Riesling, Puppy Chow, and Puccini

Tonight is my last night home before taking off for Christmas vacation. It was also my last day in the office. That being the case, work was less of a peaceful, relaxing half day sort of affair, and more me finishing all that paperwork I had forgotten, sending and receiving a bajillion (no this is not an exaggeration) emails, and glaring at my phone every time it rang fighting back the urge to yell "Seriously?!?!" at it.

Being the responsible person that I am, I have also left a fair amount of wrapping until this evening. And also I have to pack. Because my flight leaves tomorrow. In the morning. So, I picked up a bottle of wine on my way home. Because, as I learned while writing papers in college, mundane and boring tasks suddenly become not so mundane and boring when you do them with a glass of wine.

Then I got home and thought about the wrapping and the packing. You see, I didn't buy any wrapping paper this year, leaving me to creatively wrap everything in shopping bags. So far this has worked given that even Trader Joe's bags are especially festive at this time of year. It is however, more time consuming than traditional wrapping paper. Especially since I may be having to work with plastic soon. Further complicating the packing scenario is the fact that my family and I are spending Christmas this year in Arizona with my grandparents. And I just don't know how to handle this from a packing stand point. I mean, I know Arizona is warmer than Pittsburgh (yay!) but how much warmer? Am I going to need stockings if I wear a dress on Christmas Eve? And are we more likely to be going hiking, or playing mahjong? And which of my suitcases will hold my yoga mat again? So I thought about these things. And decided to bake instead.

Baking and I have an extreme relationship at best. I certainly enjoy baking more than cooking, but my desire for baking seems to occur at one of two times.

Time 1. It's Sunday afternoon, I have nothing to do (obviously this example is not occurring during football season). I know, I'll make some baked goods!

Time 2. OMG I have so much to do! I don't even know where to start, or why I've put it off this long....I'm making brownies!

So, this is why I found myself at 9 pm, with none of the wrapping or packing done, drinking wine, making puppy chow, and listening to Puccini. Because nothing makes you feel further away from reality than some gut-wrenching, dramatic aria about losing the love of your life and wanting to die. In Italian.

The puppy chow turned out great, thanks to this nifty recipe I found today on the Burgh Baby, one of my favorite local blogs, despite the fact that I am not a parent. And, now I have a home made treat to bring to family for Christmas. Of course, I have no idea how I'll wrap it.