Gah. Still sickly, but better. Baby still sickly, but better. Now it's at that not-quite-incapacitating, but still-quite-affecting normal activities stage. I say again, gah.

***

Would you believe that I finally, finally bought some Christmas presents today? And by "bought," I mean "clicked 'continue to checkout' on my Amazon page." We're not doing too many gifts this year. One less full-time worker + one full-time baby = well, let's just all remember it's the spirit of the season that counts.

I talked to my dad this morning about our holiday plans. We've been trying to figure out how to schedule all the family and friend visits during the two weeks we'll be back in Chicago. We were fondly remembering the simple days when it was Christmas Eve with Dad's family, Christmas Day with Mom's, and New Year's Eve with friends. Then we went and grew up. Now there are in-laws and grandkids and friends' kids and in-laws and grandkids, and everyone has the nerve to live in different houses, cities and states. Plus, many of these people have these annoying jobs that limit their available time. The education field, people! Sure, you might miss things like "money" and "respect," but three weeks off for the holidays! Hard to beat.

If I could do a cool Venn diagram, I'd make one with various circles labeled "People I want to see," "People I have to see," "People who have never met Tankbaby," "People who only have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and/or New Year's Day off...." You can see where it would get complicated.

Dad's take on it is, "This is why no one should marry outside the family." Beat. "Of course, the kids would all turn out weird."

***

Moms out there: any tips on how to clear the teeny baby nostrils? Right now we've got this whole try-to-nurse-realize-can't-breathe-open-mouth-stop-nursing-realize-hunger-cry-create-runny-nose situation. It's...less than ideal. He hates, hates, hates the bulb syringe. (Well, in his nose. He loves sucking on it.) So right now, there's this wrestling match where I try to manage his grabby hands, his kicking feet, his head that seems to spin 360 degrees, all in the face of the Squall of Extreme Anger.

It is always stressful, but today I watched two episodes of Dollhouse and the wrestling of an unwilling innocent onto a mat while performing a procedure...it seemed a little...darker, is all I'm saying. (On a side note, if Alan Tudyk is ever missing, check my purse.)

***

MOTH and I went out last night to see a show that he propped (meaning "provided the props for," but I'd hate to end with a preposition). It was The Lying Kind, a dark farce that was terribly funny, but I had a hard time enjoying it for the first half. The premise is that these two bumbling cops (because it's a British farce, you've gotta have the two bumbling cops...and a vicar) have to tell an old couple that their daughter, Carol, was killed in a car wreck. Now, all kinds of wacky hi-jinks ensue, but I kept thinking, "But Carol's dead! This is all funny now, but whaaat abooout Caaarolll?" It didn't help that the actor playing Carol's father was a) absolutely tiny and wizened, looking like a stiff wind would blow him down, and b) the same actor that played Herr Schultz in Cabaret, so I kept thinking "First the Nazis, now this!" Poor guy can't catch a break.

At intermission, MOTH was asking me how I was enjoying the show, and I had to confess my neurotic empathy that was putting a slight damper on how much I could laugh. I mean, obviously the play was a farce, so all would be well, but I just kept thinking that somewhere, someone would have cops show up to tell them about their daughter's tragic death (well, hello, Dark Side, I didn't see you come in!). MOTH laughed at me (mostly fondly, I'm pretty sure), and refused to reassure me that there was a misunderstanding and that Carol was fine. (Grounds for a good hard pinch? Discuss.) We went back in for Act 2 and I idly flipped through my program, until I saw an actress listed for the part of Carol. I crowed, "SHE'S ALIVE!! SHE'S ALIVE!!" much to the amusement of MOTH and the confusion of those around us.

It's possible I might need to get out more.