I got my mom Obama's Dreams From my Father and Barbara Walter's new bio.

And...American Apparel has men's pink tube socks, and they have a store here. Yay.

I don't know what we got my mother. I was in charge of father. He's getting a leather-bound Levenger journal. For his writerliness.

I'm watching Catwoman. I hadn't considered how much it could suck, and how ludicrous Halle Berry could look. It's embarassing.

I'm doing a lot of my shopping in B'ham. Less to carry or ship.

And one of things my SIL has requested is gift cards for my brother to get new clothes. Apparently his boss (not sure if new or old, I bet old) told him he dresses like a slob. Which, funny! I'm so used to seeing him trashed out, seeing him in a suit was funny.

My mom wants a Nintendo DS, but my sister already had a present for her and my brother isn't coming home or getting presents for them until March, and I wasn't willing to spend that much on my own. Other than that, I'm not sure what to get her...

Who has two thumbs and had a bad day?

Me. But now I am home and in inside pants, so life is better.

I also got my mother cookie sheets and a three month Flowers of the month subscription.

So there are 3 new waterstains on the dining room ceiling. Small, but still. I need OUT of here. December was figure out the finances month, but that's gotten away from me. If I cn fit it in, I will, otherwise, deadline Jan.

Well, at least you don't have to repair the water damage! One of the joys of renting v. owning.

Ye gods, one of my friends was a junior associate who would go to events just because of the shrimp. I always yelled at him. "You make good money! Just get the frozen shrimp from the store and eat it with people YOU LIKE!"

I know but...free shrimp! It's a thing.

Emmett loves to dip his fries in shakes. In fact, there's hardly anything that Mac likes that Emmett does not also like (Teen Titans, baseball, action figures...)

Who has two thumbs and had a bad day?

::raises thumbs::

For the second day in a row, Grace has had an allergic reaction after she has woken up from a nap when I'm there.

Oh.

My.

God.

My daughter is allergic to me.

Our company Xmas party will be next Friday and will be at the Country Club, last year it was at a seafood restaurant by the coast and the year before somewhere else.

This is my first Xmas here so I don't know what to expect. I do know Christmas bonuses are normal and that last year (and I guess the years before) everyone got a gift from the Executive Director (the same gift for everyone). There will be drawing for various gift cards and also the dessert will be provided by the staff... well there's a dessert contest with prizes up for grabs for the winners. So there's a tasting in the morning and then in the afternoon everyone eats. I'm entering.

About every other month we have a staff cookout to celebrate the birthdays and work anniversaries.

We also adopted 2 families for Xmas and I'm going out this weekend to exchange one thing (duplicated by someone) and get some more stuff. Plus we could pay $12 and wear casual clothes for two weeks, this was the first week and tomorrow is the next. And we are getting them refurbished computers.

ita I wish you could get some relief. I think letter writing is a good idea, if you are up to that.

I stil haven't talked to my brother about what we are going to do for my parents. Mom wants pictures of the grandbaby all framed from them. I found her an electric griddle she wants oh and she wants good oven mitts. My dad wants a Panini maker. And some books.

No idea what I'm doing for my brother or SIl. the nephew is easy, he's 5 months old.

Once again my parents are going overboard when it comes to giving my brother and I gifts.

I think next year I'm going to suggest 1 big gift and 1 or 2 little gifts and then the family adopting a needy family and buying things for them.