4 Shy of the ENTIRE Sleeve...

Stupid Thin Mints.

I'd had them tucked away in my desk in case of emergency. Today, I had a pity party for myself and I dished up thin mints, which my ass promptly screamed at my brain to devour. *sigh*

So why the pity party? It all starts last week. Yes, readers, all three of you, have probably noticed that I haven't done a whole lot of writing lately. Have I fallen victim to writer's block? Nope. Did reality finally slap me in the face, clueing me in that people don't want to read about my mundane life? No. Then what? Well, it seems that I've bitten off waaaay more than I can chew. Honestly, life is one ginormous mess of fun for me, but once in a blue moon, everything collides together into a fantastic trainwreck and I sit stand there, as best as I can, to endure.

Last week, on Monday, I was still recovering from the Thanksgiving festivities. I knew I wasn't well rested, but that wasn't any differently from normal. That night, Mari started her unusual sleep pattern (one that continues to go on as we speak!). I went to bed far too late and got up early when she couldn't seem to get comfortable. I should've gone running, but I didn't. It seemed too much of a pain to dress her for the cold outside, load her up in the jogging stroller, then meet my buddies. Tuesday, I was out late for a work thing, which caused me to stay up faaar too late and again I was up too early on Wednesday morning. It didn't help that we'd rented Hancock and I actually liked it. Not enough to have shelled out money in the theater, but it was worth the rental. I swear during one of the scenes, I saw the creature from Cloverfield walking around in the back.

I had to leave work promptly that day to pick up baby from school. She and I went off in search of the Indian market for some paneer because I stumbled upon an easy breezy palak paneer recipe (video!) at http://www.showmethecurry.com/. I had wonderful fun, so much so that I went up every aisle in the small store, taking a mental inventory of all they had to offer. They even sold Bollywood movies, and I bought one for my friend CK as a gift for our date later on in the week (more to come on that one). I get home and 4 GIANT boxes smiled at me as I struggled with Mari's carrier into the house. They were filled with the Pampered Chef goodies and you know what that means, right! New cookware AND other goodies. I was foaming at the mouth to dive into the kitchen to cook my palak paneer with the new kitchen tools, but my OCD kicked in hyper drive and I had to sort all of the boxes. BOO!! Poor Don patiently reminded me that it was already much, much too late for dinner and shooed me off into the kitchen to prep the meal while he took over the sorting. I held Mari in my arms while I used the food chopper to dice the onions. Initially, she laughed hysterically at it, but that laugh quickly turned into a cry because somewhere along the lines it scared her. MMmmm...I was so proud of my efforts that I should've taken photos. It wasn't true palak paneer b/c I failed to write down the spices they used, so I improvised making Bianca Paneer. Delish! The house was blanketed with that amazing Indian cuisine smell, even burning my nostrils the next morning! Again, I went to sleep entirely too late, only be up and at 'em on Thursday. I blame Dexter! We're catching up on our series on Netflix and well, when I get a taste of something, I just want more. I need to learn how to devour my moving pictures in bite sized nuggets. I have the same problem with food. What can I say?

I don't really remember much of Thursday. I was a walking zombie! I knew I wanted to make some more palak paneer (see the above comment in regards to gluttony). When I got home, I grabbed the coupon envelope and as a family, we dashed out the door to return the movies, grocery shop, and run by Barnes & Noble to pick up The Birthday Book: A Keepsake Journal for Mari. Yes, I'm already doing birthday shopping for her knowing it isn't until February. My excuse: I was also doing birthday shopping for a couple of my besties and figured I'd knock 'em all out. I got home and lucky for us, we bought a rotisserie chicken (which was the size of a turkey...seriously!) for $3.99, but didn't have a veggie side. I jumped up waving my hand like I knew the secret answer hollering to Don that I'd happily make some more Bianca paneer. This time I remembered to add real garlic cloves, but used tomato sauce instead of paste, so it was runnier than I wanted it to be, but still good. I made a mental note that our new cookware is BOSS! More Dexter indulgence ensued, and next thing I knew I was passed out in the special brown lounge chair, while Don gently shook me, coaxing me to sleep in our bed. I only saw Mari briefly awake and I knew something wasn't quite normal. The next day was big date night for me and I was feeling a tad bit guilty that I didn't enough play time in to make up for Friday.

Friday came in a hurry and I was swamped at work, which was a good thing. But, 5PM came so fast that I struggled with wrapping things up to make it home in time to pretty myself up. Don was so good and had already been home picking up and had Mari settled in. (I love that man!) I flew into the house and threw on my fancy gold dress and black cashmere sweater. I dressed it up with a pretty silver/gold necklace and wore my mom's old animal print faux fur coat. I felt beautiful! My beloved kissed me goodbye and I was out the door. CK looked stunning in her black pants and red sweater. She loved the movie I gave her and we had such fun at her company holiday party. They kept handing out these random blinky things: bracelets, microphones, pins, tambourines, as well, as Santa pimp hats. I swear, Oriental Trading Company threw up in this fancy party. It was a bit out of place, but somehow it worked. They also had butt sketches (random), which all looked the same! They also had these fabulous 7 second flip books! We made 4!! And I had one that I'd made just for Don too. It was fun and cute...hands down my favorite part of the evening! It was already Saturday by the time I got home and Mari was still passed out. I prepared myself for an early morning.

