In, out, nobody gets hurt

That is my philosophy of Christmas shopping. I only deal with the stores that are on the EDGE of the mall. What am I, NUTS, to be out at the mall today? Tried to go to BJ's but it was too overwhelming. So I went to my "predictable" stores, the bookstore and Marshalls and Starbucks, where I am now. Of course, the little red bag I came here to get is all sold out, thus reminding me that you need to BUY it when you SEE it.

So, I have gifts with no people and people with no gifts. The whole thing is approaching insanity. I put $20 in the Salvation Army kettle to make myself feel a LITTLE better about all of this conspicuous consumption. My God, even Starbucks is a madhouse today. And the traffic jams!

Finished up a book called My mother was nuts, by Penny Marshall. Was only vaguely familiar with her. I was really attracted to the book because of the title. I like reading memoirs because it reminds me of the history of MY life. She has sort of a deadpan presentation without much self reflection. She knew a lot of famous people and just fell into a lot of her activites. From starring in a TV show, Laverne and Shirley, to directing several movies, to getting cancer, she explained it all. She is good friends with Carrie Fisher, whose biographies I have also read.

Bacon is the candy bar of meats

Things I am going to miss after I cancel the "local" paper on January 8th:
- cartoons, especially Pickles, where I got the quote above
- crossword puzzle
- Sukoku puzzle
- Having a paper to read as part of my repertoire of reading items each night before bed
- Having a paper delivered to my front door (gosh, I finally trained him....)

Things I am NOT going to miss:
- the daily historical fact about Salem
- news of Elk Township, Salem, Logan Township and other places I have never heard of or don't care about
- the pile of unread papers next to my chair
- lugging all of the papers down to the recycling

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT going electronic. I will just have to make more of an effort to read a paper when I am in the local library or purchase one when I am out.
This way perhaps I can read more of a VARIETY of papers. I got a really good deal on the paper last year, now it is more expensive. Not real wild about the whole REGIONALIZATION thing. What used to cover my town (Bridgeton) now covers Salem County, Cumberland County and Gloucester County. I am still calling it the Bridgeton Evening news but that was several titles ago. Now it is called the South Jersey times.

I want you to be my sex slave

These were the lyrics that caused me to turn the dial on the radio in the car. Power 99 out of Philly played this song. Too much. Reminds me of the time I met a guy on a cruise ship. It was a cruise ship where we only spoke Spanish or Portuguese. I met a guy in the club who whispered to me, "Quiero ser tu esclavo" (I want to be your slave). Kind of more romantic sounding in Spanish, don't ya think?
Not to mention that it is the total opposite kind of request.

Better late than never? Was "balancing" my checkbook this AM, reviewing a statement from July 7, 2007. I don't really call what I do balancing, because I can't keep a checkbook balanced for more than a month. I have to keep a big balance in there in case of problems. I DO try to add and subtract various things but it never comes out exactly right. That is why I tell them to not count on me in church to count the money. I count everything three times and if it comes out the same twice, I consider that to be reality.

So much on my mind these days....shopping, wrapping, computers, exercising, appointments. Don't know which way to go first. So much to do at home, but so much to do OUT. Currently OUT and probably will STAY out til bedtime. Don't really enjoy being home in the DARK, cold night. I want to be HOME when it is sunny and nice but I want to be out then, too. See what a quandery my life is? It is so hard being me.

Barihunks

Couldn't think of anything to write about today so I clicked on the NEXT BLOG link. I always look at two of those plus one I have in my "favorites" list. Yes, I like READING blogs as well as writing blogs. It always amazes me the focus of some of these blogs. This one is Barihunks : the sexiest baritone hunks from opera...http://www.barihunks.blogspot.com. Another one was reviews of concerts in Paris called We left at the interval...http://npw-opera-concerts.blogspot.it. Don't think I will add either of these to my favorites list because it gets out of hand.

Volunteered today. The job was to put mailing labels on postcards. A rather mindless task but hard on the shoulders. It was fun talking to the other volunteers and they fed us breakfast AND lunch. Also put on some Christmas music for us, which I wouldn't be caught dead listening to otherwise.

