*Twinkle, twinkle.* Those are our Christmas lights, still up and twinkling...but for how long? Last year I made it until February before the decorations got to me and I ran around the apartment ripping all signs of Christmas from the walls - it might not last that long this year.
Already I'm starting to twitch. Already I'm planning what decorations to put in what boxes to make it easier for next year. Already I'm sensing how relaxing it will be to get back to a less-cluttered apartment life. Already I'm thinking...maybe tomorrow is the day. Maybe I should just give in. Take down the (3 foot, fake) Christmas tree, box up the snow globes and village houses and nativities, coil the lights and unhang the ornaments. Put the holiday movies back on the shelf and let my Christmas spirit have a rest. I had a good run. I'd been ho-ho-ho-ing since September so there's nothing to be ashamed of, right? Still...I feel a little sad that I'm so ready to toss the holiday cheer into a box and throw it in the closet until Christmas 2008.
-----
Feeding this desire to return to 'normal' living is finally finishing our honeymoon scrapbook. I love scrapbooking and we have a tonnage of pictures from our honeymoon adventure...so since September 2006 I've been scrapping away...two HUGE 12x12 albums later I am done. Finished. I have to stick down the last two pages of pictures I've set in place and that's it.
Anyway, my point is that we have a cute little one bedroom apartment, and nearly the entire time we've lived here I've had the card-table up in the middle of the living room with my scrapbooking stuff on it. I love the size of our apartment, it's perfect for us...unless I put up the card-table and then the living room shrinks dramatically. It drives me crazy, but what can I do? I have to scrap...I must...I am compelled to by forces stronger than my need for open space. So now, at long last, my big scrapbooking challenge is completed. Tomorrow I will collapse the table and our living room will be back. For practically the first time since we've been married we will not have to walk in circles around it, or be careful not to trip over the extension cord connected to the lamp on it. We will have a big, open room of greatness!
At least until one of us decides to do a puzzle...
-----
It struck me as I was typing about decluttering our home of the Christmas decorations that our rooms will be essentially just as cluttered. A few less nick-knacks perhaps, but I'm talking about our obsession with books. Our five bookshelves are crammed full, with volumes stacked sideways on top of neat rows, on some shelves we've stacked them to the top two books deep; in the past few months we've taken to stacking them wherever there's space.
As I sit typing this I look up and see a stack of 11 classic novels on the desk...wait I just scanned to the left and noticed 30 more books stacked next to the computer speakers. There are books on our table, a large stack on my dresser, next to the TV, and on the floor beneath our console table. Our little Christmas tree has been sitting on a covered box...a box filled with books.
You would think this would make us stop buying them, but we can't. We just can't go to the library and turn down a 25 cent edition we don't own. Every time we think we've completed a collection of a classic author we find something else they've written. We've tried to slow down, but the fact is we still have quite a bit of money on two different Barnes & Noble gift cards...and so no matter how we watch our money the madness continues. We are enabled by friends and relatives to bow to our sick need for literature.
I can't imagine not being married to a fellow nerd. J hears it from me quite often...I adore the fact that both love to turn pages and smell new and used books and I love that while it clutters our apartment that I can look anywhere in our place and find a story waiting.
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
morning
Morning is a stupid time of day. Don't try to tell me otherwise, for as surely as I'm sitting here I will sock you in the jaw if you contradict me. Morning...who came up with that idea, anyway? I know afternoon would not be nearly as fabulous without the cursed morning to give it perspective but there must be another way.
Morning in winter is even stupider. It's dark outside. The sun has risen and it's dark outside. The sky is grayish white, which in the morning is a hideous thing to behold. The sky is whitey-gray, the ground and trees and cars and playground are covered with snow. Everything I see is the same color. Even the bright, cheery kite that's been stuck in that tree over there for months is white. Stupid morning. Stupid snow. If it has to be morning there might as well be some sunshine.
One of the things I really despise about morning is that I'm awake during it. I'd much rather be sleeping. I would like to experience as little of morning as is humanly possible. But...my sleeping schedule is whacking out from too many weirdly houred Christmas parties, especially that game night with the cousins that got us home at 2:30 a.m.
Darn you, morning. Why can't you start in the afternoon?!
-----
Oh yes, I'm back by the way. The holiday craziness is over for another year and I'm finally able to sit grumpily at my computer and complain to the world about the petty things in life again. Like morning. Stupid...stupid...hate...morning....
Christmas was basically fabulous. It was all it was hyped up to be...tons of yummy, yummy food, wild family get togethers, even more playing with GooberBear and Munchkin than I had hoped and dreamed. It was a poor (financially speaking) Christmas for us so I wasn't expecting much in the way of presents, but Jeremy got me the perfect gifts (The Life of Our Lord...one of the few Dickens I'd yet to attain, It's a Wonderful Life, a tin with three Charlie Brown holiday soundtracks, and tons of candy). By joining his family I also became related to a wildly sweet and generous aunt and uncle who dumped gifts on us from the sky...fun gifts but also gifts we really needed, like clothes and money to buy groceries with.
It was one of those Christmases that leaves you humble in its wake, one that has you remembering how much God is taking care of you and how blessed you are to have great family and friends to share it with (it does nothing for your feelings about morning, however).
-----
I suppose if I had any kids at this point I'd be babbling about what they'd done or said or how they'd acted this Christmas, so in their place I'll let you in on what Mutton Chop, the hamster of joy and affection, has been up to.
Mutton Chop, in the second year of her life, has turned into destructo hamster. She had already destroyed one water bottle and we've fixed her wheel with extra bits of plastic and superglue (and most recently, duct tape), so it probably should not have surprised us that she gnawed three gigantic holes in her second water bottle this past week.
