It's Christmas Eve, and I'm going crazy.

We got our tree yesterday.

It was the last one at the Home Depot--probably in Portsmouth. My son and I went to get the tree alone because my husband was writing a brief.

Yesterday my in-laws showed up and found me trimming the tree, while my husband finished his brief. Then he had a conference call at 6:00 p.m. in the restaurant parking lot while my in-laws and my kids and I went in and ordered food and drinks. I wore a Santa hat. I'm festive! But it's busy around here.

Today I went to Wal*Mart and bought ornament hangers. And a cubic ass-load of Nintendo and Bratz merchandise. And to the Celtic store to buy marmalade and penny whistle CDs and Cadbury chocolate. And to the independent bookstore to buy beautiful books for my daughter. And to a Hallmark store to buy SCOTCH TAPE because I'll be wrapping presents for about a million hours tonight.

Most of the ornaments are on the tree, but not all. I ran out of ornament hangers. I'll probably finish tonight. I hope.

We'll be eating Christmas dinner tonight. Because my father-n-law has developed lactose intolerance, so the big huge lasagna that my husband made for our traditional vegetarian Christmas Eve dinner won't work. So we're having lasagna for Christmas dinner. And roast beef tonight.

We've got to get the stockings hung. But hung from what? I guess the painters took out the old nails out of the mantelpiece, and I'll have to find more. I hope I can find some.

My in-laws are leaving on Christmas Day at around 11:00 because my mother-in-law has to work.

So anyway. Between my mother-in-law working Christmas day and my husband working the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and probably the 25th, I. am. thisclose. to losing it.

So I'm taking a well-deserved blogging Old Fashioned break. Mmmm, bourbon.

Merry Christmas to all. And if anyone wants to come help me trim the tree and wrap presents, FEEL FREE.