Timelies all!

Still need to get gifts for my friends. Thank goodness for Amazon wishlists...

Not-so-tiny Jewish not-Santa.

Nilly, are you trying to tell us something?

Minimal presents chez Zmayhem this year, as per usual over the past couple of years. My mom has actually forbidden me to get her anything at all, but, like Kristin, I just miss giving things to the people I love. If Christmas week is quiet enough, I'm going to at least attempt some beer bread variations for local family. If food and bread and beer aren't love, I don't know what is.

And, catching up from stuff I stupidly neglected upthread: OMG, Dylan skating is AMAZING.

And, Kat, the current preschool plan is to put Matilda in my uni's program when the new facility opens; the opening date has been pushed back and back and back from this past September 1 to January 4--but we haven't gotten any updates in over a month, so I suspect it's going to be pushed back again at least a couple of weeks. But she's finishing up with her current daycare at the end of this month no matter what. If she has to spend some time puttering around the city with Daddy before the facility opens, well, then, at least we'll save a bit of money because they'll have to prorate the first month. And it'll only be until September at the latest, possibly May or June, because the neighborhood elementary school's associated very low cost preschool will have openings by then and we're already on that waiting list.

So, in short, things will be financially pinchy for the next few months, but only for a little bit, and Matilda's got not one but two decent within-walking-distance places in the next few months.

eta: Hec's question above was exactly my very first thought when I saw Nilly's post. We definitely need some clarification of the tiny/not-tiny question, stat.

I'm wondering how many of us did a double take at the not-tiny comment.

I'm glad I was not the only one!

I just did a bunch of shopping on Amazon, but only for the easy people....

I wondered at the comment too.

caught that I was being given 1/3 of the dilaudid ordered

Is just wrong. Do they do that to you a lot? No wonder you don't feel better when you go to the ER

Many of the doctors and nurses don't believe I'm supposed to get as much as my specialist wants me to. So even when they order that much, sometimes they like to stagger the dosage. Which is remarkably counterproductive.

I have been having insanely long and complicated dreams this weekend. I wonder what my subconscious is up to. They have been very interesting though--the sort of dreams it's disappointing to wake up from because real life is so much more boring. Also, no headaches in them.

Many of the doctors and nurses don't believe I'm supposed to get as much as my specialist wants me to.

This just kills me. Why would someone who just met you think they know better than a long-term provider? I mean, seriously.

I have been having insanely long and complicated dreams this weekend. I wonder what my subconscious is up to.

A friend of mine was telling me that her boyfriend will variously laugh and yell in his sleep, which I think is fascinating -- he has a lot going on inside!

I deliberately had a lazy morning. Now it's time to get dressed and finish the shopping.

However, I think I may have discovered a small leak in my basement. Of the finished side, of course. It's dry now, but there's evidence of water creeping up 2 of four legs of a bookshelf, and on a box that was sitting on the floor. The whole area not much more than a square foot. It's possible that it's overflow from the dehumidifier and that it's an older water stain than I think, but I am going to have to watch closely on rainy days.

I've been looking for soft carriers for my cat, since the hard plastic one I have is a hassle to carry any distance, and a vet here is going to be farther away than the one I went to in NYC, and I'm starting to think taking a cab to the vet would be cheaper. I mean, I don't take him that often, and the decent bags are at least $50.

Oh, this is cool. iGo, which is a non-profit version of Zipcar in Chicago (we have both) is now set up with the CTA so you can use one card for both. And they have a car about two blocks from me. Sweet. I never use my Zipcar membership because I don't carry the card with me every day, and the car closests to home is about 8 blocks or so - just enough to make it a PITA.

Buh-bye Zipcar.