Oh Mutton Chop. You can't really be mad at her or teach her a lesson about this since she has a tiny, tiny brain. At least I think she has a brain. Anyway, J has declared that we shall not buy her any more water bottles (they are, after all, $5 a pop), so we've been trying to get her to drink out of a little dish. This has turned into a disgustingly wet, smelly affair because hamsters hate all things wet. Being a desert creature she instantly throws a tons of shavings in the water dish trying to dry it up...so I empty the dumb thing and put fresh water in constantly and I think after a few days I actually saw her drink out of it once. I let out a yelp of triumph and then realized she was drinking water with a turd floating in it. GROSS.
Morning in winter is even stupider. It's dark outside. The sun has risen and it's dark outside. The sky is grayish white, which in the morning is a hideous thing to behold. The sky is whitey-gray, the ground and trees and cars and playground are covered with snow. Everything I see is the same color. Even the bright, cheery kite that's been stuck in that tree over there for months is white. Stupid morning. Stupid snow. If it has to be morning there might as well be some sunshine.
One of the things I really despise about morning is that I'm awake during it. I'd much rather be sleeping. I would like to experience as little of morning as is humanly possible. But...my sleeping schedule is whacking out from too many weirdly houred Christmas parties, especially that game night with the cousins that got us home at 2:30 a.m.
Darn you, morning. Why can't you start in the afternoon?!
-----
Oh yes, I'm back by the way. The holiday craziness is over for another year and I'm finally able to sit grumpily at my computer and complain to the world about the petty things in life again. Like morning. Stupid...stupid...hate...morning....
Christmas was basically fabulous. It was all it was hyped up to be...tons of yummy, yummy food, wild family get togethers, even more playing with GooberBear and Munchkin than I had hoped and dreamed. It was a poor (financially speaking) Christmas for us so I wasn't expecting much in the way of presents, but Jeremy got me the perfect gifts (The Life of Our Lord...one of the few Dickens I'd yet to attain, It's a Wonderful Life, a tin with three Charlie Brown holiday soundtracks, and tons of candy). By joining his family I also became related to a wildly sweet and generous aunt and uncle who dumped gifts on us from the sky...fun gifts but also gifts we really needed, like clothes and money to buy groceries with.
It was one of those Christmases that leaves you humble in its wake, one that has you remembering how much God is taking care of you and how blessed you are to have great family and friends to share it with (it does nothing for your feelings about morning, however).
-----
I suppose if I had any kids at this point I'd be babbling about what they'd done or said or how they'd acted this Christmas, so in their place I'll let you in on what Mutton Chop, the hamster of joy and affection, has been up to.
Mutton Chop, in the second year of her life, has turned into destructo hamster. She had already destroyed one water bottle and we've fixed her wheel with extra bits of plastic and superglue (and most recently, duct tape), so it probably should not have surprised us that she gnawed three gigantic holes in her second water bottle this past week.
Oh Mutton Chop. You can't really be mad at her or teach her a lesson about this since she has a tiny, tiny brain. At least I think she has a brain. Anyway, J has declared that we shall not buy her any more water bottles (they are, after all, $5 a pop), so we've been trying to get her to drink out of a little dish. This has turned into a disgustingly wet, smelly affair because hamsters hate all things wet. Being a desert creature she instantly throws a tons of shavings in the water dish trying to dry it up...so I empty the dumb thing and put fresh water in constantly and I think after a few days I actually saw her drink out of it once. I let out a yelp of triumph and then realized she was drinking water with a turd floating in it. GROSS.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
insomnia and nerd-dome
Blehhhh. I'm a tired girl. Night before last J and I were hit with insomnia. Boring, mind-numbing insomnia - J got three hours of sleep before heading to work and I got four before our neighbors decided to start fighting and wake me up. Needless to say yesterday evening we both sat in front of the TV and stared mindlessly, even though the writer's strike has officially hit and there were only stupid repeats. We did this because we had several conversations going something like this:
"*mumble* hmmanumana"
"Huh?"
"yuhgabadee."
"Oh."
"What?"
"Huh?"
It was a long, confusing night.
Today, however, I woke up (to the neighbors fighting again) and made sure all my Christmas cards were stamped and ready to go (they are, yay!!)...well that's about it so far. My mind is still sort of numb and after a couple weeks of feeling pretty good my FMS is flaring up a little. So...I'm stealing the following thingy from my mama because let's face it...today is no day for original composition.
-----
What have you just read?
I recently finished a streak of Sinclair Lewis works - from most recent back: Kingsblood Royal, Babbitt, Dodsworth, and Ann Vickers.
What are you reading now?
Stories for Christmas (Charles Dickens) - a collection of long and short stories that appeared in various Dickens publications that I'm finding quite amusing and alternately a little disturbing. 700+ pages of goodness from my favorite author.
and The Brethren (John Grisham) - which I recently picked up at a rummage sale. I don't normally read two books at once since I'm easily distracted and confused, but Stories for Christmas is large and heavy and I needed a lighter, less arm-straining book for my bubble bath reading.
Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
Truman Capote's first novel, Summer Crossing, that we got used at Barnes and Noble (that most wondrous of book stores!).
What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Moby Dick. I hate Moby Dick. It's boring and long. And The House of the Seven Gables - curse you, Hawthorne, for putting me through that. And Catch-22 - oh my gosh. BORING. Redundant. Preachy. The kind of book that makes you want to stab out your eyes.
What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
I can never recommend just one, but I'll try to keep it short:
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hiding Place
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
They don't because J and I are the book-owning kind of nerds and not the library kind - we prefer to deck our apartment with hundreds of volumes of classic lit, history books, and the like and then choose what's next from our own shelves. Our library sustains us quite well. They do recognize J from when he came as a kid to book hours and things and laugh because we usually only hit up the library to check out movies.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
To Kill a Mockingbird. I love it to death, it's my #1 fave and for some reason whenever I recommend it people are like 'eh.' - and they either never touch it or say they read it in high school and didn't like it. Foolish people.
