Well, thankfully, I only have a couple more things to buy for Christmas. That's good. I did some more shopping today.

Yesterday was my office holiday party. It was fun...my table was a lot of fun, although I had to take some good-natured ribbing as to why Gina and I weren't engaged. Whatever...it was particularly funny when the big boss came over at the bar afterward and asked how we were doing, and my supervisor told him they were trying to help me propose tonight, but that I needed money to do it. The big boss pulled out his wallet and played it perfectly, to the point where, for a half-second, I thought he was serious...I hesitated, and then everyone booed, and he said that if I didn't hesitate... :) Whatever...it was all in good fun, and that's cool with me.

Today Gina and I drove out to Woodfield to take a ride and do some shopping...saw a lot of stuff, bought a couple things...I'm about tapped out though, and I haven't even spent that much, really, compared to other years. I've really cut back on who to buy for, that's for sure...

Tomorrow, we'll be driving out to Dupage County for the monthly train show...it's pretty cool if you're into model railroading...it's kind of a swap meet/hobby shop sale, and you can get some good stuff for cheap. Usually, I find something for my dad there for Christmas, and a lot of times, he knows what we're getting him because he tells us what he wants there and we buy it for him. It ruins the "surprise" but as long as he's happy (since he doesn't supply a list b/c he doesn't want a lot of things, ya know?) that's all that matters...

So, we have a quite early start tomorrow...and then dinner with the parents. I'll be nice and tired by eveningtime. :) Hopefully, if y'all go out, I'll be able to make it. We shall see...

Work has actually been marginally stressful of late...and it came to a bit of a head today...pun intended. All day, a headache lingered. But not enough to take anything, which I for once did not have, surprisingly--I usually have Advil in my bag.

But by the time I got home, around 6pm or so, my head was exploding. I took two Advils and went to bed. I got up about 15 minutes ago, feeling less pain, but still strange. I'll probably take the dog out now and then go back to bed again.

It'll be nice when we put this issue to bed...they dumped a bunch of stuff on us at the last minute and have really pushed us against the wall on the stuff too. Which, it's still not as stressful as other jobs I've had, but it's made more stressful by not really knowing how the folks around me will react to this kind of stress.

Well, we ended up getting the blinds at Home Depot, where they were the same price as JCPenney's, except on sale for 15% off. Plus, they have them shipped to the store and picked up by you instead of UPSed to your home, where the UPS dude will just leave them if you aren't home. Bastard. :) So we paid $285 for them. When you guys come over, you're not allowed to touch them. ;)

We also bought our entertainment center, which I spent most of Saturday and Sunday morning building. Then the rest of Sunday I worked through the jigsaw puzzle of wires to hook up the TV, VCR, DVD player, cable box, stereo receiver, CD player and cassette deck. That was fun. But I got it all operating in unison. I'm smart. :) Or something.

Plus...I'm tired of The Lite. They play the same 10 songs over and over, I swear. I love Christmas music, but there's more to listen to than "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Dean Martin and "Sleigh Ride" by Debbie Gibson. Again, though I like those songs, I'm tired...it's become a joke. It has.

But enough...I'd be more tired of it, I guess, if I still drove to work everyday. But I don't. :) All right, well, I need to get more work done around here...off I go.