storm before the calm

I worked the Saturday shift with Party Girl yesterday. She confirmed, as I expected, that she is also hoping big for Boss's promotion. In fact, she didn't mince her words when the subject came up, stating, "Oh, he needs to get the F*CK outta here", then told me how he held her captive talking about stock car racing while she was trying to "actually get some work done" on Friday.

Boss has been a life long bachelor for all of his 62 years until just a few months ago when he moved in with his "girlfriend" of about 2 and a half years. We consider his living alone for so long to be the main reason behind his long-winded, self-centered monologues. Or is it vice versa?

Wouldn't it be funny if he got the promotion, but kept his current office? Ha! NO!

Either way, girlfriend must be a glutton for punishment or otherwise made differently than the rest of us. 

Anyway, another good week down. I finished up with all my college tutoring for fall semester as students are in the throes of final exams now. Tomorrow is sure to be a zoo in the testing center as it's the last day of finals. The storm before the calm.

I'm not at all on the ball with Christmas prep, but no biggie since we don't make a big deal about it in our household. Still, I like having something for each of the kids to open. And I might finally get some lights hung later today. Neighbors keep putting us to shame.

This reminds me that it's once again time for the box of diabetes to arrive from Magnum's dad's wife. I've mentioned here before how most of it ends up at work breakrooms and/or the trash since I don't know of a good way to get her to stop sending the mountain of store-bought sugar shock each year. It just seems so wasteful.

Maybe she'll forget this year? 

home stretch

Last weekend, the running club held its December tortoise and hare race.  This one, a 6K so ~ 3.75 miles.  I found myself... among the finish line photos.  Like this one, resembling a partially formed twin growing out of green-shirt-guy's neck.

The morning was breezy, but unseasonably warm and sunny.  T-shirts and shorts in December?  Bare hands and ears?

By the afternoon, the winds had blown some system in, plummeting temperatures into the 20s.  That prompted me to dig our Christmas decorations out of their dormancy and get a few up and out - our house no longer the bah-humbugest on the block.

In other news, I've been looking into consulting a speech therapist.  I don't have a lisp, my r's don't sound like w's, I don't stutter.  But I sometimes have bouts of what I've learned is "vocal cord dysfunction", been dealing with it, infrequently, for years.  I thought it was maybe exercise induced asthma, but nope, all signs point to VCD.  I'm glad of that because it's usually treated without medication, but rather exercises with a speech therapist.

I haven't searched that much, but the ones near me I've found that take our insurance typically just work with children on forming proper speech patterns and such or work with old folks who've had strokes, etc.

What about us middle-of-the-packers?

no kissing

"We could make this a COVID 'kissing zone'!"

We looked at her like, you can't be serious.  Are you serious?

At work, we are situated in a corral-style layout.  We invigilators are positioned in the center of the place while testing goes on around the periphery.  We are corralled in by counters and, because of COVID, plexi-glass.  

With the holiday season in full swing now, we've been putting  up decorations here and there.  We have some lights strung along the tops of the plexi-glass partitions,  and coworker J thought we should hang some mistletoe from the lights at one point - thus prompting kissing from respective sides of plexi-glass.

Yeah, no.  Nice thought, but there are easier ways to visit the HR department.

So, no mistletoe to be had, but the place is looking quite festive.  I noticed what looked like a headless snowcouple from my vantage point and had to walk around to see what it was from the front.

Oh, okay, just what I'd thought.  A headless snowcouple complete with disembodied heads.  Apparently, it was meant to be a hot cocoa pot, and the heads are the lid.  We're using it for candy - persistent leftovers from Halloween, but don't tell anyone.

On a side note, I remember a resident from when I worked at the old folks home.  She told me she asked one of my young coworkers for some cocoa and was met with a blank stare.  I guess "cocoa" is a word only us old folks know as "hot chocolate".  That pot must be an ancient relic.

We do have a tree on a shelf in a corner.  Public institution that we are, we cannot have any religious symbology as part of the decor.  Adorning the top of the tree is an ornament commemorating 2020.

Looking closely, I realized it's a dumpster fire.

