I need to write a long entry all about our recent three day weekend, which included listening to songs about zombies and lonely mad scientists, and eating Rice Krispy treats and awesome barbeque, and getting to see lemurs and snoozing river otters and lazy sunning tigers, and walking up and down a lot of lengthy hills in San Francisco. But those can all wait. Because right now, the most important thing of all to write about is the way the sun is rising across this great big beautiful country of mine, and how a brand new day is dawning, and how so many people around the world are filled with such an over abundance of hope that we have not felt in a very very long time.

Good riddance, Bush and Cheney. Can’t say I’m sorry to see you go. And welcome Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.

Yes we can. Yes we did. Yes we will.

I just got home from getting my allergy shots, and my arms are now very itchy and I am developing a truly charming set of hives, one for each injection site. They had to remix my allergen cocktail a few months ago, since I transferred to a new clinic when we moved, and all the stuff from the old place finally ran out, so I’ve been back to going once or twice a week (when I remember – I am very bad at remembering lately) while they increase me back up to maintenance levels, and this is all a very long winded way of saying that I think I have finally reached the level of injections where I need to start premedicating before the shots again.

It has been a rather uneventful sort of day today, matching set of hives aside. I suppose I ought to have something more exciting to discuss for the last entry of 2008 Holidailies, but eh. Oh well. Instead, I’ll leave you with another of the pictures I finally downloaded from my camera. Our real estate agent took this picture of us, on a very hot and sunny day in June of 2007, shortly after he handed us the keys to our brand ‘new’ (nearly 100 year old) house. We are smiling and in a little bit of shock, because it closed a few days earlier than expected, and at the time we still hadn’t sold the other house, so we were also coming to terms with the fact that shortly we would be the proud owners of not one, but two expensive mortgages. But it all worked out eventually, and really, I was never all that worried it wouldn’t.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Getting up at 6am this morning was very, very hard. I’ve spent the last week enjoying the fact that I never had to set an alarm, and even if I was still waking up by 7, it was still on my own terms, and not through the rude interruption of a loud, blaring clock.

Everyone was quiet and a bit bleary-eyed at the office today, for, I suspect, similar reasons. I spent the majority of my morning plowing through an impressive backlog of email, and the afternoon tackling new work. And then I left work early because I had to go take one of the cats to the vet. This is because cats do not believe in convenience for the sake of humans, and would much rather require a trip to the vet when one is not on vacation.

It’s nothing serious; Tangerine is simply getting old and she’s not keeping herself as clean and neat as she used to. So I took her in for a basic senior check-up. But I spent nearly two hours at the clinic this afternoon because of it, and it’s pretty much reinforced the fact that we are not very happy with this particular vet office, and need to find a replacement. The vets themselves are perfectly nice and competent, and the technicians have always been kind and polite and very gentle with our kitties. But every single time we go in, our scheduled appointments have always been at least 30 minutes delayed, sometimes significantly longer, and there is never any sort of explanation, or apology. They push one particular (non-essential and extremely expensive) treatment to the point of being annoying, every time we have gone in. And neither Richard or I has been overly impressed by the front desk staff – they come across as unprofessional and seem to move at a glacial pace. It did not help my mood this afternoon to also be subjected to a combination of some kind of extremely strong floral air freshener, mixed with high levels of perfume from one of the front desk staff, to the point where by the time I got home, I had a headache.

It’s hard, though, this business of picking a vet. It’s not really something you want to be doing when one of the cats is sick, but it’s also extremely expensive to just be carting cats into random offices, even for the usual healthy-pet checks. We were spoiled for so long, since I had that lovely lady who made housecalls for all the healthy-cat stuff, and we had a very nice vet in Davis any time one of the critters needed anything extra. I think we’ve been hoping that maybe the continual delays and other issues were just exceptions to the norm for this place, because they are extremely close to the house, so it seemed convenient, but it’s become obvious that this is their normal mode of operation. So I think it’s time to start canvassing the neighbors to see if we can get some recommendations.

