'Tis a crazy season

...which is the reason I'm not posting until, hmmm...

...6:00pm my time.

So here's the thing. I suck at multi-tasking. I'm like one of those horses where they put the blinders on so they aren't distracted by what's around them.

Yup. I'm that bad. It's surprising I can chew gum and walk at the same time... especially considering I'm blonde.

If something isn't directly in front of my eyes, it's like it doesn't exist for me.

Now, this tunnel-vision-thing is totally awesome when I'm on a tight deadline and things need to go-go-go, 'cause I can easily shut out everything around me and just focus.

When it really sucks is when something messes up my careful single-minded-plan. Like when the husband came home last night after his Christmas-work-party, crawled into bed and shut off the alarm 'cause he didn't have to go into the office early today. He also left his car at work and took a taxi home. So, at 9:15am when the cat used my stomach as a spring-board to hop from the bed to the windowsill (most likely to growl at the wandering deer) and woke me up... well, my carefully-planed-out-day was already ruined.

My plan for this morning was:

6:00am wake-up

6:30am breakfast with the husband

7:00 husband leaves for work

7:30 shower/get ready

8:00am, take pick-up truck in for service (some kind of recall on the door handles -> the latch could just pop open at any time. Do you feel safe? I sure don't.)

10:30-ish/11:00-ish, drive to Rona* to exchange a couple things and buy a bunch of things (for renovating the house and de-witching the yard. Maybe they have one of those squirrel guards large enough to keep the deer away from the bird feeder...)

12:00-ish lunch

12:30-ish big Costco run since we have little-to-no food in the house (since we've been away so much)

1:30-2:00-ish drive home/put food away

2:30-ish drive to the BCSPCA to pick up a signed form and drive it to the Police station**

3:30-ish get pet food ready since the cat goes to jail tomorrow, the dog is going to Vancouver with me

4:00-ish get myself ready for the weekend away

4:30-ish clean house, think about making dinner, etc, etc, etc


...and instead, my day went a little off-track. Let's just say I got breakfast, I drove the husband to work, the handles on the truck are now fixed so it is less likely the doors will fly open and I will fall out into traffic, my form is dropped off at the Police station... and not a whole heck of a lot else got done.

Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but until the new year, I'm home exactly 6 days and the fridge doesn't fill itself. If I don't make time to shop, well, the husband and I will be eating cat/dog food 'cause it'll be the only thing left in the house that's edible. I've also got Christmas shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, keep the cat/dog clean*** and their nails clipped so the cat doesn't shred anyone and the dog doesn't tap-dance through the house in the night and keep us both awake.

I don't think I'm even going to have time to put up our Christmas tree or decorate the house.

I'm tired already and it's only the 16th!

...so, if I'm a little lax over the next few weeks about posting, commenting on blogs or replying to email... this is why.

'Tis the season of craziness... and honestly, I can't wait until it's over, 'cause all this craziness certainly throws off my carefully-planned-out-schedule.

...and now my tap-dancing beagle is reminding me it is ten minutes after 6:00pm, meaning her dinner is ten minutes late. I'm thinking she'll give me two more minute before climbing onto the sofa and attempting to sit on my laptop.

Seriously, Snoopy has nothing on her when it comes to dancing...

So, how are your holiday seasons shaping up? Please, please regale me with your tales of relaxation and get-aways to warm, tropical locations... and nothing that involves long ferry rides...



* like Home Depot, but Canadian. I have a contractor's account with them.
** I'm planning to volunteer a couple hours a week at the BC SPCA, and to be a volunteer, you have to allow them to run a criminal check on you.
*** oddly enough, the husband and I are both allergic to cats/dogs, even though we have one of each. Feeding them raw food minimizes about 80% of the allergens, but once a week the dog has to be bathed and the cat has to be wiped down with a damp cloth to remove the saliva from their fur. Most people don't know that saliva is actually what most people are allergic to, not the fur itself. Dander comes in second, which is solved by the raw food diet, and the raw diet also changes the alkalinity of the saliva which reduces those allergies, but doesn't completely erase them.

...I know too much about raw pet food and allergies...