Christmas 2012

So our Christmases went pretty well.  My family got together on Sunday the 23rd.  Everyone brought a little something for the food and desserts.  I brought the usual carrot cookies and blueberry fluff. 

Yeah, the cookies.  I made approximately 310 of them.

This is the the majority of them

 

This is the last couple of batches

 

This is now all of them frosted

 

 

HDiTty had a few before they were frosted and a couple more afterward.  I didn't want to try any because my teeth were still hurting with every bite I took.  So it wasn't until we were putting them away into the fridge to keep away from the cats, who had been locked up all day, that I finally broke down and had one.  They were good as usual.

 

I'd fill up one of those circle plates and take it to each house and one to work.  Actually I took two to my mom's knowing the boys would take some home as well.  Also gave a couple dozen to Jim and his girls.  We luckily only had about 25 or so left for ourselves.  I was worried we'd have a lot more but nope.  Although it took me all day to do them, I started around 2ish and didn't finish until almost 1am I believe it was worth it.

 

Anyway.  Christmas at mom's went well this year, no drama as we had last year.  Scott's stepkids (ex I guess I should say) came back so we were all very happy to be able to spend the holiday with them.  I believe all the kids were very happy with all their gifts.  From what I could see they all pretty much got what they asked for.  We adults didn't exchange as we gave that up last year.  But mom had a game that she did that included the kids as well.  We all ended up with 30 bucks.  It was fun and nice.

 

Monday, Christmas Eve, HDT and I were sitting at the kitchen table playing cribbage making a couple jugs of iced tea waiting for an update from his mom on how his youngest sister was doing.  He got a call in the morning that she was doing badly and his mom was taking her to the ER to get checked out.  Around 2pm we got the call that they're back home and both Jess and her daughter are sick, running fevers.  So HDT made calls to his other sister and uncle who both have kids and let them decide not to go over to keep from getting sick.  We decided we're hearty stock and packed up the gifts, the pulled italian beef that had been warming in the two crockpots all day and Poydras and head over.

 

The niece was feeling better by the time we made it over there, no fever but his sister was still feeling down.  But well enough to eat a little bit and play a board game, so that was nice.  In between her turns my MIL was wrapping gifts.  Finally when she was done we went into the front room and opened presents.  The niece got a karaoke machine from grandma so we all had a blast singing songs with it.  Unfortunately for the niece there weren't any songs she new but she still had fun with it.  When we realized it was getting late we called it a night and headed home.

 

Christmas morning we made it up to his other sister's house by 8:15am to see Santa come in for the youngest nephew.  Then he left and grandpa finally made it.  Heh  We opened gifts, ate some more italian beef that we brought with, hung out for a little while then headed out around noon.  HDT had to work from 2 - 6 for overtime. 

 

So on our way home we bought tickets for Monsters, Inc. 3D to go see after he got off work.  We made it up there to meet his dad, stepmom, sister and her two boys.  Her husband ended up not coming.  Very happy to see Monsters, Inc. in the theater again.  Love, love, love that movie.  So much so that I actually have a Boo doll.

 

After the movie we went home and watched a little tv then I went to bed since I had work the next day.

 

Wednesday I had an eye appointment after work and by the time I made it home Jim and his girls were walking in the door to get their Christmas gifts.  We got them a kinect to go with the Xbox they already have.  Since we have the same game that came with it we put it in and had them try it out.  The younger was having a blast, the older who's 15 was a little more shy about it but she still had fun.

 

So yeah, all the Christmases ended up ok, not as planned completely but still ok and fun for the most part.

 

Media quote of the day:

 

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas



More gifts exchanged and a scary but happy victory

So last night after work HDT's dad and stepmom came over for us to exchange gifts. Normally we go to their house on Christmas Day but since he had to work the rest of the weekend that didn't happen this year. So we ordered some dinner and sat around visiting then finally opened gifts. I got the whole Ally McBeal dvd package which makes me one happy girl!

Not long after that Jim and his girls came over to get their gifts for both Christmas and birthdays. His youngest daughter's birthday is in November and it falls within a couple/few days of Thanksgiving so we never get together for it then. And his oldest daughter's birthday is on 12/23 so again, we never get together for it. So every year they get all their presents on the same day, usually after Christmas.

Shortly before the Saints game started his dad and stepmom left so they could watch the game at home. HDT tried to convince them to stay but his dad had to get up at 4:00 to get ready for work so he said he was gonna watch the game in bed so he could just fall asleep when he got tired enough. Jim and the girls stuck around.

It was a really good game but a nail biter that's for sure. We were hootin and hollerin pretty much the whole time; yelling the tv several times too. HDT commented a few times on how Hartley had to be feeling really badly because of his missed field goal in OT the last time they met. But when Brees threw two interceptions in a row I said that Hartley was feeling better now. But luckily and mightily they pulled it out and won the game. Very happy.

I went to bed pretty much right after but they all hung out a little longer. I think it was around midnight when I heard them leave. HDT didn't crawl into bed until 4:30 and then it felt like I had only slept for about 10 minutes before my alarm went off. Ah well.

Media quote of the day:

Who Dat!?!

Christmas/Weekend update 12/23-26/10

So we got out of work early on Thursday after having our company Christmas Luncheon. I brought my blueberry fluff and some of the carrot cookies I made last weekend. All but a couple pieces of the fluff was eaten and I gave the rest to my coworker since she didn't get any and I had two more whole ones left anyway. Only a few of the cookies were eaten but that's ok, there were plenty of other sweats for people to eat so that didn't bother me. We were out of there by 2:00 after having a one and half hour luncheon and then I helped clean up.

