Nag Nag Nag Nag Nag

By Froggy's own admission, she was nagging me (about not posting in a while).   So, here it is!

It's just been a busy week.  Otter's last week of school before CHRISTMAS break, she is getting over the strep throat she had and she has finals (today and tomorrow) so she's been busy.  She also baked cookies the last couple of nights, to give to her friends at school.  Two of which said that they were surprised, they didn't take her for a baker.  Considering that she's been cooking along with me since she was tiny, I'm not sure what she will actually learn in Cooking class which she'll switch to next semester!

Bill's last week of work before his 2-week break, and he's been busy with stuff around the house.  He's made a couple of trips up into the attic this week, he brought down the Christmas decorations and one of the trees.  He put the tree together for us this morning, then Otter decorated the tree this evening.

That means that there are no pachinko machines in the living room at the moment!  Which is only temporary, once the tree is down and the sofa table is clear I'm sure that he'll have it covered in machines and parts in less than 2 seconds.

(And since I generally can't stand to leave the tree & stuff up any longer than I absolutely have to, that might mean that Christmas night he'll have all his toys back on the table.)

We put up my Nativity set, it's on the top of the entertainment center where we usually put it.  I found a piece to it at a thrift store a few weeks back.  It's another stable piece.  The original one is still intact, but it's hard to put together.  This one is a little smaller and works better.  I'm not sure when Avon came out with it, I didn't even know it existed until I saw it and immediately grabbed it.  I'm still in search of a cow, the only piece I don't have.  I've seen them on eBay and Craigslist, but - just like with my Fenton - I'm cheap when it comes to pieces to the Nativity!  We also hung the stockings and got the wreath on the door.  I couldn't find my wreath hanger, so I used a wire coat hanger and bent it into shape with a pair of pliers (my tools, which Bill is specifically forbidden to even look at!).  We got the wreath in place and then found the wreath hanger.  After all that work, making one out of a clothes hanger, I suggested to Otter that she use the real hanger on her small wreath that she made years ago so she has one on her bedroom door now.

Work has been somewhat crazy this week, it normally is busy this week anyway but I also have a lot of extra work that I would normally do the last week of the month.  Except that I'll be off that week, since I'm taking the last of my vacation days.  I don't think we're going to do anything specific that week, beyond a trip to Incredible Pizza on my birthday.  Just whatever around the house, and I'll probably attempt to crochet as much as possible.  And maybe hit a thrift store or two.

Frasier would like me to state that for the record, he's absolutely amazed at the gall of the inhuman michael vick (he doesn't deserve capital letters) saying that he'd like to have another dog at some point.  Frasier would also like me to tell you that he thinks that particular male person (real men do NOT do what he did) should be treated like he treated some of the dogs he previously had.  Maggie Moo agrees with him, and so do we.  And also, Frasier suggested that vick should be neutered.

Our tamales are here!  I ordered 4 dozen from my tamale connection, with the intent of giving each of my (2) bosses a dozen for Christmas.  They were delivered today, our 2 dozen are in the freezer and will hopefully stay there until New Year's.  Although they smelled so good, it was very hard to put them in the freezer without first sampling them. :)

Horrible story coming out of Florida, about the shooting at a school board meeting.  Thank God no one was seriously hurt, aside from the gunman who killed himself.  I can't imagine the pain that his family must be feeling, first to lose their husband/father by his own hand and secondly, having to live with the knowledge of what he did/tried to do.  After watching the video, I think that the school board members were probably just too stunned to accept what they were seeing because the did not react nearly as fast as they should have, or even when they should have.  I guess that in that situation, fear can easily take over and they were probably so shocked to see the gun in his hand.

Bill's working the sound/video for a school board meeting tonight, he said that there wasn't anything specific on the agenda which means that it probably wouldn't be on the news tonight.  But, after the Florida incident, I won't be surprised if it does make the news.  If I manage to stay up until 10:00, I'll watch and see.

Considering that I've been up since 4:45 this morning, I don't know if I'll even make it to 9:30!  I just woke up early, no reason.  Except maybe the fact that I'm 48 and it happens!  Along with hot flashes...  One of the dj's on one of the radio stations I listen to was talking about an encounter he had at a gas station at 4:30 a.m. the other day.  He was filling his car on the way to work when he noticed a lady pull up to the next pump and start to fill her own car.  It was in the low 20's at the time, or possibly even the high teens.  She had on shorts, a tank top and flip-flops.  No jacket at all.  He asked her if she was ok and wasn't she cold?  Her response:  HOT FLASH!  I have to say that I sympathise and understand completely.