For a mascot, the college has the Wolves.  We have no sports teams, but apparently all schools need a mascot.  

We thought to put him - Apollo - at the top of our tree, but the dumpster fire won out since we're not allowed to adorn Apollo with angel wings.

He functions well as our masked motivator anyway.

Signs of the times. I wonder what would happen if we DID hang the mistletoe...

party talk

We seem to be in the thick of Holiday merriment now.  I don't have any decorations up whatsoever, but I see them popping up all around.

I'm not sure what I'll do for the house this year.  In previous years, I've filled our front windows with lights, which looked very pretty from the outside.  On the inside, though, it involved lots of tape on the windows.  Now we have these nice new windows, and I don't want to hang lights in them.

I might have to face my fears and get on a ladder.

Speaking of lights and festivities, my P.E.O. chapter had our holiday party on Saturday.  It was a good time, and we got the annual Von Trapp staircase photo:

While Dee, our hostess, was setting up her camera for the shoot, I leaned my head back to fake catch 40 winks on the pillow the woman behind me was holding - she'd acquired it during the gift exchange - noting how comfy it was.

"That's not a pillow", she informed.  HA!  Well, it was quite warm and comfy, nonetheless...

During the party, I had a vegetarian conversation with one of my sisters who is a longstanding vegetarian.  I think I'm going to be one now.  For a trial period at least anyways.  So far, I'm one day in.

Speaking of animals and not eating them, I thought I'd share this shot of the duck / goose pond as a follow up to the goose carnage that happened last weekend.  There are still geese a-plenty, and all the poop that goes with them.  Hopefully these know that mingling with motorized traffic is not a good idea.

So, I have a question for those who've managed to read this far.  During the P.E.O. party, one of the ladies gave a blessing before the meal, as we always do for meal get togethers.  Now, P.E.O. is non secular, however...

involves inspirational readings chosen by members, but P.E.O. meetings and activities do not reference, require or promote any particular religion or religious practice...

That said, I can confidently state that the majority of  P.E.O. members are Christian with varying degrees of piousness.  In a lot of cases, including my own, it's mostly a result of living in this country.  But the organization has been pushing for more inclusiveness in recent years, and I do know of a few non-Christians in the mix.

SO, back to the party and the dinner blessing.  It was VERY Jesus heavy.  In the past, whoever's done the blessing gave more of a generic blessing of the food and sisterly love, support, and fellowship, etc.  But this time, it was Jesus Jesus Jesus, and blood, and... well, perhaps you get the picture.

I don't think I was the only one who felt it over the top, but nobody was about to stop her.  I just wonder about the impression it made on the 4 or 5 guests in attendance who are not yet in P.E.O. but thinking they might want to be.

My question:  If attending an event thrown by a charitable organization of "no particular religion or religious practice" that suddenly turns very churchy, do you find that off-putting?

Plant(s)

Greetings blog neighbors, it's Christmas eve. Suddenly. 



This week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "plant", and I guess I was thinking of the abruptness of Christmas' arrival.


At least things are pretty low-key around here for Christmas, which is why I probably tend to nearly forget it until it hits me in the face.


I did get our lights up on the house a week or so ago, so we aren't the Scrooges of the neighborhood, and we got our tree on Friday.




Once again, we got a little live Charlie Brown Tree to later be planted in the yard.  We've done this every year for about 20 years.  Some might wonder about the size of our "grove" by this point.  I have actually googled our previous homes to check on our trees there.  Some are all growed up *sniff*

We've lived in this house for 13 years, but we don't have 13 Christmas trees in the yard.  Our soil here is pretty crap, and despite our best efforts, about half of the trees have gone to Christmas tree heaven.

Here is the newest of the bunch, still hibernating in the garage under the watchful eyes of Ariel and Bella.

And I have enjoyed the time off to get other things done and relax a bit.  Yesterday, Magnum and I went to see Pitch Perfect 3 with Meego and his girlfriend.  It was the fun, lighthearted entertainment I expected.  

Either way, it's gotta be the first chick flick I've ever seen with family, with whom I'm normally subjected to Comic Book / Shoot-em-up movies.  But Meego's girlfriend put in her vote for PP3, so Win!