I got home and HDT was wrapping a few gifts but was ready for the most part to take off and do some errands and get the other last minute gifts we needed to get. Which now included gifts to three of the chicks that ended up getting me something. Chris, my coworker, let me know that most of them don't do anything so I didn't have anything to worry about, especially when it came to her. UGH! It ended up snowballing, first our office manager gave all us girls a gift; then our insurance chick gave us all something and the receptionist felt bad (because Chris had told her the same thing) so she ran out on Thursday real quick to get gifts. Chris and I figured she was just getting something for the other two since neither Chris nor I got her anything. No such luck, she got us all a box of chocolates. Double UGH! So now I felt totally obligated to get them all something. Luckily Chris was still all about her and I not doing anything. Heh

So anyway, we headed out a little after 3:00 and ended up not getting home until almost 8:30. I was not a happy camper. I tend to worry and start feeling anxious when I feel like, and I know, I'm running out of time. So when I mentioned for the millionth time that we needed to hurry and start to wrap presents and that HDT STILL needed to go to the store to get the pop that he had to bring to work on Christmas Day he snapped which of course made me snap. It was ugly for about 10 or so minutes but he calmed down first and gave me a big hug and made me breathe and we were better after that. We didn't finish wrapping until after midnight though.

After which we gathered all the presents up and took them over to his grandma's so we wouldn't have to worry about them later. We had already dropped off my families gifts at my mom's house earlier when we were running around. After we had done what we needed to do at his grandma's we were just chatting before heading out. I was sitting on the floor with my back to the rest of the house and he was standing in front of me but facing the tree so his back was also to the rest of the house. Next thing we know we hear, "So what do you think?" We both jumped and sucked in our breath. His grandma had walked up behind us with her ninja like gate and scared the piss out of us. It was quite funny when we were able to breathe again. We got home a little after 2:00 and I crawled right into bed with HDT not far behind.

Friday morning we got up and were at my mom's house by 11:30 or so. Wayne's family was already there so that was nice. The rest slowly came in and everyone was there by 1:00ish I think it was. Which was pretty good timing as the food was ready not long after so we all grabbed a plate and filled up. After the table was all cleared and everyone was ready we grabbed the $5 gift for the girls and we all sat around the table to begin a game mom had found on the internet. We had one of the nephews read and every time he said left we passed the gift in front of us to the left and then same for right. It was a lot of fun, especially when the words were said one right after the other. When the story was done only two people knew what the gift was in front of them so we had them switch with the person that was sitting directly across from them. I ended up with a pretty purple fleece blanket and chocolate covered cherries. Then the boys grabbed the male gifts and did the same thing with a different story. HDT ended up with some water bottles that are similar to the Sigg water bottles that he really likes. So he was happy with that.

After that we all headed over to the tree and Scott was chosen to hand out the gifts. I received several smell good items for the house and myself along with a couple books and a Josh Groban cd from Roy who had my name this year. HDT received his first garden gnome. He got it from Wayne and it's a Saints solar powered gnome. The football will light up and there's a fleur-de-lis on the little guys hat. It's very cute. One of his other gifts, from one of the nephews, was a glass cleaner/wiper thingy for the inside of the windshield, I think I might have to steal it from him.

I believe it all started after the very first gift was opened, maybe the second, but next thing we all knew the balled up wrapping paper war had begun and lasted throughout the whole unwrapping of the gifts. We've pretty much always tossed balls of wrapping paper around but for the last few years it seems to have become a war. But a fun one. My nephew got me good in the face so after that I kept trying to get him back. I finally succeeded but it wasn't easy since I'm a horrible shot and he was sitting right next to my mom. So I course was trying to make sure it wouldn't curve and hit her so most of the time I missed big time. Oh well, I did end up getting him so that's all that matters. Hee!

Not long after all the gifts were open and the place cleaned up we packed up and headed over to his grandma's house for his mom's side of the family get together.

Shortly after we got there dinner was ready so we all sat down to eat. Jess and Kylie weren't there yet but they got there right after everyone finished eating (in fact there were still a few of us at the table just chillin). They both got a bite to eat and not long after that we got ready for the gift opening. It mostly went off without a hitch, a little snapping here or there but not much. They went in order from youngest to oldest although since grandma can't hear she didn't realize that's what we were doing and she opened all of hers right away. But that was just fine. When it was time for Jess to open hers I told her to hold off on the one from HDT and me. So when she finally got to it I had Jenn sit next to her and they opened theirs together. Both were quite confused by what they had, Jenn had a motherboard and Jess had a video card. We then told them to pull the couch away from the wall, which confused them even more, but eventually they did what they were told and looked behind and saw the computers sitting there. Both were very excited and happy so we did good there. We let them know that what they opened was now garbage, they were just symbols for what was put into the computers for them.

We got out of there shortly after 11:00, later than what we wanted since HDT had to work in the morning, but he had been trying to hook up grandma's tv that we got her and found out that a part was missing. We bought it from Jim and somehow we all forgot to put the power cable in the box. Silly, silly us. So he'll have to get that and hook it up another day.

Saturday morning he went to work for the day and I slept in some. Took my Saturday ritual bath and then cleaned up all the wrapping paper, bows, etc. that was still all over the basement. Then watched a Christmas movie I had recorded from the Hallmark channel - was pretty good. Tried to take a nap but failed so sat back up and continued to watch more tv until HDT got home. Made us dinner and then watched a little tv with him until he had to go to bed. I went up with him expecting to read until I was ready to sleep but he asked me to lay down with him until he fell asleep. I ended up feeling tired enough so just ended up sleeping myself.

