Winner?

The lottery drawing for tonight is in about 20 minutes and the jackpot is $43M. I am sitting here with my co-author Chloe in my lap wishing/praying/hoping that we could, please oh please, possibly win that jackpot? Wouldn't that be fab? Yes, it would. I dream about all the great things we could do with that money - the people we could help. The lives we could change. And of course, I dream of quitting my job and J. quitting his immediately. Oh to dream. There's always hope - every Wednesday and every Saturday, there is new hope. And possibilities. And it's OK if we don't win - we don't, haven't and probably won't and yet, I still dream. And wish and hope.

Chloe is asleep on my lap. When I'm not typing, she tucks her snout into the crook of my elbow, shielding her eyes from view. Our laps is now one of her favorite places in the evening - her fur is apparently not quite warm enough and she needs some snuggling. She's a busy, busy girl all day long and can't wait to conk out in our laps every evening after dinner. Every once in a while, she lets out a teeny 'bark' or a growl. Which scares me to death since I'm in the house alone and I can't imagine what she's hearing that I don't hear.

J. and the boys went to the movies. Some gangster movie. Not exactly Christmas fare. I want to see Enchanted - no interest. Maybe next weekend I'll just take myself.

We're pretty much done with Christmas shopping except for extended family. J. was with me today and talked me out of buying a stove top nut glazer - which would have cost $30 plus $4 for each bottle of glaze. He said 'if you want glazed nuts, by a jar of them'. And he's right. No point in buying some gadget that we will rarely use and if we do use it, will create way too many sweet/fattening things that are hard to resist. So I bought some toffee cashews instead and skipped the 'Christmas' gift for myself. I don't need it. I don't really even want it that much - but I did want glazed nuts 'cuz I love them....but I had some so I'm good.

The boys are spoiled rotten again this Christmas, already. And J. reminded me to be sure I'm keeping all of our purchases written down so we don't forget about them and don't forget how much we've (already) spent and what we have to wrap. It all adds up very quickly and I tend to get carried away in the moment and can't wait to spoil them. Surprise them. Make the morning as magical as humanly possible. The 'wow' factor is very important to me and I work hard at surprising them every year. This year will be no exception.

I did not work this weekend - at least not so far. I should work. Need to work. Have a gazillion things to do that I should be taking care of. But I'm in the office all this next week with very few meetings and I think I can just plow away throughout the week, into the early evenings, if needed - and/or work next weekend if needed and just enjoy the long weekend. Only one day left.....

Chloe is getting restless - time to go outside for a few minutes in the freezing cold and try to cajole her into doing her business. She likes to sniff and explore every square inch of the lawn, as if she's never been there before, in order to find just the perfect place to take care of her business. Nothing deters her from this 'routine'. And it requires us being with her - she will not go out alone, or she will but if there's no one to remind her why she's out there, she will return inside only to piddle on the floor moments later. So we take her out and try to encourage her to do it fast! She's getting better - she's had just a couple accidents the past week and those were our fault for not paying attention to her pleas for going out. We're working on it.