Now, I gotta go.  I need to decorate the tree, and that will take up a good 4 minutes.  

Silver Liningness Sunday

I will start by admitting that we have NO Christmas decorations up.  We don't even have a tree yet, but that's pretty par for the course anyway. That should all change today, though.  At least that's the plan.

Other than that, this was a good and productive week.  I already mentioned that the college semester came to a close.  All of my grades have been posted, and I'm happy with my GPA at this point.  My two teaching classes were, more or less, weeder classes for people to see if they really? want to be school teachers - thrown right to the elementary and middle school wolves, but it was all pretty familiar to me.  We did lose a few along the way, and now I'm glad to be done with those and get on with the remainder of the program.

As for my calculus class, that was just so fun and reminded me of what a nerd I am.

The weather's been up and down, but the frost did finally burn off yesterday.  Wolfgang has recently taken up longboarding, and I've recently taken up playing with the camera (I can't quite call it "photography"), so I practiced some action shots yesterday.

Meego had another band concert this week.  They sounded really good - and so much more enjoyable than those 3rd grade recorder programs!

I'm also glad to say that the eye dermatitis has ebbed and I feel almost human... at the moment.  Puffiness has deflated and wrinkles are of a more appropriate depth.  And the winter solstice was yesterday, I can feel the days getting longer already!

So onward!  There's a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree with our name on it!

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just browsing

I realized a strange thing today. I realized that all of my Christmas shopping is done.  Finished.  Finito.  I've got a whole 'nother week, and yet... here I am.

That's not to say that all of Christmas PREP is done.  Oh no no no no.  We don't have a single Pagan symbol embellishing either the interior or exterior of the house.  But that will happen in due time.

And the food.  I don't have any Christmas food.  I usually do up a ham with some good ham accessories, but I'm considering lamb this year.  It seems so mean to eat a lamb.  Why do they have to be so tasty?

But wait, I got sidetracked.  I'm supposed to be blogging about how my shopping is all done and how that's a good thing.

To be honest, we don't have a major list of people to exchange gifts with.  Way back when, we used to exchange with just about everyone in the family tree - including all of Magnum's step-branches.  That fizzled quickly, especially after we all started popping out babies.

But silly me, I went to the post office yesterday.  As if having all of my shopping done wasn't providing enough "holiday cheer", I went there and later learned that December 16th is the busiest post office day of the YEAR.

"But... but... I just need stamps?", said Clueless Woman (ME).

So lemme just say... I still need stamps.

But I did spend a little bit of time there to retrieve the contents of our p.o. box and then gawk at the ridiculous line.  While doing so, I heard, "Hey, you're a bicycle!"

I looked down to see a little girl addressing me.  She was with her mom and three sisters.  I'd guess all the kids were under 5 years old.  I realized that as I stood there observing the poor slobs in line, I was still wearing my bike helmet.

I admit that I don't envy a mom with 4 kids under 5 at the post office on the busiest post office day of the YEAR.  The mom somewhat apologized for her daughter's shyness {sarcasm}, but I daresay there are much worse things she could've called me other than a bicycle.

But I was able to report to Magnum last night, once Meego was out of earshot, that our shopping is done.  Then I listed the things I'd gotten.  So now my challenge is to remember - for an entire week - where I put stuff because I sometimes forget such things.  And well...

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ghosts of Christmas past

While I could have gotten a sex change relatively easily in my hometown, Christmas shopping was another story.  Suffice to say that the place was not the shopping capital of the world.

My family, like most other families in town, took the roughly 200-mile round trip to the nearest "big city" about once a month.  That's when we'd live like the other half lived.  There was a mall there.  When I wanted something, I knew I'd have to wait until another trip came around.  When it got close to Christmas, I knew I'd better get my shopping done by early December.

When I was in college, I worked a retail job.   Black Friday was a zoo, but Christmas Eve was a JUNGLE! I couldn't believe all of the desperate shoppers out there buying up anything and everything that was left on the shelves and not nailed down.  And this was at a sporting goods store.  Merry Christmas fish bait?  Merry Christmas jock strap?  Desperate times.

