Speaking of cats, Beaner has been an absolute terror lately.  Anybody want a six pound gray tabby with more attitude than Dennis the Menace?  Little Miss Thing decided to tear our bedroom closet apart…she got into the bedroom when hubby and I weren’t paying attention and she got up on the top shelf on one side and proceeded to knock everything off.  All of our sweaters ended up on the floor.  Hubby’s silk ties and my belts got knocked off of the wall rack.  She pulled some of my flip flops down from where they were stored and tossed them on the floor.  Hubby and I were NOT HAPPY…we’d spent a lot of time cleaning up the bedroom, only to have her tear it apart again.

Cats.  Can’t live with ‘em, can’t shoot ‘em.

*ahem*

Christmas?  Oh, it was great, thanks for asking!  Hubby and I made a surprise trip to my parents’ house on Christmas night.  They weren’t home, so we drove around for a while until they got back.  I pulled up behind my Dad’s car as he was pulling presents out of the trunk, and to say he was shocked to see us is a bit of an understatement.

“Hurry up and park and grab some stuff out of the trunk and we’ll go in and surprise your Mom!”

I parked, but as hubby and I were coming around the side of the house, Mom called.

“Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas to you, too!”
“Where are you?  Are you home?  There’s a lot of noise in the background…”
“Yeah, I’m home.  Take a look out your front door,” I said as I walked up their front steps.

Mom came to the door, laughing and crying at the same time.  It really made for a good Christmas.  So did all the cash we scored.

We stayed the night and came home Friday, then hubby and I went to hang out at the bar.  I got INSANELY drunk, and had quite the hangover on Saturday morning.  Hubby worked Saturday night.

Sunday, he broke his car.  I’m not going to get into the whole long and sordid tale, but it’s gonna cost us $400 to get it fixed…and we STILL haven’t gotten the car back yet.

The week of New Year’s went by in a blur.  I got out of work early on New Year’s Eve, and hubby and I spent a quiet evening at home, eating steak and watching hockey.  Hubby also had off on New Year’s Day, as they closed the plant down for two and a half days.

Hubby and I spent a very enjoyable weekend together.  We got a lot done in the apartment, and we spent some good quality time together.  Having to get up for work this morning was a real let-down…leaving a sleepy husband still curled up in bed was harder than hell.

And now, it’s back to reality.  A new year and all that…

I am going to be so set with new Flyers clothing once Christmas arrives.  I had made up a wishlist earlier in the month…hubby wanted to know what I wanted, so I figured that was the easiest way to do things.  As it turns out, he bought me EVERYTHING on the list.  I’m getting a ton of new t-shirts, a Gagne figurine, and a new winter hat, among other things.

The one thing that he missed that was on my wishlist that I REALLY wanted…I guess because they sold out before he ordered…was an old-time Philadelphia Flyers lace-up hooded sweatshirt.  They only had an extra-large available (not my size), but I was willing to give it a go, since I’ve been losing so much weight.  Besides, men’s clothing tends to run big, so I had hopes.

Well, I just found it on Buy.com.  Can you guess what I’m going to be buying with whatever money I may get for Christmas?  Sure, it’s a bit expensive at $89.99, but I WANT IT.

And you know how I get when I want something.  I gotta get it!

The weekend started out quite excellent…Friday, I got out of work early, which gave me enough time to get the rest of the presents wrapped that hubby and I needed to take with us to my parents’ house, as we were celebrating Christmas this weekend. I knew I wasn’t going to be any good Saturday morning…Friday was Red’s 34th birthday, and I knew there was no way in hell I’d be conscious enough to wrap things in the morning.

Friday night was fabulous. I got to the bar early, had a couple of beers, and then planned things out with Red’s brother…his brother was going to pick him up, but we switched, just to surprise him a little bit. When Red got out of work, I went over to his place and picked him up. We got back to the bar around 11, and that’s when the party really started. Red was drunk by midnight, and needed me to fill in the blanks for anything that happened after 1 AM. He didn’t remember leaving the bar or me driving him home, he was THAT trashed. Of course, he also didn’t remember just about falling out of my car or when he fell INTO the hood of my car!

Saturday morning was rough as hell. I only got about four hours of sleep…hell, I didn’t even know hubby had come in and taken a shower! He got me up, albeit very grudgingly, and we finally left around 10. We stopped for a very early lunch and got to my parents’ house around 12:30.

Saturday consisted of the Flyers beating the crap out of Washington, Mom and I running out to do a little shopping, an excellent dinner of roasted chicken and Mom’s famous home-made stuffing, present exchanges, and the Ravens beating up on the Cowboys.

And then the rain and sleet started.

