<p>Good morning.
I am having the kind of day that makes me wonder what my life is like in another timeline in the multiverse 
I hope I am having fun there, because I’m not having fun here…</p>
<p>Good morning all. I’ve been reading along, but haven’t had much news to report … I’ve done a little Christmas shopping, mostly for myself! (I buy the gifts my father gives us all, then he pays me back.) I found a couple interesting stocking stuffers, but beyond that I’m clueless about what to get D, S, or H. They can’t even give me any ideas! Feeling more and more like Scrooge …</p>
<p>dte – hope you feel somewhat better. Definitely make/take time for yourself.</p>
<p>woody – glad your D is OK! My father got bowled over by a bike messenger in NYC quite a few years ago – the guy never even apologized. Very cool about the artwork.</p>
<p>cd – when is the dinner party? Agree with everyone else - hire someone to clean the house.</p>
<p>Re: phone/mail privacy – when we first got an email account, H & I shared one. He also had a work account, so the majority of stuff that ended up coming into the joint account was for me. H would complain about how much there was, why didn’t I clean up the inbox, etc. – but he always read every single email that came in, often making comments, and grilling me about stuff that didn’t involve him. I kept telling him to ignore the account and just use his own. We have more recently gotten rid of that account (AOL). We each have our own Gmail, plus I set up a joint Gmail address for things like online orders, paperless bills, etc. It works better this way. As for the phones – I don’t answer his phone and he doesn’t answer mine. </p>
<p>shaw – bummer about your’s D getting pickpocketed – but glad she wasn’t hurt.</p>
<p>kmc – your posts are so entertaining! If you run off to a parallel universe, please be back in time for when the bus pulls up to your hot tub. </p>
<p>Haven’t heard from Moda in a while – though I’ve seen a couple postings on FB.</p>
<p>The puppy has been semi-crazy the past few days – too much lousy weather preventing her from getting enough exercise. Fortunately today is better. Little does she know, though, that in another hour or so I’m taking her to the groomer – which involves a car ride, which she hates …</p>
<p>A very dear long-time friend of our is getting married tomorrow down in Fairfield County, CT. Her (first) husband was a Vietnam vet who died in 2001 from lung cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange. We’re so thrilled for her that she met a lovely, caring man. She is without a doubt the most giving, faith-filled person I’ve ever known. SO, a long ride tomorrow to attend a short, informal wedding – but we wouldn’t miss it.</p>
<p>Wait, who got hit by a car?</p>
<p>ShawD had a great time post-theft in Las Vegas. Very interesting observations. </p>
<p>Today she spoke at her pinning ceremony. She was really in her element: funny and touching. A number of people came up to her afterwards and told her the same thing, “You made me laugh and you made me cry.” In the program, it listed the various honors the kids could have gotten. She was the only one who had gotten all of them. Like her brother, she will graduate summa cum laude. She has such a nice, supportive group of friends and really loves what she is/will be doing. She also told me that she took an NCLEX (nursing licensure) practice exam and did pretty well without studying, so with a month of study, she will do well. </p>
<p>NM, how about a fitbit or to get a bit adventurous, and Apple or Google Watch? Or a little battery for charging an iPhone or iPad if they are running out ?</p>
<p>cd, get a cleaner.</p>
<p>Shawbridge - it was my D who was hit by a car. She’s 100% fine though.</p>
<p>CBB - have fun at the wedding! Wave when you’re on 95! )poor puppy…)</p>
<p>I am absolutely addicted to the UVa thread. I haven’t weighed in as I don’t think it is as black or white as some posters think. Just awful though on so many levels</p>
<p>Off to do some Christmas shopping!</p>
<p>At the lake instead of fighting the shopping crowds at the MOA. I still need so many things! I feel a little guilty being here. It is very foggy as the air temps are warm and the snow is still melting. I wonder if we will have a white Christmas? Opened a Christmas gift…a baby Keurig for here. I don’t drink coffee or tea but looking forward to hot cider and hot chocolate. </p>
<p>woody…I will have to go read that thread!</p>
<p>Cha-Ching Cha-Ching the merry sounds of the Holidays. </p>
<p>Gads, some shut off the money veins! And I have nothing for the D or DIL yet. </p>
<p>ShawSon is now home and both he and ShawD are coming for a dinner at our house for ShawWife’s birthday tonight. Two of ShawWife’s sisters (and the local one’s family) and her cousin will also be here. I bought just cut wild Ahi tuna at Costco for the event earlier this afternoon.</p>
<p>ShawSon took the redeye in from the West Coast. He said he averaged about 2-3 hours of sleep per night in the past week. The night before last, he called to say that his bike might have been stolen but that he was so tired he was not sure where he left it. After taking a final and handing in a final project in another course, he went back and found it on the other side of the building where he thought he had left it.</p>
<p>His offer to be CTO of a startup would require him to leave school and I think he is trying to wrap his head around that.</p>
<p>Shaw - I forgot to offer congrats on Shaw D’s accomplishments! Well done…and I’m Shaw S did just as well.</p>
<p>Thanks, woody. It is such a pleasure seeing her a) come in to her own; and b) pursuing a path that really matches her interests and talents. </p>
<p>Great birthday dinner tonight – squash soup, two very interesting salads, seared tuna encrusted with pistachios and wasabi, and black rice with pomegranate seeds. Then chocolate cake with smoked salted caramel sauce.</p>
