Traffic- (not the band, but the bane of my existence)

This is me on the average day--- sitting in [expletive deleted] traffic. I spend so much time on the Eisenhower expressway that I got a notice from it in the mail the other day saying my rent for the month of December is overdue. This is my 3rd year doing this commute, and it's starting to get to me. Why can't Naperville be in Chicago?

"Winter break" has begun, and I celebrated it by taking boots to the shoe repair and getting my car washed. Woo hoo! I do plan to do a little celebrating tonight, but I have to save money for the inevitable trip to the shopping mall for Christmas gifts. I'm usually quite good at buying meaningful gifts, but these past two Christmases have put me in a considerable quandary. My boyfriend is easily the most difficult person on my list. What the hell do you buy a 38-year-old former Marine, current cop who likes expensive cars, golf and guns and who believes that having clothes in his closet is reason enough never to buy a new article of clothing again? That includes the acid wash tapered ankle levis he still wears. I may have to resort to the tried-and-true gift certificate option. He wants to get a new Mac (yay!) and an iPod, neither of which I can afford to give; I can, however, afford an Apple gift card. I'll throw in a golf shirt and cologne and call it a gift. He bought me new tires for Christmas. Nothing says I love you like a set of new Firestones. Even though they didn't exactly make my heart skip a beat, I sure was loving them about 9 days ago when there were 12.5 inches of snow on the ground and I was sitting in, yes you guessed it, traffic. It's not the most romantic gift, but it was the most welcome gift I've ever received, since the odds of me spending $400 on anything but shoes or denim is HIGHLY unlikely.

Well, I better catch up on the Daily Show and Seinfeld episodes I missed when I stayed with my parents in the 'burbs, which I did to avoid traffic on what was supposed to be another snowy day on Wednesday.