I am at work today, and I'm not happy about it. It's New Year's Eve, there's a blizzard going on outside (8 to 12 inches by the end of the day), and I'm still really tired from a dramatic stomach bug I got on Sunday. The various off-site people I work with have been out of touch since Christmas Eve so there's not a lot I can do today anyway. All in all, I would much rather still be in bed. But I am at work. Unhappily.
I'm going to try to make it to the Sierra later tonight, but we'll see how it goes... Maybe I'll celebrate by going to bed early.
Happy new year anyway, everyone!

Happy Holidays y'all!

Last time I was at Ikea I got the cats a basket. They had been sleeping on a folded blanket in front of the fire, but we thought a basket would give them even more off an opportunity for max relaxing and cuteness. We were right -- there's usually one of them in there, sometimes two, and even, a couple of times, all three. The unfortunate downside to the popularity of the basket is that my cats no longer come and sleep with us at night. The basket (and the fire, which comes on intermittently during the night) is too attractive to them. I miss the cats, though -- they were good at keeping me warm, plus they protect me from nightmares.* If I want them to sleep with me, I have to get ready for bed completely, then go down, pick one up, and make it back to bed before the cat starts struggling. Then I have to get into bed before the cat decides to run back downstairs because settling down on top of a cold bed is too much trouble.

Hey, do you know it's Christmastime? True. I have a half-day of work -- really a 2/5 day of work -- tomorrow and then we will attempt to drive to NJ in the slushy rain. Pray for us. I did take a young adult mystery audio book from work that we can listen to, at least.

I went out to lunch (Fitzwilly's) with some co-workers today. I mentioned how I was being dicked around by the airline for our flight to Belize (they keep making it worse and even more inconvenient, which seems like it should be illegal -- I paid for a specific service, and now they're telling me they won't give it to me?) and it turned out that one of my co-worker had been to Belize. She said it was great, but then she kept saying things like, "We took this tiny plane from one town to another, and as soon as we stepped off of it, my four-year-old threw up all over my husband," and "We took a boat out to a snorkeling spot, and we almost died. The water was very rough and the driver of the boat was going very fast, and everyone was yelling at him that we would flip over and that he should slow down. He didn't." She was laughing at all of this, she wasn't being a Debbie Downer, just telling it like it is. It was just so dire sounding that it became a Thing, with people being worried for me -- "Don't drink the water, you know that, right? Did you see 'Into the Wild'? Don't eat any strange berries in the wild, either!"

Anyway. That trip's not for weeks. I have San Diego to cross off the list first. On the docket there: Wild Animal park, a trip to the desert, some free dental care, and maybe a trip to Legoland. I just hope it's warmer there than it is here (it was in the 40s there a week ago).

*Note: Not actually true.

I have STILL not been to the KFC/TB Combo, because every time I drive by the drive-thru lane wraps around the building and makes it impossible to enter the parking lot. Seriously, it's been a week and they are still doing crazy business. Which makes no sense to me. There's good food all over the place in this town, and a KFC a 10 minute drive away.

I have been suffering yet another bout of nose herpes (a cold sore just below my nostrils) for the last 5 or 6 days. It sucks so bad. It's always stinging and feeling weirdly cold, like a burn; and of course it looks gross. I don't know of anyone else in the world who gets cold sores only on their nose and nose-environs and never on their mouth. I guess I'm lucky? Sort of? Though it's the kind of luck like "It's too bad that you lost a finger in that accident. But look on the bright side -- you didn't lose two fingers! Just think about that!" Yeah, no. Right now the sore spot is all scabrific and looks like it might heal into a nice hole right through my face.

I sold my first thing on Etsy! And the same person ordered a custom job via their Alchemy service. I seem to have forgotten how to make these things, though, and I am on my third pair of Shrinky-Dink earrings. The first pair were way larger than I wanted, the second two ended up shrinking into completely different shapes, so I figure the third time's the charm...

And, shockingly, I am almost done with my holiday shopping, with a whopping 8 days to go! I have yet to start making CJ's gift, but he's ok with it being late (actually, I am just assuming he's ok with it. Heh). Speaking of shopping, the new Urban Outfitters is open downtown. I hate to like them, but man if they don't know how to design a store. It just tickles my hipster nerve in the most perfect way. Damn them. Damn them and their pro-life-cause donations and skinny jeans and for my lost youth.

Today's the big day! The one we've all been waiting for lo, these many months. Such anticipation has been building! I speak of course of the opening of the combo KFC/Taco Bell on King Street. I pass the brand-new building everyday on my drives to and from work. And I've been telling everyone who'll listen that I wanted to eat there on their opening day because the food will never be better than that. The grease in the fryers will be fresh, the food won't have been sitting in a dirty, stale freezer for months, every piece of equipment will never be as clean as it is today.

However! On my way home from work today, on the approach to the KFCTB, traffic was literally at a standstill in both directions. One lane was clear, so I just drove around it. The parking lot was full, the inside of the restaurant was full, the drive-thru was just more parking lot... There was no way I was going to wait an hour for a chicken strip meal. So I will have to hope that it will be just as fresh and tasty tomorrow.

I just want everyone to know that Local Burger is planning on staying open until 3 a.m. on weekends. Sweet, now I just need to stay awake enough to enjoy the drunken feasting...

I was interviewed by an AP reporter today, in my role as "family craft expert." So that was pretty awesome.

I have more things to mention, some things that actually might be interesting or interestingly written, but I've had a very full day and my brain is shutting down. Time for cereal and bedzzzzzzzz...