Ohhhh the LUXURY of VELOUR

I haven't posted since 12/15?? THE HECK YOU SAY!! I can't believe I've been so neglecting!

My focus du jour has been griping about the company making me work on Boxing Day. Sure, I could've taken one of the 3days of leave I had to use up before the end of '06 but I shouldn't have to do that. I needed those days off (I used them all up this month on the 6th, 14th &19th) to prepare for Christmas. But that's beside the point...I shouldn't have to tap into my personal leave time in order to observe Boxing Day. It should be nationally mandated that everybody gets it off. I was reading up on Boxing Day (as I have before, but I felt a yen to reevaluate/refresh/reinforce my current comprehension of the whole dealie ) and though there are debates over the origins of the name "Boxing Day" it is well established that the point of the day is to be charitable and give to those less fortunate. How noble a holiday! It most definitely warrants a day off from work. Heck, if I did have Boxing Day off, I feel certain I would be generous and charitable and totally celebrate accordingly. But as it is, in my current state of dismay (penned in my generosity-squashing, charitability-squelching cubicle) I can't manage any effort of the sort. A pity, that.

I think everybody in the Upper Valley that had today off (and there were a lot of 'em -just not my sorry arse) decided to lunch at the 99 today. And unluckily, this is where Robin and I opted to order takeout. The wait time, when I went to fetch it, was longish, but not horrible. Although during this wait time, while squashed in their wee waiting area, alongside a throng of about 900 people waiting for a table, I found myself musing over the merits of the Carside-to-go feature they have at Outback & Applebee's . I don't know who thought up that whole program, but if I could figure that out and somehow contact that person, it is likely that I would extol the high quality of their cognitive processes.... and shortly thereafter call them "Lincoln" (ha ha) Anyways, like I was sayin'...the wait was longish but not awful but they neglected (probably because they were SO busy) to give me the fork/knife/napkin sets and the ketchup that I expressly requested on the phone. UGH. Hey, I DID refrain from rushing the 99 lady with one of my lethal leaping scissors kicks, so thereby I suppose I did manage a charitable act for Boxing Day.
I got a ROAST BEEF & CHEDDAR DIP sammich, which was daring, because I am HIGHLY finicky about my roast beef-- in particular, I don't like it to be very red or bloody. Texture is also taken into close consideration. Today's rb from 99 did not quite meet my high standards and I only ate half my sami. I think what it was that convinced me that a Roast Beef & Cheddar Dip was the lunch por moi was the whole dip factor. This particular sammich comes with **2** dip options --a creamy horseradish or au jus. I find this to be a marvelous feature, since I am of the philosophy that oftentimes the condiment is the make-or-break factor in an entree's overall success (or lack thereof). I find it baffling that there are not more dipping sandwiches. Why aren't there more dipping sandwiches??

So..Christmas was good. Every year has my sister vowing "We have to downsize Christmas next year!!" in response to her kids getting a mega-ginormous quadruple BUTTLOAD of toys. But when the next Christmas comes around...that vow to downsize has been completely forgotten!! Maybe I was just extra-sensitive to this this year, since I undertook the job of transporting all of mine & my parents presents for Laura, Greg, & offspring up to casa de mi hermana. I thought for a while there I was going to hafta rent me a Uhaul. Daaaaamn!

I did pretty well too...I got a few gift certificates, a neato purse, a daily planner, desk calendar, a journal, a gumball machine, some headbands, 2 necklaces, and this lovely velour track suit that I am sporting today. I know, I know, the velour tracksuit ship has sailed and that look is no longer in vogue, but I can't help adoring my velour tracksuit. It is such a delight to wear, I REFUSE to apologize for being a fashion blight on the world. I can't stop petting myself either. I am so luxuriously fuzzy. Purrrrrrrrrr

I was rather bummed to hear James Brown died yesterday. I made a Christmas tunes mix this year and track #10 was James Brown's "Soulful Christmas". I had just discovered the song this year when I was scouting out new material for my holiday mix...it was very cool. I mean it is very cool. But Boxing Day is supposed to be happy, and I deserve to have residual Christmas glee at least up until Jan2, so I'm trying to not let it bum me out too much. I try to remember him as he appeared in his mugshot...frighteningly disshevelled. I believe he also videotaped women on the potty...so yeaah, when I focus on the pervy-voyeur, wife-beater aspect of the late J.B., then I managed to not get overly distressed about the loss. But yeah, it still sucks.. I mean, if it wasn't for James Brown, there'd be no JAMES BROWN CELEBRITY HOT TUB PARTY which is--in my expert opininon--the most wonderful bit from Eddie Murphy's brief but brilliant SNL stint.

"WeeeOOOWWW HOT TUB! Gonna git in the wah-taah.."

Ok, gotta jet pets... hope your Boxing Day is turning out to be terrif...