He had to go in at 2:00am so we got him up and on his way. Shortly after he left Poydras let me know he had to go pee so I took him out. The sky had opened up during those few hours we had been asleep. There was a good foot of snow on the ground. Way too much for him to be able to go into the yard to do his business, he ended up having to pee on the sidewalk. So when we got up later on (around 10:00ish) I went out to shovel into the yard because I knew he'd have to go poo and besides, I didn't want him to keep peeing on the sidewalk. While I was shoveling I hear a snow blower come up behind me and I turn around and my neighbor is snow blowing our driveway. I thanked him profusely. I let HDT know we owe him big time.

So after that I was lazy for the rest of the day. I watched more of the Hallmark movies, then I watched the last half of the Bears game. Started feeling awfully tired so laid down on the couch while the Packers game was on and proceeded to doze off for a good 1/2 hour or so. Then did my Sunday ritual bath/read and was just finishing getting dressed when HDT made it home. He had leftovers for dinner and I heated up some soup. We watched a show or two of recorded shows then he went on the xbox to just play a game or two. But a couple of his friends were on so he ended up on a little longer than planned and I grew bored so went up to bed to read until I was ready to go to sleep. Which was around midnight which was also when he came up.

Media quote of the day: From Labyrinth - We got this for his niece Kylie and she was so damn happy. Her eyes got huge and her mouth went into a big O and she went up on her toes and then she got the biggest grin and waved it at her mom to show what she got. Yep, big hit!

I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. - Jareth

Oh Christmas Tree Indeed - W/ pictures now

So I just realized I never posted about my fucking DEAD Christmas tree. I'm so disappointed, saddened, frustrated, etc., etc....

We got a beautiful tree, fat as all get out, pretty green, smelling great - I was a happy girl. But in one week's time, ONE FUCKING WEEK, it was already dying. Back on the 11th I noticed I was smelling it again. Usually after just a few days of putting a fresh tree up the smell will go away or at least you get so used to it you don't notice anymore. And then when it starts to die as the needles start falling off the smell returns. So yeah, on the 11th I started smelling it again and told HDT that it seemed very weird that it was happening. On Sunday I took a really good look at it and noticed it was starting to turn brown and it hadn't taken any water in a few days.

By Tuesday it was way more brown than it was green. I sent an email to the tree farm that we got it from. Told 'em that it was already dying, that I didn't know what I wanted done about it if anything even could be. Let 'em know we didn't add anything to the water, gave it a brand new 4" cut when we got home and put it in water directly and that it's on the opposite side of the room from the heat vent. It's been a week since I sent that and I haven't heard one word from them. I gave my cell phone number and of course they had the email address. Nothing at all.

So although HDT and I believe it's actually his fault that it's dead (which I did not tell them) I still expected a call or a response to the email. And for that reason alone we will never go back to that tree farm again and won't be telling friends and family to go there either.

Why do we believe it's his fault you may ask. Well, we've had this same tree stand for several years and for the last two maybe three years our trees seem to die fairly quickly. None have died as quickly as this one but then we normally get Fraser firs which naturally last longer than Douglas firs which is what we got this time. Anyway, the last two maybe three years they've died fairly quickly. Well HDT can remember that one year when he grabbed the stand to prepare to put the tree in he saw that it was all gunky from the previous year's tree and decided to try to clean it as best as possible. He believes he used Pine Sol thinking its made with pine so therefore it should be fine, not thinking about all the other chemicals in there as well.

So, yeah, we're throwing the stand out this year and will get a brand new one next year.

If it weren't such a hassle I would've taken this one down and put up the fake one we have from several years ago that we used when I wasn't working. But I just didn't feel like doing that, too depressing. So we've left this one up and only now and then turn the lights on because that's pretty damn depressing as well - having nice cheery lights twinkling away on a dead tree.

Media quote of the day: from The Petrified Forest (1936)

Petrified forest is a lot of dead trees in the desert that have turned to stone. Here's a good specimen. - Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis)

Normally I use quotes from movies, songs, etc. that I already know but nothing fit very well for my dead tree except for this so I'm using it. Besides, I like Bette Davis, so....

Weekend Update 12/17-19/10

So this weekend was really, really good. One of the best we've had in a while, although busy it was a lot of fun.

Friday after work I had a couple quick errands to run and when I was at the last traffic light before the house HDT texts me that the food is getting cold. HE MADE DINNER! Yippee!! So I get there and he's downstairs with a couple burgers and the soda all ready to go. We quickly ate and chatted for a bit then headed out to the local theater to meet up with friends since we were seeing Tangled. Which I have to say was a lot more fun then I expected it to be. I mean I've read some decent reviews of it and the commercials were ok but I just didn't expect a whole lot more than cute from it. But the songs were good, the story was fun and moved along and the animation was really good, especially the facial expressions on the horse. Everyone loved it including the 49 year old cynical man that was with us.

After that we all went our separate ways; HDT and I went home. But not long after Jim came over to help HDT work on the computers that we're giving his two sisters. I bought them from my work when we upgraded and they just needed to clean them up and upgrade a few things and they'll be all good to go as gifts. While they did that I went and got all warm in the tub while reading. Then sat all warm in the bed reading some more before finally going to sleep a little after midnight. I believe HDT came to bed around 4ish.

