It's the Holiday Season!

So, Whoopty Doo and Dickory Dock!  Welcome back!  It's time for the Holiday Sing-Along!  EVERYBODY!!!

On Thanksgiving Weekend, the cosmos sent to me:
12 a.m online sales
11 mile-long lines
10 missed parking spaces
9 extra feet of garland
8 days of leftovers
7 trips to Walmart
6 lost tracking numbers
FIVE EXTRA POUNDS!!!!
4 Egg Nog lattes
3 freebie totebags
2 broken ornaments
And a pneumonic parakeet!


Alright, alright!  I admit it!  I exaggerated a bit.  There were only two Egg Nog lattes and one broken ornament, but that didn't fit the song!  The rest is pretty much spot-on, though.  I stayed up until slightly after midnight Black Friday to place my Victoria's Secret online order.  The Sephora order went through a little after 2:30 am.  I live directly across the street from the mall, so I could watch the crazies line up at Toys 'R' Us and Best Buy starting around 6:30 pm Thanksgiving.  They came with all manner of tents, chairs, port-a-potties (seriously)...you name it.  I could almost understand lining up that early for Toys 'R' Us, since they opened at 10 pm, but Best Buy wasn't opening for almost twelve hours.  That's insane, especially considering the sales there, and at most places, were pretty weak this year.  At least, they were around here.  Sure, you could get a Wii game for $20, but only one that was regularly priced at $20.  Disappointed.  Did anybody score anything really amazing?  If so, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

If nothing else, the tree is up and the house is decorated, although the downstair's lack of wall decor is really noticeable now.  The presents are all bought and wrapped, and I almost feel like I can exhale.  I think I'll feel better next Thursday after my Christmas gig.  I'm the musical entertainment for a charity silent auction.  It should be fun, but it's been...interesting so far.  They don't have a playable piano, so I can't have live accompaniment, which left me looking for karaoke tapes.  It's a workable solution, but not necessarily my preferred option.  Sure, I'd love to sing "O Holy Night", but not necessarily in the style of Avril Lavigne (yes, that exists).  Luckily, Thomas found some more traditional downloads for me on Amazon.  Now, I just have to figure out the best way to play them and practice, practice, practice. 

Lastly, the bird is okay.  Rufus (you may remember the last time he was ill) decided to give us all a scare and stop moving, so we spent Saturday afternoon in the animal E.R.  $200 and a very tiny X-ray later, we learned that he has a touch of pneumonia.  So now, I get to wrangle him, wrap him in a towel, and force-feed liver flavored drops to him twice a day.  Thomas keeps telling him we're going to try waterboarding him next. 

So yeah, throw in a couple of trips to Mom's house and a few loads of laundry and you have my Thanksgiving weekend.  How was it for you guys? 

In other news, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a darn good movie.  Granted, there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, but I'm fairly sure all will be resolved in the second part.  There are also enough scares and surprises to keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end.  Just try to avoid having a small child with a loud voice and inattentive mother sitting behind you.  I learned all sorts of neat things from the one behind me.  Things like:  what was going to happen in the next scene, the results of his trip to the bathroom, and (my favorite) that the vision in his left eye was better than vision in his right.  *head desk*

Lastly, if you're like me and gained a ton of weight over the weekend (and before, but let's blame the turkey, shall we?), I can actually recommend a fast food salad that doesn't suck and won't exacerbate the problem.  Wendy's BLT Cobb is amazing.  A (generous!) half-portion will run you about $3.99, and comes with spring mix lettuce, tomato, bleu cheese crumbles, egg, applewood smoked bacon, and grilled chicken.  There's also a wonderful avacado ranch dressing on the side, but I enjoyed it without.  230 calories and 13 grams of fat without dressing.  340 calories and 23 grams of fat with.  To give you some perspective on this, a slim-fast drink contains between 170 and 190 calories, and I normally need to add a 100 calorie cheese stick to it to get me by for an hour or two.  This salad has kept me full for almost three hours, and I really only want a light snack.  A half-cup serving of sweet potatoes with all the fixings (no idea how many calories!) only killed my hunger for about 30 minutes.  That's something to think about. 

I'm a Bird Watcher...

Rufus is a very sick little parakeet. Thomas and I adopted him two years ago, and he's become part of the family. The good news is that the vet thinks he'll pull through. The bad news is that he's had a respiratory infection, which can be passed on to his mate, Fancy, and he has a heart murmur. This is one sick little blue parakeet. (Yes, I know Rufus means red. I didn't name him. That would be Thomas.)

Photo by Ailiang LLC

So, in honor of Rufus, his super-star behavior at the vet's today, and bird lovers everywhere who understand that it's not "just a bird", I did a little digging and found some pretty awesome bird-centric goodies floating around the Interwebs.I love this brooch. Not really a pin wearer, myself, but Polly looks awfully pretty in Swarovski studded purple, green and gold. Then again, I do live in the land of Mardi Gras, so what do I know. She's $15.99.

Photo by Overstock.com

This ring is amazing. I would not like to get punched in the face by someone wearing this ring (of course, I also would not like to get punched in the face, period), but it's pretty freaking gorgeous. Definitely a conversation starter for your next cocktail party:

"I say, I thought this was a cocktail party, not a cockatiel party. Aha, aha, aha, aha!"

*punch*

$39.99 at Overstock.com. Medical insurance not included.

Photo by ebay

I want this poster. My entire apartment is decorated in art deco and vintage inspired posters. Some movies, some magazine covers, whatever looks cool. I have no earthly idea where this would go, but I'm about two seconds away from hitting buy it now on the ebay listing. It's a reproduction of a 1919 perfume advertisement, and all I can say is they sure don't make 'em like they used to. $21.95 on ebay, with free shipping.

Photo by Dinodirect.com

Ha!! This just makes me giggle. It's a 4GB, rhinestone encrusted, parrot shaped USB Flash Drive. It's silly and pointless, and I so want one. Mostly, though, because $34.79 is a really good price for four gigs. Just sayin'.

Photo by ShopNewZeland

And, last but not least, it's a budgie! It's a robot! It's both!! Robo-keet! I'm not really sure I have anything to add to that. It's $153.30--way more expensive than anything else on this list, but I had to show you guys.
I'll keep everyone posted on the little guy's recovery. Happy bird-hunting!
UPDATE: Rufus is 100% back to normal, and he and Fancy are very happy to be back in the same cage again. Thanks!