Yesterday I was at Trader Joe's, buying boxes of chocolates for Ting and his two construction guys to thank them for the hard work they've been doing, and I went through the check out line, chatted with the cashier while I paid, and went on my way ... but then I thought, "Wait. That didn't sound right." So I looked at my receipt, and -- yes, indeedy -- the cashier had charged me for *one* box of chocolates, instead of *three*.

I had this lovely, horrible moment of greedy glee. That's like finding $20 on the street! And with our current finances, $20 is definitely meaningful! But then reality came crashing in, and I realized that walking out of that store, knowing what I knew, would be tantamount to shoplifting. And so I turned around and went back to the cashier and pointed out the problem, and she charged me more money, and I went on my way feeling better -- I'm fairly certain -- than I would have with an extra $20 in my pocket.

But I'm very aware of that moment of avarice. For a few seconds there, I *really* wanted that money. I was *very* tempted to just casually walk out of the store, whistling innocently. I'm not proud of that.

Then today I got tons of stuff done. Dishes, beaucoup laundry, considerable Xmas gift project accomplishment (still much work to be done, of course, but I think I'm on a roll now), other Xmas preparations that shall remain secret (since they involve Shannon, and he reads this journal), wrote a thank you card to the in-laws for their very kind Xmas gift check, cleaned the litter boxes, and who knows what else. I lost track. I also slept for a couple hours, of course, but I'm glad I also was relatively productive.

With part of my Xmas money from the in-laws, I'm going to buy myself some green socks with white bicycles on them, which you can see here. They rock. In fact, this whole sock-loving website rocks! You should buy stuff from them, because the world needs more interesting socks!

Today I also spent some affectionate time cuddling the Cobweb kitty, as she has clearly not been feeling well today. Early in the day, she kept hiding, but in the evening she emerged and spent quite a while curled up in my lap. I tried not to pet her too much (I enjoy petting her, but if I do it too much she gets annoyed and walks away to sit somewhere nearby but out of touching range.) so that she would stay with me as long as possible. But eventually I couldn't control myself and the petting got to be too much and I was abandoned in favor of the heated kitty pad (which she now loves) and her sister (who was already curled up there and who immediately began licking Cobweb's head).

I've also begun reading Marked, the first novel of the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. Yeah, yeah, more teenage vampires. But the series seems to be loved by many, so I'll give it a try. At least the writing (thus far) is better than the Twilight books, but that's not saying much.

I seem to be going on another YA romance novel binge, as I've requested a few such books from the library in the last couple days. I guess, after reading The Shadow of the Wind, I felt like, "If I'm going to read not-terribly-intellectual stuff, I may as well read stuff that entertains me more." So I'll hold off on the Salman Rushdie and the José Saramago for now, and read about some angsty teenagers. 'Cause I love me some angst, and no one does angst quite like teenagers. No offense to any of you who are teenagers, of course. :)