People always say the weekend goes too fast but mine really did. On Friday night, Tom took me to the Phoenix Zoo for "Zoolights"... which, if you are not hip to the PHX scene, is a Christmas-lighted display all over the zoo grounds, with music and small pettin' zoo areas set up here and there. It's very pretty. They hang lights everywhere, except from the animals themselves. Since it's dark, it's not possible to actually see the animals, which is the only drawback. I love dem animals, I do.

Tom once worked at Zoolights; he was a "sprite"-- meaning, a guy in a sorta-queer looking costume with a shiny vest and hat. His job was to stand guard over some young girls who were dancing at the entrance. Just stand there, smile, and welcome people to Zoolights. He did this nightly in often-freezing weather (yeah, it gets cold in Phoenix). I think this is cool. It's not as impressive as Tricia's stint as Chuck E., but it will suffice.

At Zoolights, we walked through and got our $7 worth of lights and music, and crowds. There sure were a lot of all those things. They played "Carol of the Bells" an awful lot. That's that Christmas song that sounds a little bit psycho. It gets louder and LOUDER and the bells get closer and closer until AHHH! You're dead! We also noticed a lot of snack bars. They were all selling hot pretzels and hot chocolate for $2.75. Yowzas! Families were swarming the place; young, old, stupid, insane, high, coked up, drunk, dead, you name it. In fact, we had a nice time simply resting on a bench and watching people walk by. We particularly enjoyed a stately old black gentleman walking into the Arizona Trail alone, the biker-looking guys who were screaming, "Monkey!" as they walked past the light-up monkey shapes in the trees; and the various Babies Who All Look The Same.

I also did a lot of Christmas shopping this weekend. I really don't enjoy that so much. I am overspending, despite my best efforts. This is mostly because I find myself buying presents for myself. It's the old story... girl goes shopping for presents for someone else, winds up several thousand dollars in debt due to sales on clothes in her size.

And, I painted some stuff. Craft stuff. Stuff I can't disclose here, as they are gifts for some people who read this blog. Tom knows that one thing isn't for him, because he watched my ill-fated attempts to "add color" to a portion of the item last night. He laughed at me. I deserved it, too. Holy crap, I am not the greatest when it comes to crafts. Not even in the top tier of crafting. I am somewhere in craft purgatory, methinks.

Gee, aren't you excited to see your Handmade Gifts from the Inferno??