Saturday I got up at 9 and started getting ready. At 9:15 I started in on trying to wake him up. Finally around 9:45 he was ready to get up. I finished getting ready and he got ready and we were out of the house and at the first store by 11:30. We decided to start out at Target and ended up getting all but 4 people completed there. How happy were we!?! Jim met us there to help with his oldest daughter's gifts. We wanted to get her clothes but needed to make sure of sizes and get his opinion on a couple of them whether she'd like them or not. He was also getting a cd from us, don't remember what it was though, and his youngest daughter's hat that she left at our place.

Then we all went to lunch and rested up a bit before HDT and I headed back out. We went to a hobby shop to try to find a specific game to give to one of my nieces but unfortunately they had just sold the one they had just two days before. So we got her a couple other games and headed out to Best Buy where we found an iPad holder for his dad then headed over to Toys R Us where we got a leapfrog item for HDT's youngest nephew. And then we were all done because the 4th person is my mom and we're getting her a plant from Home Depot to go with the other stuff we already got for her. But since it's a plant we didn't want to get it yet since we don't know if it'll be harmful to the cats or not and don't want to take a chance. So we'll go get it either Thursday night or Friday morning on the way to her place.

Oh yeah, we also still had to find a $5 gift for a female for some game that my mom is wanting to play with everyone. We need a female and male gift in the $5 range. We already have a really nice deck of cards that we'll use for the guys. We were going to give it to Jim but since we bought him Madden 2010 for the Xbox he's all set.

On our way home HDT called Jim up to see if he wanted to come hang out to watch a movie and when he got there I was heading back out because I had to go to Walgreens for a prescription. While there I found some really warm and fuzzy socks that they had 2 for $3 so I bought 4 of them to use for the female gift. Then I had to run over to the grocery store for the frozen orange juice I was going to need for the frosting for the carrot cookies I planned on baking on Sunday. And while there I decided to get some ice cream from Baskin' Robbins just down the sidewalk. When I was on my way home I glanced at the clock, it was 7:30, we had pretty much been going nonstop for 8 hours. Whew!

By the time I got back home they were working on the computer we planned on giving to Jenn. So I peeled, cut up and started boiling the carrots for the cookies tomorrow and by the time I got downstairs while the carrots were starting to cook they had decided what to have for dinner (Popeyes) and went to get it. I stayed home and flipped channels until I found Miracle on 34th Street (the original) and watched it until they got home. Then we decided to watch Resident Evil 3 on and off while they were continuing the upgrades to the computer. But after the last install was all done both HDT and I were pretty well exhausted and since he had to go to work for 4 hours overtime at 6am we called it quits for the night.

I woke up around 8:30 and saw that he'd been calling me since 8:00. But I don't have the ringer on my phone very loud and had slept through them all. Gave him a call back and the after snuggled in the bed petting Poydras until I finally made myself get up around 9:00. Took care of the animal's needs and then did my Sunday morning ritual of soaking in the tub while reading. I was going to start in on the cookies before the game was to start but by the time I was finished with the bath and getting dressed and all I decided it wasn't worth it because there's no way they'd all be done cooking before noon and I didn't want to have to keep leaving the room and not being able to watch.

So I just watched some tv while waiting for HDT to get home which he did a little before noon. I made us lunch and we proceeded to watch the game. Jess was supposed to come over to watch it as well but ended up not getting there until almost the end of the 3rd quarter. She was coming over to watch it and wrap presents. But HDT was working on another computer while the game was going on so no wrapping of gifts happened.

After the game I headed upstairs to start in on the cookies, not sure exactly what they were doing in the basement but at some point Jess got all the gifts she was giving out spread out on the table. But before she was able to start boxing things up they decided to get us dinner. I was on my third batch of cookies by then. And by the time they got home I was taking the last tray out of the oven to let cool. I ate my dinner and chatted with them for a little longer then when upstairs to start frosting the 1st batch which had cooled completely by then. When I was finally all done frosting it was after 8:30. I was one tired girl.

I had to lock the cats up at one point because both were trying to get at the cookies. Cry Baby actually did. He nommed on two of them and dropped two others. Was not a happy momma. But between those 4 and the ones HDT, Jess and I had I made around 155 cookies. No wonder it took over 5 hours to complete. This is why these cookies only get made once a year and are so coveted by my family.

Afterward I went downstairs to visit for awhile. Jess had almost finished boxing up all her presents, she just had a few more to go. HDT was finishing up on the computer as well. After he was done with that he started organizing some of the jewelry we had bought for several of the nieces and by then Jess had started in on boxing up the clothes we had bought for gifts. I also did a little bit of laundry while chatting with them. Finally around 10:30 or so I couldn't take it anymore and headed up to bed. HDT finally came up just before midnight.

Jess stayed up till around 2am and then hunkered down on our couch for the rest of the night. She was still there when HDT got up at 5:00 to get ready for work. She was still there when I got up 2 hours later. I figured he would've woken her up and she would've left because I thought she was supposed to get Kylie by 8:00 but oh well. I didn't wake her up either, figured she knew what she was doing.

When I went home for lunch she was still there finishing the wrapping and Kylie was with her. So after eating I visited with them for bit before heading back to work.

Yep, really busy but got a lot accomplished and had fun doing it.

Media quote of the day: From Tangled - you really should go see it.

