Sunshine in Rebecca's eyes can make her cry.

We've got our heating on one week and the air conditioner on the next. Typical Louisiana winter. Our apartment has a heater in the wall between the living room and the bedroom. The problem is that the bedroom is a lot smaller, so by the time it's uncomfortably warm in there, it's still chilly in the living room. It got cold the other night, and Sara allowed herself, and more importantly, Sable to sit shivering the living room because she didn't know how to work the heater! It made me feel like I was living with Adam again.

I'm very glad that I didn't have to work the morning of Black Friday. The holiday season is supposed to be about peace and goodwill, and I hate the way that message always seems to get lost in the frenzied consumerism. I cannot stand holiday commercials; the "buy, buy, buy!" message is overwhelming. I did work on Black Friday afternoon, but by then things had calmed down. Our store really doesn't do that much business for Christmas anyway; I mean, we're busier, yes, but not nearly as much as other retailers. (Back-to-school is our Christmas.)

I called in sick on Black Saturday because I caught a stomach bug and felt so nauseous that I had to make myself vomit, something I'd never done before. I haven't done any holiday shopping yet. So far the only person who I'm buying for who has posted a list is Sara, and even with her list, I'm not sure what to get her. I haven't been able to think of many things that I want, either. But here is a list, just in case anyone who reads this wants to get me something.

Money. Because I can always use it and always need it.
A teddy bear. For Sara, so she will STOP. STEALING. MINE.
A calendar for 2009. I would really like one of Paris/France.
Curtains. (Crossed out because we got some!) We have two windows in the bedroom, side by side, that I would like curtains for because they face east and onto the street, so they let in a lot of light in the mornings.
Any of the following movies: Just Around the Corner, Shirley Temple; Cinderella, Lesley Ann Warren; Paper Moon, Tatum O'Neal; A Little Princess, Liesel Matthews; The Secret Garden, Kate Maberly; Corrina, Corrina, Tina Majorino. I would prefer DVDs, except for Just Around the Corner, which I would like in the colorized VHS clamshell edition released by Fox in the 1990s. A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are avaiable as a double feature on one DVD.

For dinner tonight, I'm trying to make myself scalloped potatoes. I actually miss the kind I used to get in the lycee cantine. Scalloped potatoes, green beans, French fries, and steak haches were about the only foods from the cantine that I enjoyed eating.