A post in which I am freezing

I woke up to more rainy, drizzly yuck this morning. At 5am. I have a toe that is hurting. I guess its arthritis or something, I don’t remember hitting it; but it hurt badly enough last night to wake me up a couple of times. I just got on up and had my coffee. I went to the store for cigarettes. I’m becoming more of an addict than I really want to acknowledge. It started off that I wanted that first one with a cup of coffee in the morning only. That’s really the best one for me. Then, because the cup of coffee was so big, I started smoking two. But during the week that’s usually all I smoke. Unless I go to see Miss Kat and dana, or Russ - then all bets are off.

When I finished with coffee, I still had some time before I had to start getting ready, so I went on line and finished up some on line shopping for a few things. I balanced my checkbook. Then I got ready for work.

I’m off from 12-24 through 1-4. The problem is that my boss still has the &^%$#@!! weekly meeting scheduled for 12-30. The three-day week following Christmas, because yeah, there’s going to be so much going on that week that he’ll need to keep abreast of. Right. He is a man obsessed, I'm telling you. The woman who usually covers for me on the rare occasion that I’m out on meeting day is going to be out also. So I’m going to have to find someone to cover for me and teach them how to do this increasingly difficult report, which is going to be a waste of time anyway. But Little Boots has spoken! If I can’t find anyone, and he starts talking about my not being able to be off during the week, it’s gonna be ON.

In other disappointing news, I did some research on the ABC Family Channel website today, and it looks like I'm going to miss The Christmas List again this year. I love that dumb ole movie. Just after they made it, they aired it like five times a week during the season, but they have apparently fallen out of love with it. Despite it's big and vocal following on line, they are airing it only three times this entire season. Twice it was aired in November, and then they are showing it once more on 12-23; but during the day, and I have to work that day. It isn't available on DVD - they are the keeper of the keys. That is just a pisser. Like I need another obstacle to the gymnastics of rationalization I already have to do to justify watching a network that also airs The 700 Club.

I am not usually cold-natured, but my feet were like blocks of ice all day today. That just makes you miserable. I tried all the little tricks I can use at the office for cold feet, but no dice. I’m thinking it’s that concrete slab they rest on. Even with the heat running and carpet over it, if it’s really cold outside that slab never really warms up. If this keeps up I’m going to invest in one of those foot-warmer things from CVS or something. I’ll have to smuggle it in and hide it under my desk. HR sent out a moratorium on personal heaters last month, and while this technically wouldn’t be a heater, it would be best if I kept it quiet.

At the end of the day it was still raining, overcast, freezing, and dreary. I thought about stopping off on the way home to get a nice hot meal, but didn’t feel like getting out of the car to go in anywhere. I wanted to go home and put my slippers on, even if it meant eating a sandwich for dinner. That’s exactly what it meant. But what a sandwich! I had the last of the left-over furkey, basil pesto mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickled onion, Swiss cheese, and fakin’ bacon, topped with homemade German mustard sauce (courtesy of one of Mom’s co-workers), piled on the last of the sourdough bread. So it wasn’t exactly a parsimonious sandwich. Then I had some popcorn and a piece of chocolate pound cake out of the freezer. Weight and triglycerides be damned, I had been miserable all day.

I was supposed to do cards tonight, but I just didn’t feel like doing anything. I had worked all evening last night on chores, plus I was so tired all I really wanted to do was go to bed and be warm. But I couldn’t very well go to bed at 7:30. I tried to watch a couple of Christmas specials, but nothing was really hitting home. Then I saw a new one was airing on ABC, called Prep & Landing. I decided to tune it in. It was really cute, and I enjoyed it. It’s the first new Christmas special I can remember enjoying in years. After that I got ready for bed. I tried to watch the insipid Miser Brothers Christmas again, but it was no better than I remembered it being from last year.

I pretty much just lay there, glad to be inside, in my clean-sheeted bed, and warm. It nastier outside than it was when I got home, and judging by how much the heat was running, it was colder too. I turned telly over to South Park, snuggled up in my nice warm bed, and was asleep before the commercial break was over, the rain ticking on the aluminum-covered window sills outside.