Should have stayed in bed...

On Sunday, but I decided it would be a good day to:
- Go to Costco
- Try a McCafe Mocha
- Put up the Christmas tree

Well Costco was a zoo.  We're this far away from Christmas and the place was packed!  Everyone was roaming around with that glazed over look in their eyes, you know, like every time you go to Costco.  It was all Mike and I could do to get our 6 20 items and leave.  It was going well until we got to the cash and the cashier decided that Mike and I were not together as a couple and would not accept Mike's Costco card and my money.  Despite our protests that we have never had to do this in the past, she told us it was a new rule....

ok...

To say I left Costco with a slight headache is an understatement.  (But I did buy a large bag of M & Ms!!).

Heading back home, I picked up a McCafe Mocha.  I was curious and really wanted some whipped cream.  We also grabbed a couple McDonald's snacker wraps - Mike got the Ranch one and I got the spicy one.  I then promptly got buffalo sauce on my unwashed Costco germed fingers.  Those same fingers that I did not want to come into contact with my food and those same fingers that I promptly licked because I totally would have gotten said sauce into my eyes.

*sigh*

My headache has intensified but the promise of yummy whipped cream is keeping it at bay.

We are now heading home at this point, mainly because Mike is a smart man and he knows once that vein starts to appear in the middle of my forehead that he'd better do something before I turn into She Hulk.

 Credited to Peter David & Shawn Moll

At home, I start putting away the groceries, then enjoy my McCafe and I'm thinking, surely that must be the end of the madness. I head upstairs, change out of my clothes and put on some sweatpants and a big comfy sweater because I wasn't going back out there to the madness...

I finish my coffee and proceed to decorate the Christmas tree.  I thought I was being so smart when I put the tree together on Saturday with only the fun stuff to do on Sunday... I start with the lights and then realize that I had forgotten to string lights around the trunk.  Because of this, the plugs ended up attaching to the extension cord at the middle of the tree instead of the bottom.  No big deal, but its me and I'm a perfectionist and it didn't help my headache, which was slightly bigger.

All the while, Gimli's trying to get under the tree because he remembers toys coming from there last year and he's hoping he finds a new one.

I took a deep breath and started stringing the rest of the lights.  This year, I decided I'd be a bit more generous on the branches with the lights and naturally, ran out.  I had about 1/3 of the tree left to go.  Keep in mind I was alternating red light strings with purple ones and I ran out.

I looked at Mike with a scowl, "we have to go to the store."

"What? Why?"

"I ran out of lights.  I cannot finish the tree without the rest of them and I'd like the tree to be finished today because the 2 boxes of ornaments are sitting in the hallway and I don't want to leave them there any longer."

And all the while Spike TV is playing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

So, I put on my long coat over my home clothes that make me look like I belong on the TLC show, "What Not to Wear", even though its well above freezing outside, and we head to the store.  At this point my head is throbbing and I figure its because the McCafe has decided not to agree with me on account of my strange allergy to milk products containing preservatives.

We get to the first store, no small red lights.  We go to the second store, we find small red lights, but no small purple ones.  I decide that my tree will look lopsided with purple lights at the bottom only and I grab the red lights and head to the checkout.  All the while, the same glazed over eyed people from Costco are roaming around this store too.

Make it back home and finish stringing the lights and then start on the ribbon.  Thank God for Youtube where I found a delightful woman from Colonial Williamsburg who illustrated the right way to string ribbon.

Somehow the tree ends up decorated and I'm done for the evening.

If that's how the stores are now, good luck to us all who still have Christmas shopping to do!  Oh and next time I feel the urge to stay in bed, I'm going to stay right there!