God, msbelle. It must just be so hard. I hope you can find some joy somewhere this week.

I can find the joy in the real meaning of the season. I can internalize that and go spend some extra time at church.

Just all the bits about family and sharing and any bit of me getting materialistically excited about "stuff" - none of that.

{{{msbelle}}}

I had some minor drama with my mentor family. At our Christmas party, her daughter fell and hit her head. The resulting goose egg had a split and it bled. We took her home, put some ice on it and gave her some tylenol. After a few hours, S called me worried about it because the cut was bleeding again. So I drove them to the ER and sat with them for two hours until the doc numbed it, poked it and stated that it wasn't bad enough to require stitches.

It sucks almighty, but this is a skirmish in the battle in the war. It isn't the final outcome. Peace to you tonight, hon.

{{{msbelle}}}

Okay, this is a more serious question. What is the best charity to donate to for polar bears? The jackass thing was fun to think about but way too transparent. But the polar bear thing - I really, really want to do something there, and the fact that I can do good for something that means a lot to me instead of buying some crap for someone I'm pissed at - yay. The "you fucking motherfucker" part will be totally between us!

At World Wildlife Fund, there are several animal options, including polar bear. You get a cheap stuffed animal of whichever animal you pick, plus a photo of one of them in the wild.

So, that snowball fight in DC yesterday? An off-duty cop's car got hit with snowballs, and he stopped the car, got out, and pulled his gun. [link] There's video of snowball fighters chanting, "You don't bring a gun to a snowball fight." Supposedly, Fox News referred to the snowball fight people as anti-war protesters.

The year my sister and I unknowingly exchanged goat donations she got me mine from oxfamunwrapped.com. They literally buy a goat with your money, whereas Heifer International uses animals to designate specific types of donations. So she thinks she made the cooler donation.

Perkins, I see you got a lot of cleaning done today...

I did, actually,

Doesn't mean I didn't take breaks.

Oh msbelle, I am so sorry. It was a rotten day in our house too, with Isaac throwing a full tantrum at the end there. But at least the tree is still up. I am sorry.

I do think your plan to let him buy his own presents in the future is a good one. I wish I could be right there for you.

And ita, I am sorry to hear about your cousin.