A few cells of my brain are seething with lightweight story ideas. (I'm not sure "seethe" is appropriate. Five, maybe ten brain cells are participating.)

"Lumpen proletariat" is a good phrase. It sounds classier than "unskilled labor." And I like "lumpen."

"Pursuant" remains my favorite word to pronounce.

A turkey sandwich is a lovely lunch choice. Light, healthy, and nutritious. I had it yesterday, though. I have to have lunch out every day this week because I didn't go to the grocery store last weekend. Today I'm getting Mexican, which isn't as healthy, but it makes my taste buds dance. No one dances for turkey.

Besides, I'm going to need my strength this week. Mostly in the evenings. I mean, today for instance, my workday started with a scheduled 7:00 a.m. call. Granted, I decided to make the call while I was in my car, driving to the office, but technically I was working, which means I can get off early, which will be useful.

Wednesday: Leave work early, gas up car, change clothes, dash downtown for holiday party and stroll over to look at the city holiday light display. (I hate "events" that are a combination of indoors and outdoors. How do I dress for an overheated party room and a 30-degree wind-chill?)

Thursday: Wrap and box gifts that have to be shipped, write out and address the 22 holiday cards you failed to do on Tuesday (and be grateful it's not 37 cards...which is what you thought it was going to be before you counted), do a load of laundry.

Friday: Ship gifts, buy stamps for and mail 22 holiday cards, finish decorating at home, mop kitchen floor before new life forms begin to evolve, do a load of laundry.

Saturday: Find a gift for under $10 to take in for the 12/22 office party game, find someplace that sells those big tins of popcorn to take in to the office next week, do all of the other things that didn't get completed on-schedule. Also? Do a load of laundry.

Sunday: Start wrapping gifts for under tree.

If, and it's a big 'if', I get all of that done, I can do some editing on Sunday, with a clear conscience. But it's only two weeks to the holidays and it's disgraceful how little-prepared I am at the moment.

I want to be in the holiday mood. I'm fairly indifferent to most holidays, but I do love the Christmas season. It's just that this year it seems to have sneaked up on me.

This morning, also while I was on my early-morning call, I strung some cheesy garland around my desk. It was supposed to help get me in the holiday mood and it might have worked if I'd actually hung it somewhere I could see it.

As I peruse ("Peruse" is another good word.) the list above, I see I left out one notable item.

Tuesday: Pretend you didn't just buy yourself a new coat, four sweaters, a laser printer, and a new printer stand. Order yourself a laptop computer.

Yes, it's true. Upon being informed that I'm being given a Christmas bonus this year, a thing that hasn't happened to me for eleven or twelve years, I immediately squandered most of the after-tax sum on a laptop computer.

Don't care, okay? I wanted it.

I opted out of the fancy, snap-on cover ("bamboo" was the one that appealed to me) and I'm already sort of regretting it. I also opted out of the mouse. They wanted $39! I'll buy one down the street for $10, thankyouverymuch.

And I opted out of some other stuff I didn't really understand. (There's a lot of stuff I don’t understand on computers. Like, there was a choice of about 15 different processors and as near as I could tell, all fifteen descriptions were identical except for one letter or one number. I'm not playing high-graphics games, writing code, or doing anything else taxing, so I just accepted the default/no-extra-charge model.)

I wanted something for writing, so that's what I bought. The only extras I invested in were some extra memory, a Microsoft package that got me Word and Excel, and a virus-scanning program. It came with stuff I don't know how to use (wireless?) but I can make someone explain it to me if I decide to use it.

I could have gotten a second PC for half the price, but I wanted a laptop. It weighs less than five pounds!

I'm very excited about this little purchase. When I see it, I'll have to give it a name.