TWO MORE SLEEPS...

TWO MORE SLEEPS...

I cannot believe how fast the year is coming to a close! I had a wonderful day yesterday, I did exactly what I wanted to do, which was to expose myself to the craziness of a maul right before Christmas! It wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated, heck, the bus ride getting there was almost more exciting. I am not an early-out-the-door kinda gurl, so by the time I left the house it was about 2:30. That gave me plenty of time to hit the maul, do some shopping and make it home before Devilteen arrived. Of course right to the minute planner that I am, I didn't take into account the fact that about a million high schools would be releasing their captives just as I was entering the bus! Oh and let's not forget that being the Friday before Christmas we also have an assorted variety of those working type folks (many of whom have been celebrating at the office), who got to leave early for the day. Also parents with babies in strollers, old people with walkers, and of course EVERY ONE OF THEM have to be on the same bus as I am!!!

I must say, my timing IS indeed impeccable, just as I got to the bus stop it started to rain. Thank goodness I made it, I may have melted being as sweet as I am, and that would have been a tragedy in the largest proportions, leaving all of my fans without my presence, all would have suffered! When the bus arrived it was already packed you know , filled to the gills. Standing room only was the motto of the trip! I was next to a teenager holding a rather large wood-working project (one of those stepping up things), directly behind me were three of the female variety, one of whom had two very large knapsacks and of course one of them was deeply imbedded in my lower back! Ever ask a female teenager to do something to help alleviate pain? just a little thing really, like please move your bag because it's right in my back? You can guess what the response was, an eye ball roll followed by a deep sigh and at long last freedom from excruciating pain!

We arrived at the maul in just under an hour, not bad for rush hour traffic and stopping to pick up more tired, sweaty and excited teenagers et al. It was just starting to freeze rain at this point, whew I avoided another near death experience! The maul was delightfully filled with many slow moving vehicles in the form of old people, frantic parents, teenagers and other last minute shoppers. Oh joy , oh bliss this was exactly what I needed to get me into the true spirit of the season! Just as promised though I did not become impatient or unfriendly, we all were there for the same reason, and we all know that what goes around comes around and who the heck wants to invite bad karma so close to the big fat guy coming to visit with lots of prizes for all the good boys and girls!

I lovingly stared at all the sale signs in all of the stores, even entered a few of them to look at all the stuff I could not buy for me. My destination was clear, a quick trip to the dollar store to attempt to fill a three foot stocking for Devilteen. Find something not too expensive for my two nieces and maybe pick up some food to feed myself and the child for the next week. Simple, brilliant plan carefully thought out to avoid complications , piece of cake , right? So what happens when an alcoholic tries to make plans? Ding, ding, ding you guessed it, Nothing goes the way it's supposed to! I had decided this year that I was not going to do the stocking thing, I am not working and money is a little tight, so I thought no biggie Devilteen is old enough to understand that occasiopnally we all must make small sacrifices for the good of the whole (right?) Well those big blue eyes looked at me sadly and said "No stocking? I guess that would be o.k.." Right on cue Mommy guilt kicks in, ensuring that the child would indeed have a stocking to open on Christmas eve, and who the heck did I think I was, trying to fuck with a fifteen year tradition in such a cold, calculating way?

I had also opted to go for the 'family gift' for my sister, her husband, and their two little girls. I thought some home sewn Christmas placemats and an assortment of homemade treats would be acceptable gifts. Of course the dreaded mommy guilt thing got me again, how could I expect a three and eight year olds to be happy with placemats and cookies? No, every kid deserves to have a present just for them to open and Auntie Lushgurl will not break the hearts of children. YAY I have found yet more ways to spend money that I don't have!!! The dollar store stocking stuffer idea was great in theory, but with the picked over items and too crowded store I found it just a tad overwhelming. It was really difficult to buy for my fifteen year old, I couldn't just get a lot of fake junk jewelry, a bunch of stickers, some coloring books and a candy cane or two. I wanted to give Devilteen small but useful items but let's face it, it's not that easy to fill a three foot stocking for a teenager with very little time and less money. I was slightly succesful in that mission though, results are yet to be determined. I managed to find a couple of Dora items for little niece and a couple of Barbie things for bigger niece, with a few non-nutritious goodies I hope they will not be disappointed!

I ran into a fellow drunk as I was paying for my last few items in Pharmaplus, and he offered me a ride home. So sweet, it had really begun to get bad outside, very slippery with even more traffic and it probably would have taken even longer for me to get home on the bus and I would have been cold, wet and stressed with no downtime before the arrival of Devilteen, not a good way to start the holidays. Thankfully my Higher Power saw fit to put this lush in my path and the trip home was relatively quick and pleasant. This guy has become a friend, we've shared a lot at meetings and he asked me to speak at his Home Group not too long ago. A really nice guy, good looking and kind, not gay, but of course married. True to form for my luck! When I got home, I got a phone call from another lush, another cool-good-looking-not-gay-nice-guy (a Priest in case you were wondering) who had concerns about me going to my meeting because it was so slippery out and he had fallen several times on his way home. I could have gone with that and stayed home but I knew I had been out in worse weather to get my bottles, so I decided to take my chances and hit a meeting anyway.

I'm glad I went , the speaker was interesting , the group was small and intimate, and I felt better after as I usually do. Oh and Tallgoodlookingguy was there so I asked for another drive home, he said yes he wouldn't have let Devilteen and I walk home anyway. He's going away for two weeks with Her (his wife!) so it was nice to wish him a Merry Christmas and stuff. Before we got out of the car though he said " there's a present back there with your name on it!" I couldn't believe it ! How sweet was that, although it did feel just a little weird, him being married and all, but who am I to turn down a Christmas Prize?!!! Little did I know, it was a DVD player! Holy cow, do I keep it, why did he do something so nice and where the heck did I put his phone number so I can call him up and give him shit (read thank him!) If this is any indication of how my Christmas is going this year I'LL TAKE IT ALL and enjoy it and tell (brag) to you about it later!

Well I must go now, I have some sewing and baking and wrapping and housework to do today. A good friend is coming over later with more wrapping to do, and another Christmas prize for me!!So have a great day y'all, I'll talk to ya later!