Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts

Monday, February 15, 2010

Celebrating February





My camera tries to keep up with Jimmy as my Dad stops in for a Valentine's/Presidents Day visit. Did you know tomorrow is Mardi Gras?! I didn't! 2010 is flying by!

And now the big question....Olympics with Mainers Competing, or The Bachelor Final 3. Olympics with Mainers Competing, or The Bachelor Final 3.... Oh the agony. Now I know why so many folks have Tivo.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Clandestine Valentine

I was excited that Hubby's V-Day gift to me was a good old-fashioned housecleaning while I slaved away at work. I figured I'd be able to come home, celebrate the holiday, take a little Valentine photoshoot with Jimmy, eat lots of rich food, all of it--until I arrived to find that same Valentiney Hub shoving a giant load firewood into the house, announcy-griping that the Toddlrz had spent the prior 11 hours with zero hours napping, and advising off-hook ringing phones that he would "be there in a minute."

Well, then. That's some Valentine's Day. After watching my Valentine rush out the front door for band practice, and watching our romantic woodstove fire eat more of my formerly heart-shaped pupils as I watched my little Valentine Blog Model crushing for me crashing out on me, I wondered 'How Could I V-Win??' Didn't my Valentines realize that it's Olympic Couples Skating tonight???

When I realized...I was probably the only one who wanted to watch Olympic Couples Skating, and that I had a wealth of firewood, a sleeping toddler, and a content hubby who wasn't next to me making all kinds of "comments." In this valentine-vacuumed house. Wow. Happy Valentine's Day to ME!!!

And to you.



Happy Valentine's Day!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Travels to Northern Internetia

Who woulda thunk a place like arctic Nunavut, Canada would have such a thriving blog scene that it warranted its own yearly awards, The Nunies.



Glancing over some of these blogs I couldn't help but notice that it's only 11 months to Christmas, and the blog Trials, Tribulations, and Toques led me to the image of one uniquely awesome nativity scene:


Take the Polar Express to the Brrrrrr-irth!

A long list of Nunavut bloggers can be found here.

South of the border, I'm trying to decide whether Jimmy and I will bite the wallet and pay a vi$it to the new Greenlight Studio tomorrow. Only time, and my budget, will tell...

Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009, A Year Of...

Facebook tonight is full of people commenting on 2009 being a great year, or a bad year, a healthy year, or a year of struggles. Happiness in early spring, only to meet year's end with a big bang of woe. A year of pride, a year of shame. I dunno, I never remember things by "year" like that. The shit I'm experiencing now is going to continue into...tomorrow, right. 2010, right. Every year is a year of moderate health and reasonable poverty, right. 2009 was just the same I guess, I don't really remember.

BUT....

I DO remember our annual NYE pre-Wally Leaves For Work buffet. Why, I even have photos!


Tomato and Olive Aspic


Aspic with Kickass-Kugel, Panettone, Nuts


Holiday Lutefisk!


Th'olthang

Stuffed and geared up for a new year of...idunno. Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

High On The Hill Was A Lonely Goat Herd...

Happy are they lay dee olay dee lee o
. . .
. . . yodeling . . .
Soon the duet will become a trio
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo



Oh ja, may I once again praise the superiority of ABC programming, we are presently watching The Sound of Music with millions of others around the country. I discovered this movie last year, previously I'd only had bumpy run-ins with it (Why is this considered a holiday movie??? Why is this so blech nauseating??? Wtf, intermission?? Other bratty etc. comments, blech!) but it clicked for me last year, about a family that stuck together, about boys who were a-ok with wearing lederhosen, the singing, the dancing, the beautiful scenery, the longsleeve wedding gown, the Edelweiss, the dark Nazi üntercürrent, the Family Guy version, the CS callers who mistake my name for "Liesl," the smokin' Captain Von Trapp, the HOUSE...it stuck with me, up through our 2009 Christmas events, and for many more I hope. Many more thanks to ABC for allowing the holiday season to linger past noontime December 25, hope you are still enjoying yours.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

'Twis the Night After Christmas

It was a Magical Christmas for 2009. A brief relay:



After opening Christmas morning pressies with Uncle Mark and Aunt M, we had a relaxing baba with, you guessed it, the FUTURE PRESIDENT.