Do you read books while you eat?
I have tried for years to master this practice, but have failed. I either end up reading and forgetting I was eating my food or have to close my book and eat first...I just can't seem to keep the book open while I use my fork, spoon, or hand to eat. It's too unwieldy, it's just too hard.
While you bathe?
All the time. I never bathe without a book, and usually if I'm looking around the apartment and can't find my volume it's because I've left it in the bathroom from when I took my bath. I have only dropped my book in the tub once or twice, but I've ruined many a bookmark from this particular habit.
While you watch movies or TV?
TV, not movies. Books are a great commercial-filler.
While you listen to music?
Yep.
While you're on the computer?
Not all the time, but I have been known to sit and check email with a book open at my elbow.
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When I was little my friends were even nerdier about books than I...talking about you, Betty and Melissa...
What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
I know that this has happened, but if it's night I'm usually wiped out and even when I want to stay up reading I fall asleep. J has closed my book and turned out my light for me countless nights because I just can't do it.
Have any books made you cry?
Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Beloved (Toni Morrison), East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Jungle, ... I'm just gonna stop and say yes, many books have made me cry.
-----
Now THAT was a questionnaire I enjoyed. I love books, I just love 'em...it's put me in the mood and I'm gonna knock off a few more Dickens' Christmas stories. :)
"*mumble* hmmanumana"
"Huh?"
"yuhgabadee."
"Oh."
"What?"
"Huh?"
It was a long, confusing night.
Today, however, I woke up (to the neighbors fighting again) and made sure all my Christmas cards were stamped and ready to go (they are, yay!!)...well that's about it so far. My mind is still sort of numb and after a couple weeks of feeling pretty good my FMS is flaring up a little. So...I'm stealing the following thingy from my mama because let's face it...today is no day for original composition.
-----
What have you just read?
I recently finished a streak of Sinclair Lewis works - from most recent back: Kingsblood Royal, Babbitt, Dodsworth, and Ann Vickers.
What are you reading now?
Stories for Christmas (Charles Dickens) - a collection of long and short stories that appeared in various Dickens publications that I'm finding quite amusing and alternately a little disturbing. 700+ pages of goodness from my favorite author.
and The Brethren (John Grisham) - which I recently picked up at a rummage sale. I don't normally read two books at once since I'm easily distracted and confused, but Stories for Christmas is large and heavy and I needed a lighter, less arm-straining book for my bubble bath reading.
Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
Truman Capote's first novel, Summer Crossing, that we got used at Barnes and Noble (that most wondrous of book stores!).
What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Moby Dick. I hate Moby Dick. It's boring and long. And The House of the Seven Gables - curse you, Hawthorne, for putting me through that. And Catch-22 - oh my gosh. BORING. Redundant. Preachy. The kind of book that makes you want to stab out your eyes.
What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
I can never recommend just one, but I'll try to keep it short:
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hiding Place
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
They don't because J and I are the book-owning kind of nerds and not the library kind - we prefer to deck our apartment with hundreds of volumes of classic lit, history books, and the like and then choose what's next from our own shelves. Our library sustains us quite well. They do recognize J from when he came as a kid to book hours and things and laugh because we usually only hit up the library to check out movies.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
To Kill a Mockingbird. I love it to death, it's my #1 fave and for some reason whenever I recommend it people are like 'eh.' - and they either never touch it or say they read it in high school and didn't like it. Foolish people.
Do you read books while you eat?
I have tried for years to master this practice, but have failed. I either end up reading and forgetting I was eating my food or have to close my book and eat first...I just can't seem to keep the book open while I use my fork, spoon, or hand to eat. It's too unwieldy, it's just too hard.
While you bathe?
All the time. I never bathe without a book, and usually if I'm looking around the apartment and can't find my volume it's because I've left it in the bathroom from when I took my bath. I have only dropped my book in the tub once or twice, but I've ruined many a bookmark from this particular habit.
While you watch movies or TV?
TV, not movies. Books are a great commercial-filler.
While you listen to music?
Yep.
While you're on the computer?
Not all the time, but I have been known to sit and check email with a book open at my elbow.
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When I was little my friends were even nerdier about books than I...talking about you, Betty and Melissa...
What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
I know that this has happened, but if it's night I'm usually wiped out and even when I want to stay up reading I fall asleep. J has closed my book and turned out my light for me countless nights because I just can't do it.
Have any books made you cry?
Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Beloved (Toni Morrison), East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Jungle, ... I'm just gonna stop and say yes, many books have made me cry.
-----
Now THAT was a questionnaire I enjoyed. I love books, I just love 'em...it's put me in the mood and I'm gonna knock off a few more Dickens' Christmas stories. :)
Saturday, December 8, 2007
a very merry questionairre
It's true. I stole this from my Mama's blog.
We have two, soon to be three. The first is from J's sister when she went to Venezuela years ago. It's less than an inch tall, but cultural and cute. The second is about the same size, but made of ceramic...from J's childhood. We're inheriting his folk's old nativity (a more 'normal' sized one this year since they got a new one, so that's exciting. The one I unChristianally covet is made by Willow Tree, as you see on the left. Of course I love just about everything I've seen made by Willow Tree, but oh my gosh, I just adore this nativity set. Perhaps one day...
My brother-in-law. I have everyone else done and so far my ideas for him include....nothing. Everything he likes has to do with hunting and fishing and all manner of outdoors and thus anything to do with those hobbies is pricey, so I've come up with nada. Last year I think all he got from us was an assortment of candy. Poor guy.
J. I know everything he likes and my biggest problem with him is not buying him a thousand things.
Well. Sorry, Gramma C. One year when she was poor and I was like 11 or 12 she sent me a used spatula for Christmas. It was kind of a let down...
