A post in which I begin to panic

about Christmas. And high time I did too. I was suddenly overwhelmed today. This weekend is the busiest one I have for the year. I have:
-- a pie party tomorrow night, for which I have to bake a pie
-- the whole gang at my (incredibly nasty) house on Sunday to trim the tree
-- a cookbook due in by the 18th, which is not complete
-- three (3) Christmas presents purchased
-- Christmas cards to send
-- plus I have to get my hair cut tomorrow
-- Eve going into the hospital on Tuesday
-- God only knows what going on with Dad's kidneys
-- and, oh yeah, work.
Yeah, it's high time I started to panic. So I was sitting at my desk quietly freaking out when Fran called and talked for a few minutes. She made me feel better. You just take things one at a time, right? Eventually everything will get done. By next September.

But seriously, she helped me put it in perspective. Presents are only an internet click away, God bless it. The pie will get baked, and then I get to go to a great party with Nicole and Donnie, although Nicole told me today that it will be outside (and I'm like what?). My friends Sunday are coming to see me, not the house. If I clear the most egregious of the cat filth, they're not going to care about the house. They love me and are coming to help me. Fran is great.

All this put me in a much better state of mind for the evening. dana invited me over - yay! - and I was able to relax and enjoy it when I finally made it over. I went by Russ's shop to pick up some stuff he wanted me to take over there, then home to change and feed the cats, then to the grocery store for dessert (dana has had to go back out for dessert the last two times I've been over there, and I didn't want her to have to do it tonight), and then to Long John Silver's for a quick bite of supper. I LOVE LJS. It's a guilty pleasure. They have the absolute worst fast food you can possibly buy, but I love it anyway.

They were having a rough night at the LJS tonight. There was a family of 6 milling around in front of me, so I knew my food would be late tonight - the one time I didn't bring a book in with me. Sure enough, they seemed to have ordered at least one of everything on the menu, plus the kids were all play fighting while they milled around waiting. Plus there was no carbonation in the root beer. Plus the sweet tea was almost gone, and not very sweet to boot. Plus I ordered a medium fry, and when I did get my food I could have counted the fries without moving anything. But they were very nice, as always. They have the nicest staff in that store. Plus I figured that I didn't really need more fries in my diet anyway. So I gloried in the fried splendor of the meal, and then headed for Miss Kat and dana's.

I know I should have stayed home and cleaned, but screw that. It's Friday night, and I had to navigate the labyrinth that is the Canadian presentation this week. Plus I think we all know how likely it was that I would actually clean anything tonight - not bloody likely. Plus I'm just not going to stay home and clean when I'm invited out by friends. Life is too short for that.

It was great to see Miss Kat and dana, as always. The 'gourmet' brownies I picked up at the grocery store were a big hit with Miss Kat, and I had gotten a half a cherry pie for dana. We relaxed and visited and caught up from the week. It was a really nice evening, as always. They are such good friends.

So I came home, turned on the TV, consumed half of my refrigerator, and went to bed.