It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Ummm, Sometimes…
mi vida estupida, pictures|I’ve always been a bit jealous of those people that have all their Christmas shopping done by November. As much as I would like that to be me, it probably never will due to a cruel combination of procrastination, laziness, shopping-aversion, and being a bad listener. I would need the other person to pretty much slap me across the face and scream, Listen up! I could really use an ipod.
But I think I did well this year. I officially bought the last of the gifts yesterday, though about half were ordered last week through Amazon. (Online shopping - what a blessing.) The hardest to figure out were the padres, because they pretty much don’t need anything. And they can be picky. When I gave madre a Cadbury chocolate bar with hazelnuts and raisins straight from London, her first response was, I’m sorry but I only eat dark chocolate. You see, not easy. And how many sweaters and turtlenecks can the woman get? And how many tools can padre get? So this year I went a different route and got them tickets to 1964, who are supposedly the best Beatles tribute band in the world. Padre should love it because these guys dress up as the Beatles and do all the pre-Sgt Pepper stuff, which are his favorite. Madre will probably like it because it will be a night out at Carnegie Hall and the seats are pretty darn good. (And don’t worry if you think I am ruining the surprise. The padres don’t know about the blog. Hell, they probably don’t know what a blog is. And if all goes well, they never will.)
In between the Christmas frenzy, I’ve been trying to stick to my Couch-To-5K running program. I finished week two on Sunday and feel like my endurance and stamina have gotten better. Unfortunately I might have to take a break this week between Christmas festivities, various plans, and working extra hours on Long Island. (Although it is nice to trade in my usual teenagers for cutsey toddlers and this drunk guy):
I did go ice skating Monday and boy do my calves feel it. Does that count for something? Although lately it’s one step forward two steps back with all the junk food that comes out in late December. It seems like everywhere I go I am bombarded with chocolates, cookies, popcorn, and every other manner of delicious sugar and savory fat. Geez, I just said “savory fat”. Excuse me while I go smack myself. Or stick my fingers down my throat.
Let the good times begin!
December 25th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Send me the chocolate — I’ll pick out the raisins but I won’t complain.
December 26th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Your mother turned down Cadburys? BLASPHEMY.
December 28th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
congrats on the running. I have been off exercise for 3 weeks and am having a devil of time getting back on that horse. I think I should pay someone to run behind me holding shoes on a fishing pole, like one of those greyhounds and fake rabbit.
December 31st, 2009 at 8:55 pm
dingo - i too pick out the raisins, out of everything. yet i like grapes…
npw - yeah, luckily it’s not genetic
tcd - i would need my future-second-husband georges st-pierre running ahead of me. i could break records.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Parents are the worst to shop for. Especially mine, who never wait and just buy what they want when they want it, rather than waiting for the holidays. The nerve!
Funny thing was, I managed to avoid most of the junk food at the office. Then I went home and had Mom’s cooking, followed by New Years with friends and smoked salmon, followed by Dim Sum after New Years, followed by… *sigh*
January 6th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
gh - the padres show is coming up soon and i think they will like it. they were pretty excited when they saw the tickets. maybe i’ll do that every year. as for the snacking, lord, i have not binged like this in years…