Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

LOVE IT!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Thanks Ri

The Best Things in Life Are Free

. . .like a week's worth of your coffee habit supported by your interim boss. . .because they "made" you come in even though the rest of campus isn't here. . .including the janitorial & food staff. . .thus the need for a coffee card to Starbucks. . .to get your brain going for a very intense game of "Name That Tune"

Today's life lesson: never underestimate even the smallest of gestures.

That's all.

OK, I am a bit freaked right now. But being a person who does not believe in coincidences, I'm pretty freakin' excited. So here's the set-up. . .

I thought it would be funny to buy everyone in my department a gag gift this year. Luckily everyone has pretty distinct personalities or is the butt of a daily recurring joke so it was easy to pick things out at the dollar stores or certain Internet auction sites. One person in our office, I'll call him Pete - which works out nicely because that's his real name - thinks for some wacky reason that I am his secretary. Several times a day I am asked to take dictation or file for him ("Take this down!") and several times a day I politefully & respectfully decline. ("Are you on crack?")

So what would be a perfect gift for a very demanding "boss" than the movie The Devil Wears Prada? I saw and loved the moview in the theater when it came out. And I loved it so much that when it arrived at my house I watched a large chunk of the movie (like almost all of it) every night. For a week. It's the kind of movie you can throw on and watch a bazillion times and never get tired of. (I also do this with Pride & Prejudice and The Office - season 2.) I like TDWP so much that I wanted to keep it for myself. I didn't want to give it up. So I started looking for a new gift for Pete. But I couldn't come up with anything. So I wrapped it up and bid a tearfully good-bye to Anne & Meryl on Wednesday.

It is now Friday morning. The place: Shilo Inn on Canyon. The event: Retail Admin holiday breakfast. We're halfway through the gift exchange when it's my turn to pick or steal. Nothing seems steal-worthy so I head for the table of wrapped gifts. There is one that is clearly a DVD by the size and weight of the package. All right, I can always use another movie I thought. I unwrapped the top & there is Miranda Priestly's face. I let out a sound that can only be best described as a shriek that only dolphins can hear. I pretty sure I jumped too. (Did I mention I'm cool?) So of course I told everyone the background story that you just read and ended with "If anyone takes this, I really will cry." They already feel sorry for me because I'm the only ETW and won't be getting paid for 7 days, so the threat of tears should have sealed the deal.

Sorry to say, but this is WAY more than a coincidence. So now I am the proud owner of The Devil Wears Prada. This is the best Christmas ever!!! OK, maybe the year I got the David Duchovney action figure takes the cake. But this is a close runner up!

I said "HEY. . .what's going on?"

Did the world turn upside-down while I was asleep last night? Here are some things I learned this morning that have me asking, "Really?" and "Seriously". . .even more than normal:

**Vladmir Putin is Time's Person of the Year. (I would love to insert a joke or humerous comment but I will refrain.)
**Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's sister, is pregnant at 16. At least the baby's father is her "long-time boyfriend."
**My Thursday evening & Saturday will be exactly like this past Sunday's evening. (This cryptic message is intended only for Bacon, Tomato, Cheese & Mayo. From Lettuce. I just love inside info!)
**President Bush signed an energy bill. While the White House is on fire. (but thanks to the teasers on the radio this morning, you would have thought the whole thing was burning to the ground.)
**Driving to work I heard not only one of the best workout songs but one of the best songs ever on the radio. Anyone else flashing back to December 1999?

Now back to work where we get wine with breakfast. . .nope. . .still upside-down.

. . . . .And champagne to celebrate, um. . .Wednesday afternoon???

It's officially Christmas!!!

So I FINALLY heard my favorite Christmas song on the radio today at 9:31am. It's playing right now: "Celebrate Me Home" by Kenny Loggins. Sure it conjures images of Fred Meyer ads of yesteryear but I also have very vivid memories of Greece & Spain attached to it also. How is it that I've been listening to Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving and I'm just now hearing it?? That means I can now listen to it on iTunes. (I refused to cheat and listen to it before I heard it on the radio.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Because I know you care. . .

December 10th 2007 will not go down in history as a great day.

Walk-thru: not so good (But hey, at least I got a delicious meal afterwards. AND I'm officially Pete's boss - at least that's what my nametag says.)

Finals: worse than the walk-thru (But hey, at least I got TCBY and wine afterwards.)

If the whole nursing thing doesn't work out, this may be my new back-up plan. (Screen name: Morphine)

http://laist.com/2007/08/23/malibu_v_20.php

Gali the alligator

Coming to a Treehouse near you. . .

I just got Elf'd!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1228320477

Thanks Mare!

Online suitor who e-mailed me but has a better chance of walking into a room and meeting Elvis & Puff the Magic Dragon than a date with me - take 3

Stats: 5'5", 43-year-old man
Job status: ???
He seeks: women 18-35
Picture: profile shot, hat on backwards with his head looking completely down
All the info he lists: I'm really into this World of Warcraft thing. Just curious to see if there are any ladies out there, like I've read about in online stories. I've never met a female WoW player in real life! Do you gals look normal and everything? Got 10 fingers, and normal ears?

I can't make this stuff up people.