People: if anyone still wants to vote on when we're having the holidays zoom, please do it in the next 12 hours. I'll announce time and date tomorrow (well, my tomorrow. It's already Sunday night here). [link]

(cross-posted with Natter)

I tried to make breakfast. And in the end it was successful. Coffee with eggnog, and fried potatoes and hot peppers with an egg on top. But the first egg I tried to fry is congealing semi-cooked on my burner, because there was apparently already a crack in it so when I tried to move to crack it into the pan it instead flew out of the shell and under the pan onto the gas burner. Bleahhhh. Do not want to clean that up but have to wait until it’s no longer burning hot. Thank god it’s Friday.

Other than the mess on the stove that sounds pretty delicious, meara

Oh meara, that does sound good. Does the burnt egg stink?

Yesterday, DH ran to the grocery store. One of the items he got was a dozen eggs. At the register, he bumbled picking them up and putting them on the conveyor belt. The carton opened, the eggs flew out and broke everywhere. He said the staff was understanding and helpful, and someone went and got another dozen for him, but he wanted to die.

So christmas shopping has turned fraught. I am not relaly feeling it at all. I have no ideas what to buy anyone.

M's philosophy on gifts is just "buy them something, they'll like it because it's a gift" and mine is "Buy people something they want/will like so it won't sit unused (and wont' be a waste of money)".

And then he was like "we can buy the teenagers clothes" ok. Fine what sizes do they wear? He doesn't know.

Me: You should talk to your brother and sister and get some suggestions from them/size information. My employee extra discount is one more day so I can shop for stuff tomorrow.

M: but I don't know what to get them because I don't know what your store carries, we can just look at the website and see if there is anything that looks cool, like a sweater or something.

Me: ...ok but do you have any idea of what anyone wants or their sizes?

and then it goes around.

And Iv'e repeatedly texted my brother about xmas and have never received any acknowledgement he's seen my texts. Maybe I need to double check his number or just not bother with anything since he can't be bothered to reply

askye, I feel for you, that's what holiday shopping always is for me too! It's ridiculous. Frantically trying to find things they'll like, no one ever takes my suggestion to make a f*cking wishlist, and I end up doing a Sunday-before-Christmas run to Marshall's and TJMaxx. It always works out fine but who needs that stress? This year I'm giving everyone gift cards.

My sister's long-time live-in boyfriend (they refuse to get married) has been ill for a month. He had a gangrenous gallbladder taken out (I know a couple people here have dealt with bad gallbladders) but kept getting fevers and pain, so they put him on a scary powerful antibiotic. The fever is gone, thank TPTB, but he feels awful, can barely eat, just sits in his comfy chair, and he's lost a bunch of weight. He was 240 and he's down to 186. He has a CAT scan scheduled for Friday. Apparently he's a grumpy patient. My sister is doing her best but she's stressed tf out with worry and having to be a caretaker, and her job kind of imploding. She said she was actually glad we weren't doing holidays this year, because she couldn't handle that stress too.

Man, I hope we all can get vaccinated by spring. I'm a hermit by nature, but not wanting to go out is way different from not being able to go out.

edit to add, Cindy, I feel for your DH; I'd have wanted to sink through the floor.

Y'all, I am rewatching Season 7 (why that season? Dunno) and I had totally forgotten how much gratuitous shirtless Spike we get. The thirst is real, and seeing a nice bit of iliac crest peeking out from under the covers is just delightful.

Buddhists holiday zoom in 20 minutes, I’d anyone needs a reminder!

^ is an excellent auto-correct

I think my family has hit the COVID wall of FUCK THIS SHIT.

My oldest is struggling hard with virtual learning and has taken to just ignoring assignments and not turning stuff in. His teacher is a hard ass (has been all year), which would likely be fine if we weren't in COVID hell, but is really hard to take right now. There is no grace from her regarding the fact that this super extroverted kid is missing his friends, is not getting enough physical activity, and struggles in school in the best of times. She gets my wife all worked up and I have to talk her down from "punishment" because NOPE, I'm not coming down hard on him right now. His life is upside down. In normal times, he'd lose gaming and/or work toward some reward but these are far from normal times. Gaming is literally his lifeline right now - it's socialization with friends, it's something he enjoys, a rarity these days. He is super sensitive and cries often. He's starting puberty. It's a fucking lot. I am so angry that we have 45 during this time and things have been handled so poorly.

We pulled my youngest to homeschool (he was not able to do virtual in any way - he's super anxious and he's 7, so...). He was supposed to start at a tiny homeschool pod this month but with the COVID numbers the way they are, we are holding off and it worries me for him. I know having to repeat a grade isn't the end of the world (that's the "worst" thing that can happen here), but I know it would do a number on his psyche.

I'm struggling to get anything done in my new job. No stress is being put on me at all, but I am an over-achiever and it's weighing on me. DW is in charge of all weekday childcare and it's a LOT. We are at our breaking point as a family and we have months to go. I know we are not alone in this, and that in many (most) ways we are so super privileged. That doesn't make it not hard, though, you know? No real point here - just needed to get it out, I guess.