Yes, my arm is sore today

Last night, after the cleaning fiasco I went over to see Jenny. We would up playing the Wii for an insanely long period of time. We did all the games on Wii Play and Wii Sports. It was there that Jenny discovered I have a gift for Tennis. And so she encouraged me to play the machine. It was really fun. But my arm is sore. I still think it would be fun to own a Wii. It's not too late for a Christmas present...

Today I was ultimately scolded for some of the things I threw out yesterday. And (after a discussion with a very supportive friend) I decided that it's really their problem, and it's really sad. I think part of it is my dad's problem too. Because he adds to the mess. Mom's hoarding enables his hoarding. Do you really need a neighborhood newsletter from the beginning of the year?

I was telling supportive-friend during our chat that I got my parents a really nice cookbook, but they're cookbooks are already overflowing the space allotted. It's a nice gift but I feel bad about giving it to them because it's just adding to the clutter.

I decided in a somewhat stressed and irrational moment that in the future, I'm not getting them any material gifts. It's all going to be gift certificates to restaurants. Not even stores because they will buy things that add to the clutter. Not even nice boxes and drawers to manage the clutter because that just gives the clutter permission to spread beyond the boxes and clutter it's already filling. We'll see how long that lasts. I figure if I can't get to a Cincinnati restaurant there's always the One Laptop Per Child project which I can definitely get behind.

After I was scolded I helped make appetizers (you know I couldn't spell the French word that means the same thing) and part of supper. We had goat cheese and pears on crackers (thank you Amanda, they were great) and then I made collards with turkey bacon and vinegar. That was a bowl full of yum.

My aunt and uncle came (the same one who was singing on Saturday) and Mark came with his girlfriend. We like the girlfriend so far. She's really friendly. As my cousin John (Mark's brother) put it, "she's her own person and you can have a conversation with her, not like one of those plastic bimbos that are his usual flavor of the week". I concur. (You know, I just realized that I was going to share a link with the family to this blog so they could see the video of Aunt Barb singing, but maybe I shouldn't refer them to this blog.)

After dinner we watched Miss Potter which has Renee Zellweger in it. It's a really good movie. It's a mildly girl power type of movie. Really it's fun because you get to see how some of her stories were written. I could easily identify Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and the duck. And the toad. And the mice. It was fun.

And then I was reminded we have to get up early tomorrow. Presents. Yea.