Diaries I Read:
I wasn�t sure I was going to make it through this weekend.
On Friday night after work, I headed to the mall to try to finish up my Christmas shopping. I ended up in Wet Seal shopping for my 13-year-old niece, where I bought her a very cute jacket and a shirt with the requisite sequined initial on the front. (This little stint at Wet Seal brought back many, many fond memories of countless hours in those dressing rooms with my mom, picking out various printed denim skirts and jeans and oversized, brightly colored T-shirts that I would roll up at the sleeves. I certainly did my share to support Wet Seal between about 1988 and 1992.)
Anyway, then I poked through every single store in the mall searching for the perfect gift for my mom and, in the end, did not find it. But I bought something anyway. All of this took about three hours, at the end of which I was limping along in my high-heeled boots (I went straight from work) carrying several overstuffed shopping bags, my jacket (it got hot in that mall!), and a giant Crate & Barrel box to which they had kindly attached a handle. (I have to say that, as much as I love Crate & Barrel, they should be sued by the tree huggers society for their crimes against trees. That store uses an insane amount of packing material. I bought my mom a bread basket � a basket, for gosh sakes! � that they wrapped and wrapped and wrapped in packing paper before placing it in a 2-by-2-foot box. Man, I shouldn�t have nodded when she asked if it was a gift!) Then I managed to get lost in Robinson�s May trying to find the door to the right parking lot. All I wanted to do was soak my aching feet when I got home, but B wanted to go out for dinner, so it ended up being a late night.
The next morning, we got up and met our running buddies for a 7:30 run. I did 10 miles! Woo hoo! I think that�s the farthest I�ve run since the marathon last March! I was very proud of myself, and my knee didn�t bother me all that much. Yay for me!
We went home, showered, and crashed. We actually napped for quite a while, but then we had to get ready for our party. That meant the usual vacuuming and cleaning of countertops (I swear, it�s good that we entertain as much as we do, because it seems like that�s the only time we clean the house!). People started showing up around 7, and it was a really good party. Everyone just ate and drank and chilled. There was an insane amount of food, and the eggnog was an unexpected hit. I think everyone had fun. (And no kids!!!)
The last people left around midnight, and I was really regretting agreeing to another 7:30 am run the next day. I managed to drag myself out of bed anyway, and we ran 6 miles. Again, I gave myself a big pat on the back for that.
I came home, crashed on the couch, and literally could not get myself up for several hours. There were many things I still needed to do, but I was dead tired. I finally did manage to get up and make my way to Kohl�s for the last of my Christmas shopping. (I have to say, I think Kohl�s is the bomb � I bought my dad two golf shirts and a pair of shorts, and a polo shirt and silly basketball game for my brother, all for about $80! I am the bargain queen!)
After wrapping Christmas gifts for a while, then I had to get B suited up to play Santa for a friend�s kids. He actually made a pretty good St. Nick. We went over to our friends� house, where four little kids were very excited to receive a personal visit from Santa. B did a great job as Santa, but his �Ho ho ho, what do y�all want for Christmas?� in his Texas accent had me in hysterics. The oldest little girl (age 4) wasn�t quite sure about the whole thing, and she kept going up to her mother and whispering, �I think that�s Daddy�s friend!� Kids.
So we had dinner with them and headed home. Then I had to start making Christmas cookies for the neighbors and, of course, I didn�t have enough margarine. So off to the grocery store and across the picket lines I went. I baked and then I cleaned and I can remember few times when I was more pleased to finally crawl into bed.
After one last trip to Target this afternoon during lunch, I think I�m finally finished shopping. Now all I have to do is finish making cookies for the neighbors (no, last night�s two batches weren�t enough), address and mail my Christmas cards, wrap the rest of my Christmas gifts, put together a wedding photo album for my mother-in-law, and pack. I�m starting to see why people get so stressed out around the holidays.
On a lighter note, I brought my Betty Croker�s cook book into work today so I could e-mail a recipe to my sisters-in-law. A co-worker was glancing through the cook book and came across some amusing recipes. Here�s a selection:
Iced Coffee:
Prepare coffee as directed. Pour over ice in a pitcher or into ice-filled glasses.
Hard-Cooked Eggs:
Place egg(s) in saucepan. Add enough cold water to come at least 1 inch above eggs. Heat rapidly to boiling; remove from heat. Cover and let stand.
Chocolate Milk Shake:
� cup milk, � cup chocolate syrup, 3 scoops vanilla ice cream.
Place milk and syrup in blender. Cover and blend on high speed 2 seconds (2 SECONDS?!). Add ice cream. Cover and blend on low speed about 5 seconds longer or until smooth.
Don�t get me wrong; it�s actually a very good cook book. I just thought those were funny, even for a cooking-impaired person like myself.
So that�s all from me for a few days. I hope ALL of my lovely readers (hee) have a wonderful holiday!
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004