So from my mall-deprived upbringing and my retail worker experience, I learned to not be a last-minute shopper.

Later on, after Magnum and I were married but before we had kids, we lived in New York and would travel "home" to Colorado for Christmas.  One year, we remember it well, we bounced around to 5 different Christmases.  The worst part was the confused little neices.  We vowed no more Christmas bouncing, especially after we had our own kids.  We're the black sheep of his family anyway, so it was easy.

So from the slightly dysfunctional family dynamics, we learned to not stress about Christmas.

I'm thankful for these lessons now, on this Christmas Eve.   I've also heard that, when the Mom is stressed out, the whole family is stressed out.  I'll just have to take that one on face value, having not experienced it first-hand *COUGH*COUGH*.  I'm staying comfy and calm and liking it.

I'm sitting here in my comfy bicycling clothes because I went for a nice non-stressful joyride in the opposite direction of the mall, wanting to beat the snowstorm that's moving in for our, hopefully, white Christmas.  I took along our toy from last Christmas - the helmet cam - for some experimentation.  Still some learning to do...

But [click this] and come ride with me!

Wishing all of my blog friends a warm, cozy and blissful Christmas!
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Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!   I'm happy to say that I'm ready as I'll ever be.  Christmas can happen now.

On Friday, we went to Phelan Gardens and got our Christmas 2012 tree.  She is currently sleeping in the garage, but we'll probably bring her in and get her all prettied up later today.  When I told the kids where we were headed, they just thought it amusing that we were getting our tree from felons.

On that same day, Meego's real Christmas gift arrived via Santa-disguised-as-a-UPS driver.  But... where are my vacuum cleaner bags?

I'm also happy to say that there were no drug busts at our house this week and that we have decorative lights that actually light up now.

In other mishap news, however, Wolfgang and some friends went to the Sports Climbing Center a couple of nights ago.  This is a local indoor rock climbing gym.  Much fun!  They were on their way out the door when Dylan, one of the buddies, took an innocent last walk on the slackline.

Not Dylan
Image for educational purposes only

Slackline is like a tightrope, only fatter and less tight, about yay....

So Dylan was moseying along the slackline when he did a hurkey~doo and ended up dislocating his kneecap.

*EEWW*GAG*BLECH!*





Paramedics were called, kneecap was put back where it belonged.  The silver liningness in it all is that no lasting damage was done.  Dylan is fine.  Teenagers.  Remember the good old days of being one, when we could dislocate something and feel perfectly normal a few hours later??

In addition to the holiday prep, it was a pretty productive week in other to-do list type stuff too boring to blog about.  Now I'm ready to settle in for some holiday downtime.  I hope the same for my blogging buddies!
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I just wanna say

Magnum and I took a chilly old folk's walk last night.

"I saw today that that guy who killed his dad with a bow and arrow at Casper College had Asperger's too", Magnum noted.

"Oh great.  Ban people with Asperger's?", I contemplated.

"Well, I can fake normal", he said with mock confidence.

"No.  You can't", I joked but not really.

Yes, the Aspies have been getting some negative press lately.  My Asperger wife friend Maureen posted a damage control article on facebook, but I don't feel a need to do similar here.  My readers know Magnum's not a monster.  Violent?  PSSSH.

Honestly, when it comes to just getting all authoritative with the kids, even that usually falls to me.  Magnum's too much of a softie.  It wasn't Asperger's that killed those children. Personally, I think it was most likely a number of things that aligned into the Perfect Storm.

And that's all the press I want to give to that loser.   Besides, the world ends tomorrow.

But just in case the forecasters are wrong, we'll probably go get our Christmas tree then.  I realize it's last minute, but I didn't want to have another living thing to be responsible for on End of the World Day.

We always get our trees relatively late because, (1) we get a live potted tree, so it doesn't come into the house until just before Christmas anyways, and (2) the longer we wait, the bigger the bargain.  The nursery people practically pay us to take one.  Maybe the late tree buying is our version of Black Friday shopping?  And we mustn't forget, (3) we're just disorganized that way.