I have made the decision to trust you. - Rapunzel
A horrible decision really. - Flynn Rider

Christmas shopping (sort of)

So we attempted to do some Christmas shopping on Monday night. We headed out to Toys R Us to get a couple Xbox light up game controllers for two of my nephews and also a few other things that we saw in their advertiser for some of the other kids. We decided to go to the controllers first and sure enough they were out of them for the Xbox, still had plenty left for the PS3 though. So we go to ask one of the kids working the electronics section. I tell him right away we looked on the shelf but there weren't any there but of course almost form the moment I started to talk he takes off to go look himself. I tell him again when we catch up to him that we already looked, including through all the PS3s and there aren't any there. So HDT asks him if they have any in back and we get the standard answer of, all that we have are here on the shelf, so if there aren't any here we don't have any. And then says nothing else, so we ask when they expect to get more. He says he doesn't know, that a truck comes in every day but they have no idea what will be on it until it's unloaded the best thing for us to do is come in every day to see if they get anymore. He doesn't offer to take our name and number or anything else that would be helpful. So HDT tells him there's no way we'll come in every day to check we'll just go somewhere else.

We ended up sort of wandering around looking at other things but nothing else that we went there for. We were both pretty much deflated by the unhelpfulness of the kid. So we decided to leave and get some dinner. We decided to go to Chili's which made me happy.

On our way out HDT mentioned needing to go to Target for something but on our way we took a detour to Petsmart for the safe for pets snow/ice melt pellets. And of course we can't go in there without looking around at other things including the cats. There was a lady in there cleaning out the cages and litter boxes so all the cats and kittens were running around. There were about 5 little kittens that were just too damn cute and a couple of the cats would swat/play with them as they ran past. I so wanted to get in there and snuggle them like crazy. But oh well.

We got Poydras a couple outfits to wear. One was a Christmasy sweater and the other was a blue hoody with a fleur-de-lis on the back so we of course had to get that. Neither ended up fitting him, too small, so we'll have to take them back. By the time were finished there all I could think about was how badly I needed to pee. We both completely forgot about going to Target so of course didn't go and now I can't remember at all what he wanted to go there for.

But when we got home HDT went on line to see if he could find the controllers anywhere else and found out that Sears had some. According to the website they had 6 in stock. So on Tuesday as soon as I got out of work we headed over to there and luckily they still had 3 left so we got the 2 we needed and headed home.

We haven't done any other shopping since. We are bad. So tomorrow is supposed to be the big shopping day. We're going to have to get most if not all of it done tomorrow as Sunday is football day so there won't be any shopping being done then. I plan on making carrot cookies this weekend so I don't know if I'll get any wrapping done either but I'd certainly like to start on it if at all possible. We usually end up wrapping until 2-3 in the morning of the 23rd just about every year. I really don't want to do that this year.

Media quote of the day:

Christmas shopping, never an easy or a pleasant task - Harry in Love Actually

Weekend Update 12/10-12/10

So we had plans to start our Christmas shopping this weekend but when I got home from work on Friday I was informed that we'd be watching Kylie on Saturday. We already were going to be doing it on Sunday. But I guess Jess' sitter for Saturday fell through so she asked us. HDT says he still planned on doing the shopping anyway on Saturday but I knew it would fall through. She'd be the perfect excuse for us to stay home plus the weather was supposed to be bad.

Friday night after having a bit of a heated discussion about us putting our plans aside whenever Jess or Jenn or his mom calls we watched a few dvr'd shows and then he went to bed and I read for awhile before finally turning in around midnight.

Saturday he had to work from 6:00 - 2:00. I got up around 9ish I think it was and did my usual soak and read for awhile. Then I watched my Ghost Hunters shows that he doesn't watch. After that I started to clean the kitchen, he got home shortly after I started. Had him finish loading the dishwasher while I started to prepare us some mac and cheese. Then I mentioned how the fridge needed to be vacuumed because we haven't done that in years and with all the cats and dog it's got to be awful. So we pulled it out and was working on the back when Jess showed up with Kylie. After he was done with the fridge and I finished making the food he looks out the window and sees that it's raining pretty hard and says that he thinks we shouldn't be going out in this bad weather with Kylie to do the shopping. All I said was, "I know" and let it drop.

They went downstairs so he could start working on the tv and stuff with some new HD cables that he got and she could play with her toys while I finished washing the dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher. At some point while we were all still upstairs we found out that she'd never seen Bambi or Lady and the Tramp so we watched those and then put in Labyrinth which she's fallen in love with. But we let her know that we'd only be able to watch a little bit of it because we had people coming over for the UFC fights and she'd have to go to bed then anyway. Luckily she didn't put up a fuss at all about that and when I took her up to our bed she went right to sleep.

All the boys came over as usual along with two of HDT's coworkers to watch the fights. Wayne, my youngest brother, was the last to show and he comes walking in with his title belt that his kids gave him for father's day this year, holding it up in the air chanting Koschek, Koschek, Koschek. I picked up the water bottle that we use to spray the cats when needed and start spraying him with it. Most of us absolutely can't stand Kos and for him to come in chanting that was just wrong. But we had a good laugh. Especially when GSP kicked the shit out of him. We would've liked to see GSP finish him but seeing him kick his ass for 5 rounds was good too. The rest of the fights were really good as well and all the talking that was going on during the 3 hours was fun so we had a great evening. Jess showed up a fight or two before the GSP/Koschek fight and was glad she did because she can't stand him either and has a little crush of GSP.

After the fights everyone left but Jess. She had let us know during the fights that Kylie's dad finally called Jess back and said he'd be happy to take her on Sunday so we got out of that at least. She got on the computer to do some WOW stuff and HDT played a few Call of Duty games but then saw me playing on my phone so he quit so we could watch something together before I went to bed. But then as soon as he switched to tv Jess called him over because she needed help with something and they were over there doing whatever it is they were doing for long enough for me to say that I had to go to bed now. I told her not to worry about getting Kylie, that I'd just snuggle in on HDT's side of the bed which is what I did.

