I attempted to go to sleep early. Nestled deep in my warm bed, all I could think about was that the garbage really should be at the curb and my clothes should not be in a heap on the floor. I got up and did the things that were necessary. I feel better now.

This evening I tried to watch TV. It seemed like every other channel was talking about Britney’s sister’s pregnancy. I must have cycled through the channels 50 times. Finally Family Guy came on and I was happy for a little while.

I got a wonderful present from Maker’s Mark today. It’s a sealing wax kit with a Maker’s Mark stamp. Such fancy stuff! Their generosity makes me want to drink their bourbon. Too bad I am but a beer/wine girl.

It seems that by getting those nagging items cleaned up, I am now ready to sleep. Funny how that works.

This morning I ate Christmas sugar cookies for breakfast. The last few days have been rather odd. I wake up feeling pretty much how I felt when I went to bed. This isn’t horrible because I don’t always crawl into bed tired and zonked. I suppose it has something to do with it being dark outside when I fall asleep and dark outside when I wake up. It feels almost like I’ve been living this one never ending day. Regardless, this week has been tremendous for me. I only wish every month could yield this many opportunities and sales. If that were the case, I would only drink Pellegrino and carry a big Coach bag and not the little wristlet I found on sale. I’d wear Cashmere sweaters, listen to a Bose wave radio and get hardwood floors. That is what rich is to me. Otherwise everything else would probably stay the same. My desires are small, I suppose.

Christmas is so very quickly approaching. I haven’t sent out a single Christmas card to friends or customers. Today– I will do it today. I so love the Christmas season and I feel like I got to revel in it at least a little bit this year. I don’t think I will ever feel totally wrapped in the Christmas spirit until I get to wear a big red velvet dress and party with Judy Garland and Andy Williams.

I gotta get to work. Mama needs some pellegrino and a bose wave radio.

I am pooped! I got in at around 8:30 this evening. I left my house at 6:45 in the morning. At least I can say I made some money today. People are in a buying mood.

CN8 kept interrupting CNN this evening, positively killing the interview with Ron Paul. Typical. I guess I can always catch it online somewhere.

This is horrible but I am reveling in Schadenfreuden over Alycia Lane and her recent arrest. It started when I read in the paper that she makes 700,000/year. Believe me, even when I made 25,000 a year, I never bitch slapped ANYONE. It’s so wrong of me to get so much joy out of her troubles. I guess I am just ever so slightly jealous of her. Except for the whole arrest incident. I don’t envy that at al!

I feel ready to go to sleep. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What happened to the snow Wasn’t a blizzard predicted? This can only mean one thing! John Bolaris is coming back to Philadelphia. Be still my beating heart.

I spent most of the evening with my parents. Mom, Lisa and I tagged-teamed homemade Manicotti. Lisa got the recipe from one of her fellow teachers, I think. The stuffing was pretty routine but instead of using regular store bought manicotti shells– you roll the filling in what basically amounts to crepes. Yep, you read it right, CREPES. So I stood at the stove and swirled the batter around a pan making crepes and Lisa and Mom rolled them with the ricotta filling. I was amazed at how easy it was to make (of course we had a three person team working on it). The dish was very tasty although I have a feeling it’s gonna be even tastier tomorrow.

After dinner, Lisa and I went shopping and I finally finished my Christmas shopping. At least I think I have it finished. Maybe I have one or two more things to buy but on a whole I’m finished. I am pretty relieved.

The cookies I made yesterday are wonderful! I am so happy with them. This morning, I actually went to the small grocery store down the street to buy eggs. I didn’t do it for myself but I know Rob likes it when I make egg muffin sandwiches so I pulled on my coat and braved the rain and wind. I also went to Dunkin’ Donuts and bought 2 lbs of their ground coffee. The same woman who is there during the weekdays was there this morning. (This is only one of many DDs I frequent!) I said to her, “You are here on a Sunday? Do you work 7 days a week?” She looked at me and smiled and said, “Uh-huh.” “Goodness! I can’t imagine working 7 days a week! I need my weekend!” She looked at me and smiled and said, “Uh-huh!” I then wanted to ask her if she could see the pink elephant sleeping in the parking lot but I didn’t. Besides, it doesn’t matter. She always smiles and she is so fast with my coffee. She never makes a mistake.

Over the summer, when Andrea was visiting, I bought the ground Dunkin’ Donuts coffee for the first time. I was committed to making the perfect cup of coffee. I read the directions on the bag and tried to follow them exactly. It was impossible. The bag called for so much coffee that I knew there was no way it would work. I ended up scooping the coffee out of the machine and back into the bag. Even now, I can’t seem to make the coffee taste exactly like the coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. Maybe it’s because I use Cremora and not cream? I dunno. It’s a bit frustrating.

