Thursday, December 20, 2007

Walking in a Neon Wonderland...

Good Morning, everyone!

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but some days you just need some time away from the keyboard. Of course, I didn't do anything really at all except watch a bit of tv and do a little reading. And I only left the house to go down to the office and pick up some more packages. Rob got a nice gift from his parents, a 'Girls of Ohio State' bikini calendar, which has already got me re-evaluating my opinion of the Buckeyes, and I got a big box of stuff from Mamasan.

Included was a huge freezer bag full of her famous peanut butter balls. And she covered mine in dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate like she did for Amy and Reverend Dave (of course she likes me better!) There were also about four gifts wrapped up and are currently residing under our Christmas tree (I'll take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow). I've already guessed three of the gifts, one of which I can't wait to open, because I know it is a set of luxurious 500-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. Hell, I remember 20 years ago, working at Macy's, the standard sheets were 160 and 180 thread count, 200 were 'luxury', and only Ralph Lauren and Laura Ashley offered 300-thread count sheets, and they were budget busters. I can't imagine how nice it'll be to have 500-thread count linens on the bed.

Besides, sheets like that could help when closing the deal, right?

Yo baby, not only will you get a full night of that special Mikey love, you'll be surrounded by luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets...

What chick would be able to resist that???

Anyhow, speaking of Mamasan, today is her 67th birthday, and I've already spoken to her and wished her the best. Currently, she's living the life of luxury down in Houston, spending the holidays with my sister Nancy and her husband Mark. Sounds like she's having a great time, too. Word is that they're going out to have Chinese food for lunch, and then spending the afternoon at the day-spa getting massages, facials, and other such girlie treatments.

Besides the package that came yesterday, I also got a card from my dad, included inside was a gift card for Maggiano's, which I can't wait to use. Even though I'm normally anti-chain, it's one of my favorite restaurants. I also want to give a shout out and send much love to my gal Darleen down in Louisiana. There was another Amazon package that arrived yesterday, inside it was the Sarah Mac cd, Afterglow. I love me some Sarah McLachlan--every one of her cd's are great. I've already listened to this one twice now, and it's no exception. Thanks again, Darleen!

And further proof that I've been a good boy this year came in the form of a couple of emails, one from one of my favorite dining companions, Drew, who said I have a package on the way, and Flagger, who secured a stash of fine cigars from Fidel's island gulag and has offered to share.

Oh hell yeah!

So what else is new around here?

Well, after thinking about recipes all day on Tuesday, and pouring over my cookbook for hours, I ended up not doing anything except making quesadillas for dinner, and then yesterday I made another batch of biscuits and gravy. Like a lazy bum, I never even made it to the grocery store. But my gravy turned out as good as I've ever made it--I had some leftover bacon drippings from the other day, and that *always* helps, and that new huge cast-iron skillet Cyndi sent me is the perfect pan for making gravy.

I may hit the grocery store today, but since I work every night until Christmas day, I'm not really motivated to do anything--I'll be having dinner in the employee dining room for the next five nights. I'd love to make aebelskivers for breakfast on Christmas day, but I'll probably be eating alone, and that's no fun. When I cook, I'd prefer to cook stuff like that for other people.

Regardless of what I make for Christmas, if anything at all, I'm going to spend the day watching stuff like It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story, both of which are playing on Christmas Eve, and I've got the dvr set to record them. I'm also recording both the Patrick Stewart and George C. Scott versions of A Christmas Carol.

By the way, want to know a dirty little secret about Mikey? Here it is--I've never seen Miracle On 34th Street. Nope, never. You believe that? Here I am, 40 years old, and somehow that has escaped me. But I've never seen Citizen Kane or Blade Runner, either, so make of that what you will...

Anyhow, now that it's after 9:00 am, I can go down to the office and pick up another package that was delivered last night. I'm *hoping* it's my new fleece jacket. Not that some other random surprise wouldn't be cool, but I'd really like to wear a new jacket to work tonight.

That's all for now,

Mikey

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