Just got done with going to the pharmacy, to the grocery store, to the auto parts store, fixing dinner, cleaning up, and fixing my car all with a bunch of back pain. I was going to do something productive, but I think I may just play a game or something.

Yikes meara, that is an unfortunate stocking stuffed with family drama.

meara, daaaaaaaang.

Gud, I hope the pharmacy was for meds for your back pain. Or that you at least took ibuprofen (which, BTW, you can take 800 mg of the over-the-counter ibuprofen, but space it out by 6-8 hours).

My mom is IMing me about Christmas dinner. CHILL. It's 5 days away, there are only 4 of us. She had already told me she bought a pork roast. She wants to get it SET so she can shop on Thursday. Geez, it's no big for me to go out Friday night or even Christmas Eve. We aren't expecting bad weather and again, ONLY 4 of us. T'Day is my big cook all teh stuff Holiday. It will take an hour to make everything for Christmas.

yikes, meara.

I feel sick again. WTF, this damn cold; this will be round 3.

Holy crap, meara. So maybe we won't be seeing more of you in New England?

She wants to get it SET so she can shop on Thursday.

I feel that, though.

Most un-Christmas ever. no tree up here, no tree up at my parent's. They insist on going to church on Sunday so dad can sing in choir, which means no point in sleeping over there on Christmas Eve to do casual Christmas when you get up, because they will be up and showering and dressing and leaving. Mac sleeps in now, rather than being up at the crack of dawn, so doubtful he would get up much earlier than the time they would be leaving.

So I guess we will just get up and do whatever and have Christmas lunch and then with no excitement at all do gifts. There may be like 2 gifts each.

I am the only one who likes Christmas like a kid in my entire family. no one wants gifts, no one wants a fuss.

My mom is emailing me asking what to stockpile at the brother's place tha I can eat. CHILL. I'm not on a restricted diet, I'm just being careful easing back into normal eating (had salad tonight.NOM.) And I can freaking drive any of my brother's cars down to the super target if for some gawfersakin reason SIL has filled the pantry with lard, pork belly and duck fat.

I swear, I'm gonna flash my incisions at her at the airport.

(Also, to my chagrin, I'm still eating oatmeal. Just not 3x a day. But it seems to have a calming effect on my recently roiled insides, so.)

Wow, meara. That's a lot.

Aw, msbelle, that's a bummer.

I should probably not be allowed in the dollar store without a minder. Poor impulse control. But I'm home now and have kisses stuck to marshmallows with melted chocolate in the fridge getting ready for the next step. I wonder if I an find the Christmas dishes I bought over the summer so I could give them away with cookies and such on them? Very little idea where I stashed them. Somewhere safe. Not in the kitchen. Hm.

I'm watching the PBS show "From Jesus to Christ." They're doing aerial shots of Masada, and I'm now wondering if Tolkien had that promontory and its buildings along that front ridge in mind when he thought of Minas Tirith.