Somewhere around 3:00 she came and got her and then HDT came to bed. Said they were staying the night on the futon downstairs.

Sunday morning I woke up around 8:30 or so but just couldn't make myself get out of bed so I stayed there petting on Cry Baby and Poydras. Around 9 or so I heard the backdoor open so I knew Jess was getting ready to leave but I also had a feeling she shut the backdoor and didn't realize the inside handle will turn while locked. Sure enough she starts knocking on the door. Poydras flew off the bed barking and growling and started towards the door with me right behind. Her car doors had frozen over. I gave her something to chip at the ice with and she was able to get her passenger door open and started the car. While it was warming up she and Kylie were giving Poydras lovings and I stayed in the kitchen talking with 'em.

Eventually the car warmed up enough that she was able to get her driver door open and be on their way. I was debating on grabbing my book and getting in the tub for a soak and read or just grabbing the book and reading on the couch or watching more of my shows that HDT doesn't watch until he got up. As I was standing there shivering I decided on the tub since it'd be nice and warm while the house was heating up and all warm by the time I got out. HDT woke up while I was still in there but almost done with my book. So I finished that and while I was drying my hair he placed an order for pizza since neither of us felt like eating what we had and I for once said I was in the mood for it.

We grabbed it and came back home to start watching football. He flipped between a couple games because of his fantasy football guys and then at 3:00 we switched over to watch the Saints game. They finally had a sound win after several weeks of really having to fight for it. Was fun to watch. I was really tired at the beginning of the game, even joked about taking a nap during it, but about half way through the 2nd quarter I was wide awake and cheering.

After that we watched some dvr'd shows, had dinner and a little after 9:00 his dad called so I turned on the Dallas/Atlanta game since we couldn't watch anything while they were talking. They got into a discussion about some things that are going on with HDT's other sister Jenn. After the game ended I was expecting HDT to get off the phone when he realized how late it had gotten but he didn't. In between talking about Jenn they discussed the game since both were watching it. So after it ended they still hadn't finished talking about Jenn because of all the interruptions.

But I started to get tired so got up to go to bed, HDT told his dad he had to get off the phone then. He looked at the time and saw that he'd talked to him for over an hour and still doesn't think he got through to him. I told him that maybe he'll think about everything that was said and will see the logic in it. HDT told me to come over to his desk and when I got there he hit play on his itunes player on the computer. It was a Christmas song but when he saw that I didn't recognize who it was he told me it was the album I've been looking for/wanting for years. He had the whole thing. He found on Ebay someone who had recorded it onto cd's from the album but he also bought the album as well. I'm so, so happy. Now if only I could remember what the other Christmas album is that I used to listen to all the time I'd be even happier. Oh well, this will do.

Media quote of the day: This is the record he got me. I grew up with this album and when we moved to Louisiana the record got left behind and eventually lost. I've been wanting it for years, so so happy he was able to get it for me. And the Little Drummer Boy is my favorite Christmas song so Yay! for me!!

The Little Drummer Boy - Don Janse and His 60 Voice Children's Chorus

Little Drummer Boy

Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see,
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too,
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you!
Pa rum pum pum
On my drum.

Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.


"The Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song from 1958 - words and music by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, and Harry Simeone. The best-known and most standard version is by the Harry Simeone Chorale. It is also known as the "Carol of the Drum".

Oh Christmas Tree

So we finally got our tree decorated last night. We were supposed to do it Sunday but both ended up feeling pretty darn lazy so decided to do it on Monday. His sister Jess decided to come over to hang out and also cut his hair. So it didn't get done then. Tuesday he spent most of the day with his friend Jim because Jim had loaned his car to his ex wife for the day and night so HDT had to chauffeur him around and after I got off of work I met them at Jim's house and we all went out to dinner, including his two kids. Then they came over to get one of the presents we already got them because it's an ornament for their tree. They were also going to help us decorate ours.

HDT and I started putting the lights on, that we had just purchased on Sunday, and discovered that they were not to our liking. They were supposed to be warm white LED lights. One whole string was pretty yellow, one was really bright white and the others were white with some yellow ones mixed in. I think it was the plastic that was surrounding the light that was actually yellow. But at any rate it looked really bad. So we took them all off and packaged them back up to take back to the store. By then it was almost nine and we still had to take the kids and Jim back home. So we did that and then went to Target to take the lights back.

We looked at all their other LED lights and the ones that we wanted they were out of so we went over to Walmart but they didn't have what we wanted either so we ended up just going home since it was already after 10:00 and I was really tired.

He went online to see if Home Depot or Lowes might have what he was wanting and found that Home Depot should have some. So yesterday after I got off work we turned right around and went out to the store to see what they had. They're selling Martha Stewart brand lights and they had plenty of the kind he's been wanting. He's wanting ones that'll blink on and off. The ones we got have something like 10 different functions, they're multi color instead of white too. We put 6 strands on and they look good so we're happy.

We had bought glass icicles and plastic snowflakes at the Christmas store on Sunday. Those are the only ornaments we used except for the one we have for our first Christmas as a married couple. I figured we'd need to put some bulbs up to add color or contrast but the icicles and snowflakes look really good all by themselves. So I'm very happy with our fat tree.

Media quote of the day: O Tannenbaum by:
TEXT: Ernst Anschütz, 1824
MELODIE: Volksweise (traditional)

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur
zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Dein Kleid will mich
was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Trost und Kraft
zu jeder Zeit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Das soll dein Kleid
mich lehren.

On Christmas we made it to his sister's house just after 7:00 but no one was there yet. Turns out they were on their way home from watching The Waterhorse. His nephew really liked it but it reminded their father and his sister's boyfriend of Free Willy. Said it was good but too much like Free Willy.