Last night I attempted to watch Pirates of the Carribean. I couldn’t get through it. Finally, I just closed my eyes and allowed sleep to overtake me. My dreams lately have been so very vivid. I dream I am in these extremely decorated rooms. I can see every little detail. Everything looks so perfect. The thing that gets me is if I wanted to decorate a room, I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything even close to what appeared in my dreams. Could it be I am more creative than I realize? Am I simply unable to harness this innate creativitly? Or in my dreams, am I just seeing what I think is a room with great detail but it’s not really there at all?

Rob and I went to a funeral mass this morning. A friend’s father died. We got back around noon and Rob went to bed. I putzed around and then finally decided to make cookies. Somehow I happened to have all the ingredients for Spicy Ginger Mounds. Cookies are such a pain the ass to make. Takes forever. The nice thing is, instead of being left with 1 cake or 1 loaf of sweet bread, you’re left with, like a 100 cookies! So the time spent is worth it in the end.

Last night I watched Godard’s Le Mépris also known as Contempt. My eyes were a bit tired so I decided to watch the movie dubbed. I kept the English subtitles on as well. It’s amazing how far the subtitles strayed from the dubbed voices. I wonder which one was more correct? Probably the subtitles. The movie was good although it didn’t really move me. I am hungering for a good foreign film or even just a good ole romantic comedy. I really thought video on demand would be further along by now. I want Rhapsody but on my TV and for movies. Not just new releases but the classics and obscure stuff. One day, I suppose

I went to Dunkin’ Donuts to get my coffee fix. I think they should have their employees come in an hour early or leave an hour late. During this time they could take English lessons. I am very accepting of accents and I love when people *try* to speak English but these people at Dunkin’ Donuts are simply not getting it. Today I asked for a blueberry muffin. The girl grabbed a chocolate chip muffin. “No, I want a blueberry muffin.” The woman looked at me like I was insane! She then pointed at the sign that said Chocolate Chip and said, “BLOOO BERRY!” A couple weeks ago I ordered a dozen assorted donuts. The guy who waited on me didn’t understand the word dozen or donuts. You’d think of all the words, those would be the two he’d really know. Instead he cocked his head to the side and said, “DOE-ZEN?” I then said, “Twelve.” I thought the situation was cleared up but he reached for the 25 count munchkin box. “No no no no!” Finally another employee came by and helped him and I got my healthy breakfast.

This morning I saw a stink bug sitting atop the fake pumpkin that decorates my dining room table. It’s past Thanksgiving, I really should put it back into storage. Whatever. I was unable to focus and I just walked past the bug, went to the kitchen, drank some grapefruit juice and toasted an english muffin. Feeling more alive, I went to capture the stink bug. As I should have guessed, he had taken off. So I finished my routine and now I am sitting at my desk and you won’t believe what I see! A STINK BUG! Sitting right by my phone. He didn’t seem very well, in fact, he might have been dead. I picked him up using a post it note and dropped him in my trash can. I am wondering if maybe this is the same stink bug as the one I found in my dining room this morning? Could he possible have stowed away in my briefcase? That’s just odd.

I hate to admit this because it’s really such a bad habit but almost every morning I spent 1.69 for a medium Dunkin’ Donut coffee with cream. It’s such a huge waste. The money adds up quickly and could be used for better things and the paper cup and plastic lid is simply wasteful. Regardless, I love it. I love the way it tastes! I love how it warms my hands. I love the steam in my face. I love how it’s like I’m suckling from a coffee-giving breast through the nipple-like plastic lid. I love the entire Dunkin’s Donuts experience. This morning, I intended to get my usual medium coffee with cream but somehow I just walked right past the store front. Next thing I know, I’m walking into my office building. “MUST GET COFFEE!” There’s a Juan Valdez in the lobby of my office building so I went there to order a coffee. Can I just tell you, not only was it more expensive, it tastes like bitter mud! I am very disappointed. I really gotta get away from Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. I think I’m addicted.

There were quite a number of noises last night that woke me from my slumber. My laptop rebooted itself so I heard the start up jingle. Later my phone made a 1/2 ring. Don’t know how or why that happened. Something else rang out… I can’t remember, maybe it was just my alarm. Oddly enough, it was nice going back to sleep, knowing I had more time for unconsciousness.

My love of the TV show, Family Guy is unhealthy and I am ashamed. Oh well.

This evening I watched a show called, Scrubs. I had avoided watching it for years since I have a distaste for the medical industry; however, this evening I watched an episode and found it cute! I may watch it again if I ever happen across it. That may not happen since I rarely watch TV.

I worked from home today. It was nice being home. Tomorrow it’s back to the office. Gosh, I can’t wait for the weekend.