bustle
December 04, 2005, 7:00 A.M.

Frazzled, a bit. I worked overtime on Friday afternoon, again on Saturday morning, and will probably have to work every weekend up to Christmas. That presents a dilly of a pickle in terms of getting the necessary prep work for Christmas done. I'm just going to try and do it by inches, I guess.

After I got home from work yesterday, Spouse and I ran around doing errands. Spouse found a deal on a classic red tricycle when we popped into the local Wally's the other day. So he just had to get one for Robin's toy drive. That had to be dropped off, and we needed make our annual pilgrimage to the great Mars Cheese Castle, to pick up a box of Wisconsin's finest for his Illinois relatives.

Then, we went to Dick's to scope out ice skates for Niece, for Christmas. We found some great-looking skate, and Spouse called her mom to arrange an outing next week, for trying them on. Then a quick stop at Circuit city, for him to buy, for himself, yet another of the things I was going to get him for Christmas. He does this every year, dammit! Green Acres, Season Two this time.

After we grabbed a sandwich for lunch, Spouse was starting to fade, so I left him at home and went to get my hair cut and eyebrows beaten into submission. I made sure to give my hair stylist her Christmas tip, since I won't see her again until sometime in January. (This town is for shit when it comes to tipping, but Naty loves me, because I always tip well, and double it at Christmas.)

It had started snowing by then, but I braved the weather and the crowds to run tot he mall. I needed Mega-Butter from Bath and Body Works, and I wanted to get a sweater at the Bug. I lucked out there--they had all their sweaters at 50% off, plus I had a coupon for an additional $10 per item off. I got two lovely sweaters and a couple pairs of sock for $38.98, and got $53 in markdowns! This is one of the sweaters I found. I love it--it has sparklies on it! It's pink! What's not to love?

By then, the snow was getting to be a problem, so I came home to find Spouse pretty much out like a light. I made a big batch of Italian meatballs, cleaned up my mess, and waited for him to get up so I could make dinner. Well, at seven, I went in and asked if he was down for the night, and receiving an answer in the affirmative, I made myself a meatball bomber, and then set to work on some decorating. I put up my little "tree in a pot" (a 3-foot pre-lit tree that sits in an urn), and decorated it with some reproduction, retro blown-glass ornaments I found at the drugstore. It looks kind of cute, I think. And I hung the stockings and put up some wreaths. I'll do more decorating as we head deeper into the season. I'm cleaning as I go, so it's slow progress.

The snow kept up--in fact, it's still snowing this morning. And Spouse just called me to let me know that he didn't make it to work--he's sitting in a ditch waiting for a tow truck, and will be home as soon as he gets extricated. He got cut off at the interstate on-ramp, and had to take the ditch. Lovely. He's okay, the car is okay, and it's just a massive inconvenience, but it still sucks.

I'm hoping we will be able to get to the party we were planning on attending this afternoon. Spouse's cousins are having an open house down in Bartlett, and I really want to go, but now I don't know if we will make it or not. It's a place where you can't go without taking some back roads, and it could get tricky. Papa was supposed to meet us here and go down with us, but we had already decided that we were going to call and tell him not to try and drive. And, now Spouse may not want to go at all, given the road conditions. We'll have to wait and see if things improve.

I hate snow, I hate winter, and I hate the fact that every year at this time, circumstances conspire to suck every bit of joy from my life. Grrr.

Right now, I'm concentrating on the six loads of dirty clothes I need to do, and considering trying to get a little more cleaning done around here. I had a gentle word with Spouse this morning, to let him know that he's getting to be awfully high-maintenace again. I need him to cooperate a bit more if I'm going to pull this whole Christmas thing off. I'm hoping that sunk in, but I can't predict.

Right! Enough of this. I'm off to the laundry room!