Life update:

- so it turns out that starting a fire in my heater a few weeks ago wasn't as bad a thing as you might expect. Seems in trying to get my pilot re-lit, "they" found that my heater was leaking gasses, such as carbon monoxide, so they had to replace the whole damn thing. You'd think in the 20 years or so since they installed the last unattractive piece of shit, the technology might have advanced enough that they could generate the same amount of heat out of a smaller, more attractive POS, but no. I now have a larger, more unattractive heater taking up almost half of my living room wall space. But hey, I'm feeling a lot more energetic these days! And warm! And I'm pretty sure I won't fall asleep and die ... at least not because of carbon monoxide poisoning.

- also, just realized not too long ago just how long it takes me to clue in sometimes. In this case, I have recorded the TTCI (time to clue in) at 6 months. All the evidence was there, people had even tried to warn me about it, but I guess I just had to work it out on my own. What gets me is that not only did I not believe what I saw, I defended it! Unfortunately, heartstrings keep me tied to a situation I would really rather walk away from. Goddamn heartstrings. Just sitting around, waiting to see how much I'm going to hurt later on. Yay! Happy Holiday Season!

- went to the company holiday party last night. It was fun, as expected. And I looked hot, which was not expected. Everyone else was hot too (expected). My company rocks (less expected). Photos will be here, I think, once I make them public.

- got my car back last week, good as new, although there's a smell I can't account for that really bugs me. It's not an organic smell. It's more chemical-y. As I hate air fresheners, I am not sure how to get rid of it. Sometimes my Super Smell (tm) is a pain in the ass. Any ideas??

- my duties as Secret Santa are finally over. The gift exchange and the potluck went off without a hitch, although I did give one Beth's gift to another Beth on accident. The food at the potluck was awesome. Heard from a recent transplant from Wisconsin:

I love California potlucks! All this multi-ethnic food, and no jello!

- I took a class on making bracelets and necklaces earlier this month, and made my father's wife a lovely earring/bracelet set. I liked it so much, I may have to make one for myself. Also, I am no longer allowed to buy beads. At least for a few months. I'm not used to this whole 'hobby' thing that takes money and stuff. The only hobby I ever had was this site and that only takes loads and loads of time.

- Finally saw Borat tonight, since it's at the Parkway. Hilarious. It was also very interesting to note which parts of the film the audience had trouble with, like the black and Jewish humor. Also enjoyed the Porky Pig cartoon shown before the movie. The pointer joke was priceless.

- I'm almost done getting ready for Christmas. All my gifts that needed to be mailed have been mailed. Just have a few more on my list to get and wrap and then I'm all done!! More immediately worrying, though, is that I have invited a bunch of people over for Wednesday to see a movie, and my apartment looks like a Christmas bomb exploded - paper and tags and receipts everywhere, in addition to the normal crap all over the place. I planned on getting it started today, but party last night meant a late wakeup time today, which meant that nothing got done, really. Except seeing Borat. Yay, Borat!

Hope you are all having a fantastic December, regardless of what holiday you're celebrating.