YAY! Select Comfort delivered the bed today. I can't wait to put some clean sheets and the quilt Gram gave us on it, take a shower, and then chill.

Got a good portion of holiday shopping done. The bed and RockBand products were pretty much our shared gift, although I will probably pick him up something personal since he told me to pick out some BPAL.

I didn't think I'd be seeing Mom for the holidays, so I gave her the gift on Saturday with the centerpiece that we'd won. She took me aside and asked me plainly if we were coming to visit for Xmas or not, since Bree and I had been giggling about something (shadesong 's cats) and she thought that we were planning to surprise her. In the car on the way home, I mentioned this to Bryan, and he said that with his new work schedule, he will actually have Christmas Day off.

Bryan has a cunning plan: spending Christmas in New England.

• Because he is was transferred to the Dell project, he now has Saturdays and holidays off. Which means that he will have a three-day weekend.
• The office will close early on Christmas Eve. The Dell project, however, may tell workers to have a nice holiday.
• He actually prefers driving at night in winter, since the drive seems to pass more quickly. Driving sunrise to sunset makes us both feel as if we've lost an entire day.
• Bryanna has her EEG scheduled for that Monday, and we are supposed to keep her awake all night anyway.
• The kids do not have school Monday morning.
• The dog can come with us this time.
• We can pick up an autofeeder for the cats.
• We don't have to stock up our kitchen for the holidays.
• If it's cool with my brother, Bryan can crash while we open presents.
• We can have Xmas dinner with my family. My brother works nights, so he drops by for leftovers to bring to work.
• Since we celebrate Yule, we can open presents here a few days before.
• Finally, we would have to watch our spending and resist the urge to splurge in order to do this, but our tentative plan is doable. The money we save by skipping a hotel room and Christmas dinner would go instead towards food, gas and tolls.

He reminded me that it would be Xmas eve, though, and to keep that in mind. I told him honestly, "That doesn't bother me, though." I expect the roads to be busier and the journey to take longer, but we both are giddy as children about this plan. It's not official; the plan is still in its "possible" stage, but we could do this.

**EDIT Wed Dec 9 00:28:16 UTC 2009 **

The notification system has been fixed in the new release... we are currently processing the queue, which is upwards of 12m jobs... please bear with us while our workers chew through this large queue and get your notification / emails out. Some may come more quickly than others due to weights on the notifications themselves, but we are hoping in the next 24 hours to have all the queues cleared and all notifications delivered that had been queued up over the past few days.

Again I apologize for this inconvenience, but we are almost out of the woods as soon as we are done clear cutting some of the forest ;)

Thanks,

** END EDIT**

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately with our last release, and its instability, we were forced to roll back releases. Unfortunately in doing so, it would seem that our notification system has been broken somehow. Our engineers are working on this issue as quickly as possible. We hope to have a patch within the next day, so we can deploy our code and fix the notification system at the same time. Please *bear* with us ;)

Currently all notifications are being queued up so they can be processed as soon as the fix is pushed and verified to be working correctly.

Thank you,

Tags: notification system
Current Location: Under a Rock
Current Mood: grumpy

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

Tags: freeskiers, skiing, snow, travel, winter sports

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

Tags: design, holiday icons, season_icons, userpics

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Great room. Comfy beds and pillows. Felt good to be off the road and off my feet.
Had a decent drive. When we left, Buffalo was getting hit by lake effect snow. Drive was uneventful, just long. We made good time, hit the border by lunch, and got done checking in around 3:30pm. Tried to find 'song's house, but I forgot which street to turn down. (turns out that we had gone down the side street parallel to hers). Grabbed dinner at Not Your Average Joes', since we'd promised Bryanna that she could choose last night's restaurant, and then swung by for a little bit so that she and Aidan could see Elayna.

Nothing better in the world than seeing your kids happy.

Blame it on the long drive, little sleep, etc. but wow; for some reason yesterday, my foot loved to live in my mouth.

Anyway, now that I've blogged and have my morning cuppa, I think I may be able to go back to sleep for an hour or so before I have to start getting ready. Have a great day, everyone. I'll most likely fill you all in on Monday from home.

In less than 6 hours, I'll be getting ready to leave. I think I have got my shit together; I certainly hope that I do. My memory has been improving on the Lexapro, since I'm less distracted, so I'm pretty sure that everything is covered. Including everyone's meds!

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

Tags: aids vgift red ribbon fundraiser, blurb, livejournal: the first decade, lj_photophile poll

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