The contents of my brain

I'm just going to spew little bits of this and that. So as not to offend your delicate sensibilities, I will put it in the form of a bulleted list, which, while lazy, will at least be easier to read than one ginormous run-on paragraph. Which is sort of how my brain feels sometimes.

In no apparent order:

• I went to a party this weekend (happy birthday, George), and took a hot, cheesy dip that will now be my standard party offering, I think. I've had trouble coming up with a "signature" dish for this purpose--and I've tried such labor-intensive things as homemade potato salad and hand-rolled tamales--but this one fits the bill. I think if we had not been in (relatively) polite society, someone might have licked the dish. And it was so easy! (Goat cheese, cream cheese, shredded parmesan/asiago/romano blend and minced sundried tomatoes. Mix well and bake. You're welcome. Make a lot.) George is now old enough to run for president, and promises to make me the Minister of Cheese. Or the Cheese Czar.
• May I just respectfully ask Illinois Governor Blagojevich to go f*ck himself? What a douchebag.
• How 'bout them Sooners? Now, I'm not the biggest OU football fan in the world, by any means. I don't have a "Boomer Sooner" ringtone on my cellphone or anything, but if I'm home and a game's on and I don't have anything more pressing to do, I'll watch. And this season has been fun to watch--I love a good offense. Defensive battles just make me nervous. "Score, somebody, for the love of god, score!" Give me a nice big blowout every time. If that makes me a poor sport, too bad. The Sooners set all kinds of records with their offense this year, so...whoo hoo!
• Do your hands look like they belong to a lizard? Every winter my hands suffer from extreme dryness. (Damn the handwashing!) I've tried any number of lotions and creams, to little avail. You know what helps? Plain old petroleum jelly. Just lather it on several times a day. I guess I was always leery of doing this during the day for fear it would leave my hands feeling too greasy, but you know what? It doesn't. It soaks right in. After two days my hands look and feel better than they have in years.
• For the record, I consider myself a liberal, and despite what the media would have you believe, we're NOT all outraged at Obama's cabinet picks. I never thought he was all that liberal, despite what Limbaugh and his ilk would have us think, and I always expected that he would govern as a centrist and a pragmatist. It's what he said he would do. And I'm okay with that. I trust that he will guide us further left than where we've been for the last 8 years, and, given the major, major problems this country is currently facing, I think the center is the place to start. It took both sides of the aisle to get this f*cked up, and it will take both sides of the aisle to fix things. I reserve the right, of course, to be unhappy with him later, if it comes to that, but for now, I think he's doing just fine. Plus he's brilliant. I'm going to take comfort in that for a while.
• This Saturday is the crazy cat ladies' Christmas lunch. I will have boatloads of Christmas spirit for those couple of hours. I also very much enjoyed filling a couple of stockings for the elderly clients of a local senior service agency. I just can't quite seem to keep the spirit going. I have a theory: Christmas is magical when you're a child. The magic fades with time, though there are certainly always flashes of it, but it never truly returns until you have children of your own. And if you don't have children, well...then you have to settle for the flashes. That is harder some times than others. And hardest of all when you live alone. That's my theory. You may feel free to disagree.
• My local ABC affiliate preempted last week's "Pushing Daisies" to air an Oak Ridge Boys Christmas special. I did not know this until I sat down to watch it a couple of nights ago (I had recorded it, and was even staying spoiler-free by not reading the TWoP recap). WTF? You bastards, just because it's been cancelled doesn't mean that some of us don't want to savor every little scrap that's left! Argh.
• We've had a couple of read-through/walk-throughs for the play, and now we adjourn until after the holidays. I think it's a great cast, and is going to be great fun.
• I saw the dog formerly known as Wiley the Terrible (while at the aforementioned birthday party) and he pretended that he still remembered me. Maybe he still does (which Julie his owner insists must be true). And maybe I'm just the only fool sticking my head in his face and encouraging him to kiss me. Heh.
• My boss is in love. With the sweet tabby kitty mentioned in the last post. IN LOVE. He can't take him home for fear of upsetting his wife and their two snippy female cats, but he's quite smitten. He even gave him a work-related name, similar to the one given to the Cat Formerly Known as Lil Mama. It's very funny. He's not been around cats much previously, and he didn't have any idea they could be so affectionate. ("He's like a dog!") The one good thing about having [scary number redacted] cats is that you really get to experience the full spectrum of cat personalities. They're so...varied.
• I've been dreaming about some of my past pets lately. I think this may be because the current commercial for "Befreze" candles features a dog that is the spitting image (actually, no...it's the mirror image) of the first dog I had as an "adult." (I was in college when I got her, so...technically a grown-up, but....) Mo lived a good, long life and was maybe the smartest, funniest dog in history. The BFF insists that she had extra facial muscles, 'cause she could pull a look like no other dog ever could. Anyway, if you see the fuzzy black-and-white terrier mix in the "Befreze" candle commercial...I think they somehow cloned my dead dog! And I want her back!
• The Cat Formerly Known, etc. is QUITE put out by the new kitty, by the way. He's invaded HER turf, and she is not happy. I've tried to reassure her that she is still the alpha, and right now she's sleeping peacefully on my desk, but...there has been some hissing and spitting. Keeps the work day lively!
• Today is the one-year anniversary of the Great Ice Storm of Ought-Seven. Man, oh man, keep that icy stuff away from us this year, please. Our trees can't take another hit like that. Not to mention our psyches.
• I think we've decided to keep the gift-giving in my family limited to small, stocking stuffer things. My suggestion, actually. Since we'd pretty much devolved into a wholesale gift card exchange, anyway...what the heck. Keep your money and buy yourself something, if you want. I'd like to tuck my Christmas bonus away into savings this year, personally. (What's left after I neuter Pete the Kitten, that is.) This economy worries me.
• I haven't heard a peep from the Male Me. I really can't figure him out. Gah. And I know, if I give in and call him, that he will return the call promptly and act like talking to me is the most fun thing ever. He just never INITIATES the call. What's that about?
• My Christmas cacti are starting to bloom. Right on schedule.
• Knowing that my books are once again shelved alphabetically is very comforting to me. Probably TOO comforting. But sometimes giving in to the OCD just feels nice. Like when I occasionally grab some paper towels and let myself scrub the dried soap dribbles off the sink in a public restroom--aahhhh. Better. (I only do this in PRIVATE public restrooms. Can't let anyone else see the extent of the crazy!)
• I've been missing New Guy a lot lately. Which is sort of ironic, since we NEVER spent any holidays together--he was always off with his kids. But I guess I knew the trip would end, and then he'd come back, and now? This particular trip isn't going to end. I suppose that's why I'm sad. Sigh.
• I really should wrap this up (are you still reading? good for you), and I refuse to end on that sad note, so...I woke up this morning to find Pete the Kitten snuggling next to me on the bed. It's the first time that's happened--he generally prefers the company of the other cats, so...yay! Not that I NEED another cat on the bed, but maybe there's hope for his socialization yet.

Congratulations! You made it through the drivel. Don't let anyone tell you you haven't accomplished something today. Hee.