Little of this, little of that

It's brain-dump time! At the risk of scaring you off entirely, this post will consist of a random assortment of unrelated (but perhaps vaguely interesting?) thoughts and observations from yours truly.

And we're off!

1. My physician agreed to test Maya's blood for lead in November. The test results were reassuring: Maya's lead levels are currently quite low. Hooray! However, I still plan to purchase more of those home lead-test kits and perform checks of her toys from time to time.

2. I bit off way more than I can chew this holiday season. It came to a head last night, a few minutes before ten o'clock, as I was frantically sprinting around Whole Foods grabbing gifty tidbits (and some basic kitchen staples) while the store employees prepared to close the store for the night. I had my planner open to the page that lists all the holiday shtuff I have to do and get and mail in the next two weeks, and I was checking that list, running to an aisle of the store, checking the list again, muttering to myself, running to another aisle, etc. etc., until finally I was forced to head to the checkout line at 9:59 p.m. Then, I hoofed it back over to Borders, a hundred or so yards down the sidewalk, to pick up the four-million gifts I'd bought over there before ducking into Whole Foods, to retrieve said gifts from the very sweet elderly woman who was wrapping them for me. After a long, not-so-spectacular day at work followed by dinner with a tantrumming Maya, it was not the leisurely holiday shopping I'd been looking forward to. Oh, well.

3. On the other hand, though, I believe I have found the perfect Christmas gift for friend J. Don't you love the feeling of finding the PERFECT gift, one that the recipient is not expecting but that you know fits him or her to a tee? I looooove that. Although I am dying to divulge what J's gift from me will be, I cannot, as she is a loyal Waxing Prosaic reader. The element of surprise must be maintained!

4. I have a cold. But you know what? I don't mind! Compared with the Evil Stomach Bug I caught from Maya after Thanksgiving, a head cold is nothing. Nothing, I tell you! Because hey! I can eat food! I can walk around upright without doubling over in agony! I can easily leave my bed! It's allllllll relative, people. Hooray for the common cold!

5. Oh how I love the iGoogle. Do you know the iGoogle of which I speak? (You probably do, since, according to Wikipedia, it's been around in one form or another since 2005, but was recently made a whole hell of a lot better a few months ago. Where have I been?) If, like me, you are brand-new to the iGoogly goodness, please hie thee to Google immediately and explore the magnificence that is iGoogle and its thousands of "gadgets." On my iGoogle homepage, for instance, I've got a Flickr slideshow, a preview of my g-mail, a local weather report, the time and date, three constantly updating New York Times stories, several constantly updating recipes from various sources, a daily Buddhist quote, and more. Those geniuses over there at Google are just bringing it with the creativity!

Alllll righty. That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by and perusing the contents of my brain...