Averygoodun's Personal File

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Ours was very mellow, which was quite nice. Page played with the Wii till he got cranky and was pulled away from it, while Geoff and I watched several hours of Dollhouse on Amazon. We ended the evening with nice Chinese-ish soup (using up all of the chicken stock I'd started the day before), an early bedtime for Page (who was so over-stimulated that he was happy to go), and another couple of hours of Dollhouse.

All in all, a good day.

Geoff's at work today, but he's taking an extra long weekend tomorrow (not going back to work till Wednesday), which is something we're all looking forward to.

The only noteworthy presents were the aforementioned Wii, a new, removable plates, George Foreman grill, and Page's ornament (Hobbes aka Calvin's Hobbes). I'll take a picture of the latter one of these days before I pack up the tree (which won't happen for a few days yet). I might take a picture of my new skirts, too. And I might paint a picture (or more) of my ornamental tea pot. ;-)

OH! And Geoff got a DVD of Monty Python's Holy Grail! So that will be fun to share with Page one of these days. :-D

Anyway, gotta go do some clean up, and start some Christmas presents. (That strep throat was really quite ill timed.) I think our proper Christmas dinner will be tomorrow. That way, I can get Geoff to help with the prep. ;-)

Happy Holidays to all of you. May you notice the growing light around you (which is meant only figuratively for those of you south of the equator, I'm afraid).

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I have been turning my mind to the topic of presents, and, oh dear it's going to be an uneven year. My eldest niece is going to be getting a valuable, if grubby, present of used oil paints and a few other supplies that I can no longer use. *sniff* Meanwhile, her younger sister is going to get a matching hat and scarf set I will be making.

As I said, uneven...

While on the topic of presents, did I mention that I managed to score a (used) Wii for $30? That, plus four games and a fit board for under $80 makes the big family gift a lot easier to manage! Poor Page will not be getting an iPad, though, even if all his classmates do have one. *rolls eyes*

But that's about all that's going on now. The adrenaline from semester's end is finally starting to wear off, so I'm pretty tired. I assume I'll be better by Christmas. I'd better be better by the 1st, as that's when this family is going on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), which means cutting nuts, eggs, nightshades and dairy from our already restricted diet. It's only for a month, though, but then the slow reintroduction to those things starts. I really hope none of us are sensitive to nuts. Or nightshades... (though I'm not very hopeful on that one). But we've all been so sickly this Fall that something needs to be done, and if it can be helped by lifestyle alone, then yay.

Anyway. Should go. To do list to tackle, and all.

Yep.

Right. Lots to do today. I've even done a portion of what's needed... The portion that can be done in front of the computer.

However, I WILL get out today, because I am not missing my appointment with my fabulous hair snipper. I would call her a stylist, as that's truly a more apt title for her and her magic hands, but it would imply that she's giving me style, and well, I'm still stuck in pragmatic dowd mode. For now. But at least after my haircut, my head will appear less uncared-for. Even if the reality is otherwise.

And while, after the haircut, I should probably work on Christmas presents, I will probably choose something completely unrelated to gift-making from my list of chores. Even though time is really running out.

Though all I want to do right now is sleep.

I wonder... Why is it that the gravy Geoff makes goes bad far faster than the gravy I make? I just had to toss a couple cups of his gravy as it was smelling vinegary and had a suspiciously colored spot in one cranny. It's been out of the freezer (where it was put immediately after making) for all of five days. My gravy usually lasts a good ten days (at least) before it starts to smell funky. Of course, there's also the fact that my gravy tends to get eaten up far faster than his... It usually doesn't last a week. (I make "gravy" by the quart, which is how it can last as long as a week. Usually I get two quarts out of a batch. Also, my "gravy" isn't real gravy, but roasted veggies (usually carrots and onions, though adding celery for proper mirepoix is quite nice, too) pureed to smoothness with organ-meats and drippings. It's goooooooood stuff.)

Ah well. At least I have to make a roast today, so I'll have enough veggies to go with the giblets I fried up yesterday.

What else...

Huh. Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. I'll have to remember to (actually) call her. Or at least (actually) email her. That's the problem with me, is that while I do think of and remember birthdays and anniversaries, I rarely remember them for long enough, and at the right time, to wish happy tidings on the day. Bad me. And then, once the day is past, well... It gets harder.

And, now I should go. My out-of-house errands need doing right now, if I'm to make it to my hair stylist on time.

Happy Thursday!

My evil eye has returned with a vengeance, and it's making me think I should go visit the eyebologist(md). Don't wanna. However, if there's something other than my messed up immune system (and why are you so damned messed up again, immune system?!? I thought I was treating you real good!) making my conjunctiva flare up, then I should probably know about it sooner rather than later. Especially as it's usually in my "good" eye, and I'd rather not lose any more sight than I have over the last two years.

Bleh.

In other news, the weather is nasty (cold and snow/sleet mix. Extra blerghy). I think I will be offering a ride to classmate today, as this is miserable weather in which to wait for a bus. (<-- Look at that! I didn't end the sentence in a preposition!)