The rest of the day was a little bit better, especially once I finally gave up and took something for the vet office-induced headache. We doctored up a package of white cheddar mac and cheese from Trader Joe’s for dinner, and then curled up on the sofa and worked our way through several more episodes of Dracula. I have to admit, the show is starting to grow on me. It still definitely classifies as pretty darn bad, but there are rare glimpses, here and there, of actually decent writing. It’s hard to not enjoy a show that comes up, every now and then, with lines for Dracula like (insert faint Transylvanian accent here) “Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze me ever so slightly.” So maybe that $7 I spent on in the bargain bin on Amazon wasn’t completely wasted after all.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Today has been a busy sort of day, especially when compared to the relatively non-productivity of most of this past week. Now that Christmas and New Year’s are over, we started looking at the calendar and realizing that today was going to be the best day to deal with all the holiday decorations. So this morning we took down the tree and carefully folded it back into its box, and we packed up all the decorations – old and new – and then Richard climbed up into the attic and I stood on a stool underneath and hefted heavy boxes up to him, so we could put it all away. Note to self – the day before one is going to be hefting heavy boxes is not a good time to be playing a game that leave’s one’s arm muscles extremely sore.

Once all the decorations were put away, and the house (or at least the upstairs portion) was tidied (if one’s definition of ‘tidy’ includes tossing some leftover tissue paper on the floor and sprinkling it with catnip), it was time for fun. We watched another episode of Dracula while eating lunch. And we kicked off the new year with a little gaming party, something we’ve both said we need to do more often. Some friends came over and we spent about five hours playing Munchkin, and then Munchkin Cthulhu, with quite a bit of laughing and good natured quibbling over the rules (which, according to the game itself, is actually mandatory, so we were only doing our part to follow instructions).

The rest of the day has included a trip to the grocery store, to stock up on supplies for lunches to take to work. Richard worked his way through a few more episodes of Twin Peaks, on his computer, while I sat with my yarn and my crochet hook and worked on some presents for a few upcoming birthdays. Tomorrow we’ll be back to work, where there are big projects looming for both of us, and as much as we both like our jobs, neither of us is much looking forward to the inevitability of Monday morning. So tonight, for the few remaining hours that last, I am going to pretend that my vacation gets to continue for just a little bit longer, even if Christmas has to remain up in the attic, packed in boxes, out of sight for yet another year.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Richard’s birthday was on Wednesday. But we did not bother having cake that day, because it was just the two of us, and we were going out for fondue, and it seemed silly to include cake in that as well. But today was the day his family came up to bring presents and take us out for his birthday lunch, so it seemed only appropriate that today was, therefore, the day for cake.

We’d discussed this, days ago, but we both completely forgot about it until shortly before his parents were to arrive, at which point I exclaimed “oh gracious me, I forgot about the cake”, or words of a similar (but perhaps a teensy bit less ladylike) nature, and I dashed for the kitchen to bake the cake, while Richard zipped out to the store to buy frosting.

I left the cake to cool on the counter while we went off to one of our favorite local places for lunch, and then did a slightly messy job of frosting it when we returned. We did not have cake right away, however; instead, we fired up the Wii. Richard’s little sister had brought her Wiimotes, so the three of us ‘kids’ all played Raymond’s Raving Rabbids TV Party for about an hour, until we were all exhausted and weak from hysterical laughter.

There was the opening of presents, and the eating of cake and ice cream, and then they headed back toward home, just as it was started to get dark outside. So the rest of the evening has been spent with a bit less crazy game playing. Instead, we ate leftover cake and ice cream for dinner, and watched several episodes of what is quite possibly one of the worst television series ever made. It was one of those spur of the moment gifts I got for Richard, picked from the bargain bin of Amazon’s huge DVD blowout clearance sale (the fact that the other DVDs I got in the same sale included the entire series of Flash Gordon, and Monster Squad should tell you just what sort of theme I was going for. Anyway, I figured anything called “Dracula, the Series” would have to be bad, but seriously, neither of us had any idea just how disturbingly bad it really is.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Yesterday really did end up being mostly a day of doing very little. We hung out in front of our computers for a while, and then we moved to the living room to watch one of hte movies Richard got for his birthday. I have no idea *why* he’s been asking for this movie for years, but this year I finally broke down and bought it for him. So now we own our very own copy of “Never Ending Story”, and after yesterday afternoon I have finally watched the darn thing all the way through (I’d only ever seen bits and pieces before). And wow. That is just a spectacularly bad movie.

