Why do the Daily Mail and Sky News do it? They’re both just gossip clearing houses. Don’t go there. I’ve been up since 3:00 this morning, and I’ve spent too long looking at this nonsense. Perhaps I should have graded assignments instead?

Nah.

Some stories of note, however:

1. So sad…there was an all-out brawl at Hector Camacho’s funeral. But, as is often the case with boxers (sorry to play into the stereotype, but sadly, it’s true more often than not), Hector was a thug.  
2. OK, I’m thinking some tough love is in order here. If yet another judge gives Girlfriend yet another free pass, I will have lost what little of my faith remains in the American justice system.
3. The poor, poor lady. What will she do with the $4M in a nursing home?
4. Well, I learned something this morning.
5. Ha! Awesome. Check out Mr. Bates’s “before” picture. Dreamy…
6. Eeeeeyep. Role models for my students.

You know, some people hate to wrap gifts, but I actually see it as therapy. I can’t do anything visually artistic, really — can’t even draw a stick figure correctly. I couldn’t mold or sculpt or fashion much of anything worthwhile. But I can wrap a present.

Trouble is, if I want to get my dining room table cleared off (and hide things that need to be hidden), I need to start on it. Like, tonight. Inside those boxes are some of my Black Friday deals, with more arriving in the coming days, and three more going to Lars and Helen’s house, as I don’t want the Thriller to see whence his prezzies came.

So, after school today, I’m going to spend some quality time with tape and paper and ribbon. See what kind of dent I can make in things. Then I will put them under my little tree (I’m still sad that we don’t get a real tree anymore, but this cutie from last year is doing the trick) and go on to other tasks…like going through my Joseph score. We watched the film version last night in my classroom — oy. This is gonna be some work.

And speaking of work…time to drop that dough in the fryer. Hey, it’s almost the weekend! Enjoy your day, fiends. Check in, as you know how I lurve comment lurve.

Why you no wakey-wakey on time?

ARG.

The thing about vacations is that they’re eventually over, and you have to go back to work. I’m OK with that.

OK, that’s a lie. Of course, most of you know that if I could, I’d retire tomorrow and be Grammie, bake things to sell and teach online as my fulltime job. But as I read in a depressing article last night, the latter won’t be happening anytime soon. Sobering. And you know, when you stop to think about it, the universities are making out like bandits: low salary payouts, no benefits…what’s not to love?

Anyway.

As I said yesterday, we’re in the final push to 20 December. My Christmas concerts are early this year: a first-time experiment. Usually, the singers aren’t ready until that last week of school. We’ll be pushing that deadline this year with concerts on the 10th and 12th, but I think they’ll do OK. I hope so. They should. They might. Yikes.

And even though I’m not thrilled about getting back into the old routine again, I am delighted for the Christmas season to be here! I’m looking forward to time with family, and I might squeeze some friend excursions in there as well. The dining room table serves as the parking lot for the gift deliveries that started yesterday…it’s all exciting.

What’s your favorite part of Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? I like the family get-togethers the best, of course, but I love the baking, the shopping, and, not surprisingly — Christmas break!

I really need to retire tomorrow. I can dream, can’t I?

Fink, off to the showers and the school house

Ever feel like good ol’ Chuck, when he gets smacked in the head with the football?

Cripes.

I was all set to tell you about the Galaxy SIII phones that the Thriller and I procured yesterday, but decided to check some emails first. I had a notice from SiteGround.com (the best web host anywhere) that one of my add-on domain slots was due to expire. Well, since I told you recently that I was letting go of my iron hold on my Comfort Foodie site, I thought the renewal notice was for that domain. So I canceled it, effective immediately.

But what I really canceled was finkweb.org. *bOnk*

So, I frantically filled out a support ticket, thinking all the while, What if they’ve already deleted the WordPress database containing all my posts since 2008? Panic ensued. Of course, two things happened:

1. They were Johnny On the Spot and restored everything within 5 minutes
2. I went in and backed up my database files

So, now that that’s over, I can tell you that we like these new phones. It’s going to take a bit of getting used to them, as with any new device, but we are impressed by the clarity of the graphics and the speed of the processor (helped out by 4G, of course). Shout-out to Mark P. at Verizon for making it an easy transition — you’re the best!

Now I need to get some serious work done on my last day of Thanksgiving break. Tomorrow morning marks the all-out insane push to Christmas, and I have to be ready.

At least all of my Christmas shopping is done. Don’t hate.