I experienced the nasty weather firsthand as I went out and started Christmas shopping. Too bad most of what I saw was stuff I would like, but ach well. After walking out of The Paper Store (a division of Hallmark, but with clothes and stuff), I decided that when I start working, unless there's an emergency, my first paycheck will go towards some nice clothes like I saw today. I'm getting tired of looking dowdy (she says while wearing one of her dowdiest non-painting sweatshirts). But, it can wait until I start working, as there really isn't a place for me to wear non-dowdy clothes on a regular enough basis to justify getting or even asking for them.

But now I should go prepare for class. This long weekend was very nice to have - very, very nice - but, after all, there are only two weeks left of regular classes, and then two-ish hours of finals the week after. I'm almost done with another 8 credits. So that's good. Then I only have to prep for the holidays. *tries not to panic*

Right. Off I go.

Because I would really like to have this be a merry little Christmas... (and a restful Boxing Day!)

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First, here's a PSA video. It's a talk given by Dr.(MD) Wahls about how she cured (or at least has put into complete remission) her severe MS by eating right. Pretty cool stuff.

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http://youtu.be/KLjgBLwH3Wc

However, the expense of that amount of kale (not to mention the grass-fed meat) is rather mind boggling, and that's coming from someone who grows her own! On the other hand, she's certainly right about the costs coming from another side, if not food. Been there, done that.

Which reminds me, I need to get exercising. It's pretty pathetic that 8 hours of shopping in the last three days has me so worn out...

Which brings me to the fact that I am stalling. I have things I need to do this morning, but I am just so tired. I think I slept okay, but my body and mind don't want to wake up. I'm very, very tempted to take today off and do everything tomorrow, except that today is the deadline for one of the to do list's items. Of course, I could do that and put everything else off until tomorrow... Hmmm.

On the plus side, I am 99% done with the family's Christmas shopping (though wrapping has not even started), and my first semester back at school is officially over. I'm pretty sure I aced the other final, but I don't think I'll find out how well I did, as that professor isn't into the whole blackboard grading/reporting thing like my management prof is. However, I am positive that I got an A in the course, meaning my GPA is currently at 4.0. Hopefully it will remain there for the rest of my community college schooling, so that I may be eligible for merit scholarships for the more expensive years of my BAcc. Plus I am looking forward to (being invited and) joining Phi Beta Kappa, which is led by my Management Prof.

Finally, you'd think that a business, even a business that doesn't focus on items such as toys (anymore; it used to) would make sure that they are WELL stocked in the favorites for the Christmas season, wouldn't you?

Page and I logged onto Sears.com last night to try and use his birthday gift certificate on Legos (so I would know what to buy for Christmas), and everything he wanted was sold out! I mean, sure, he could have used the certificate to buy from Sears marketplace (and pay twice the retail price for the Legos!!!), but, well, I'm not letting him do that. After all, one of my jobs as a parent is to teach him the value of money and, consequently, how to shop.

Anyway, it's annoying to see a good company being so stupid in the face of mass commercialism. No wonder they're failing. :-(

Anyway, should go do that one thing, if not all the things. Hope everyone is doing well.

ETA: Oooorrrrr, just sleep the afternoon away. I think I needed that. *grimaces*

Merry fucking Christmas, everyone.

I don't know if I'll be around much before Christmas (as this week just keeps getting better and better). I'm only barely holding it together now.

But I truly do wish you and yours every joy and happiness. And may your holidays be a hell of a lot better than mine are shaping up to be.

Not that that would be difficult to accomplish.

If you celebrate, that is.

If you don't, I hope you enjoy the day off.

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And that's it. Today I want to make the sugar cookie dough, and maybe do a test run on the custard, but otherwise, it's going to be an easy-going day after I get the errands out of the way. Yay!

Oh, and I do believe *knocks on wood* that the antibiotics did do their job, and my sinus infection is coming to an end. Or at least it's retreating to its normal levels. Yay!

~ Christmas shopping is almost all done. Need to go back to one store to get Geoff's dad's pressie, and then it's only a couple online presents to buy. Not bad for one day's work.

~ Christmas tree is up and decorated! Angelic Nazgul is back on top looming over the rest of the festively lit decorations. Whee!

~ Tomorrow is Christmas caroling day! Double whee!

~ Tomorrow and Sunday are Christmas goody cooking day. Chocolate coated apricots, forgotten kisses, almond bark, chinese chews (I'll try them both with and without gluten)... sugar cookie dough (won't roll and bake till Xmas eve)... anything else? Not making Nanaimo Bars this year, or rum balls...

~ Tomorrow Geoff will put up the big lights around our front window. I will try to make/finish the winter lily light thing for beside the steps. Still need to figure out who might have a conduit bender we could borrow...

Oh, I also need to make this year's ornaments! Fortunately, I have ideas!

~ Starting to feel the holiday spirit. Thank goodness. ;-)