The good thing, at least, is that Richard and I tend to like spectacularly bad movies, mainly because they provide so very many opportunities for prime mocking, but also because days later one of us invariably turns to the other (okay, usually it is me) and, completely out of the blue, say “but seriously now, why did they *do* that”, and the other (usually it is Richard) rarely doesn’t immediately know what I’m talking about. Random non sequiturs of conversation; one of the bedrocks of any good marriage.

We did actually leave the house yesterday, but only to go to the local coffee shop because I had my knitting group, and Richard likes to bring his laptop and write in new places now and then. I did ponder skipping it, if only because otherwise there was no need to actually get dressed (yes, we really did spend most of the day in our pajamas) but only for a fraction of a second because I had posted a few queries to the Ravelry board and I figured it would be prudent to actually show up and get the assistance I’d requested (it is usually a good idea, see, when one decides to tackle a shiny new project, that require crocheting skills, that one actually learn how to crochet in the first place).

Today Richard headed back to work, but I decided to celebrate my last day off by trying to do as little as possible. I was not entirely successful, despite all feline efforts to the contrary, since I managed to sneak in a load of laundry, and I finally cleaned off my camera card (there were pictures on there waiting to be downloaded that were over two years old, for crying out loud), and shortly I will head off to Vacaville for the monthly knitting group. I will leave you with one of those random pictures from my camera card, taken in February of 2007 (while we were still living in the other house). Checkers has filled out a little since then (thankfully; she was a bit too scrawny there for a while) but this is quite possibly the perfect picture of her. The head cocked to one side. The eyes all huge and round. All her favorite toys within grabbing distance. And most important of all, tiny paws outstretched, nails slightly out, primed and ready to apply a serious smack-down on anyone (cat or human) stupid enough to try to do anything. Anything at all.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Happy new year. Welcome to 2009. I don’t know how the rest of you intend to spend the first day of the new year, but I suspect I’ll be spending a good part of it like this:

What you do not see in this picture is the fact that there is a second cat on my chest (it was hard enough getting a shot of just Rosie) and a third sitting on my computer desk, whining pitifully because the rather portly tortie pictured above is a snippy sort of lap hog who does not feel that any other cat should be allowed to be on me while she is napping.

If the cats have any say, I won’t get much of anything useful done today at all. And actually, this morning, I am in complete agreement. I think that is a mighty fine way to start a brand new year. Now, can someone please bring me some coffee? And a way to shift position without annoying the cats, because my legs have started to fall asleep?

Tis the season for Holidailies!

Today is Richard’s birthday, which was, of course, the reason I spent the past two days frantically knitting him a Dalek. He had the day off, so we pretty much just spent the day lounging around lazily at home until it was time for dinner. I had a short videochat with my little sister, and she and my brother-in-law and niece all crowded around the camera and sang him Happy Birthday. We played a little bit on the Wii. We made a short excursion out to Michael’s so I could pick up some yarn and a crochet hook, and so he could pick up a picture frame, and we swung by Fry’s on a futile quest for some kind of cable thing to hook the laptop to the television, which it turns out would not have worked anyway so it’s good we walked out empty handed.

Our New Year’s Eve celebration this year, such as it was, was dinner at the Melting Pot downtown. Back when I made the reservations, I told them it was Richard’s birthday and had arranged for there to be some balloons and such, but I made the reservation weeks ago, so had completely forgotten about it until we arrived and they wished him a happy birthday. Dinner was delicious, and involved far too much food, as usual, starting with the cheese fondue and culminating in a dark chocolate fondue flavored with coffee liquor. We’d talked about heading off to Old Sacramento afterwards, to watch the fireworks, but I’ve been still fighting off this whatever it is kind of virus most of the day and with that and all the food I was starting to fade. So instead we returned home, where we are now comfortably ensconced, surrounded by cats and our computers. If we cannot see the fireworks, at least we can hear them, booms echoing faintly in the night from a few miles away.

