What a surprise, to receive a box from Amazon.com today bearing the 2008 Mom's Plan-It organizer, sent as a gift by my friend Lori.

Thanks, doll!!

Yes, the same Mom's Plan-It organizer that I put on my Christmas list, that my father-in-law looked all over the place for, yet couldn't find. Miraculously, Lori found it on the internet, at Amazon.com. The husband, in the past, has asked for several computer games, available at an online retailer (even included the web address with his Christmas list), but ended up getting a game he already had, that was on-sale at a local store. Yet, last year, the father-in-law did manage to order for the husband's brother (aka. the brother-in-law) 2 bottles of some obscure micro-brew beer from a Belgian (Belgium!!) website, that with shipping ended up costing in the neighborhood of $75 and took about 6-weeks to arrive.

Every year, I consider telling them just to not get me anything. Or better yet, I consider telling them to make a gift to a charitable cause in my name. I never do, though, because there's just not good way to explain to someone that you'd rather they not buy something for you because of the angst it causes.

Only 361 days until Christmas!

Fun Stuff

Crayon box survey

TAKE THIS SURVEY!

RED = ANGER

1. Are you currently mad at someone? Not really
2. Which of your family members has the worst temper? Me!
3. Have you ever thrown something at anyone? Yes
4. Does your face turn red when you're angry? Probably. I've never been looking in the mirror when I'm angry.
5. When you're mad do you prefer to stare angrily or yell? Both

ORANGE = EXCITEMENT

1. Has anyone ever thrown a surprise party for you? Yes
2. Are you easily excited? No
3. What event is coming up that you're most excited about? Umm.... can't really think of anything... how sad is that?
4. If you won a million dollars, what would be your first thought? FINALLY!
5. If you could have anything right now what would it be? I probably shouldn't answer that.

YELLOW = SELF DISCOVERY

1. Name: Ruth
2. Birthday: November 23, 1969
3. What's your main goal in life? To be content.
4. Do you want to have children? Already have one.
5. How do you want to die? Quickly and without pain.

GREEN = OPINIONS

1. Are you against gay marriage? No
2. Lower the drinking age? Absolutely not!
3. Capital Punishment? No
4. Abortion? No
5. Democrat or Republican? Depends on what they're saying... probably more democrat than republican.

BLUE = LOVE

1. Do you love someone? Yes
2. Do you have a bf/gf? Husband
3. Is it better to have loved and lost than never loved at all? I don't think so.
4. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes.
5. Would you tattoo your lovers name on your body? No

PURPLE = Q&A

Q: How many beds did you lay in today? One
Q: What color shirt are you wearing? blue
Q: Name one thing that you do everyday? kiss my son
Q: How much cash do you have on you right now? none
Q: Is Tom on your Top friends list? Who's Tom?
Q: Look to your left. What's there? The printer.
Q: What's the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone? Geesh... I think it was a dress from Teresa Paulina, while we were still at Berea, a million years ago.
Q: What website(s) do you visit the most during the day? msn.com
Q: Do you have plants in your room? No
Q: Does anything hurt on your body right now? Everything aches... the sucky thing about getting older.
Q: What city was your last taxi cab ride in? Chicago
Q: Do you own a picture phone? Yes
Q: Recent time you were really upset? last week

PINK = LAST

1. Person you saw? my son
2. Person that said they loved you. the husband
3. Movie watched in cinema? Hairspray
4. Song you listened to? Only When I Lose Myself by Depeche Mode
5. Person you talked on the phone with? my father-in-law (God help me)

GREY = TODAY

1. What are you doing right now? Taking this survey!
2. What are you doing tonight? Watching tv, then going to bed.
3. What are you going to eat? Right now? Eggs and toast.
4. Did you accomplish anything today? Not yet, but it's early.
5. What shoes are you wearing? None

BROWN = TOMORROW

1. Is? Tuesday
2. My plans are? Another day off from work, because it's New Year's day
3. Are you going to laugh? hopefully
4. Any TV show you watch coming on? LIFE ON MARS!!! (Thank God for BBC America...)
5. Do you know what you will eat? Pork and sauerkraut for good luck in the new year, of course!

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THIS SURVEY!

More surveys @ MySpaceBulletins.com

Is it wrong, somehow, that today, the boy was eating bacon while watching a cartoon called 'Jakers! The Adventures of Piggly Winks', which as the title suggests has a main character who is a pig?

Alright, alright, alright!!!

In all fairness, I did get several cool things:

• Not just 1, but 2 pounds of the Starbucks Christmas blend coffee (yummy)
• A digital photo keychain that holds 60 pictures
• Some H2O shower gel and lotion from the husband's brother and his wife (that DOES NOT show a warning on the label regarding excessive use!)

I really... probably... shouldn't complain as much as I do, but good Lord, sometimes the weirdness is just overwhelming, and this blog is my outlet for it.