Mail!!! Yay! I know this phase of card writing will one day dwindle, but I just love jotting personal notes and addressing cards and applying stamps and sending them on their merry way.
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are tied in my heart. The thing is there are so many different types and styles of holiday movies that I find my list of faves is huge because none of them really compare to each other.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the urge hits me around June...I start scouting for deals and piling things up so the spending isn't a deathblow in December. J adores Christmas so as soon as Christmassy things hit the store shelves he loves to buy little ornaments or crafts for us to do, and we can afford it if I have most of the shopping done by then. He's so cute browsing the aisles and looking at everything. :)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh of course. Who hasn't? There's not much else you can do with all those bottles and cans.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies! Nog! Rolls!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Every manner of small twinkling lights...and by twinkling I mean not flashing or pulsing or any headache-inducing spectacle. Just little lights all aglow.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Oh Holy Night.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
This year, being poor, we are staying home. And by home I mean on Christmas Eve we have a get together with the Groovys almost all day, and sometime before that is the Funny Side's Christmas festivities. And Christmas Day we open our presents from each other in the morning and then probably head down to Blondie's for the day. Basically by staying home I mean we don't get to see my side of the family since they are across state borders. :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
I admit to you...no. I never can remember all their names, probably because it's very infrequent that I try.
20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
My special, beautiful porcelain tree-top angel is about half the size of our tiny tree, so until a larger tree is procured she graces the top of a bookcase and a kind of corny, shiny star tops our baby tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Last year we couldn't wait and each opened a present from each other on Christmas Eve - this year we've been especially horrible. For instance, J let me open a present today. YAY!!! It was the special Charlie Brown Christmas soundtracks - three discs of Charlie Brown music in an adorable collector's tin that I'd been eyeing at Wal*Mart a while back. I'm so happy! Needless to say we've been listening all morning and afternoon. :)
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Humbugs. Like my mama. I just love all the decorations and the shopping (only because I do it ahead of time, if I waited until the last minute shopping would not be such a highlight) and the music and the smells and seeing Christmas lights. I'm enjoying it all so much that grumpy people annoy me to no end! (no offense, mommy)
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Everything, but mostly knowing I get to share it with J. He makes it all so fun and bright. Well, and of course, the reminder of Jesus' trip to earth. Pastor Dan has made some great points that hit me just right in his sermons lately to do with Christmas and it's really made me appreciate the real meaning of Christmas all the more this year.
-----
I assumed there would be 25 questions to this thing, but apparently I was wrong. Bizarre and kind of confusing.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper - because if you wrap everything individually it feels like you are getting/giving so much more than if you dump it in a bag. Plus with a bag there's none of the joy of cutting and taping and ribboning...how I love to wrap presents!
2. Real tree or artificial?
Right now we have a two-or-three foot fake tree that J has had since childhood. Hencely most of our ornaments are laying decoratively on bookcases and window sills since not even half of them are small enough to fit on said tree.
3. When do you put up the tree?
This year we made until the week before Thanksgiving...but we couldn't take it anymore and had to decorate and be jolly. :-D
4. When do you take the tree down?
If it were up to J it would probably never come down, but I usually lose my Christmas spirit around February and pack everything away.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Eggnog is the beverage of my soul. I delight in every creamy sip, though sipping is scarce this year...$4.43 for a half gallon is just too much for these poor folks. We've only bought it twice so far - once when it first hit the shelves in October and once last week.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
The first thing that comes to mind is the down comforter my folks got me when I was in my teens (I think). I was SO excited and it was so warm and cozy and I still snuggle into it to keep warm.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
We have two, soon to be three. The first is from J's sister when she went to Venezuela years ago. It's less than an inch tall, but cultural and cute. The second is about the same size, but made of ceramic...from J's childhood. We're inheriting his folk's old nativity (a more 'normal' sized one this year since they got a new one, so that's exciting. The one I unChristianally covet is made by Willow Tree, as you see on the left. Of course I love just about everything I've seen made by Willow Tree, but oh my gosh, I just adore this nativity set. Perhaps one day... 8. Hardest person to buy for?
My brother-in-law. I have everyone else done and so far my ideas for him include....nothing. Everything he likes has to do with hunting and fishing and all manner of outdoors and thus anything to do with those hobbies is pricey, so I've come up with nada. Last year I think all he got from us was an assortment of candy. Poor guy.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
J. I know everything he likes and my biggest problem with him is not buying him a thousand things.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Well. Sorry, Gramma C. One year when she was poor and I was like 11 or 12 she sent me a used spatula for Christmas. It was kind of a let down...
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail!!! Yay! I know this phase of card writing will one day dwindle, but I just love jotting personal notes and addressing cards and applying stamps and sending them on their merry way.
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are tied in my heart. The thing is there are so many different types and styles of holiday movies that I find my list of faves is huge because none of them really compare to each other.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the urge hits me around June...I start scouting for deals and piling things up so the spending isn't a deathblow in December. J adores Christmas so as soon as Christmassy things hit the store shelves he loves to buy little ornaments or crafts for us to do, and we can afford it if I have most of the shopping done by then. He's so cute browsing the aisles and looking at everything. :)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh of course. Who hasn't? There's not much else you can do with all those bottles and cans.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies! Nog! Rolls!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Every manner of small twinkling lights...and by twinkling I mean not flashing or pulsing or any headache-inducing spectacle. Just little lights all aglow.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Oh Holy Night.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
This year, being poor, we are staying home. And by home I mean on Christmas Eve we have a get together with the Groovys almost all day, and sometime before that is the Funny Side's Christmas festivities. And Christmas Day we open our presents from each other in the morning and then probably head down to Blondie's for the day. Basically by staying home I mean we don't get to see my side of the family since they are across state borders. :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
I admit to you...no. I never can remember all their names, probably because it's very infrequent that I try.
