So, desperate to have something to watch for the coming week, I took a chance and bought both seasons of Arrested Development a few days ago. And oh my God, what a hilarious show. I think between it and Scrubs, I love tv now.

Also, I am reaffirming my love for The Shins. SO AWESOME.

Here's an update of everything I've accomplished:

- went in with my sister on a $100 purse for my mom
- got my dad The Da Vinci Code
- a $25 Ikea gift card for my brother/sister-in-law
- a $25 Forever 21 gift card for my sister
- video games for three of my nephews, baby clothes for one of my nieces
- two CDs for Cat
- pre-ordered a songbook for James
- a snowglobe for Pam

Two to go.

The hell that is Christmas shopping. I made my first excursion tonight with Cat, and it was every bit as stressful as I imagined it would be.

Here is the list of people I am expected to buy gifts for:
- my parents
- my brother, sister and sister-in-law
- my two nieces and four nephews
- my four friends

I have only accomplished gifts for three of these 15 people so far. This next week will surely be an adventure.

My mood right now is an odd mix of contentment and loneliness.

Lontentliness...?

Last night was spent at Clay's house. She and James came to pick me up from work, and we headed back to Clay's for leisure and entertainment. When she realized her dad wasn't coming home, she asked us to stay with her to keep her company (she's deathly afraid of sleeping alone). It was the first night I ever spent at her dad's, made all the more awkward when I was the first to wake up and headed to the living room to find a confused and startled Clay.

Many errands were run today. After cashing my new paycheck, we went to look at the apartment Cat and James are considering moving into. It's so nice, it got me all pumped and wanting an apartment of my own. They're still debating whether or not to apply though. As close as it is to James's work, a definite plus since he doesn't have a car, they're also fairly expensive, even on their dual income of making $8-10 an hr each.

Anyway, we ended the night back at Clay's, playing Sims 2 and introducing Cat to the greatest pizza on the planet, Brooklyn's. I'm getting drained, so it's go time for me. Later, dawgs.

The streets froze over last night, so when Cat and James came to pick me up for lunch, I got to get out early. Seems like every time they meet up with me I get to leave work. Coincidence? I think not.

After they got me, we had to go to the mall so Billy could Christmas shop, which was scary and long because of the weather. Most of the stores were closed, so it was decided to get liquor (since liquor stores are ALWAYS open) and rent a movie and take it back to Cat's friend Katie's apartment. We rented Not Another Teen Movie, which was dumb as hell. But we had fun. Driving in near subzero temperatures is an adventure.

It's supposed to snow tonight.

Good timing, as I am cursed to work the closing shift, and an 80% chance of snow increases my chances of getting off early.

Yay, snow!

Okay, so James and I both had the day off while Cat worked all day, so we decided to spend the day hanging out. After about two hours at home, we got tired of being in the house, so we figured we'd go with my sister to the mall. We had to wait for her to pick us up, then go back to her apartment and get something she forgot.

Once we ended up at the mall, James accidentally broke part of her stroller, so after an hour and a half at the mall and a side trip to Discount Tire so James could pick up his health insurance form, we had to go return the stroller to get a new one. It took us about two hours of running around Plano before we discovered no store in the area had another.

So lesson learned: don't take a day at home for granted, or you'll end up running around the city endlessly.

I have a love/hate relationship with the morning shift. It always goes by pretty quickly, much quicker than the closing shift, but then I have to get up at goddamn 7am. I have not slept enough lately.

Christmas is around the corner. I have 14 people to get gifts for, and I only know what I'm getting two of those people. MUST SHOP.

$156.01!

And yes, that extra penny is important.