After that I opened an email from, you guessed it, the CURRENT PRESIDENT. "A Historic Vote" it was titled, and evidently was part of a group email as the Boston Globe reports on how Obama calls the Senate vote "historic", but for me the Christmas Magic is that I have a president who doesn't put the word "an" in front of a noun that starts with consonant, and that Anne Heche might be completing her civic and patriotic duties, like I insisted she must. Thanks, Anne! Merry Christmas!

Then, food.


Hickory Smoked Duck, Lamb Pie (a la The Hours), and My Good Cranberry Jello (it's not Christmas without my good cranberry jello--but I'm the only one who seems to think so!)


Figgy Pudding


Munchies


Salmon Mousse


Timpano, a la Big Night


Bûche de Noël with Meringue Mushrooms


The Bottom of the Glögg

And visitors, and gifts!




Jimmy's Grampy made him this stool


...they also brought the singing snowfamily that Jimmy's been playing with all day. "DONG! Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Treee......



DONG!"

Possibly the biggest piece of Christmas Magic:

My father got them to remove the extra A from this kickasserole dish! Amazing! And quite the crowd pleezer, even for those (many) at the party who don't read this blog. I can't wait to fill it with bonafide kickasseroles though I must admit, it puts on the pressure! :practice:practice:practice:

Today, the 26th I'd like to wish my Aunt Betty a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

We spent the day chillaxing and I asked the Magic 8 Ball "Could there be anything cuter than this?"





And it said:


I rechecked, and got a little spooked when it said:



Why, yes that was Figgy Pudding that Jimmy was eating on his new Thomas stool, how did Magic 8 Ball know that? Another shake:



Ok, that was enough. Magic ball gone now (and without any figgy pudding.) I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Now it's on to New Year's and then: months and months of winter! Yaaaaay.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Shoulders

As I knurse this knifty knitter injury to my shoulder (it can happen!), some photos of Wally's lamb stew...I think it was shoulder meat?






















And it all got all stewed-up and will be made as a pie for Christmas. Knittingknittingknitting...ugh, sorry...my brain is loomed!!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Knitting Knitting Knitting...

...knitting knitting knitting knitting making mistakes knitting knitting knitting knitting starting over knitting knitting knitting kno time for knattering, kristmas is koming lots of knitting...knitting...knitting fingers burning from knifty knittering knittering knit'ring...


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Photo Finished

I've been mocked by every photo kiosk in town. It started with trying to order prints online and all at once NOBODY.com's photo uploader worked. I finally got some through on ugh, Walmart.com :ducking: then once I was picking them up I was told I had to have proof that I had rights to them. I had no proof, and no idea what they were going to do with my gorgeous son's gorgeous photos, it makes me sick to think of it. Another store's cashier stood there and proudly told me that nope, I didn't order photos, I mean obviously since they weren't there. 8 blood pressure pills later I was bringing cd's and memory cards to the photo stops themselves ("It's so much easiah," they say) but still had issues. At one point I had to revert to ordering online and Walmart again I told me couldn't have my photos, this time because the employees were "too unorganized", that they printed them but that they just didn't know where they were. I'm not sure why weren't they just filed under "GODDAMMIT how hard is it to file under the last name like they're supposed to beeee!" Dis.appointment. Dis.neveragain.

On December 17th I became super-engrossed in a Cafepress.com order once I discovered they were participating in free shipping day. I found out the hard way the deadline ended at 8pm, my emotional skin is still singed by that one.

Today, after losing it at one RiteAid I strapped 40 pounds of scissorfighting arms and legs back into the carseat and drove to another sketchy RiteAid, knowing it was the only location that had once given me moderate (not total) success. I took a deep breath in hopes to not burst out into profanity like at the previous store ("Yah, you know you've been standing there a while but that machine doesn't print photos." [this is where I swore aloud,and then said] "The sign says it doesn't print 8x10s, I was looking for 5x7s" "Yah, it doesn't print anything with an 8." "Where is there an 8 in 5x7??" "There's not," he said, and let the conversation end.) At this 2nd RiteAid, the one where Jimmy had previously been yelled at by a worker who was a bit light in the dental region ("Yu dohn't kick dat!"as I was working at the kiosk trying to solve WHYYYYYYY I couldn't just PRINT ALL the effing PHOTOS I wanted) I had a glimmers of hopes even though technology is an awful, awful thing that I need so much.