20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
My special, beautiful porcelain tree-top angel is about half the size of our tiny tree, so until a larger tree is procured she graces the top of a bookcase and a kind of corny, shiny star tops our baby tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Last year we couldn't wait and each opened a present from each other on Christmas Eve - this year we've been especially horrible. For instance, J let me open a present today. YAY!!! It was the special Charlie Brown Christmas soundtracks - three discs of Charlie Brown music in an adorable collector's tin that I'd been eyeing at Wal*Mart a while back. I'm so happy! Needless to say we've been listening all morning and afternoon. :)
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Humbugs. Like my mama. I just love all the decorations and the shopping (only because I do it ahead of time, if I waited until the last minute shopping would not be such a highlight) and the music and the smells and seeing Christmas lights. I'm enjoying it all so much that grumpy people annoy me to no end! (no offense, mommy)
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Everything, but mostly knowing I get to share it with J. He makes it all so fun and bright. Well, and of course, the reminder of Jesus' trip to earth. Pastor Dan has made some great points that hit me just right in his sermons lately to do with Christmas and it's really made me appreciate the real meaning of Christmas all the more this year.
-----
I assumed there would be 25 questions to this thing, but apparently I was wrong. Bizarre and kind of confusing.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
movie time!
Time to pull out the Christmas movies. Ours, of course, have been sitting on top of the VCR/DVD player since mid-November, but since it's December it's now acceptable to actually watch them.
Thusly on Saturday morning we got up and made cinnamon rolls (and by 'made' I mean I popped a tube of them, separated them, and put them on a pan to bake), snuggled up on the couch and watched that most classic of all holiday films....A Garfield Christmas. It doesn't get much better than that, but we also own and intend to watch
Alvin and the Chipmunks
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
White Christmas
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
and of course will one day (I dream of the day!) own It's a Wonderful Life, one of the very few movies that makes me well up and weep every time, without fail. Even if I just see randomly that little blip of them all signing Auld Lang Sign my face starts dripping and I begin to blubber incoherently.
-----
J had Friday off so we hit up this bi-annual sale at a church nearby. One of those cosmically huge rummage sales crammed with people and unbelievable bargains. We came, we swooped, we spent $4.75 and got (you'll be shocked to hear) a bunch of books, an Ernest movie, and an awesome picture carousel that holds 12 pictures (you spin it around like a carousel...okay forget it, I should just post a picture of its gloriousness).
ta-da! now i just have to print some pictures...
-----
GooberBear's family got their Christmas tree from a lot yesterday and he was upset because he "wants a Christmas tree that comes out of the attic like Grammy and Pa's"...Mom and Pa keep their fake tree in the attic, which GooberBear apparently has stored in his little mind all year hoping for one of his own!
Thusly on Saturday morning we got up and made cinnamon rolls (and by 'made' I mean I popped a tube of them, separated them, and put them on a pan to bake), snuggled up on the couch and watched that most classic of all holiday films....A Garfield Christmas. It doesn't get much better than that, but we also own and intend to watch
Alvin and the Chipmunks
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
White Christmas
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
and of course will one day (I dream of the day!) own It's a Wonderful Life, one of the very few movies that makes me well up and weep every time, without fail. Even if I just see randomly that little blip of them all signing Auld Lang Sign my face starts dripping and I begin to blubber incoherently.
-----
J had Friday off so we hit up this bi-annual sale at a church nearby. One of those cosmically huge rummage sales crammed with people and unbelievable bargains. We came, we swooped, we spent $4.75 and got (you'll be shocked to hear) a bunch of books, an Ernest movie, and an awesome picture carousel that holds 12 pictures (you spin it around like a carousel...okay forget it, I should just post a picture of its gloriousness).
ta-da! now i just have to print some pictures...-----
GooberBear's family got their Christmas tree from a lot yesterday and he was upset because he "wants a Christmas tree that comes out of the attic like Grammy and Pa's"...Mom and Pa keep their fake tree in the attic, which GooberBear apparently has stored in his little mind all year hoping for one of his own!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
the clapper
So today is Gramma Funny's 93rd birthday. That's right, and yesterday was the day of celebration. Apparently people on the Funny side of the family live forever...and by forever I mean most of them make it past 100 - which I find very impressive. It's also comforting to think that J will probably outlive me and I won't be a sad lonely widow...of course the flip side of that is that J would be a sad, lonely widower so I guess now I'm not really comforted at all. Now I feel all sad and despondent thinking about us being dead so I'm going to change the subject.
-----
So the gang assembled at Gramma and Grampa Funny's new apartment and we had a gay old time. One thing they never show in commercials for the clapper ("Clap on! Clap off! The clapper!") is that someone laughing loudly can turn the lights off. They also never depict what I find to be, by far, the most amusing benefit: eight adults all clapping furiously trying to turn the light back on and eventually giving up and talking in the dark until somebody laughs really hard again and the light finally comes on again.
Like I said, Gramma Funny is 93 and oh...the stories that older people can tell. For instance, when they first got married Grampa and Gramma Funny bought a farm and it didn't have electricity. When Gramma was pregnant with her first child (Pa's oldest sister) she was dreading having to start a fire in the middle of the night just to warm a bottle...but Grampa got the electricity hooked up at last right before Gramma and baby got home from the hospital. It is truly an amazing thing and listen to her rattle on about things like that, it blows my mind to even think of living without electricity!
-----
On Tuesday I had the van. Oh! Freedom! I have purposely not been counting the days since Ruby, the car of greatness, died. But it's been a long time and I was starting to go crazy and so we worked it out for me to have the van for a day. It had been so long since I've been the driver that I grabbed my purse and coat (and gloves and hat and scarf...darn you, winter!) and was standing outside the passenger door for a few seconds before I realized that I had the keys and would have to let myself in.
