Domestic Geek

It's bad enough that all the Christmas stuff is in the stores already and my dumb ass neighbor put his decorations up before Halloween again this year, I just saw a freaking holiday commercial for Walmart. A shopping center today had their holiday decorations up and turned on, no less. I am so sick of the Christmas season lasting for two whole months. It takes away the magic and enjoyment of the season. It's just like the freaking election season. You almost don't care who wins just as long as it is over.

Speaking of the election, I wasn't going to vote this year. It wasn't until about 10am this morning that I decided I'd actually go. I haven't missed a presidential election since I've been old enough to vote and I knew I'd regret the decision if I didn't add my two cents.

I'm also not quite sure how I'm going to deal with Thanksgiving this year, either. I'm scheduled to work my full 13 hour shift and so far we've had no word about closing. There is no way I can prepare a full meal after working all day, even if I had Marcus do the turkey like last year. This so sucks. I think we should just close and let us all make up the hours the following Sunday. Somehow, I don't think my management will go for it. I'm definitely putting it in the suggestion box, though. I suppose we had have a late dinner on Wednesday after Marcus gets off work. We'll see.

Sixteen years ago today, Marcus and I decided we were going to give it a go as a couple. Since our anniversary fell during his work week this year, we celebrated early on Sunday with our usual anniversary dinner fare...Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster.

I never thought it possible, but I really do love him more and more with each passing year.

Happy Anniversary, Dear, here's to many more!

Guess who turned 42 today? Duh, ME!

It should be a pretty good day. I don't have to work. Dad's coming over in a bit for some Wii bowling. I may take my free birthday entree coupon from Noodles & Co. over and get some free lunch as well as some free ice cream at either Cold Stone or Baskin Robbins. I've got knitting and crocheting to do. We're going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse this evening.

We actually celebrated last Saturday. We had BBQ Steak on a Stake over at Mike and Nina's house. We played some Wii - Mike has some really cool game where you knock stuff down. Marcus and I got Mike Rock Band for his birthday. That game is actually quite fun! I had to sing first, but after I got over myself, I actually had a good time. I got the first season of The Big Bang Theory DVDs (I LOVE that show) and a Frank Sinatra CD from Mike and Nina. Marcus got me a new Superdrive and a G5 Jive and an adapter card to add extra hard drives to my Mac. I'm going to install them this afternoon and rip the cd to iTunes to see if it all works. Marcus already ripped TBBT for me and we've been watching them all week on the AppleTV.

I can't believe that seven years later, I'm still getting comments about my birthday being on September 11th. I was at a quilt store last Friday taking advantage of my birthday month discount when it last happened. I had to produce my driver's license to verify my birthday and the clerk commented that it must be tough to have a birthday on "that day." Uh, not really. The only thing that's rough is dealing with the people that make such comments. I admit that my birthday in 2001 sucked. I, like every other caring person in this country (and around the world) was in shock and upset over what happened. Horrible things happen all the time, though, and unfortunately these fall on somebody's birthday. If I met someone whose date of birth was December 7th, I wouldn't say, "Oh, how sad to have a birthday on the same day Pearl Harbor was bombed."

Anyway, off to enjoy my day!

ETA: Heh, Laura sent me this ecard she found:

Happy Birthday, Marcus!

Today was Marcus' birthday. As usual, I don't dare divulge his age for fear of the wrath I will bring down upon myself. I've never met a man so freaked out about birthdays and getting older, especially since no matter how many he has, I'll always be older. To hear him go on, you'd think he was on the verge of geezerhood!

Yesterday we celebrated out to dinner with Mike & Nina at Chili's, followed by Dairy Queen ice cream cake at our house. Mike & Nina got him the coolest calendar they made via iPhoto/Apple using Mike's mountain biking photos. It's really neat. This evening, Dad accompanied us to the Texas Roadhouse for yet another yummy birthday dinner.

Since his birthday is almost over and I'm really late in posting this, why don't you head over to his site and give him some belated birthday wishes.

Also, today would have been my mother's 63rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom.

The other day when I stopped at the Hallmark store, I saw the cutest little ornament that featured a dog trying to get a toy out of a vending machine. It made me realize that this is the first Christmas in my whole life that I am dogless and my heart ached. I know I'm going to lose it when I unpack the stockings and see both Ursa's and Skippy's stockings (that I lovingly made) packed away never to be hung again. The sensible part of me knows that getting another dog is not the right thing to do, but he selfish part of me wants a furry friend to love. It's early, but I'm making a resolution for the coming year that I'm doing whatever it takes to get myself into a better living situation so that next Christmas, I'll have a reason to put a wrapped rawhide under the tree.