Unexpected, in a Good Way

I've been PMSing pretty madly for the past few days, so apologies for not writing anything warm & fuzzy. Honestly, I was watching stories of people stranded in airports and yelling at the TV. Sometimes it was, "you're having a WHITE CHRISTMAS! be HAPPY!" and other times it was, "this wouldn't have happened if you had just stayed at HOME!" Of course, the latter came when I was pissed off about work. Every year at this time, we have the same diners who have come in for the last 5-10-15 years to have Christmas/Eve/NYE dinner here. Repeat diners give The Boss stress, and stress, much like shit, rolls down hill.

That said, Scott and I did have a lovely Christmas (Eve) together this year. We opened gifts in the morning, had Japanese for lunch, and since it was just the two of us, we decided to have steaks for dinner instead of ham or turkey. We each knew what our "big gift" was going to be, having picked them out ourselves. But neither of us really had a list this year, so the other gifts were a surprise. And I think we both did pretty well.

By far, my favorite unexpected gift was a pastry bag with multiple tips. I actually used the classic Jamie phrase, "I didn't know I wanted this!" But it turns out I totally did. He also bought me all of Scalzi's "Old Man's War" books and "Agent to the Stars" in paperback to complete my collection. I've already read one, and am about to start on the others.

When I asked Scott what his favorite unexpected gift was, he had to pick two: the 2009 Chick-Fil-A calender ("Cows in Blue" - if you like cop shows, you need this calendar!) and the DVD of Airplane, "Don't Call Me Shirley" edition. These were two of the last things I bought, and were both impulse buys. Much better than the year I bought him the plastic yellow bell pepper!

Oh - and the most unexpected gift of all (for both of us) was a Pennsylvania care package from my Grandpop. It has Tastykakes and Goldberg's Peanut Chews (which don't go by that name anymore) and some other stuff in it. How wonderful! ...and I was touched when he sent an old picture of "Mullet Jamie With Clown" in the Christmas Card earlier this month. (yeah - I totally need to scan and post that!)

I'm working really hard on focusing on the positive right now, but work really is kicking my butt this week. So please enjoy the remainder of the Month of Holiday Cat Photos. I'll be back when I have something else nice to say!