I drove all over and looked at many Christmas-bedecked stores and felt oh so jolly. I bought wrapping paper so that I could come home and start wrapping presents (one of my favorite things to do), I got some more stocking stuffers for J and yes, I picked up some groceries while I was out. I got stamps and...well I guess that was it, but it was a day of greatness and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
-----
So the gang assembled at Gramma and Grampa Funny's new apartment and we had a gay old time. One thing they never show in commercials for the clapper ("Clap on! Clap off! The clapper!") is that someone laughing loudly can turn the lights off. They also never depict what I find to be, by far, the most amusing benefit: eight adults all clapping furiously trying to turn the light back on and eventually giving up and talking in the dark until somebody laughs really hard again and the light finally comes on again.
Like I said, Gramma Funny is 93 and oh...the stories that older people can tell. For instance, when they first got married Grampa and Gramma Funny bought a farm and it didn't have electricity. When Gramma was pregnant with her first child (Pa's oldest sister) she was dreading having to start a fire in the middle of the night just to warm a bottle...but Grampa got the electricity hooked up at last right before Gramma and baby got home from the hospital. It is truly an amazing thing and listen to her rattle on about things like that, it blows my mind to even think of living without electricity!
-----
On Tuesday I had the van. Oh! Freedom! I have purposely not been counting the days since Ruby, the car of greatness, died. But it's been a long time and I was starting to go crazy and so we worked it out for me to have the van for a day. It had been so long since I've been the driver that I grabbed my purse and coat (and gloves and hat and scarf...darn you, winter!) and was standing outside the passenger door for a few seconds before I realized that I had the keys and would have to let myself in.
I drove all over and looked at many Christmas-bedecked stores and felt oh so jolly. I bought wrapping paper so that I could come home and start wrapping presents (one of my favorite things to do), I got some more stocking stuffers for J and yes, I picked up some groceries while I was out. I got stamps and...well I guess that was it, but it was a day of greatness and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
she's a tired girl
We woke up this morning and had warmed apple cinnamon muffins I'd baked the day before - then J took a shower and by the time he got out I'd fallen asleep for a sound 3.5 hour nap. I think maybe I've been using up more than my normal allotment of energy lately...
Yesterday J got home and said GooberBear and Munchkin were over and Mom2 & Dad2's house again so off we went to play! Three more beautiful hours of chasing kiddos in circles...well that's not exactly true since GooberBear and I spent a solid hour of that making up stories. Out of nowhere he says "Aunt B I'm going to put you in the garbage!" Of course I was outraged and told him I'd escape and this somehow morphed into an hour-long discussion of who would put who in the garbage and how we'd get away. Needless to say I was tired of coming up with ideas loooong before Goober was, but how can you not play along with that crazy 3-year-old imagination?
-----
I've almost finished reading A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) for, believe it or not, the first time. He's my favorite author, but somehow I've skipped the holiday classic until now...after all I've seen numerous versions on video every year (The Muppet Christmas Carol reigning supreme) and I guess that was good enough for me up until the present. I shall leave you this blurb, the reading of which made me love Dickens all the more, since I've often questioned this very thing:
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of iron-mongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I shall write a more thorough and interesting entry on Monday, I hope...for now I'm ready for bed!
Yesterday J got home and said GooberBear and Munchkin were over and Mom2 & Dad2's house again so off we went to play! Three more beautiful hours of chasing kiddos in circles...well that's not exactly true since GooberBear and I spent a solid hour of that making up stories. Out of nowhere he says "Aunt B I'm going to put you in the garbage!" Of course I was outraged and told him I'd escape and this somehow morphed into an hour-long discussion of who would put who in the garbage and how we'd get away. Needless to say I was tired of coming up with ideas loooong before Goober was, but how can you not play along with that crazy 3-year-old imagination?
-----
I've almost finished reading A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) for, believe it or not, the first time. He's my favorite author, but somehow I've skipped the holiday classic until now...after all I've seen numerous versions on video every year (The Muppet Christmas Carol reigning supreme) and I guess that was good enough for me up until the present. I shall leave you this blurb, the reading of which made me love Dickens all the more, since I've often questioned this very thing:
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of iron-mongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I shall write a more thorough and interesting entry on Monday, I hope...for now I'm ready for bed!
Friday, November 16, 2007
shopping and snow
I hate snow.
...that came out stronger than I anticipated. I was planning on saying something about how I went shopping at the outlet mall with Mom2 yesterday and then end with a ditty about how the white stuff is coming down outside but instead my inner feelings exploded onto the screen, blurbing the harsh reality of the moment. I really hate snow.
I know it's pretty and white and means Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. I know it means snowmen and twinkle lights. I know it means sledding and hot cocoa. But I just don't want it. Not ready. Yuck.
-----
So...Mom2 and I went to the outlet mall yesterday. She and Dad2 are getting me fun clothes for Christmas and part of the fun is shopping for them (and then waiting 38 days to open them and be surprised - yay!!) - seven hours of
* foot numbing walking
* trying on (literally) 44 bras (and now, finally and at last I have ones that FIT! I seriously did not know how uncomfortable my girls were until yesterday when they were freed from the constraints of the too-small-bra-of-doom)
* putting on and taking off around 30 shirts
* admiring hideous clothing for the shock value (Mom2 has the best faces)
* window shopping and trying not to knock things off of displays
I came away richer by
* 1 awesomely wonderful vintage-y hat
* 2 shirts that are NOT brown and black like all my other shirts
* 4 bras of joy
I got home and collapsed on the couch, falling asleep on J's shoulder for a while before crawling into bed for the night.
...that came out stronger than I anticipated. I was planning on saying something about how I went shopping at the outlet mall with Mom2 yesterday and then end with a ditty about how the white stuff is coming down outside but instead my inner feelings exploded onto the screen, blurbing the harsh reality of the moment. I really hate snow.