In other shopping and Christmas preparedness news, I'm crossing my fingers that we have more to show for Meego's gift on Christmas morning than a pack of vacuum cleaner bags.   More on that to follow.

Unless the world ends.
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sport

I was prepared.  Mentally.  Physically.  Spiritually.

I had checked my equipment the night before and made sure to get a good night's sleep.  I arose early in the morning to quietly center myself and then listen to some inspiring, motivating music.  As I made my way to the starting line, the crowd steadily increased.  The competition.

I silently observed.  Most didn't look so tough.  Some, I knew I could take them.  There were others, though, that I could tell were seasoned veterans.  They could give me some troubles.  I would have to work for this.

But then I reminded myself that I was no rookie either.  I'd done this battle before.  To the point that it's become rather mundane, and I don't really look forward to it anymore.  I swat those thoughts down, however, and remind myself to be grateful for the opportunity.  There are plenty who only wish they could be in my place.

With that, I loosen my neck and shoulders, take a few deep cleansing breaths and step up to the line.

Next I know, I'm in the thick of it.  Bodies on all sides of me, some impeding my progress and some falling in my wake.  And the children!  Little children!  I'd forgotten how many show up for this.  Do they enjoy it?  Or are they forced to be there?

I can't let them distract me, though.  Yes, I would be more courteous than I'd planned.  More accomodating to the little ones.  Still, my mission was the same.  Win the prizes!

I reach the halfway point and things are going well enough.  Most of the pack is lagging behind me by then, they've not prepared like I have.  Keep moving forward, just Keep.  Moving.  Forward!  But the elites are  in front and likely to remain.  I'm still picking off a few opponents, though.  Adults and children alike.

Once in the homestretch, I feel a surge of confidence.  My confidence is shaken, though.  An elderly woman!  NO, not that!  I sidestep and let the elderly woman go on ahead of me.  Once she's clear, I need to settle myself and get my rhythm back.  Near disaster is averted as I manage to make up lost ground.

And then, finally, the finish is in sight.  I can just cruise on through.  Yes, others are already there before me and victorious, but in the end, we're all winners!

Yeah, got me a nice looking turkey and a few fixings.  Was totally beat down on the yams though, so I'll need to work on my yam strategy for next year. I think I've still got a yam chance, though, but I'm not in any rush to go back to the grocery store just yet.  I need at least one day to recover.

And I noticed, sadly, not a Twinkie in sight.  Rest In Peace.
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greenery

It was a week before Christmas
And there were things yet to do.
Oh how it sucks
To catch the Zombie flu!

There were days I did lose
To viral delerium
But I did somehow manage
At least a bare minimum.

Then I was better,
Renewed and reborn!
Only to be stranded
By a winter snow storm.

But time keeps ticking
It doesn't wait for me.
Christmas will be here
Even if there's no tree!

Would this be the year
We would remember as being
The year without a tree
Like a song with no feeling?

Then the clouds parted
The snow stopped falling
The sun even shone
As if to be calling

Go!  Go! 
Go now in the car!
Take the All-Wheel-Drive
The nursery's not far!

We mushed through the snow
And we got us that tree
At a bargain price too
With an ornament for free!

So now we can sit
Content in good cheer
That was a close one
What happens next year?
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something waits

I went for a bike ride this morning.  It was warm out - about 60 degrees.  The sky was vivid blue and the sun was just coming up.

I put on my comfy bike shorts and my sleeveless Canari top and my pretty Pearl Izumi gloves with the embroidered flowers.  It was glorious.  The birds were chirping and I didn't eat any bugs.

And there were hills, there are always hills, but I welcomed them because reaching the crest of one hill just means to be able to go screaming down the other side.  Traffic is light so early in the morning.  I had the roads practically to myself.

Even my bicycle - the speedy Tessa - was feeling wholly invigorated, like the well-oiled machine that she is.  At one point there was a hot air balloon hovering just overhead, close enough for me to see the people in the basket and hear the sporadic releases of propane.  I waved big windshield-wiper-arm waves until the people waved back. 