Today, I walked into the store, asked straight up if their machine was working, and Ta-dah!!! It worked!!! Today, what a relief!!! I grinned and beared it through the checkout...I had to get out of the first line we were in because I didn't want the cashier near my son. The second line, I sorta-felt I should have been fast-passed seeing as I was obviously the one with just one item and the impatient toddler, nudge-nudge, but no, a guy with a case of Bud cut in front of me, I think he justified it because his line wasn't moving fast enough. On to the third line, I stood behind a guy with his winter coat on inside-out. How does this happen?? I would expect never to see such a thing except for at that RiteAid. I hoped it wasn't because he was hiding the splashmarks of some victim's squirting arteries.

Home now, happy that Jimmy seems to be happy with The Santa Clause 2 on Channel 8. I'm relying on this stupid movie (and a tall shiraz) to replace the jollies back into my holiday spirit. Back to Santa's knifty knittering sweatshop.


Friday, December 11, 2009

Medi-Christmas!

Because I'm a loser and I never really figured out how to use my Health Savings Account the way you're supposed to and since I've received conflicting answers on whether I'll be able to keep the funds after January, I'm left to rifle through the pharmacopoeia of FSA-eligible items on Drugstore.com so's I can at least put the money toward something. So, if you're reading this and you're in my teeny-tiny gift circuit, I hope you like aspirin! And Rolaids! And Carmex! And Bengay! And Gold Bond! And... <=]




Merry Chemistry to all and to all a Good Nyquil!!!



Monday, December 7, 2009

Decemberian Updatia

Saturday: Das Global Varming Krisis ist Kaput!





Sunday: Never mind hair on your chest, spaghetti will put SPAGHETTI on your chest.



And speaking of chest, hair, and porkloaf on your face: it's Elvis of the flesh!


Some funny images at first, then bla bla bla until 3:00. Watch! Wa-atch!!! (can also be found here.)


Which brings us to right now, Jimmy is totally jamming out to this:



On Channel 8. Could there be a freakier Christmas special?

...




....




...





...


No.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Adventageous Calendar



I hoped a Bad Santa-esque chocolate Advent calendar would help get Wally in the Christmas mood.

Day 4, and it appears to be working!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

December's Giftorium

Today Jimmy got to revel in his very favorite sound: Motorcycles. All summer long he went nuts for motorcycles and today I realized how much he's been missing BBRBBRRBBBLLBBBRRBBMMRRRBBBing with them all. If I were reading this I might assume that I was reading about a Christmassy tradition of sniffing woodstoves and cradling cocoa while watching Badass Santa on His Motorbike on Tee Veee, but no we weren't, we were listening to motorcycles on the street. And we heard them so well because our windows were open. We live in December! In Maine! It was 67 degrees today, freakishly warm, a nice holiday season treat for sure! I hope to think of this day as I come whitey face-to-face with a Polar bear who was lucky to have floated southward. Have I ever mentioned the Waterfront Housing of the Future that we bought here? I'm assuming if the internet lives after 2012 that my great grandchildren can Google this. Merry Christmas, my darling Great-Grandchildren, I hope you enjoy holidays at the waterfront ranch. (Is anyone named after me??) (Or Al Gore, at least?)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Stalking Stuffers, and Other Divergent Jocularities

Last night the hubband and I were celebrating a family night in by watching Jude Law, er, The Holiday--a festive movie that features a character who makes movie trailers for a living. It must have reminded Wally of the following clip, he made sure I watched it before going to bed:



Tee hee! My favorite part was the very last line. This clip is also pretty funny. Shiny Merry Redrums!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Tree: Check

Tree's up!



It takes a lot of patience when little hands like to take parts off...



...and put monkeys in...




...and squeeze into places where they shouldn't be.



Hubby's personal touch: the star. I wonder how many families have Haile Salassie traditionally topping their trees.



The tree's been up less than 24 hours and the lookout for wild rolling injury-awaiting ornaments already has me exhausted. Wish us luck!