12/18/09 Rain Inspired, Cookie Driven

Ack. It's rainy today. As a matter of fact, not only is it rainy, but it's about 34 degrees, so it's right on the cusp of being snow but not quite, which means we're just stuck with cold and wet without the winter wonderland look. (I'm not really a fan of snow due to the above mentioned cold and wetness, but if we're doing it anyway, it might as well look pretty, am I right?) I was supposed to go to the gym today, but nothing short of the house erupting into flames would propel me from my nice warm office chair and out into that dreary mess, so you're just going to be stuck with me blogging about absolutely nothing instead. (And don't even think about sneaking over to set fire to my house to stop me because I've already started the post so for better or worse, here it is). And in bullet form no less, which should be another tip-off as to how much thought I'm putting into this. (That's right folks! No unifying theme AND no paragraphs!) It's a wonder they even let me on the Internet.

• Can you believe that were exactly a week away from Christmas? That seems crazy to me. And yes, I know that the lights and the presents and the large conifer in my living room really should have prepared me for this kind of thing, but it just doesn't feel that much like Christmas to me yet. I'm not sure what's lacking. We have the cold weather, we have the decorations, we have all the stockings hung by the chimney with care. I even have my favorite Christmas music playing. I just haven't been able to wrap my head around the fact that it's only a week away.

• That's not to say, of course, that I haven't enjoyed all of the Christmas cards that have been coming in the mail. It's been a good year for Christmas cards, and every time one arrives I get all giddy and dance around the house with it before displaying it proudly on my Snowman card holder. I know I've mentioned it several times on here, but the whole card thing is something I really get a kick out of. I guess because so much of my normal correspondence is through email and text messages and whatnot, actual Christmas cards through the mail seem extra-special. Like little presents, you know? And since so many of you who sent me a card this year also read the blog (bless your hearts), I wanted to take this chance to say thank you. They make my heart glow.

• Since we seem to be rolling right along with the Christmas theme, I'm going to continue it by reporting that all of the presents that I ordered for this year have officially arrived (finally)! I've been doing the majority of my Christmas shopping online for years due to an irrational dislike of malls, stores and my fellow shoppers who populate them, so the Internet has always worked out well for me. This year, however, seems to have been an extra tough year for shipping. I had three items go AWOL and one item arrive damaged. (Lucky for me, I ordered all of my stuff really early this year so that I had time to file a claim and get replacements sent). Still, I probably spent four days requesting tracking numbers, taking pictures of damaged items, and going round and round in the United States Post Office automated phone system:

Phone system: If you are missing a parcel, please say 'missing parcel'
Me: Missing parcel.
Phone system: Did you say 'order stamps'?
Me: No! Missing parcel!
Phone system: Did you say 'schedule a pickup'?
Me: No! M-i-s-s-i-n-g P-a-r-c-e-l!
Phone system: Your local post office hours are Monday through Thursday, 7am to 6pm...

• Fortunately, packages were eventually found and everything showed up in enough time for me to wrap them and place them lovingly under my tree, so it all ended well. I keep a detailed spreadsheet of what everything is and when I expect it, and I'm happy to report that as of yesterday, everything had been color-coded from red (MIA) to blue (wrapped and ready to go). Was it enough of a hassle to get my back to buying things in actual stores? Not a chance. Even despite the shipping delays, not once did I have to fight over a parking space.

• Speaking of packages, there's a lovely little box that has showed up from Tony's Grandma. I'm cautiously optimistic that it has her world-famous Christmas cookies inside, but Tony won't let me open the box to find out. (He put it under the tree with instructions that it not be opened until Christmas in case it contained presents). I argued that if there were cookies inside, they could be going stale, but he assures me that any possible cookies would be in a nice sealed container to keep them fresh. I countered that we should eat them before the cats rip into it and devour the cookies themselves, but he pointed out that if the box has remained unmolested under the tree for this long, the cats do not care about what is inside. I argued that some Grandma cookies would be just the thing to get me into the Christmas spirit. He told me that any cookie-generated Christmas spirit could wait until Christmas morning. Sigh. He's such a cookie scrooge. (I'm such a cookie monster).
  

Oh my goodness! I just saw a snowflake float by! Looks like this dreary rain might just be turning over to flurries! And all these bullet points are holiday themed, providing a unifying point to my blathering! I guess maybe I am in the Christmas spirit after all. (And without Grandma's cookies too!) It's a Christmas miracle! Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men!

I still say we eat the cookies now.