I know it's pretty and white and means Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. I know it means snowmen and twinkle lights. I know it means sledding and hot cocoa. But I just don't want it. Not ready. Yuck.
-----
So...Mom2 and I went to the outlet mall yesterday. She and Dad2 are getting me fun clothes for Christmas and part of the fun is shopping for them (and then waiting 38 days to open them and be surprised - yay!!) - seven hours of
* foot numbing walking
* trying on (literally) 44 bras (and now, finally and at last I have ones that FIT! I seriously did not know how uncomfortable my girls were until yesterday when they were freed from the constraints of the too-small-bra-of-doom)
* putting on and taking off around 30 shirts
* admiring hideous clothing for the shock value (Mom2 has the best faces)
* window shopping and trying not to knock things off of displays
I came away richer by
* 1 awesomely wonderful vintage-y hat
* 2 shirts that are NOT brown and black like all my other shirts
* 4 bras of joy
I got home and collapsed on the couch, falling asleep on J's shoulder for a while before crawling into bed for the night.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
oh how i played
It's what I imagine a bug feels like after a firm stomping from an unforgiving shoe. Crushed, pain wracking its mangled body (can bugs feel pain? Or is it more like paralysis? "That's weird, I can't seem to feel my thorax!"), eyes squinted in agony, dimly wondering what the heck happened to make him feel this way. Except I know why I feel this way. Yesterday I played...
J dropped the van off in the morning yesterday...an unexpected pleasantry causing me to jump up and down and yell "Yippee!". I threw on my clothes and ran out the door. What would I do? Where would I go? As I planned my moves I climbed into the van and let out a cry... For quite a while now we've just been tossing our cans and bottles into the back of the van, figuring we'd take them to the redemption center "sometime". It was yesterday morning that I realized the time had come - 9 garbage bags bulging, one box clinking - blocking windows and threatening to jump into the front seat.
I happily drove to the grocery store and loaded two carts, handily wheeling them to the redemption counter. To the chagrin of every old lady in line behind me I then unloaded all 389 cans and bottles. It was no small feat; in the end I was sticky and somewhat disheveled...but it was with triumph that I cashed my pay ticket of $19.45!
Skipping back to the van I smiled to myself with smug contentment (clearly it doesn't take a whole lot to make me feel special) and drove to Mom's...where my nephew (GooberBear) and niece (Munchkin) were having a snack with their grammy.
Due to somebody being sick or my Fibromyalgia being stupid or somebodies car dying it had been a long while since we'd played together and our meeting was filled with screams and giggles. GooberBear is almost 4. He was so excited to see me that he jumped up and ran in circles and yelled for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to play. Munchkin is around a year and half and smiled and giggled while GooberBear did his thing.
Then we played, oh how we played! We spent a good half hour playing "How high did I jump?". This means I sit on the middle cushion of the couch and GooberBear stands on one end and jumps over me, most of the time needing a little help reaching the other side. Finally I said, "Okay, two more jumps and then let's play something else."
"Okay," said GooberBear, "three more jumps and then hide and seek." He always sneaks that extra jump (or whatever we're doing at the time) in there so naturally that I cannot refuse. What aunt could?
Hide and seek with GooberBear goes like this:
"Hey GooberBear, are you hiding or am I hiding?"
"You hide....in the bathroom." (for "in the bathroom" insert anything from 'under that chair' to 'by that plant')
Goober then proceeds to count from one to twenty. I was impressed as he accurately hammered out 1-12 and then finished up with, "thiiiirteen. fiiiiifteen. foooouurteen. seeeeventeen. TWENTY!"
Now half the fun for this little boy when he hides is having you look for him everywhere he's not while he giggles to himself at how you can't find him. ("Aunt B, look for me everywhere else first.") So as I was crouched down getting my socks wet in the tub I let out my own set of giggles as I heard him looking for me in the other room:
"Hmmm. Where could Aunt B be hiding? Under the table? Nooooo. On the couch? Nooo. Behind the lamp? Noooo..."
In the meantime, Munchkin has decided to join in and gleefully pulls back the shower curtain, exclaiming, "GAAAHBLLLAAA!!!!"
Our games were interrupted occasionally by a "TRAIN!!!!" or "GOHBO!!!" (garbage truck)...in which case we dropped whatever we were doing, jumped on the couch and watched what was going by with fascination through the front window.
After two hours of playing, discussing how we slept with our teddy bears, eating peanut butter off a big spoon, and talking about how we missed each other it was time to go. Fortunately they'll be up on Wednesday and we can play again for another day!
Tired out and sore I contemplated returning home, but having the van for a day was more temptation than I could handle and I hit up The Christmas Tree Shop and A.C. Moore for gifties and stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming!!!) before returning home.
This is where I should have taken the nap and painkillers my body was pleading for, but instead I got distracted and cleaned the hamster cages (gross), which somehow morphed into dusting and vacuuming...and sweeping the kitchen...and taking down 'normal' decorations to make way for Christmassy ones. And getting Christmas boxes out of the closet. When J came home the apartment was in wild disarray and I was ready to collapse. I did collapse, but after a brief nap and supper we got crazy, put on the holiday tunes, and decked the walls and windows with all manner of cheer. (Christmas is coming!!!)
We were done by 9:30 p.m. and after a few minutes on the couch I was painfully aware of having crossed the line physically by doing Too Much. Head pounding and muscles spasming, I went to bed around 11 p.m. No pill could keep the pain down enough for me to sleep, though, and by 3 a.m. I was comparing myself to the unfortunate insects. And now it is morning and once again I am full of pills and pain, but looking back on my day yesterday I can't help but smile and think that it was Worth It.
