a toast...

Does my blog look different to you at all? Perhaps the writing is a little sharper or the turn of phrase more interesting? No? Are the colors more vibrant, the birds singing loudly, the stars in perfect alignment? Well, darn it, they should be, considering that I'm writing this post on...

my new laptop!!

Mine, mine, mine...all mine!!

(And, in a perfectly timed accompaniment to that announcement, I lost my wireless connection the instant I typed the word "laptop" and my screen went black. Ah yes, technology).

Now, hours later, life is truly good. The red headed step child has set up the laptop so it does what it's supposed to - more or less. Sasquatch and his friends are upstairs on the computer I always use and...I don't care. I cannot tell you how good that feels. I. Don't. Care.

Heh.

Christmas around here was awfully peaceful. We decided this year that instead of giving a whole lot of small items that would be destroyed in almost no time, we would give each kid one big thing - preferably a) electronic and b) something that would simplify our lives by reducing fighting over certain items in the house. So (by combining gift funds with my folks) Sasquatch got a video iPod, Gumby got a laptop and Surfer Dude got a video camera of his own. You've gotta love eBay, which was my addiction of choice pre-blogging. All of the kids were thrilled, which may have been a first. The Film Geek got a super expensive science fiction model that he said he had wanted since he was in third grade, and I...


Was blindsided by a laptop from my mom and Stu. I had tried to keep up such a good face during the whole process of buying Gumby's, but boy, I wanted it myself. When I opened my gift Christmas morning, I actually cried. Fat, hot tears. It was pathetic. The Film Geek had gotten me a wireless card and mouse and a carrying case, so I was totally set. I would be very hard pressed to think of a gift that has ever made me happier. Mom and Stu - mwah - and mwah again! And FG for the sweet accessories -thanks to you, too.

Our Christmas dinner went very peacefully, too. It was just a nice, nice day all around. Very low stress, a houseful of people we know well (they might say too well) and, above all, contented children. (Except for the brief period where one of the little girls of our friends threatened to throw SD's new video camera in the fireplace, and, lacking a subtle bone in his body, he wiped macaroni and cheese on her brand new faux fur coat that she had been blissfully wearing all day. God alone knows what he did to her to provoke the fireplace threat or if she just instinctively knew how to pull his chain. Either way, it was ugly. At least the food washed out). I gave the little girl's mom a "what are you gonna do?" look and poured another glass of wine. Large.

And on a personal note (like this whole blog isn't a personal note) -

Happy Birthday to my own sweet Gumby. Twelve years old today!!