But seriously, Twyla, a toilet snake (see Twyla's comment on the post below)? Really? That, I think, takes the prize for the worst gift!

Correction

The warning on the back of the shower gel and lotion from my mother-in-law reads, and I quote, "Caution: Use only as directed. Excessive use or prolonged exposure may cause irritation to skin and urninary tract."

What the hell?

I think it is rather telling that there is no brand name on the label. And I'm considering calling the CDC to discuss exactly how I should dispose of this.

Holy crap, I'm bored.

It's as quiet as a tomb here at the Casa de Insurance this week. Yesterday, there were only four out of about thirty people here. A co-worker, God bless him, had the forethought to bring in DVD's from home to watch on his computer while he worked. I watched 'Transformers' and 'Bulletproof Monk' while I typed away... not necessarily my first choices for movie viewing, but the selection was rather limited.

So Christmas is behind us for another year, and how can I possibly express to you how happy I am about that? I love the idea of the holidays, but the actual holidays themselves always turn out to be a disappointment for me. How sad is that? Dealing with my in-laws just makes things too stressful, which makes me bitchy, which irritates the husband (because I'm constantly bitching about his family, and he can't really bitch about mine, because let's face it - my parents are both dead, and I hardly hear from my brother). But c'mon now, I think any sane person in the same situation would react the same way. Case in point - we have a 'ritual' of giving lists each year of what we'd like for Christmas. It makes me crazy, mostly because I have a hard time coming up with things to put on the list, but whatever. My list this year included:

kitchen towels (boring, but we desperately need them)
a pound of Starbuck's Christmas blend coffee (yummy)
the Mom's 2008 Plan-it spiral bound calendar (available from several placed on-line, or from large retail booksellers)

I received two questions from the father-in-law regarding this list...
1. Now, where would one find this Starbucks Christmas blend?
2. Why this particular calendar? I mean, what is it about this particular calendar that makes it better than others?

What?!? It makes my head spin, I tell you. I did get the Starbucks coffee (after telling him that, if it were me, I'd check at STARBUCKS to see if they were carrying it this year. "Starbucks?! I never would've thought to check there!"), and the kitchen towels... and a plain, black spiral-bound 2008 calendar.

I did not get a third pair of vibrating slippers. I think, this year, I would've welcomed another pair of them.

From the mother-in-law (the father-in-law's second wife, not the husband's actual mother), I got a shower gel/lotion set that both have the warning on the label "Avoid prolonged exposure or excessive use, as this might cause itching or skin irritation" (sounds inviting), and several sample-size Clinique and Estee Lauder products that she received as promotional gifts with things she purchased throughout the year.

Is it just me, or would this be along the same lines as giving someone the hotel soaps and shampoos that your pilch before checkout as a gift?

I give up.

PS - special shout out to Twyla - hope your daughter and your man are both doing better!

Merry Christmas - or - Happy Holidays, whichever you prefer, to all of you, my blog darlings. Thank you for listening to me whine. The in-laws will be here in approximately 6 hours... so I'm sure that will make for some good blogging!

Look! Up in the sky!

GO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND MOU TODAY!

(Be sure to tell him he doesn't look a day over 41!!)

Crabby, middle-of-the-night post...

Hold onto your seats.

It's 12:45 am, which I suppose isn't really all that late, but for me it is, as I am usually in bed by 9pm.

I can't sleep. Really, we were all awakened about an hour ago by the precious little boy having a bad dream, and he's calm and back to sleep now, but I can't get back to sleep because of the husband's snoring. But I'm not going to go there right now.

I probably shouldn't be blogging, because I have nothing at all good or witty to say, but here I am.

I've been sick, of course, with a sinus/ear infection. Now that W.T. is in preschool, he is of course bringing home every germ in a one-mile radius.

And isn't the picture above wonderful? I know I'm biased, but it's so wonderful it just breaks my heart when I look at it. My precious little boy's first picture with Santa. We tried to take him about 2 years ago, but he was spooked by the whole thing and cried, so we didn't force it. This year was the magic year, though. And guess who got to experience my son's first visit with Santa?

My fucking in-laws, that's who. Oh, they meant well. They always do. To the husband, "Bring him over this afternoon (earlier today) and we'll take him to the mall to look at Christmas decorations and all that, and you can have some free time..." I told him on the phone when he told me this (because, of course, I was at work) to please ask them NOT to take W.T. to see Santa, as I would really like to be there for that, being the first time and all... or to let me know if their plan was to take him to see Santa, and I would take the afternoon off and we could all go together, but he didn't.

"I didn't really have the chance to say anything to them about it..."

Oh bullshit. You don't have the balls to say anything to them.

I think the snoring has finally stopped. I'm going to try to go back to sleep now...