Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me-e-e-e...

Last night small snow flurries started; this morning we woke to a brilliant if thin and threadbare blanket of white. Now, true to Texas form, it is nearly noon and the snow is nearly gone save where the shadows of trees and houses shield scattered scraps from the sun.

Almost white Christmas and only partly blue - I suspect PMS and killer cramps are making me a mite bluer than I would be otherwise (apologies to my male readership!) Being divorced sucks, but not so much as being angry all the time.

Whenever I mentally realize I am feeling blue, I simply start singing (with as much over the top drama as possible):

"I-I-ll have a (huh-a-huh-a) Bluuuuuuuue (ahoo-ahoo-ahoo-a) Chrristmasssssss (a-wah) without youuuuuuu ...." (aside: "Not really babe...")

This always makes me giggle. Then I can segue into a full out impersonation of an Elvis impersonator impersonating Elvis - my favorite is Kurt Russell at the end of 3000 Miles to Graceland while the credits roll. The King himself never really rang my bell - I suppose I was born too late for that particular bit of hysteria - but Russell dressed up in sequined white snapping his fingers and doing the boogie while crooning sappy love lyrics is just - fine, girlfriend.

Under the Dome is classic Stephen King. The last few books were a bit - I dunno - off. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when Lisey's Story and Duma Key came out, but they seemed to be lacking, somehow.

Reading this immediately after reading The Stand, however, makes me appreciate just how much fun King can be. I'm about halfway through (Yes, I stayed up and started it at midnight last night!) and I'm transfixed.

I'm about ready to do a full on King immersion, and go back to the store for copies of It and Needful Things.

Well, time to clean this house and fix a big Christmas brunch. The big kids are at X's, playing joyfully with the Wii, with mad games of Connect Four and Toss-A-Cross thrown in at intervals. V loved her charm bracelet, and it fit perfectly so she won't lose it. C was ecstatic over his Nintendo DS, and both were alarmingly delighted with the BB guns.

D is so happy with his toys - we picked out just the right things this year, and he was big enough to rip his own packages apart so that was fun. I think he liked the train track and little magnetic cars the best - he hollered "Mom! A 'Chooo'!" (He calls trains 'chooos'.)

I am starting my ten AC/Helium articles after dinner, when D takes a nap - we'll see how I do for the first day of my new program. I'll be tracking my progress on the Hack Writers Blog.

Merry Christmas to me-e-e-e-eeeee.....