By 8:30 she was still sleeping and I was worried, but I desperately needed another hour of sleep to make up for the 3 hours I had from Wednesday night. I propped up at 9:30 to write out our Christmas cards. I nearly had them completed with Mari awoke. 15 hours!!! That was the longest she's ever slept. EVER. I felt her tiny forehead and there was no fever. I guess she was just worn out, too! I got her dressed and she and I went off in search of a pair of everyday shoes for her, tights, and maybe a gift for my dad. Then, I went to have the friendly folks at Wolf Camera check out my flash. (I needed new batteries!) Off for a mani/pedi and I shamefully admit that I ate McDonalds. bleh! Mari had yogurt from there and she seemed to like it and I couldn't help but wonder if they have HFCS in that too! I felt like a horrible mom. I was looking good and it was time to jet on out to the W for my company's holiday party. SWEET! We checked in the room and I met my friend with her family for a quick portrait session before our party. I even indulged in a cafe caramel from Gachet! Seriously, it was much, much, much too much fun! I'm actually sore from all of the dancing and I'm extra smiley from the many Julie's Awesome shots that were consumed during the not-so-post-party party. Our bartender's name was Julie and she truly was awesome! Don and Mari were spent and for some reason I was wired for sound. With husband and baby safely nestled in our luxurious king sized bed, I ordered fries from room service and borrowed Chocolat from their movie library. I had my own lively party of 1 and it was really fun and great. (I was waiting on the cow couch just outside of our room so when room service came a-knocking wouldn't wake my slumbering family. That was the previous blog post to this one.) I showed that enormous plate of fries who was boss, including the fancy mustard, ketchup, and ranch that came with it! The little chocolate was delish too. I downed my big glass of water and passed out!

Again, 2AM when I sleep. For whatever reason, my body propped up at 7AM and I took a 30 minute vacation in the rainfall shower. (I don't EVEN want to think about all of the water I used!!) It was heaven. I watched the 2nd half of Chocolat and waited for breakfast to be delivered. Mmmm....when it arrived, Mari was up and she helped me to tear it up. Don ate a bit of his and went back to sleep. With our bellies full, we all tucked back into bed and I waited for my friend to call to see when/if she wanted pics taken. We were watching the new TMNT animated movie, so I was happy when she called. I took a 20 minute nap, then met her and her beautiful family for pics.

Upstairs, I went and we loaded up to head home. And that's when it began with Mari. Our unbelievably happy baby from Saturday was replaced with an inconsolable, fussy baby that I'd never seen before. I felt helpless! What to do? What to do? We let her sleep it out for a bit, but that didn't last. Meanwhile, I was cooking a turkey and other foods for our party that night. (yes, yes, I'm on crack.) The party trifecta, a literal turkey for you sports buffs, or a 3-fer-3! It was our annual White Elephant party. We tidied up as best as we could and when we pulled out our tiny Charlie Brown tree, I was sad to see that it was even more pitiful than normal. Not only was it teeny tiny, but it was bent. Not lopsided, but bent. We made the call to get another tree and headed out to Decorators Warehouse. The minute we walked in, Don and I both said in unison, "OMG, Christmas threw up in here!!" We were afraid, very, very afraid. We tediously walked around knowing that we weren't going to find what we needed. We tiptoed outta there as fast as we could and jetted on over to Big Lots. $20 later, we found our perfect Charlie Brown Christmas tree (CBCT2) to replace the other. This time, we upgraded from 4 ft to 6 ft! LOL. It only had the two ornaments that I'd bought this year, I don't know where our other 5 ornaments are, but we'll find them before Christmas, I hope.

Friends started arriving and we had a blast. I was running on low energy and I didn't know why. I mean I did, but I genuinely felt spent. Mari was still feeling needy and fussy and just off. I was passed out by 11PM and by 1AM, Mari was up every half hour until 5:30, which she was getting up every 5 minutes. We gave her some water. Poor thing was burning up and when we took her temperature, it was 101. We gave her some Tylenol and Don made the executive decision to stay at home with her. He, himself, wasn't feeling up for anything. I wasn't 100% and I chalked up the sore throatyness to allergies (yeah right!). But c'mon! I have a half marathon on Sunday and now isn't time to punk out. Early to bed for me (at least that's the plan and I'll try to stick to it), so why the pity party? Because I don't feel well, I have photos I need to deliver (because I'm ever so eager to share them!!), Christmas cards to mail, and an HOA newsletter to get out the door. See what I mean about trainwreck? :D Add punishment to my growing list of gluttony! You'd think I'd learn.