I saw foxes out hunting, and then a crazed deer... no wait, let's leave the crazed deer out of it.  After all, this is MY daydream.

Yeah, it was all just a dream.  In reality, I was on the stationary "thing" - it's not really a bicycle.  It's just a seat with pedals and handlebars that sits in a little room.  The lovely, yet lonely Tessa sat idly next to me the whole time as a winter storm raged right outside the window next to us. 

But the whole time, while on that stationary "thing", my mind was a conglomeration of many of the lovely bike rides that Tessa and I have had.  And my mind went outside that little room while the storm was raging, and I was anywhere I wanted to be. 

“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”– James Barrie

"or lovely bike rides during a winter storm"

- me

So yes, there is quite a storm on this Winter Solstice.  And NO, we do not have a Christmas tree.  And yes, the roads are not very travelable.  But NO, I am not anxious about that  *SQUIRM*.

Here we have China the snow dog channelling her awesome mental powers ( and I DO mean "mental"!) to somehow conjure up a tree. 

At least, I think that's what she's doing. 

if I could put time in a bottle

Okay,  I think I've figured out the source of our troubles here in the household.  Despite the fact that we all live under the same roof, we live in different TIME ZONES!

We loosely decided that today would be tree-getting day, and I use the term loosely loosely.   It was just understood that since I was huddled under a blanket on the futon on Sunday with the Zombie Flu, and Magnum was watching football otherwise busy as well, the tree didn't get gotten.  So today would be the day.  But I think we need to actually hard schedule these things in our respective planners.

Magnum and I were up at a decent hour, and I left to go crime-bustin' before anyone else was up.  When I returned in the early afternoon, everyone except Chaco had been up for "a little while" and was fixing or eating breakfast/lunch/whatever they call it.  But Chaco was up and in the shower, so Mag and I took the dog for her beauty walk, thus giving Chaco time to primp and eat breakfast/lunch/whatever he calls it. 

So the dog's all walked, everyone is sufficiently fed, but... Wolfgang's gone out for a run before the next storm moves in. 

Okay, next time all five of us are home at the same time with  nothing scheduled for a while, throw a net over us!

I've resisted for all these years, but the artificial tree idea is starting to appeal...
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convalescence

I'm starting to feel like a member of the human race once again.  That whole zombie thing is highly overrated.

It does still feel like there's a vice squeezing my head, but it's been nicely loosened.

It helps that the sun came out shining this morning and revealed some pretty freshly fallen snow.  Not a whole lot, but enough to make things look a little more Christmassy around here.  So I got a photo of the decorationless house.

I spent over 12 hours in bed last night.  I kept having dreams that I was hunting for drinking fountains and taking in copious amounts of cold water, but was still thirsty - only to have to hunt some more.

But yes, today is a  new day.  China the dog missed her beauty walk yesterday as I was in my delerium, and I'm not sure what might happen if she misses 2 in a row.   I'm thinking a walk will do the both of us some good.

And then I might actually bake something.  Maybe.  We wouldn't want the family to stop missing me just yet...

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sicks days

It's six days until Christmas and our house looks pretty much the same as it did for - say- Labor Day.   We have no tree, no stockings, no bells on the door, no lights on the roof.  NO-thing.  Well, we do have those 5-year-old snowflakes...

Our plan was to go the nursery for a tree yesterday.  It's not a complicated thing, we just get a small tree in a pot, put it on top of a table, decorate it and voila, suddenly it's Christmas!  But that didn't happen.  It didn't happen because I came down the "The Crud" and APPARENTLY, NOTHING CHRISTMASSY CAN HAPPEN HERE IF I'VE GOT THE CRUD!

I was perfectly happy to let the menfolk go to the nursery and get a tree while I stayed home and remained one with the futon.  And they are the ones who put the lights up and such in the yard, anyway.  Me?  On a ladder?  HaHaHaHaHa!!

But no.  Since I was laid up with The Crud (coughingsneezingheadfulloffluid), everybody else took a sick day too.  But The Crud won't beat me.  I'm up.  I've got my sexy on with the windpants-over-leggings-and-turtleneck-over-thermal going, accentuated with a splash of Vick's Vap-O Rub. 