Hubby and I were so tired, we were in bed a little bit after 11:30.  We woke up this morning to a frozen tundra outside.  Yay.  Luckily, the sun came out early in the afternoon, and the roads were dry for the ride home.  We left earlier than intended, and got home a little after 5:30, just in time to watch the rest of the Eagles game and the Avalanche game…both lost.  Boo!

I so don’t want to go to work tomorrow, but at least the next two weeks are short weeks, so I think I can handle it.  I can’t believe Christmas is only four days away!  Gah!!!!

So much for trying to get things done early, eh?

I might need to buy myself a new alarm clock.  The clock that I currently have sometimes shuts off the alarm, and twice this week I’ve woken up late because it had stopped.  I really like iH4P alarm clock for iPod for a few reasons…it’s made by the same people that made my current clock; it’s much smaller than my current clock; it’s PINK, which matches my iPod mini.

The current clock I have is black, and it shows the dust way too easily.  Granted, I could clean more, but where’s the fun in THAT?

~*~*~*~*~*~

I really hope the boss lets me cut loose early today.  I still have to finish getting together all of the presents that we have to take with us tomorrow when we make the trek to my parents’ house for the weekend.  I got a bunch more wrapped last night, but I need to get everything together and make sure I have all of the presents.

One year, I forgot my aunt and uncle’s big present.  That was a little bit embarrassing.

I’m so bored right now, wrapping presents is looking good!

Plus, I just HATE wrapping gifts. HATE.

To keep myself from going insane, I decided to rearrange all of my shoes in our closet. I realized just exactly how much of a shoe whore I am as I was doing it. I have way too many shoes. I spent a lot of time just trying to find spots for my new shoes…my Manolo Blahnik knock-offs that I got at Kohl’s and three new pairs of boots are kind of clustered in the corner. It’s pathetic, actually.

No, you know what’s pathetic? The fact that cleaning/rearranging my closet kept me from whupping up on some cat butt!

(I kid, I kid. I would NEVER whup up on the cats. Throw things at them, maybe. Whup? Newp.)

And now, it’s time to head off to the bar.  I have 9 ball practice tonight…my team made Tier 2 playoffs, and even though we’re not playing until next month, I need to get some SOBER practice in!

I’ve been checking out all the sale emails that I get, as I still have a couple more little things left to buy.  Talk about waiting for the last minute, eh?  Not my fault…heck, I only just got an email from hubby’s Dad the other day, saying that he wanted a replacement meat thermometer for Christmas!

Sorry, Pops, you’re a bit too late.  Hubby and I already bought all of your gifts!

I’m really behind on things lately, especially since I spent this past weekend out and about.  Friday night, Red called after he got out of work, and I picked him up and we headed over to the bar.  I drove because he wanted to get trashed…he’d had a horrendous day at work…and trashed he got.

Saturday was the bar’s Christmas party, and *I* got trashed.  I had an AMAZING time, to say the least.  An old friend of mine showed up, and we had fun getting all caught up with each other.  I started drinking at like 8 that night, and didn’t stop until almost 2 AM.  I had SUCH a good time.

Sunday was spent recovering…I didn’t roll out of bed until 2:45 in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, I also spent most of Sunday night mired in the throes of a panic attack…something that hasn’t happened in quite some time.  Eh, shit happens.

Yesterday after I got home from work, I managed to at least get all of my Christmas cards written out.  I also got the presents wrapped that I need to send out in the mail…one package is ready to go, and the other one is waiting for a little something that hubby will be picking up for me in the morning.

When did it get to be nine days before Christmas?  Aye yi yi!

Of course, the skeptic in me said, “There’s no way this is gonna work!”  And that’s even after my Dad has said that it’s helped him…he’s worn a magnetic bracelet for years.

I received the bracelet you see in the picture…it’s very pretty, and it suits me, as I wear a lot of heart-shaped jewelry.  I got it earlier this week, and I put it on and forgot about it.

I forgot about it, that is, until Wednesday, when the weather around here turned ugly (two days’ worth of heavy rains) and my arthritis started flaring up something fierce in my right hand.

In JUST my right hand.  I’ve been wearing the bracelet on my left wrist, as I wear my watch on my right.  My left hand has been COMPLETELY pain-free for the last couple of days…even now, my right hand is aching while my left isn’t.

Pretty amazing what a little magnet can do, eh?  The skeptic in me is now a believer.

Of course, people are already complaining that the production vehicle is completely different from the concept car. They’re complaining about the missing led light bulbs that the concept car was shown with.

Hello, people? IT WAS A CONCEPT DESIGN. It’s not going to be studded with LED’s and other overly cool stuff. The production model has to be consumer grade, you know what I mean?

I swear, if people didn’t have anything to complain about, they wouldn’t know what to do!

As for me, I like it…except for the fact that it’s a four door.  But I’d still buy one.

If I didn’t have FIVE MORE YEARS left on my car loan, that is…