Only got one phone call today and it was a wrong number. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with a cell phone. Plus this whole UPGRADE thing has me quite anxious. I do not wish to sign any more two year contracts. My two year contract with Sprint will be up at the end of the month. It has been the longest two years of my life.

I DID wrap one gift this morning and FIND one gift as well, but am generally procrastinating about this whole Christmas thing. Did make my list of stores I would like to stop at before the holiday (there were only four). I'll be busy the rest of today getting a massage, exercising and practicing choir music.

Everybody wants to be a cat

I watched this movie TWICE this weekend with some six year olds. The aristocats is an old-fashioned cartoon with some really interesting music including this jazzy piece, Everybody wants to be a cat. It was produced by Walt Disney in 1970. I don't even watch videos ONCE, much less twice.

The sun came out today and the clouds were GORGEOUS. Forgot to call my roofer, darn it. Probably won't have a day this fabulous for awhile. At least, the ceiling didn't noticeably leak during these last few days of rain. So I guess I will procrastinate some more.

Must send out my Christmas requests. Nothing like waiting til it is too late. I just feel weird asking for stuff. It conflicts with my unacquisitive standards. Christmas is in only one week and I am not very prepared. But that is the norm for me. I do not get into the mood until December 24th.

How electronic things work

This is ironic, but I checked out a book on my Nook. It is called How electronic things work....and what to do if they don't. The weird thing is, this book caused a problem I have never before had on my Nook! I can't figure out how to make the page advance. A strange message came up that I have never seen before. So I went back to another book that DOES work. Is that stupid or what?

Spent a lot of time with friends over the weekend. Also a lot of time with some six year old twins who seem to love me right now. I know that these stages are very temporary so I am taking advantage of it. They tore my sister's whole house up and made pretend houses out of chairs and blankets and cutlery and pillows and wall decorations and snacks. We had some playing cards and we were pretending that they were cell phones and video games. My sister and her boyfriend were just too tired to be disciplining so things got pretty wild. They are like whirling dervishes and love machines. It is so very upsetting to know that kids of that adorable age were murdered in Connecticut. Later Sunday night I was crying as Obama gave his speech at the memorial service in Newtown. It came on right after 60 minutes, which is the only TV show I actually watch ON PURPOSE.

I am kind of starving, waiting for a Christmas party to start. Using the computers at Rutgers Camden where I have staff privileges. Unfortunately, I no longer have parking privileges so I had to put over $4 in the street meter. Just got out a wheeled cart I knew I had to practice wheeling my "crap" around. My purse and my traveling folders and other bags full of business stuff are really wearing me down. I was surprised at how well this thing works. It is designed for one suitcase (back in the days before they thought of putting the wheels ON the suitcases) and is more lightweight than I had remembered. Guess I won't ask Santa for that, after all. It "kind of" works if I pile my stuff up and don't go over any uneven surfaces.

I am half-sick of shadows

Kind of a silly title and kind of a silly book. I did enjoy it although the audiobook kept skipping in my car. I think it is my player. The book is by a man, Alan Bradley and is about a young girl, who is part sleuth, part alchemist. She lives in a house that is almost a castle with her father, her two aggravating sisters and some servants.
Her mother has died and they have fallen on hard times. Her father decides to rent out the house to a movie crew around Christmas time. Trouble ensues and includes snowstorms and fireworks and a murder. This is considered the author's second "Flavia de Luce mystery". I enjoyed it for the descriptions and the very British witticisms.

Hung out with some really fun six year olds last night. We watched an old fashioned cartoon called The aristocats. I was amazed that modern children could enjoy such a thing. The kids were delightful, so loving, delivering occasional kisses, "just because"... So sad to think that children this age were murdered by another crazy American. Although I guess it is not just Americans who are crazy. Japanese and Vietnamese people knife each other as they do not have our easy access to guns. But what is going on? Do they just get the idea from TV and other events? But why?

Working today. Went to the cafeteria for lunch. I love it over there. Except for the fact that this is a PEPSI campus. Thinking of all the trees and all the seasons I have witnessed here and also thinking about a coworker who retired and died too soon.
I like this one tree out there. The leaves turn all brown but they do not fall off. It is juxtaposed next to an evergreen. I have been working here part time going on twenty five years! They already had a goodbye party for me several years ago but I keep on hanging on. Now I work only once a month, and not every month.