Christmas 2010!
I hope everyone had a good Christmas/whatever you celebrate. This is the first year I adamantly did not buy for anyone but Tery, and it was fabulous. No stress of shipping, and a morning of opening presents we both knew we actually wanted, no money wasted on stabs in the dark.
This year marked Tery's wish to convert to an artificial tree. She presented the idea pleadingly, I guess expecting me to say no. I grew up with an artificial tree, so it's not as big a deal to me as to her. Plus, not having to water it every day, not having it slowly die anyway creating a fire hazard, not having to haul it off to recycling when it's a prickly, cactusy, sap-covered thing dropping pine needles by the thousands? Bonus.
Fake but pretty tree. Unfortunately all the animals immediately ran to the base of it, remembering how they love drinking water from it. Sorry, animals
Logan was just as happy with the top of it
In a bit, my loot; but first, I called my mom to check in. Morgan is still missing, but that's okay. She had plenty of stories of the puppies' antics. I feigned interest, which is so much easier to do on a phone call that will end in a reasonable timeframe than at her house with no promise of escape for a few days. All was well, until she gleefully mentioned one of Nancy's gifts, the book "Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats."
"A dog is your friend for life. A cat couldn't care less about you..."
"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," I interrupted. I'm convinced people who believe this myth about cats have never lived with one. Our cats check in with us every hour on the hour, night and day. At least three times a day I have to (reluctantly) evict Kitten Mitten from my lap while I work. MyFriendDeb used to have two cats who formed a snuggly nest around her every night that she had to extricate herself from every morning. "Where are these aloof cats everyone talks about?" she asks me. Answer? In the minds of malicious, slandering dog lovers (who I suspect might be a wee bit resentful that they have to go out in the cold for their pets to do their business).
Aloof cats? Take 30 seconds to watch this video footage of the parade Tery leads every morning as she gets ready for work, featuring two cats (and a couple of ferrets) who couldn't care less about her:
But as far as my mother, she has apparently forgotten my dislike of dogs vis a vis our face-to-face altercation in her living room. This is why we don't feel so bad saying terribly disrespectful things to her -- she has a staggeringly tireless ability to not hear it anyway, so what have we got to lose?
Fortunately I had to go to work soon after, so was able to beg off the phone. Yes, no holidays for me -- I worked both jobs Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And I get to do it all over again New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Hopefully I'll see some time and a half from them, so it's all good.
Anyway, behind the cut are a few photos of my loot this year. Just in case you don't want to click though, I'll put the sexiest one out here:
Tery really outdid herself. She must have spent our entire dollar limit on just these items. A super lightweight shirt by Zoot, Pearl Izumi leggings and, best of all, Goretex biking gloves -- note the lobster claw design (because it turns out you really don't need your ring finger or pinky on the bars). Perfect for cold weather biking without getting sweaty and clammy.
Tery put lube in my stocking. We've come full circle, from our first Christmas which included a dildo
Bontrager slick tires (for next season) and a floor pump, which doesn't seem exciting but DAMN. I can't believe I stubbornly went all summer without one. Now I can finally pump my tires to the correct pressure. I've had to go up a gear on every leg of my usual ride because my rolling resistance has reduced by about 30%. Doesn't mean much to a non-biker. Translation: I go really fast now!
The new David Sedaris from kavieshana; Fran Lebowitz, who I only just discovered this week and instantly fell in love with; and a mountain biking book, which I suspect Tery needs more than me
I trust these need no introduction (Finally got to see Scott Pilgrim on Blu-ray, which was so much more enjoyable than the blurry bootleg I saw originally. Sadly, the awesomeness quickly overcame Tery and she fell back asleep before we got to the second Evil Ex)
Last but by no means least, an awesome Jabberwock print by a local Seattle artist from lizzieloudotcom. I luuuuurve it
This year marked Tery's wish to convert to an artificial tree. She presented the idea pleadingly, I guess expecting me to say no. I grew up with an artificial tree, so it's not as big a deal to me as to her. Plus, not having to water it every day, not having it slowly die anyway creating a fire hazard, not having to haul it off to recycling when it's a prickly, cactusy, sap-covered thing dropping pine needles by the thousands? Bonus.
Fake but pretty tree. Unfortunately all the animals immediately ran to the base of it, remembering how they love drinking water from it. Sorry, animals
Logan was just as happy with the top of it
In a bit, my loot; but first, I called my mom to check in. Morgan is still missing, but that's okay. She had plenty of stories of the puppies' antics. I feigned interest, which is so much easier to do on a phone call that will end in a reasonable timeframe than at her house with no promise of escape for a few days. All was well, until she gleefully mentioned one of Nancy's gifts, the book "Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats."
"A dog is your friend for life. A cat couldn't care less about you..."
"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," I interrupted. I'm convinced people who believe this myth about cats have never lived with one. Our cats check in with us every hour on the hour, night and day. At least three times a day I have to (reluctantly) evict Kitten Mitten from my lap while I work. MyFriendDeb used to have two cats who formed a snuggly nest around her every night that she had to extricate herself from every morning. "Where are these aloof cats everyone talks about?" she asks me. Answer? In the minds of malicious, slandering dog lovers (who I suspect might be a wee bit resentful that they have to go out in the cold for their pets to do their business).
Aloof cats? Take 30 seconds to watch this video footage of the parade Tery leads every morning as she gets ready for work, featuring two cats (and a couple of ferrets) who couldn't care less about her:
Click to viewBut as far as my mother, she has apparently forgotten my dislike of dogs vis a vis our face-to-face altercation in her living room. This is why we don't feel so bad saying terribly disrespectful things to her -- she has a staggeringly tireless ability to not hear it anyway, so what have we got to lose?
Fortunately I had to go to work soon after, so was able to beg off the phone. Yes, no holidays for me -- I worked both jobs Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And I get to do it all over again New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Hopefully I'll see some time and a half from them, so it's all good.
Anyway, behind the cut are a few photos of my loot this year. Just in case you don't want to click though, I'll put the sexiest one out here:
Tery really outdid herself. She must have spent our entire dollar limit on just these items. A super lightweight shirt by Zoot, Pearl Izumi leggings and, best of all, Goretex biking gloves -- note the lobster claw design (because it turns out you really don't need your ring finger or pinky on the bars). Perfect for cold weather biking without getting sweaty and clammy.
Tery put lube in my stocking. We've come full circle, from our first Christmas which included a dildo
Bontrager slick tires (for next season) and a floor pump, which doesn't seem exciting but DAMN. I can't believe I stubbornly went all summer without one. Now I can finally pump my tires to the correct pressure. I've had to go up a gear on every leg of my usual ride because my rolling resistance has reduced by about 30%. Doesn't mean much to a non-biker. Translation: I go really fast now!
The new David Sedaris from kavieshana; Fran Lebowitz, who I only just discovered this week and instantly fell in love with; and a mountain biking book, which I suspect Tery needs more than me
I trust these need no introduction (Finally got to see Scott Pilgrim on Blu-ray, which was so much more enjoyable than the blurry bootleg I saw originally. Sadly, the awesomeness quickly overcame Tery and she fell back asleep before we got to the second Evil Ex)
Last but by no means least, an awesome Jabberwock print by a local Seattle artist from lizzieloudotcom. I luuuuurve it