I completely finished my shopping yesterday. This is the earliest I have finished since I started buying for people outside of my immediate family. Usually by this time the number of gifts that I have purchased is approximately zero. In celebration I played with the cats and a big crinkly shopping bag until Mookie puked, puke that was quickly licked by Riley. (At least he knows what he wants.) This year's capitalistic expedition was successful, as the case tends to be when things are given the appropriate amount of time rather than rushed. That's right, no one will get anything from 7-Eleven. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that my gift selection was sub-par, maybe even average! It is fortuitous that I have reached my gift-buying acme this year because next Christmas and all the Christmases after that I will be married, and Roxanne likes to throw "holiday bricks" through peoples' windows, instead of giving them presents. It's the thought that counts, I guess.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the holidays. The last two Christmases I've been preoccupied with traveling or impending joblessness, and although they were still good, this year, I think, will be even better.

Speaking of awesomeness, I have recently been "pimping out" my car. This with the help of rap star Xzibit, who is apparently now a homeless white man with Tourette's syndrome. Some people think that chrome rims are better than plastic hubcaps and "paint" looks nicer than rust, but that's too fancy pants for me. My style is a bit subtler. For example, I taped a piece of paper by automatic trunk lock button (yeah, I know, thanks) so that I can remember which position means it's locked, and which means it's unlocked. Now people can't open it and steal my ... umm ... flashlight? Also, I got new windshield wipers, front and back. Yeah. And I replaced all four of my side marker lights, even though only 3 were out--that's just how I roll. (Actually, I accidentally replaced the one that wasn't burnt out, but never mind that.) I got a new headlight bulb too. No perdiddle for me. I even had my oil changed and I got a new air filter. Even though they couldn't see it, I could tell that people liked it because they honked at me as I was stalled in the middle of the intersection. With all these improvements my $700 car is now worth like ... $715. If I get a new steering wheel cover for Christmas (fingers crossed) that will just put it over the top; actually, that might be too much for anyone to handle.

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Not Quite Andy Goldsworthy-worthy

I made a pile of snowballs in a garden-box at school. It's hollow. It has about 60 snowballs. It's kind of a giant white thumb. It's not quite Andy Goldsworthy-worthy, but it was fun to make. It is in "The Learning Garden," which is sort of a side-project our middle school class had down at UBCO. At first I resented it because I thought it was irrelevant, but that class (2 classes, actually) turned out to be my favourite of the term, hands down. We had a really tightly knit group, and the teacher was phenomenal--she was even Scottish!, as I recall. Have I mentioned that my Scottish side is the side I identify with most? It is. Probably because Roxanne is Scottish, and also because I can identify with it for free.

School is done now. I might begin my practicum planning a bit, but I have all of January for that. Rock and I will be in 100 Mile from Dec. 15th-Dec. 23rd. (Well, actually, Rock won't arrive 'til the 16th.) Then we'll be up in PG for Christmas and New Year's. This will be nice because Rock and I haven't been in PG for Christmas proper yet.

My car, "House," rolled over 333,333 on my recent trip to Vancouver. I didn't have a camera with me, so I don't have a picture, but I did slow down to 70 on the Coquihalla to appreciate the moment. Then some yuppie in a Beemer flashed his lights at me. I guess he was jealous. Our old '93 Camry also got up to 333,333, but I wasn't driving at the time, so it was wasted. Moop. Jay and Jenn have decorated the house really nicely for Christmas. The cats and I are quite excited. I even built a snowman, but the picture is kind of blurry so I haven't put it up. Just imagine an average snowman, like one you might make, except better.

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