Why do companies gotta be so stupid? Gah!

I'm not frantically trying to put together needs for a frelling dog and pony show for executives at the end of the month. This includes heads of certain animation studios that Steve Jobs is very involved with.

Oh, we had the red stockings with the white cuffs and our names embroidered on the cuff. My sister's name is pink in the last letter, because my mom ran out of red thread. I know Mom has since made stockings (do they match ours? I'm not sure) for the grandkids, and I think for all her kids-in-law as well.

Sorry for the stupidity, ND.

I appear to have changed congressional districts. Weird. I don't think Colbert's done either my new one or my old one, yet.

It's just typical mausewhichtz crazyiness.

I figured. But even the usual craziness is unnecessary and annoying. And therefore gets my sympathy.

Well, damn. I should not go looking for a specific music video on CMT.com when I have work to do. I get distracted by all the *other* videos I haven't seen!

We had Santa when I was a kid, and I remember walking in on my mom and dad cussing together one late Xmas Eve, trying to put togther a microscope for me. I was sad, but mostly happy I knew a grown-up secret my sister didn't. I think I was 7.

As kids, we always went to my paternal grandma's house on Xmas eve, and got to open up presents from the relatives there, and when we got home, we could choose and open ONE present from the parents from under the tree. Everyone opened ONE.

Then, on Xmas morning, we woke up Mom and dad early by gently shoving full coffee cups under their noses (hey, we were eager kids, but we weren't FOOLS) and then everyone congregated in the living room where all the presents and stocking were. Santa had been by in the wee hours with presents, in addition to the stuff we got each other. Suzy and I would hand out the presents, and then when they were all piled by each person, each person would open up one present at a time. We went in order of youngest to oldest.

Stockings came last. THen we all had donuts (a 12 pack of Dunkin' Donuts was the traditional Xmas morning breakfast)

When we got older, it changed slightly -- whatever was under the tree Xmas Eve was fair game, we added stockings for mom and dad, that we girls take turns being responsible for, and Xmas morning stuff is usually the "big" present. And we don't go to any relatives houses at all on Xmas Eve or Xmas Day. The ones we like are all dead.

I am so tired. Wah. I got to bed late, and then this morning dreamed that I slept until 3 or 4 pm. Which was later than I wanted to sleep, even though I wanted to sleep in for a change. Instead it was actually 8 am.

Will try the sleeping in thing again tomorrow, after I stock up on some Tylenol PM. I don't know why that works for me, since Benedryl in an of itself did nothing for me the last time I tried it. But it does so Ima use it.

Today I'm going for a walk in the park with a friend. Which should be fun. Tomorrow I have to run, and I think I will choose to do it in the predicted snow/freezing rain. I don't think it will bother me b/c I get really hot when I run, and I should use it as a dry run for race day in case next weekend is also crap weather.

Chocolate Milk:

My dad sent me the image of his first CAT scan so I can have a copy of his odd medical problem. It is taking FOREVER to download. Hurry up you stupid file, I want to look at you!

I have reached a new level of procrastination.

I am currently procrastinating by researching procrastination in college students.

I think I need help.

Also, so not fair for that book which was an extrusion of parental duty to tell me the facts of life to replace some actual fun presents.

That is so worse than underwear.

We wrapped presents under the tree that we open Christmas eve, and there's no particular whimsy involved, except that I keep putting different variations of her name on my sister's presents. Mother doesn't sew as much as she did, but one thing that became a tradition was that there was always at least one thing she had meant to make for one of us for Christmas and didn't get around it, so she wrapped the fabric, pattern and notions as a present. When we were small, we had to wait until a particular time (7? 8? I disremember) before we woke up our parents, and we couldn't go into the living room until everyone was up. I remember sitting in out room with my sister watching the clock. I never went into the living room, but remember standing in the hall trying to see what was under the tree, but only seeing the glints off the tinsel and ornaments. As we got older, the presents from Santa were usually little things and things that were hard to wrap. At some point, I realized that Mom was filling the stockings, and we started wrapping little things and stuffing them in her stocking before we went to be. Now "Santa" just does the stockings.

Mother made our stockings out of felt. I reproduced mine for the greatnieces [link] The stocking she made for herself said "Mommy" and she accidentally embroidered an extra hump in one of the M's. My sister's original stocking was pretty prefunctory, since my mother had quite enough to do dealing with my sister, and I made her a new one in my teens.

This would all be very warm and fuzzy if Christmas was not alcoholics' very favorite drinking holiday.