Magnum is working today and tomorrow, then he's off for the week.  I'm thinking Wednesday will be tree day.  We should probably get a good bargain so close to Christmas...

... if there are any trees left.
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it was a pizza mash

The latest winter storm is moving through and we are amply stocked with life's necessities.

I made an intrepid invasion to wal-farts yesterday, mandating beforehand that it would be my last such invasion until well after Christmas. The place can be ugly around Christmastime.

So I got us well stocked with food and shampoo and cat litter (life's necessities), and returned home to find I would have to get creative with the fridge packing. The leftovers were making their presence known, so it would be another famous clean-out-the-fridge dinner.

When this happens, I sometimes become divinely inspired and combine the leftover morsels into some nicely packaged regifted meal. Just wasn't feeling it yesterday, though.

Even now as I think about it, leftover pizza with leftoever mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy does not sound appetizing. Martha Stewart would probably declare that this is NOT living.

All I know is that this utilitarian meal was satisfyingly consumed and so far, everyone who partook has lived to eat another day.

I don't plan on serving it again, though.
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thanx

Oh poor poor blog! I've neglected you so this week!

*fluffs the bedding* *freshens water* *removes droppings*

It's been a busy and productive week, and the Friday arrived in a hurry. You do realize that Thanksgiving is now less than 3 weeks away for us United Statesians? So... who are you spending it with?

Or better yet, who you LIKE to spend it with? I started thinking about this when I visited Beej (who has been neglecting her blog even worse than I have) over at facebook (the "blog affair"?) and decided I'd like Christopher Walken to come on over. Shall we brainstorm a few others? Others who I've never spent any time with IRL, but am willing to give a whirl?

Maybe Drowning Pool? That might liven things up a bit. Then again, they'd probably really trash the place...

How about Eric Balfour? I mean, since we're just harmlessly brainstorming and stuff... heh... *ahem*

How about that Progressive Insurance girl?

She's so friendly. I bet she'd help to clean up too.

This guy, since Chaco seems to have taken an interest in Parkour, of all things. But mainly because he's French. We should have someone French over for Thanksgiving.

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'twas the day before

Okay. Tree's up, smothered in decorations and on ice. The kids put the finishing touches on last night. One nice thing about these little baby trees is that the time to decorate them is minimal.

Yes, it looks a little more like a houseplant with things hanging off of it, but someday, it'll be the mighty dwarf blue spruce!

This morning, the microwave didn't seem it's normal perky self when I cooked my oatmeal. It heats, but something's different. It reminds me how reliant we are on the microwave. God forbid I should have to go out to some place retail today.

Can we go 2 days without a microwave?
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don't wake the baby

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. I know. It sounds pretty late, but that's just how we do these things. I think I've mentioned here before that we always get a live tree. And no, I don't mean a "real" tree that was once happily alive and then got lopped off at the shins, but a LIVING tree with roots in a pot and all.

It's just a baby. In the spring, we'll find a good spot for it in the yard. We already have three previous Christmas trees gracing the back yard. Should be four, but one didn't quite make it (may it rest in peace).


Here's a pic of last year's tree. It's a wittle Colowado Bwue Spwuce (that's baby tree talk for Colorado Blue Spruce). Those bluer needles are the new ones that sprouted over spring and summer. Just disregard the land of misfit toys there in the background of the photo *Cough*

This year, we got a dwarf blue spruce, so it won't get as big as it's older brother here. The previous ones are also dwarf spruces.

With these ALIVE trees, we have to be careful not to wake it up and make it think that it's spring and time to start growing and stuff. So it spent last night in the garage, then it will come inside for a couple three days, then back outdoors it'll go until plantin' time. The dog will promptly christen it, bet on it.

So, with that, I think I'm actually all set for Christmas. I got the last of the chickens yesterday, and today I actually BAKED! *GASP* I even got all of the kids into the dentist this morning for overdue checkups. Aaaaah, nice to be caught up.

Oh, wait, we're probably going to need food....
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