We weren't their 15 minutes and his step mom started passing out the presents. Sad that two of the items they gave me had to go back. One was a protector for my iphone, but I like the one I have, they gave one to HD too but he doesn't need two of them. Also they gave me a headset but the round part that goes in my ear is too big. It wouldn't fit at all. They gave HD an external hard drive from Apple for his lap top but it's a smaller version and he wants the big one so he took all of those items back yesterday and will get the larger version. We'll either get me a different headset from Apple or go with another company that we were looking at on line on the 24th. It never occurred to me to even think about the part that goes in my ear but it should have. The ear pieces that go with the cord that came with the phone barely fit. The slightest tug on the cord pulls it right out.

They also gave me a new nail kit with a pink bag to put everything in. And some lounging clothes. They're black and white with a fleur-de-lis on the left side of the chest, can't remember if there's a pocket there or not. I'm hoping it fits. My SIL, who had my name on my side of the family, also gave me pajamas. The bottoms fit with no problem but the top is a little snug. But they're really really soft so I'll probably wear them anyway. Just one more incentive to stick to the weight loss resolution this year.

Yesterday was back to work day. I really didn't want to go. And although it was nice and quiet it was a long one. Although hectic days can wear you out they at least go quickly. Today is another one: quiet but long. It's only 10:40 and it feels like it should be 12:40. Oh well, back to it.

Media quote of the day: Let's free Willy! We can take him by the bay, and put him back in the water. - Jesse - Free Willy

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and Happy 25th to those that don't.

My family got together on Sunday. We got there just as everyone was sitting down to eat, perfect timing if I do say so myself. HD had to work overtime the night before from 10pm to 6am. He took a nap until 12ish when I woke him up to start getting ready. He helped do a few last minutes ribbons and got ready while watching the first half of the Saints game. They looked like they just might pull it off, sure they were down going into the half but were putting up a fight. But they lost Stecker and he's a key player right now. The family was watching the Bears game when we got there so we were getting updates at least. And, at least we got to see someone get their asses handed to them. Go Bears! Until next week that is. They can sit their asses down then.

We haven't gotten our tickets yet, still don't know where we'll be sitting. And now there's a slim chance I won't go. Family things have come up and we might give my ticket to one of them. We'll see, things need to be discussed before that's official.

After eating the kids were ready to start in on the opening of the presents. My brother Wayne had HD's name. Wayne has a friend who owns a tattoo place. On Thanksgiving Wayne and HD had talked tats and what they've both been wanting to do. HD has been wanting to have another fleur-de-lis wrapped around the one he has now on his left arm. So I had taken a couple photos of it and sent it Wayne who took it to his friend who then sketched a few sketches and decided on one. So they made a copy of it and Wayne made an appointment for him this Saturday at noon. But we'll have to reschedule. I thought he took this whole weekend off but he didn't, he'll be working until 2pm. So we'll have to reschedule for later in the day if there's an opening.

Afterward we played a game of Scene it TV then two games of Scene it Disney. Visited for about 20-30 minutes then played Apples to Apples. We had a good and loud time. I'm glad I brought the games over. Well, not the Disney, that one was already there.

Yesterday HD worked again and I did the last minute shopping and then wrapping of his family's gifts. We made it to his grandma's about 7:15. Dinner was just being put on the table so once again perfect timing. His sister had to go pick up her son from his dad's house so when they got back we opened presents.

It's so much fun watching kids open presents. Their little faces lighting up. Heck, even adults when you know you got them the right present.

His niece who's nine months was really excited over a present his other sister gave her. Later on after everyone was in the other room and only his mom, two sisters, niece and I were in one room together K started playing with her toy. Her mom was talking to her sister when K started to sit and stare at her gift and then all of a sudden start to clap. My MIL and I called J to look at K. It was the first time she clapped and she did it on her own. Now J had been trying to get her to do it for the last couple of days but she never did, didn't even begin to, and now she did it all on her own. Luckily HD's camera was there and she kept doing it so I got several pictures in a row of her clapping. Too cute.

We got home close to midnight. HD went to bed and I stayed up to do some laundry he needed for today, he had to work again. I finally woke up around 10 and haven't done much of anything all day. Basically, watched some tv and played poker on line. But I still have the couple presents for this dad and step mom to wrap to I guess I'll go do that and then clean up. The room is a mess with wrapping paper and bows all over the place.

After he gets off work we'll be heading over to his sister's house to open presents from his dad and step mom. I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Media quote of the day: The brand of the fleur-de-lis, the mark given to those who are to be executed for murder. - Athos - The Three Musketeers

Why oh why won't the pains go away?

I swear, am I ever going to feel 100% again? It's really pissing me off. Every day this week I've had something going on. Monday I was finally feeling better, as my title and post said but within an hour of posting I started to feel like shit again. It just got worse as the day went on. During the football game I was half out of it but stayed up instead of going to bed to be a cheerleader for the Bears because my Saints depended on it. Didn't help though, that's for sure. Tuesday I felt better than Monday but still wasn't so good. Wednesday was feeling a little better again but by the afternoon had sinus issues. Then yesterday I was almost back to normal until around 3ish when sinus issues started up again. Just the pressure at the top of the nose and in between the eyes was horrendous.