J dropped the van off in the morning yesterday...an unexpected pleasantry causing me to jump up and down and yell "Yippee!". I threw on my clothes and ran out the door. What would I do? Where would I go? As I planned my moves I climbed into the van and let out a cry... For quite a while now we've just been tossing our cans and bottles into the back of the van, figuring we'd take them to the redemption center "sometime". It was yesterday morning that I realized the time had come - 9 garbage bags bulging, one box clinking - blocking windows and threatening to jump into the front seat.
I happily drove to the grocery store and loaded two carts, handily wheeling them to the redemption counter. To the chagrin of every old lady in line behind me I then unloaded all 389 cans and bottles. It was no small feat; in the end I was sticky and somewhat disheveled...but it was with triumph that I cashed my pay ticket of $19.45!
Skipping back to the van I smiled to myself with smug contentment (clearly it doesn't take a whole lot to make me feel special) and drove to Mom's...where my nephew (GooberBear) and niece (Munchkin) were having a snack with their grammy.
Due to somebody being sick or my Fibromyalgia being stupid or somebodies car dying it had been a long while since we'd played together and our meeting was filled with screams and giggles. GooberBear is almost 4. He was so excited to see me that he jumped up and ran in circles and yelled for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to play. Munchkin is around a year and half and smiled and giggled while GooberBear did his thing.
Then we played, oh how we played! We spent a good half hour playing "How high did I jump?". This means I sit on the middle cushion of the couch and GooberBear stands on one end and jumps over me, most of the time needing a little help reaching the other side. Finally I said, "Okay, two more jumps and then let's play something else."
"Okay," said GooberBear, "three more jumps and then hide and seek." He always sneaks that extra jump (or whatever we're doing at the time) in there so naturally that I cannot refuse. What aunt could?
Hide and seek with GooberBear goes like this:
"Hey GooberBear, are you hiding or am I hiding?"
"You hide....in the bathroom." (for "in the bathroom" insert anything from 'under that chair' to 'by that plant')
Goober then proceeds to count from one to twenty. I was impressed as he accurately hammered out 1-12 and then finished up with, "thiiiirteen. fiiiiifteen. foooouurteen. seeeeventeen. TWENTY!"
Now half the fun for this little boy when he hides is having you look for him everywhere he's not while he giggles to himself at how you can't find him. ("Aunt B, look for me everywhere else first.") So as I was crouched down getting my socks wet in the tub I let out my own set of giggles as I heard him looking for me in the other room:
"Hmmm. Where could Aunt B be hiding? Under the table? Nooooo. On the couch? Nooo. Behind the lamp? Noooo..."
In the meantime, Munchkin has decided to join in and gleefully pulls back the shower curtain, exclaiming, "GAAAHBLLLAAA!!!!"
Our games were interrupted occasionally by a "TRAIN!!!!" or "GOHBO!!!" (garbage truck)...in which case we dropped whatever we were doing, jumped on the couch and watched what was going by with fascination through the front window.
After two hours of playing, discussing how we slept with our teddy bears, eating peanut butter off a big spoon, and talking about how we missed each other it was time to go. Fortunately they'll be up on Wednesday and we can play again for another day!
Tired out and sore I contemplated returning home, but having the van for a day was more temptation than I could handle and I hit up The Christmas Tree Shop and A.C. Moore for gifties and stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming!!!) before returning home.
This is where I should have taken the nap and painkillers my body was pleading for, but instead I got distracted and cleaned the hamster cages (gross), which somehow morphed into dusting and vacuuming...and sweeping the kitchen...and taking down 'normal' decorations to make way for Christmassy ones. And getting Christmas boxes out of the closet. When J came home the apartment was in wild disarray and I was ready to collapse. I did collapse, but after a brief nap and supper we got crazy, put on the holiday tunes, and decked the walls and windows with all manner of cheer. (Christmas is coming!!!)
We were done by 9:30 p.m. and after a few minutes on the couch I was painfully aware of having crossed the line physically by doing Too Much. Head pounding and muscles spasming, I went to bed around 11 p.m. No pill could keep the pain down enough for me to sleep, though, and by 3 a.m. I was comparing myself to the unfortunate insects. And now it is morning and once again I am full of pills and pain, but looking back on my day yesterday I can't help but smile and think that it was Worth It.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
ho ho ho!
Lip update: Itchyness continues with little abatement. I think I may have to physically remove them from my face. I feel I ought to note that I have tried scratching my lips with my fingers and it is a very uncomfortable and awkward feeling. If you ask me probably you shouldn't try. Probably you should just stick to Chapstick.
While still itching abominably, they've entered a new phase of grossness: peely little pieces of dead skin detaching and staying stuck to my lips from the excess of Chapstick goo. J frequently looks and at me and says, "Gross...go fix your lips again." Okay...to give him credit, he's very nice about it. He just has a hard time looking at me ;-)
- - - - -
Christmas is coming. We put up our window clings today while giggling like little children. J adores Christmas and the feeling is contagious. He went out shopping for presents for me while I took my nap today (the suspense is already killing me) and came home with not only whatever it ended up being, but also these adorable little Pillsbury dough boy ornaments for me. He's so cute! Also we now have our first box of candy canes of the season. Ho ho ho!
While still itching abominably, they've entered a new phase of grossness: peely little pieces of dead skin detaching and staying stuck to my lips from the excess of Chapstick goo. J frequently looks and at me and says, "Gross...go fix your lips again." Okay...to give him credit, he's very nice about it. He just has a hard time looking at me ;-)
- - - - -
Christmas is coming. We put up our window clings today while giggling like little children. J adores Christmas and the feeling is contagious. He went out shopping for presents for me while I took my nap today (the suspense is already killing me) and came home with not only whatever it ended up being, but also these adorable little Pillsbury dough boy ornaments for me. He's so cute! Also we now have our first box of candy canes of the season. Ho ho ho!
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