So, it began Tuesday night.  DH informed me he had distributed my Christmas Wish list to the family and my brain started to flood with mental images of all those things I forgot to write down…

First… a Camera Lens!  I’ve been borrowing two lenses from my Mentor in Photography and REALLY should get those back to him, though he has told me that he’s fine with me using them.  Granted, a lens is, or can be, a pricey item, but I’m willing to settle for gift cards to The Camera Company!  Or, even a nice starter lens, a 50mm.

The second thing I should have asked for… heated gloves (or liners)!  My circulation sucks. My fingers have been known to turn blue and ice-cold in the middle of summer.  In winter, even with gloves, my fingers are painfully cold in moments of stepping out the door.  Or, I could start dressing like an Inuit… that is always an option.

I should have asked for what I have affectionately dubbed, “The Ching Ching Monkey“… When I get really happy about something (have I mentioned before that even I think I’m weird??) I have been known to clap my hands together and chime in with “Ching! Ching! Ching!”  DH finds this funny, and laughs, which then makes ME laugh, so I continue a little longer.  Positive reinforcement, Baby!

Other things I should have asked for:

• A Magic 8 ball
• Newton’s Cradle
• Lava Lamp
• A piggy bank (though DH and I did see a pink ceramic one with ARGYLE on it… Oh yeah… I love argyle, too)
• Gift Cards for Barnes & Noble so I can get some of those eBooks on my Wish List… I have had Mae West’s biography on there for MONTHS!
• A new pair of Merrell Chameleon shoes.  I literally BROKE my last pair because I wore them to death.  (size 9.5 in the color Brindle, please)
• Guitar lessons.  I have a guitar… I’d like to learn to play it.
• Piano lessons.  I have a piano… I like to learn to play it a lot better.
• Dancing lessons.  Yes, that’s right.  It’s fun!

This will conclude my list of items I shoulda, woulda, coulda put on my Christmas Wish List… but forgot.

Some highlights of yesterday and today:

1. Two more mice have been caught, though Fat Cat ate half of one…
2. I had McDonald’s for breakfast today… yeah, I know it’s horrible for me, but I don’t care.
3. I got to see snow being made at the ski jump on the way into work this morning.

AND!  The MOST important, Super-Fantastic News of the DAY!!!!  (and no, this doesn’t have anything to do with me)

My friend Julie is in a music video for the group Shadows Down that basically highlights a major part of her life.  It’s a powerful video and the news clippings are all from the fights she’s waged against the state of VA for the mentally ill.  Please check it out!!  (If the video below doesn’t work, please use the hyperlink at the start of this paragraph under “music video”)