2005-12-12 - 10:04 a.m.

Things I'm Working On

• Hangover remnants.

• My annual batch of orange-Meyer lemon marmelade.

• Getting my shit -- and head -- together for a 7:00am flight to Philadelphia via Dallas this Saturday.

• Looking forward to above trip: spending time in New Jersey with family, thinking about making pierogi (that's the plural of pierog) with Nan, seeing Rick's newly built house in Lacey/Forked River (Forked has two syllables), eating like there's no tomorrow (kielbasa -- more often than not pronounced 'kuh-bah-see' -- and poppy-seed cake anyone?), reveling in overheard conversations in accents I can't get enough of.

• Scratching my head over those last few gifts I feel compelled to buy, even though I do very little holiday shopping, for a couple of friends for whom I haven't figured out what exactly that "special" gift should be.

• Realizing that I procrastinated through another weekend on writing the holiday -- I mean Christmas -- I mean Season's Greetings -- cards. Yes, they're always Season's Greetings cards, usually produced by UNICEF. [Deleted nasty, bilious reference to neocon holiday backlash movement.]

• Getting some work done; it's gonna be January before I know it. (see here for an explanation.)