it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas

Okay, I still haven't bought my plane ticket, but I have decided I will be going to see the family for Christmas. I realize that caving in early destroys any imaginary negotiating advantage I might have had with my sister, but it also removes my temptation to ruin her birthday by fighting about money. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have won anyway. And really, it will be quite fun to see my nieces enjoying Christmas.

Since I'll be there, I will have to come prepared - you know, with gifts and all. I'm not much of a gift giver. I tend to avoid holidays and birthdays as I dread obligatory spending. I also sort of suck at it. With me it's feast or famine. I send nothing or I spend too much (money I obviously don't have) on stuff the kids don't really like. (Yes, sister-in-law who has no internet access, I know that the Dora Castle I bought this Spring has already been "donated" to Grandma's house and I know the girls were never allowed access to the craft scissors I sent last year...) Having wasted too much of my day surfing the web, I have decided on just the right thing. I absolutely have to get the girls this novelty soap. Yep, that would be soap that looks just like dog poop. Would they expect anything less from me? I just can't decide if this toilet / plunger candy is also fun or just sort of fun? And can I tell you how sad I am that these candy cockroaches are out of stock? I know, don't you wish you had an Anti like me?

Anyway, when I get back I will be attending an underground after Christmas party. (Oh the drama there. I mostly shy away from mentioning specifics since, well, it's totally unprofessional and what is there to gain? But this year to celebrate the holidays my volunteer group has decided to hold an expensive event instead of our traditional potluck. And by group, I mean staff person, cuz the topic was never open to debate and all input to the contrary has been summarily shot down. So those of us who can't (or don't want to) afford it have decided to gather surreptitiously for a private party. I'm pretty sure we'll get in trouble, but, seriously, I think it is tacky to ask for our money on top of our time. And the tragedy is that it's mostly the hardcore old timers who object. I know some of that is fear of change, but if it's not broken, why fix it?) Since we've decided we'll still play the gift exchange game, I will now have to add these mints that taste like bacon to my already purchased item (this groovy sea lion pen). The old timers, you see, are way fond of bacon.

I actually sort of wish I could say more about the drama. Very few of my rescue friends know of my blog. Even fewer of them read it. And we're all fairly like minded about the politics anyhow. I just don't know if it would be cathartic for me to express my angst or if it would only add fuel to the fire? In truth, I think I would come off sounding quite whiny. But maybe that would be good for me - to see how petty all the scandals are when translated to the real world. I guess a certain level of discord is inevitable, especially in an estrogen dominated environment. (No offense, ladies, but you know it is true...) Mostly I am really disappointed in how entrenched in it I can become. I like to think of myself as fairly easy-going but I fear I might be a bitch. Or, as I was dubbed in April, "not a nice girl."

Oh well.

Oh. So what am I grateful for today? Hm. I am grateful that OC and Monkey hung out with me on the couch this afternoon. There was very little hissing and even less swatting involved. I used it as an excuse to skip my evening walk (didn't want to break up the magic) so that's kind of a bummer, but it was worth it. I love family time.

And I am grateful that (so far) we haven't had to rescue any oiled mammals in San Francisco, but I'm still pretty pissed about the poor birds. And the poor media coverage.

And I'm grateful for clean sheets. I don't know why I don't change ours more often. (Wait, I do know. It sucks to make the bed. It's practically an aerobic exercise. And with our opposite schedules, someone's almost always sleeping anyway...) Anyway, they're clean now and I'm so looking forward to trying them out.