother? Because it is difficult. You see, I have to make myself face the challenge. These things can't shape the way you live your life-otherwise I will be living a life of fear. Right? Right. If anything, I try to live my life but one motto - and that is to live a life without regrets.

That said, this house is a disaster! There are no decorations up, you can barely walk through the guest room, and ... well things just need to be cleaned up and spruced. I have one week to do that, and so you see, readers, this is why I have been MIA. Last week and the week before that was the Craft show, and now I have the party. I enjoy it though, it's only a small part of the year and if letters are aren't being sent, or clothes aren't always being washed, and dishes lie in the sink a bit longer than they should, then it is okay [Uh oh, here I go again with the pep talk....].

Today I am going to attack the guest room. It shouldn't be that bad - taking the bikes out and putting them in the garage will help, as will taking the boxes and Styrofoam to the basement. That'll clear it up quite a bit! I could also do laundry with the rest of the laundry soap. Thank god that doing laundry isn't like the old days - I love modern conveniences. Since Tim has to work again today, the shopping that I wanted do will have to wait. I hope that he doesn't have to say up until all hours of the night and we can get out for a bit later. But until then I am going to do good. Cleaning is a mediative process (or say they say).

Oh and my Thanksgiving weekend was awesome! I didn't cook, we had two dinners, we went out to the Inferno and had the BEST time ever, and watched several movies and played video games, etc. It was a very good weekend. Now I have the Christmas weekend to look forward too. I think we are going to be spending 3 days in Menomonie so that we have enough time to visit everyone. I have to get the hotel (hopefully price line something cheap and good), and figure out when we can visit: Jessie, Myrna, coffee with Melinda, and I wanted to email Rachel to see if she was going to be in town for a visit too. That would be awesome...I should do that now while I am thinking about it. I wonder if Carrie or Jesmia will be about too.

Alright the end of hte movie I am watching is about over. Afterward I am going to get started. Yeah! Okay, I won't be so tardy for this week or the next. Maybe I'll do a ...one of those calendars that have a treat...and Advent Calendar, except this will be more like an Advent Blog. A post every day.

Ohhh I like that idea (like I need more challenges... heh)

[Edit: Of course, everytime that I have posted lately, there have been problems where I can't post. So it's your guess as good as mine as to when this post will actually make it. Nutz].