Friday was kind of a busy day. That night was the holiday party for David’s office, and we had hotel reservations for the night, so the point was to get down there as early as possible and relax a little before going to the party. The relaxing part didn’t happen, owing to the typically “lousy” Friday commute traffic (“lousy” is the current term of choice used by the local traffic reporters on WBEZ). Work was work, but I’d arranged to go in early so I could leave “early.” This was theoretical – I ended up leaving about 20 minutes later…

I had volunteered to do a laundry run Thursday for one of the local PADS shelters; their regular person couldn’t make it and I got a call the night before. I didn’t have all the details on the pickup point, but I managed. Basically, I picked up bags of dirty laundry at lunch – easy, given where it was – and then dropped it off and picked up clean laundry sets at a nearby hospital after work. It was a long day, with lots of stuff going on at work, but the laundry thing was oddly relaxing. Since I can’t…

Yes, Santa can simultaneously ride his snowmobile AND motor around in his Yuletide power boat. He’s the ultimate multi-tasking guy, you know. Actually, this is pretty tame for the BHOI: I’ve blogged before about the many, many inflatable lawn blimps they’ve displayed over the years. One thing that I notice every time the inflatables come out in this area is how disturbing they look during the daytime. Most people around here don’t keep them inflated and illuminated in the daytime, so that leaves puddles of holiday-color fabric on the suburban lawns – they look oddly festive and corpse-like at the…

Recently I felt the need to spill my guts about my complete lack of the “decoration gene.” I will, eventually, get around to putting up a Christmas tree and a few ornaments and seasonal oddments of seasonal decor that I’ve been given or collected over the years. I love how a really Christmassy shop or home looks, I just can’t be bothered to buy all the crap, store all the crap, put all the crap up, and take all the crap down. I define “really Christmassy” as “plenty of lights, pretty old ornaments in great abundance, beautifully arranged and tastefully…

This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image. Via: Flickr Title: Snow By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 26 Nov ’05, 12.04am PST

Ho, hum, the monkeys were here yesterday for a while, but then they went away. For some reason, my monkeylady fed me again after my monkeyman had already given me my dinner. They took some food away with them, but didn’t bring any back when they returned hours later. I think they went somewhere and gobbled a lot of food and felt guilty and gave me extra. It must be some mysterious monkey holiday. Whatever. I’m going to take a nap. Via: Flickr Title: Riley Upside-Down Nap By: GinnyRED57Originally uploaded: 20 Nov ’05, 7.37pm PST Original description:

Here’s our niece Melissa with David, just as we were getting ready to leave Aunt Norma’s house after Thanksgiving dinner. She’s doing really well in school and has made tremendous progress – her verbal skills have improved a HELL of a lot since last year. I’m very happy for her. This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image. Via: Flickr Title: Melissa By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 25 Nov ’05, 1.56am PST

This frost pattern on the storm door at Norma’s looked like a mountain range as seen from space. A few minutes later, it had completely melted away because the inner door was left open. This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image. Via: Flickr Title: Frost By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 25 Nov ’05, 1.54am PST

My grouchiness factor is pretty high; this has to do with a badly-designed technology “upgrade” that screwed up everyone’s macro keys, repeatedly. And of course, the “upgrade” runs like an overladen swallow on final approach to Mogadishu. This grouchiness factor is abated once I get home, smooch David, and pick up Riley-the-kitty for a slouchy cuddle in the leather armchair. Last night, I watched as two dry leaves skittered around in the wind under the crabapple trees as I left the office. As I got closer, I realized they were actually two tiny little rodents, skirmishing for the scattered fruit…

This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image. Via: Flickr Title: More more more By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 16 Nov ’05, 8.11pm PST