I Should Be Sleeping

But I'm not. I went to bed fairly early last night, knowing that I wasn't going out anyways, and a got a few good hours of sleep. But then--Holy Christmas miracle, Batman--at 1:30 this morning, my phone was ringing. Yep--the poker room was sending out the Mikey signal. They had too many games still going all night and not enough dealers, so I got the call.

That sure helped a lot--this has been by far the leanest week of 2009, so I was happy to pick up a few hours. And the games were decent, too, so I made a few bucks while I was there. Just a big win all around, if you ask me.

I got cut loose early this morning, and stopped over at Wally World to pick up a few groceries on the way home. Oh, I needed the usual, like milk, coffee creamer, and bacon, but what I was really after was eggnog. Yesterday I got the one package I was waiting for the most--Mamasan's homemade peanut butter balls. They arrived around noon, and of course I ate two of them right away. But it feels more like Christmas if I've got a few candles burning, the holiday music playing, and I'm sipping on a cup of eggnog. So that's the main thing I went to the store for.

As soon as the groceries were put away, that's what I did--turned on the 'Sounds of the Seasons' channel through the home theatre system, lit an evergreen-scented candle, and poured a glass of eggnog. Since it was still so early, I skipped the rum this time. But I'll have some more later today. While I was doing that, I gave Mamasan a call to let her know that the package had arrived and that I was enjoying it. There were also a few gifts wrapped up in the box too, but I was going to be a good little boy and wait until Christmas to open them. But she told me to open one specific package while I was sitting there talking to her on the phone this morning. So I did--it was a really cool throw blanket--it was tan microfiber on one side, which matches the pillows on my couch, and on the other side, it was that curly wool stuff, kinda like a horse-blanket. Very warm. I'm using it right now as I sit and type this. Yep, it's still pretty cold here in Hendertucky.

Mamasan's Christmas package wasn't all that arrived yesterday. About twenty minutes after the mailman dropped off my goodies from Tennessee, there was another knock at the door. Yep, it was the UPS man again. I wasn't expecting anything yesterday, so it was a complete surprise. Reader Jay from Ohio sent along a monster-sized 3000-piece jigsaw puzzle. It's a huge picture of a beach scene in the Seychelles, and I'm pretty sure that once it's finished, it'll be the exact same size as my dining room table. It's gonna take awhile to do it, but once it's done, I'll have it glued and I'll probably mount it on the wall above my booze cabinet.

Very cool--thanks again, Jay! And while I'm thankin' people, I have to give a shout out to the peeps who hit the tip jar this week. My screed about thinkin' that I'd lost my job wasn't intended to be a cup-rattler, but even so, I thank you folks. There are lots of other people out there having a lot rougher time of it than I am, so I'm using a little of that money to buy a couple of things for the local toys-for-tots collection bin now that all my Christmas shopping is done and the bills are paid.

Anyhow, you wanna know what a huge forgetful dork I am? While I was at the store this morning, I completely spaced picking up the frozen chicken wings and the bottle of Frank's hot sauce. Seriously--I thought about it while I was at work, sitting there dealing hand after hand at the poker table, looking forward to making some wings tonight. But then when I got to the grocery store, I completely forgot all about it. I think it's because the deep fryer is still in the box, sitting on the floor next to the coffee table. I'll unpack it today and get it hooked up and in it's permanent place on the counter. Then I won't forget about all the wing-making accessories next time I go shopping.

It's still seems to be freezing cold out here, but the weatherman says it's gonna warm up a few degrees this week. Even so, my thin blood can't wait. Right now, I want to make a bowl of cheese grits, a pot of hot coffee, and a batch of biscuits, just to be able to warm myself up--and the house at the same time. After that, I'm gonna curl up on the couch under my new wool blanket and spend the day reading a good book, with Christmas music playing in the background, sipping on spiked hot cocoa and nibbling on the occasional peanut butter ball.

That's what Saturdays in December were made for.

Mikey