<p>^^^^ And the bus will also be making a stop at shaw’s for some fine dining … Sounds like a delicious dinner!</p>
<p>The wedding was lovely – and the round-trip drive, although long, was uneventful, thankfully. (Anyone who knows/drives on 95 in southern CT knows this is often NOT the case!)</p>
<p>This afternoon we’re off to Worcester to attend calling hours for a long-time friend of H’s family. A slice of the circle of life all in one weekend …</p>
<p>Still clueless about what to get for Christmas gifts. Something tells me the unwrapping part won’t take very long this year … And can I just add a small vent? H hasn’t done any shopping in years. Once D became old enough, he had her shop for stuff for my stocking. Now that she’s off on her own, that’s a pretty unfair burden on her, so for the last couple of years, I’ve actually bought things – for my own stocking! Seriously, how ridiculous is this? I’m sorely tempted to not get anything, and see if H feels even the tiniest bit guilty on Christmas morning when my empty stocking is in front of the fireplace. OK, vent over.</p>
<p>CBB, put coal in his sock ;)</p>
<p>Shaw, sounds like a lovely dinner, and kudos on your kiddos. The bus will be by right after a hot tub soak and cocktails, so you might have your hands full ;)</p>
<p>As it turns out, the alternate timelines in the multiverse really weren’t much better than this one in my world so I came back…However, in the alternate universe I discovered a few things that might help out some of my fellow cc’ers:</p>
<p>A) CQ has a personal shopper in her absence
B) CD’s h has hired her a maid and is having the dinner party catered
C) DTE has retired because her D just won a big fellowship so nobody has to pay for grad school
D) NM’s well has been cleared and her toilet bowls sparkle
E) Fallgirl has founded the perfect, ethical, mail order gift company
F) Shawson has found a way to SLEEP while EXCELLING
G) Oregon has found an endless supply of Xmas shopping money and has offered to be all of our personal shoppers…
H) CBB’s husband has now hired Oregon to shop for CBB…</p>
<p>So you would think the alternate timelines in the multiverse are quite wonderful, but hey, I’m eating cat food and living in a trailer talking to myself in the versions where I’m not running a wee company fraught with long hours and occasional frustration, so I decided I’d rather eat filet mignon and whine a little instead 
And soak in the hot tub…</p>
<p>Sounds like a great universe. I wish for all those things to happen, except for the catfood…</p>
<p>I have to pack again – flying tonight to Germany. This engagement has been lower on the psychic benefit / cost ratio than I would like, but it has covered the annual cost (and then some) of my last hire. I had been trying to hire a female consultant for a while and hired a very talented woman, though interestingly one with a bit of a tin ear to social dynamics (I generally rely on women to read the social stuff as most women are just better than most men at this). And, the engagement is very good training for her.</p>
<p>I accept. It is likely the activity that will give meaning to my life. I pledge to do an wonderful job and have a nice reputation regarding gift buying to back me up.</p>
<p>kmc you are a keeper. Will you run for US President?</p>
<p>kmc - way too clever! That definitely gave me some laughs!</p>
<p>Oregon, sigh, I was thinking about running for US president but then I saw what happened when a president had a Foreign-born parent and decided that my birth country and the secret societies to which I belong would not stand up to the spotlight ;)</p>
<p>Woody, we did not yet make an alternate timeline for you…what would YOU like to be happening there? I’ll put a word in!</p>
<p>Thanks to kmc I have now opened my online shopping research business free of charge to any 2009 er’s.</p>
<p>I purchased an Annapolis Zip Flap at the The Rack for $119.97. It is a Tumi which is a brand that I have been in love with for years yet have never owned a thing. I bought it because there was only one in the entire store and that I loved it.</p>
<p>Both going to their store downtown and doing a web search–this is selling for $195. </p>
<p>I am jazzed as it even has a little place that is nearly hidden for a water bottle!
So! H is giving me a nice wanted gift this year!</p>
<p>I am in business thanks to kmc.
Send me specifics such as to $ and size and I will go looking (mostly on line) for you. </p>
<p>S and family will arrive this Thurs and leave Sunday evening so will open their gifts before they leave. so I need to have things wrapped up a week before the rest of you.</p>
<p>That said. I do believe that from this year forward it will be one small gift and a check. And H and I want to stop between us.</p>
<p>So who needs me to find something for them??</p>
<p>oregon I would ;love to have you help me find something for H but have no idea what to ask you to look for!</p>
<p>kmc- love it! As it happens, I ended up calling Dean and Deluca and now have a box of goodies on its way to my sister and her family.</p>
<p>shaw- congrats to your D. Both of your kids are so accomplished and also sound like such nice young people to boot! I look forward to meeting them and shawwife when I come for dinner .</p>
<p>H is having his surgery today to reattach the tendon in his arm. Hopefully this will go well and it won’t be a really long recovery… Will know more later.</p>
<p>Christmas shopping is almost done. One more trip to the mall should do it and then need to call a friend to order some gift certificates from her.</p>
<p>Didn’t realize today was the day,rm. I’ll keep your H in my thoughts and prayers.</p>
<p>Sending prayers and fairy dust to your H, RM. Take care of yourself, too!</p>