The dreaded snow that was forecast for this area appearred as a few flakes, some sleet, and now cold, cold rain.  It's in the 30s outside, raining gently, a truly dreadful evening, where I wish I had a fireplace to snuggle in front of, with a glass of wine and soft candlelight throughout the room.

Instead, I'm sitting here, the soft glow of the television and six candles illuminating the room.  Oh, and the loving glow of the monitor.

Romantic, isn't it?  

Today has just been a dragging out, long, cold, dark day.  It never got very light outside, it's seemed like night all day long.  That alone makes life seem dreary and very unholiday-like.  I know it's just a few weeks until Christmas, but I've done very little shopping and no driving around to look at lights.  

In fact, I have bought 2, yes 2 gifts, and that was online, and I have not received them, yet.  I'm even waiting on the material for the stockings I'm making for our families.  I ordered it earlier this week.  Hopefully it will come in early next week and then I can spend several marathon days cutting, pinning and sewing.  Before I even get to that point, though, I have to find a pattern.  

Damnit, I just checked my email, 2 out of the 8 fabrics were out of stock, so now I'm going to be short by several yards of material.  I have some fabric here that might work for one or two of the stockings, since I tend to match fabric to personalities, instead of relying on Christmas fabrics.  My stocking is a pink leopard print body with a faux fur cuff that I made 2 years ago.

I saw some really neat stockings during 3WA's craft auction, ones with claws and toes called monster stockings.  I really fell in love with them, but I haven't been able to find a pattern for them.  And I couldn't pay for something that I could easily make myself for much less.

So, tonight, I'm going to try drafting a pattern and making a stocking out of some fabric I already have here.  If it doesn't turn out, I haven't lost much, a couple hours and some scrap fabric.  If it does, well, I'm set for the rest of them.

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Lori (my brother's girlfriend, Mom to RJP III) and I went to the grocery store tonight.  She needed diapers, I needed Sudafed and NyQuil, okay, I bought the store brand called NiteTime.  And I took the store brand stuff, already this evening, as I feel like a bag of ass.

And I'm sitting here, trying to write, but my mind keeps wandering off.  I smoke a cigarette, take a sip of my drink(soda, not vodka, surely I'd be passed out by now if it was vodka), watch a couple minutes of television, then back to the open Notepad file.   I type a line or two and something shiny pulls my attention away.

It's sad really, I'm like a crackhead bird right now.  The jingle bells, that I'm stringing to make a bracelet, keep drawing me to them.  I pick them up, make them tinkle then, oh, look at the way that candle is flickering.  Why and the hell do I continue?  I am not missing a day, this go round of Holidailies, damnit.  

Besides, drugged ramblings can be interesting to some people, right?

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This morning, Kyrsie woke up (she was here last night to spend the night) and told me her throat hurt.  We cuddled for awhile, then I noticed that the bumps on her face were getting bigger and more of them.

Her Mom spent a couple hours calling doctors' offices in hopes of finding someone who would see her.  Kyrsie's pediatrician left his old office and no longer takes her insurance.  After call 5,812, she found one.

Kyrsie has the chicken pox.  Of all the times of the year to have them, it has to be Christmas time.  And the fucking kicker of it all?  She had the damn vaccine for this, yet, she still has to go through it.  That's not quite fair.  Kyrsie had to go through the damn shot and still gets them.  

Now we're on baby watch, as RJP III has not had the vaccine, nor the pox since he's not even 4  months old.  Oh, it's going to be a fun holiday season around here.
Suzy Smith