Domestic Geek

Marcus is finally starting to get better and I've not succumbed to the nasty bug. I was feeling a lot better today myself. We got the tree up into its stand and it is all ready for lights and decorations. I came to the horrible realization that I don't have a tree topper. Mine shorted out last year and I had intended to get a new one this year. I also threw out my old two sets of multi-function lights that had been my mother's that were acting wonky and was going to get replacements this year. *sigh* At least feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days accomplished one thing—I got quite a bit of my crocheted popcorn garland completed.

I went to the graveyard today to visit my mom's grave. It is still hard to believe that she passed almost 10 years ago (1/4/97). Whenever I start decorating for Christmas, I start missing her terribly.

There's been a sudden unexpected slowdown of incoming jobs at my workplace. I only got to work two hours yesterday. I had a major meltdown on the way home. It's looking like full time there is not going to happen in the near future. I've got to find some other income sources. I'm so tired of scraping by and being a burden on Marcus.

Our little group to go tree hunting gets bigger every year. Our group totaled 10.5 people this year. Not too shabby. Of course, Marcus being as sick as he is probably shouldn't have been out traipsing around in the woods, but he was and we have our tree. I'll post pictures in the gallery tomorrow. I have to do some serious color-correcting on the polaroid we got with Smokey the Bear this year. We had dinner at a neat little restaurant in Woodland Park called Fiesta Mexicana or something like that. I had a carnita burrito. Very tasty. I had to drive home and I've decided that I hate driving from Colorado Springs to Denver on I-25. There is nothing but a sea of white lights in your face the whole way. Gives me a huge headache. Anyway, I guess I'd better go help Marcus wrestle the tree into the house.

I took a much needed blogging break yesterday. I spent the afternoon helping Marcus organize his office at work. I designed my Christmas card in my head, so I'm going to making those over the next couple of days so I can get them in the mail by early next week. If you want one, just send me your snail mail addy via email. Then I painted some more wooden balls for my crocheted popcorn garland. As soon as I do some posting here, I'm going to crochet while watching Ugly Betty on ABC's website. Since we lost our East/West coast stations from Dish Network on Thursday (all thanks to FOX, we later found out), there are just some shows I'm not going to be able to watch if they don't have them on their web sites. The senate has a bill to allow some "distant channel" services for some satellite subscribers, but even if it passes, Marcus and I won't be eligible. *sigh* That sucks. I really liked having the New York affiliates. Oh, well. We went ahead and downgraded out satellite package, as well. If only we could get rid of shopping channels, public interest and religious stations. That is over 30 channels right there that I will NEVER watch. What a waste. I really wish they would offer an a la carte type system, like pick 50 channels YOU WANT for $39.95 or something. Maybe someday.

Well, I actually managed to get the meal on the table. The turkey turned out really good. My mixer bit the dust, though, halfway through making my whipped potatoes. Boooo. I ended up just mashing what was left by hand. I followed Cass' sweet tea recipe and it came out yummy! Thanks, Cass!

Stupid Broncos lost again. I don't think there has been a season that I've been this unmotivated about them. I know a lot of that had to do with my mind being on other more important things for most of the season, but I am just not feeling the fan in me this year. I kept switching over to SPEED to see what was going on with the PINKS marathon. I really love those drag racing cars with the NOS that need the stabilizer bars in the back to keep them from flipping when they take off.

I'm procrastinating cleaning up the disasterous mess I made in the kithcen, but I need to move my butt because I do have to go to work in the morning. I need rest after not getting any last night. I'm still having some horrid cramps and those always wipe me out physically, too. Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm having one of those Murphy Thanksgivings. If it can go wrong, it will.

First that stupid flour bug mess last night, then a raccoon was attacking Skippy when I went to let him in so I could go to the grocery store. I don't think it bit him, but he was really scared and I was really mad. I hate raccoons. I chased the stupid thing with a snow shovel. I didn't get the cheesecake into the oven until after 11 pm. Marcus finally got home about then, as well. So, I didn't eat dinner last night, either. I didn't go to bed until almost 2 am. I made the mistake of trying to bake the cheesecake in a water bath. I guess I didn't wrap the foil tightly enough around the pan, because water got in. This morning I woke up to a soggy cheesecake mess in my oven. *sigh* I heated up the oven, put the cheesecake back in to try and dry it out a bit and then I threw the thing in the freezer. Damn. Then, my pies are turning out funny. The crusts are acting weird. Must be those new glass pie plates I bought. I took the turkey out of the fridge and it's still partially frozen, so dinner is going to be a couple of hours later than I planned. Next, the trash bag I took out of the can to take to the dumpster fell over and I got to clean up all that flour I dumped last night, coffee grounds, bird seed, etc. off the floor.

So, I'm taking a little break to calm down before I break into tears. It's just a meal, after all. It's just Dad, Marcus and me, so it's not like I have a house full of guests expected. It'll all be ok. The turkey will thaw. The cheesecake will probably still taste ok. I just need to make a list of what needs to be done still so that I don't forget to make rolls or something.