I have done all the laundry for all Buffistas this week. Probably a dozen loads. Thank you fleas.

Good, now I don't have to.

I ran a 5k today and filed expenses this morning. I figure I'm done for the weekend.

Most drug stores or places like Target have them

Are they nice, though? We want to get her something fancy. Her hair's a big deal to her, symbolically, after the chemo, although she had a thick enough head of it that it mightn't have been apparent to others.

I will also get her Hello Kitty barrettes because we're smart-assed like that.

Do they have those other places than the DC suburbs?

I think I've gotten my ears pierce at Clare's ten times now, and I don't have that many holes. They're everywhere.

Spent the morning wandering around a craft fair with KCD's wife. (When did craft fairs turn into craft/home sales fairs? I bought a few things but they ended up being things for me instead of gifts. Oh well. I guess I needed some retail therapy today.

I spent the afternoon hitting up Costco and the grocery store. The cupboards are no longer bare.

In between I wandered around Best Buy and Car Toys and just couldn't make the decision to spend money for a new car stereo. I really want a USB port and it is less expensive to get a new stereo with a USB input installed than to just add a USB port. I have the money, I just couldn't pull the trigger.

ita - these headbands are pretty [link]

as are these [link]

and these barrettes [link]

Everyone else - all three of those sights are awesome sites for gifts that do good with each purchase.

Etsy also has beautiful combs and hair clips.

My family has a Thanksgiving spreadsheet on Google Drive, where we're planning who's cooking what, and when, and which utensils will be used, and so on. I think my favorite entry is "Water. Recipe/Source: Tap. Serving Platter: Pitcher." Or possibly, "Non-vegan stuffing. Recipe/Source: Mom's brain."

Thanks, msbelle--I've forwarded those to my sister for consideration.

Etsy is officially too overwhelming for me these days unless I know both an adjective and a noun. Great stuff, but there exists regretsy for a reason.

I know there's a Mothman statue there, but I've never tried to find it. If you see it, take a picture!

I got a picture! Not a close-up picture, though, because I didn't get out of the car.

I remember having found, I think, a Scandal and a Revenge shopping blog--anyone know if Elementary has one?

Somewhere, I read that they wanted Joan to be "accessible" so all her outfits come from Target. Apparently, that isn't true.

Re: tipping the cleaning service, frankly, they are at the top of my budget now. If I tip 20%, it puts the cost above what I'm comfortable paying. Tipping less feels cheap. My previous cleaning service, I tipped about 27%, and they ruined a rug and a shower curtain with bleach water and broke a plate. The current folks are more expensive, which make me feel like they're paid better, and I'm reluctant to tip beyond the expected holiday bonus. And I'm not even sure what that ought to be! Also, if I tip at every visit, am I still expected to do the holiday tip? Would it be less, then, than if I didn't tip every visit? I don't know what to do.

Also, during my interview with the service owner, where she wrote down my instructions (that have been largely ignored), she strongly hinted that tipping is encouraged. I wanted to ask why she didn't just charge more and pay her people more. If I were employing a cleaner directly, I'd tip, but a service? I don't know. Once upon a time, I would never have even thought of tipping a cleaning service, any more than I'd tip a mechanic.

ION, I'm tired of all my pants being too short. I don't like my ankles hanging out. I don't want to become the fuzzy-haired crazy cat lady with the too-short pants and the "comfortable" shoes and the ill-fitting clothes covered in cat hair and the headwrap to cover the crazy hair. And yet I think I have. I caught a glimpse of myself in a plate-glass window, and ugh. How is this messy frump ME?

Scrappy, I'm very glad your DH is okay.

I would have cleaners in a lot more if I had a good sense of what/if to tip.

Bust on bookshelves. Had a near-miss at Pier 1, but inattentive sales people tipped my ambivalence to the negative. I might try the other one tomorrow. Problem is I want more of what I already have, and those are at least a decade old and not found anymore. Frustrating.

I got a new chair cover at IKEA, but it occurs to me I can't put it on without being home to police Loki, and since I'll be gone a week soon.... It did make me want to get another of these chairs for the bedroom, so maybe I'll do that after the holidays...after I check to see if they'll fit in my new car!