Christmas 2010!

[grrgoyl]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas/whatever you celebrate. This is the first year I adamantly did not buy for anyone but Tery, and it was fabulous. No stress of shipping, and a morning of opening presents we both knew we actually wanted, no money wasted on stabs in the dark.

This year marked Tery's wish to convert to an artificial tree. She presented the idea pleadingly, I guess expecting me to say no. I grew up with an artificial tree, so it's not as big a deal to me as to her. Plus, not having to water it every day, not having it slowly die anyway creating a fire hazard, not having to haul it off to recycling when it's a prickly, cactusy, sap-covered thing dropping pine needles by the thousands? Bonus.

Fake but pretty tree. Unfortunately all the animals immediately ran to the base of it, remembering how they love drinking water from it. Sorry, animals

Logan was just as happy with the top of it

In a bit, my loot; but first, I called my mom to check in. Morgan is still missing, but that's okay. She had plenty of stories of the puppies' antics. I feigned interest, which is so much easier to do on a phone call that will end in a reasonable timeframe than at her house with no promise of escape for a few days. All was well, until she gleefully mentioned one of Nancy's gifts, the book "Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats."

"A dog is your friend for life. A cat couldn't care less about you..."

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," I interrupted. I'm convinced people who believe this myth about cats have never lived with one. Our cats check in with us every hour on the hour, night and day. At least three times a day I have to (reluctantly) evict Kitten Mitten from my lap while I work. MyFriendDeb used to have two cats who formed a snuggly nest around her every night that she had to extricate herself from every morning. "Where are these aloof cats everyone talks about?" she asks me. Answer? In the minds of malicious, slandering dog lovers (who I suspect might be a wee bit resentful that they have to go out in the cold for their pets to do their business).

Aloof cats? Take 30 seconds to watch this video footage of the parade Tery leads every morning as she gets ready for work, featuring two cats (and a couple of ferrets) who couldn't care less about her:

But as far as my mother, she has apparently forgotten my dislike of dogs vis a vis our face-to-face altercation in her living room. This is why we don't feel so bad saying terribly disrespectful things to her -- she has a staggeringly tireless ability to not hear it anyway, so what have we got to lose?

Fortunately I had to go to work soon after, so was able to beg off the phone. Yes, no holidays for me -- I worked both jobs Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And I get to do it all over again New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Hopefully I'll see some time and a half from them, so it's all good.

Anyway, behind the cut are a few photos of my loot this year. Just in case you don't want to click though, I'll put the sexiest one out here:

Tery really outdid herself. She must have spent our entire dollar limit on just these items. A super lightweight shirt by Zoot, Pearl Izumi leggings and, best of all, Goretex biking gloves -- note the lobster claw design (because it turns out you really don't need your ring finger or pinky on the bars). Perfect for cold weather biking without getting sweaty and clammy.

Tery put lube in my stocking. We've come full circle, from our first Christmas which included a dildo

Bontrager slick tires (for next season) and a floor pump, which doesn't seem exciting but DAMN. I can't believe I stubbornly went all summer without one. Now I can finally pump my tires to the correct pressure. I've had to go up a gear on every leg of my usual ride because my rolling resistance has reduced by about 30%. Doesn't mean much to a non-biker. Translation: I go really fast now!

The new David Sedaris from kavieshana; Fran Lebowitz, who I only just discovered this week and instantly fell in love with; and a mountain biking book, which I suspect Tery needs more than me

I trust these need no introduction (Finally got to see Scott Pilgrim on Blu-ray, which was so much more enjoyable than the blurry bootleg I saw originally. Sadly, the awesomeness quickly overcame Tery and she fell back asleep before we got to the second Evil Ex)

Last but by no means least, an awesome Jabberwock print by a local Seattle artist from lizzieloudotcom. I luuuuurve it

Comments

[metatronis.livejournal.com]

While I'm a dog person, I've met lots of personable cats. I think it just depends so much on their personality and how you treat them.

Awesome presents! And they're almost all gifts that you can make use of. Good haul.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

I think every animal is a product of how they're treated. For instance, one of the sweetest lovergirl dogs I've met this year is a pitbull who just wants her belly scratched all the time.

I suppose my mother just irks me because a normal person would remember that I'm a cat person and, I don't know, try harder to avoid making potentially inflammatory statements. I'll pretend to ooh and aah over your dogs, but then don't repay me by turning around and attacking my pet of choice.

[mmmrorschach.livejournal.com]

Haha, the cat and ferret parade.

Before I read the description, when I saw the bicycle outfit I thought myself, "Hey, she made a Tron costume!" The truth is only slightly less exciting, but they do ride bikes in Tron, so maybe you're on to something.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Do you mean for a Halloween costume? I suppose I could wear my biking gear and demand my host use only black lights at the party.

[velmaneuwirth.livejournal.com]

The music on the parade video made it. :-)

Also, your face in the lube picture, plus the jaunty hat, is awesome. lol I also love full circle-ness. :-P

Annnnd, I say it every time I see a new picture of you but DAMN, you're skinny now! Lookit your legs!
You make me feel so bad for being inactive. I go to the gym but really don't do much but looking at you, you can see what really getting into a sport can do for someone.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Funny, I just added the march through YouTube's own editing options, and as you can see the synch between Tery's delayed appearance after the intro, not to mention the second half of the parade appearing after the tiny break, matched up so well you'd think I had planned it that way (also the tinkling little bells, so perfect for ferret feets!)

Tery was quite pleased with herself for the lube, as she should be >;)

*blush* Thanks again! Christmas came a little early when I broke through the plateau I'd been hovering at for a month and suddenly lost 4 more pounds last week.

For Tery's autobiography she's been digging through old photos putting together a scrapbook of her life of sorts. She came across shots of me from Halloween 2 years ago, just before I went to the ER, when I was 65 pounds heavier. GOOD GOD. I look like I'm on steroids. I want to put them on my wall to remind me (not that going back to that is an option, since I still have the gallstone and still have to eat very carefully).

I've never been hugely athletic. I would recommend biking to anyone -- you have to buy the equipment first, but so low impact and enjoyable, unlike a lot of other sports. But since you have a gym membership, you have no excuse! Get your ass over there! ♥

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

You're right, that was almost too much sexiness to bear!

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Sorry, sorry. Should have put a disclaimer on for people with heart conditions and new mothers ;)