Every once in a while I turn on the television on New Year’s Eve just to watch the stupid ball drop in Times Square, but this year, I know I am just not going to make it that late. So instead, I’ll wrap up this entry and close off on this year a few hours early. It’s already 2009 somewhere else in the world, anyway, so really, what difference do a few hours here or there make in the grand scheme of arbitrary calendar designations. Good bye 2008. Thanks for the shiny new kitchen. Hello 2009. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

The post-holiday family gathering originally planned for Sunday evening was postponed until this evening. So after Richard returned from work and his Weight Watchers meeting, we scurried off to Dixon, braving the fog, and a whole lot of fog-addled drivers across the Yolo causeway, to get there. My older sister and her family have spent the last few days busily painting the boys’ rooms, since at the ripe old age of 10, the eldest was a bit tired of having a border in his room with cute little trains, and really wanted something a bit more grown up, and since they were doing one, they might as well do both at the same time, so the youngest got his room redone as well. So they arrived with stories of painting (darker colors require lots more coats), while all I had to report was two days spent doing nothing more than frantic knitting in order to finish up Richard’s present.

The plan had been to sit down for dinner as soon as we arrived, but there were some glitches involving burners and frying pans. So instead we all gathered in the living room and opened Christmas presents, and the two sons-in-law had just enough time to get embroiled in some kind of nerdy Linux-based discussion before dinner was served.

I made my very last batch of shortbread and lemon curd bars for the year, and brought those along to share. There was the traditional special holiday pie, and my older sister brought along the remains of all her Christmas baking, which was especially appreciated by my mom and I, since neither of us baked a single cookie this year and we were sorely missing them.

I am now stuffed to the gills with pie and lemon bars and homemade bread and brown sugar-topped sugar cookies (which are not really sugar cookies at all, in the traditional sense) and too many candy cane cookies and pieces of homemade candy. Richard opened a pile of birthday presents and came home with a sizable stack of new books to read. The last of the family gifts have been delivered, which means now I can finally say that I gave each set of sister-brother-in-law and my parents a video webcam, along with a box stuffed full of some combination of the following – lemon curd, apple butter, plum jam, spiced plum jam, red pepper jelly, corn relish, pomegranate jelly, and candied lemon peel – which was the primary goal for all the canning and preserving I have been doing these past many months.

And when we got home I gave Richard one of his birthday present early, and I think he never quite suspected that this is the year he would receive a cuddly stuffed, knitted Dalek of his very own.

Tis the season for Holidailies!

I suspect it is probably for the best that yesterday’s plans all fell through, because today when I woke up I, too, was feeling a little off. It’s not quite a cold and not quite the flu; it’s just the annoying sort of bug, where I feel tired and achy, and where just walking up the stairs wears me out. But I am not sleepy – trying to take a nap just results in me lying in bed, covered in cats, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and generally grumpy.

Luckily, whatever this is is also the sort of thing that has been (mostly) beaten into submission by simply remembering to take a couple ibuprofin every few hours to make the achy feeling go away. Luckily I had also taken all this week off from work (more the result of realizing that if I did not take some vacation, I was actually going to reach the limit and start losing hours than for any necessity for taking time off), so I have had nothing else to do but camp out on the sofa and knit. The one vaguely productive thing I did today was toss a load of laundry into the washing machine. No, wait, there were two vaguely productive things – I also made dinner. Granted, it was more along the lines of of me rummaging through freezer and fridge, pulling out anything that looked like it was on its last legs and tossing it into a pot with a can of tomato sauce and a can of chopped tomatoes and chiles, but we had that with homemade cornbread and it was quite, quite tasty. So I am counting today as (mostly) a success, even if it *has* come with the aid of lots of medication and a bunch of veggies that were not much longer for this world.

Tis the season for Holidailies!