Deviant Dispatches

Over the weekend, Spousal Unit and I had Christmas with his family. Unfortunately, the gifts for his parents were on "backorder" (i.e., in the mail), so we improvised with a couple of CDs. The idea J went with for his dad was pretty cool: songs that refer to the Beatles. Surprisingly, some of the best ones he found are country-esque, such as I Saw It on TV by John Fogerty and She Likes the Beatles by William Clark Green. This all meant that Jack was the only one who got a complete gift, though I have to say it was the coolest gift I gave this year. Zelda 3-ring plaque and Triforce gauntlets ! We took a really good family picture, because we're dashing people. Then we had an overpriced, comically awkward dinner sitting far too close to an incredibly quiet couple (which I don't fault them for) who made this Italian family feel like they had to be quiet in return - something that doesn't happen often. Luckily, Spousal Unit and I were able to laugh inw...

Dear Target, You suck at shipping. Other things too, but I'm sticking with shipping for now. Every year for Christmas, my family does a Secret Santa thing, because we are enormous and our wallets are tiny. This year, Spousal Unit drew the name of my sister Rachel, who wanted a popcorn popper. I dutifully went to my local Target store in search of this delightful contraption, only to find it wasn't on the shelves; alas, I would have to order it online. (Target, you may be wondering why I was the one to do this, instead of Spousal Unit. The answer, Conglomerate Retailer of Doom, is that this is how things work in our household and you should mind your own business.) When the package arrived - in a relatively short time, I might add - I only saw it from behind at first. But one thing was clear: it was shipped in its box with a thin piece of plastic around it. Nothing else adorned its cardboard sides. Target, you sad, strange little chain. I'm a fan of sa...

My sister Laura graduated over the weekend. I am super proud of her. The family (plus support system) had dinner and drinks together the night before in celebration. I had the strongest hot toddy on the planet, modeled here by the lovely Spousal Unit. I managed to get a picture that perfectly describes Laura's relationship with her daddy. The next morning, we made the quick, joyous trip downtown for the ceremony. Except that the trip was neither quick nor joyous; we were in the middle of a delightful Wisconsin blizzard, and despite the plows having gone by shortly before we left, it was a slippery, treacherous trip, surrounded by idiots on four wheels and nary a patch of sand in sight. After some delightful fishtailing, however, we made it to our destination and watched our gal Sunday be honored for four and a half years of hard work to receive two incredible degrees. Check out the cool glasswork on the walls behind us, too! She has her whole future ahead of he...

The last couple of weeks have been rough. I'm in the middle of a tough bout with depression; I'm sure it's mostly based on the lack of sunlight. I was so excited for last weekend's solstice - almost more excited than I am for Christmas, because now the days will start getting longer, and I need my sunlight. I'm whatever the opposite of a vampire is. I've had issues with seasonal affective disorder in the past, but it seems especially bad this year (I'm a bad judge of this, though - I always forget how terrible it was to adjust to a move, or the last time I felt depressed). I have not worked on the novel in more than a month. I have not written at all since my last blog post, which was about how tired I've been feeling. I have not been reading either. All of you who know me know what a big deal all those things are to me. I've also been very tired, despite getting plenty of sleep, and highly irritable (poor Spousal Unit). I'm sharin...

Some days, I wake up tired. Tired of the day-to-day. Tired of eight hours, commutes, tiny unsolvable word problems. Tired of not being able to do it all at home. Some days, I'd rather stay in bed. Tired of cats knocking over plants, clawing carpet, biting the beads off of my skirts, using my hands as a launch pad. Tired of cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Tired of The Voice in my Head that says it's not good enough, you have to keep going, you have to do more, or else. Some days, I don't want to move for weeks. Tired of depression. Tired of bad feelings ambushing me on a beautiful day. Tired of little things making me into a Midwestern Hulk. Tired of remembering my faults for years on end. Some days, the sunrise takes that all away. On days when it doesn't, there's always poetry .

Sunday was cookie day. Sandy, Kaelin, and I baked all day and ended up with 12 batches of cookies for us to split and take home. It was delightful fun. We made: Orange Cardamom Biscotti Snickerdudes for the Masses Jam Shortbreads Chocolate Mint Surprises Almond Crunch Sugar Cookies Orange Snaps M&M cookies Cranberry Orange Pinwheels Viennese Hazelnut Cookies Peanut Butter Blossoms Nutella cookies  Gingersnaps The gingersnaps had a kid in their class who wasn't very smart. Action shot! Rescuing the bowl from Death by Floor. We laid all the cookies out to count, and only now am I realizing that we were missing the Nutella and Chocolate Mint Surprise cookies. So the actual number of cookies per person was more like 225. Amazing. We rock.

The cats haven't terrorized the tree too badly yet; it's been knocked over once, but it only fell halfway, thanks to a nearby chair, and nothing fell off of it. One ornament has been broken, but it wasn't sentimental, and it was a small enough break that it's not noticeable by anyone who isn't as freakishly detail-focused as me. Mostly, they like to sit under the tree, peering out at us one-lifed creatures. Somehow, I feel like we don't have as many surface-dwelling decorations as we did last year. No boxes are missing; I think we might just have more surfaces. So I'm making do by spreading them thinly between rooms until I can find a good Christmas sale. I like my decorating style.

Christmas is coming! Who's ready to go caroling? Captain Picard sings "Let it Snow" Christmas at Ground Zero by Weird Al Yankovic Anyone need to decorate the tree yet? To: Jabba, Love: Boba ( more geek decor ) Um ... what? Brought to you by The Morning: It's short, and I'm out of time!

Source My apologies at this extended hiatus, and at the general lack of blogginess in the last few weeks. I've had some kind of awful bug that started with a hoarse voice, interimed with a cold, and seems to have settled on an unconsolable sore throat. Today features yet another doctor's visit so that I can do little things like eat oatmeal  without getting a lecture from my tonsils against ingesting things that feel like this. Source See you soon, I hope.