Then I went and got my hair cut by HDiTty's sister but she wasn't able to start on it until almost 9:00 because she was doing their mom's hair. Afterward we all went to dinner so I didn't get home until 11:30. Today at work we're doing a "snack day" and I was going to make some cookie type things but because I wasn't home all evening I never got a chance to. The good thing though is that we also did it yesterday and I had made my beloved Blueberry Fluff. So I did contribute but I still felt bad about not bringing anything. I also was hoping to get a few things for some coworkers and never did. And this morning I couldn't find my key for work. The accounting dept is in a locked office you see and that's the key I couldn't find. So I was stressing a little bit and now have a friggen headache that's of migraine material. BUT, I took some Excedrin Migraine and I'm hoping it'll kick in real soon. My stomach is finally better though. About 30 minutes after taking the pills my stomach started to feel upset, I'm thinking it was the pills and the diet coke I used to take them. But it's mostly settled now.

I counted up how many people we have left to buy for it's 13. THIRTEEN, and 7 of them are in my family. We only have this evening and tomorrow to get the presents and then wrap everything up. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

And my damn tree still isn't decorated yet!! It might get some lights on by tomorrow sometime. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see.

Yeah, I'm stressing a little bit over here. But we have continuous Christmas music going to get me through the day. HAH! It's been going since the 4th. So I've been hearing the same songs over and over every day multiple times a day. On the 5th I actually kept track. By noon out of the 32 songs played 10 of them were played 2 or more times. Out of those about 4 of them were played 3 times. One of them was played 4 times. 3 and 4 TIMES BEFORE NOON people. That's just crazy. Be very happy if your place of employment doesn't play your local Holiday station.

OK, here it's several hours later I still have the damn headache. I think it's not gonna go away until I'm able to relax at home tonight.

Media quote of the day:

Silver Bells, Silver Bells
It's Christmas time in the City
Ring a'ling, here them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day

Feeling better

So I'm finally feeling better. Not quite 100% but close enough. And we did some shopping yesterday so about half the kids are done, his mom is done, one of his sisters is done and my brother is done. But even with all them we're still not even half finished. We're supposed to go again tonight after I get off work but I have a feeling it won't happen.

The football game tonight is an important one for the Saints. I'm already a Bears fan but tonight I have to be as big a fan of them as I am of the Saints. They really really need the Vikings to lose to help with the wild card slot. So I have a feeling he's going to try to convince me to stay home and watch it. But after they win then I have to go back to not being as big a fan, especially on the 30th when we'll be seeing them at Soldier Field. Now HD lost a bet last year when they met last time and that bet was that he'd have to be a Bears fan the next time they played. He was going to try to bribe the person he made the bet with by offering him the 4th ticket to the game for free in exchange of not having to be a fan. But the guy can't go so I asked him what he'd do. He said he might welch on it. Or he'd wear a hat but still have on his Saints shirt. On the back of the hat he'd put a sign stating he lost a bet. I like that idea the most but it is a dilemma since it's not really the way the deal is supposed to go. But then, I don't think he really cares to much, it's not like the guy would know since he's not going.

I'm not completely opposed to the idea of staying home though, since we still haven't decorated the tree yet. It looks awfully sad over in it's corner with no lights or ornaments. If we stay home then I can decorate while watching the game. And maybe even get the presents wrapped. Hmm, maybe I'll suggest staying home. I don't know though, we really need to get the shopping done. I hate dilemmas!

Media quote of the day: I'd say I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not. I excel at not giving a shit. Experience has taught me that interest begets expectation, and expectation beget disappointment, so the key to avoiding disappointment is to avoid interest. A equals B equals C Equals A, or whatever. I also don't have a lot of interest in being a good person or a bad person. From what I can tell, either way, you're screwed. Bad people are punished by society's laws, and good people are punished by Murphy's Law. So you see my dilemma. - George - Dead Like Me.

Now that was a great show, too bad it didn't last.

Christmas gifts - What to do?

This is my 200th post. Seems weird that I've done that many posts. And other times it seems weird that that's all I've done. But then, when I go a whole week without writing anything it makes sense. Anyway.

So Christmas is upon us and we haven't even begun to do our shopping. We have one gift bought and that's because it came from Tupperware and one of the chicks at work was having a book party. I got HDiTty's niece the Shape-O Toy. I remember loving that toy as a kid. Never knew it was a Tupperware item until I saw it in the book and new immediately I had to buy it for her. So other than that toy nothing has been bought for anyone. We have 8 more nieces and nephews to get for.; 4 brothers and sisters; 5 parents and one grandma. Oh yeah, one cousin who's only 12 so since she's a kid we still get her a gift. And then two kids who are HD's best friend's kids. And other than one niece who provided a list a couple weeks ago for her birthday, we have no idea what to get for anyone.

My brothers and I, since we were kids, trade names. This also includes in laws. HD and I have one of the brothers and his wife. We had them last year too. The exact same way even, I had my brother and HD had the wife. We got them gift certificates to a local theater which they used to see Peter Frampton I believe. They liked the gifts but I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to do the same thing again. So now I have no clue what to do. He's not an easy guy to buy for. And she never gives any ideas either. I just don't know.

I've been wanting to get a tree for the past week but we haven't done that yet. I really wanted to go today but unless we go this evening it doesn't look like it'll happen. If it doesn't I might stop on my way home from work tomorrow. I pass three places that sell 'em. Two are nurseries so you know they're fresh trees. I had a fake one last year but that's because I wasn't working then and we couldn't afford to buy one and my mom gave me an extra one that she had. It was ok but I much prefer real ones to fake ones.

I love this holiday the most but for the last couple of years it's been more depressing than not. Last year because I wasn't working I couldn't give gifts the way I normally have. Because we don't have kids ourselves I tend to spoil all the kids in our lives. We couldn't do that last year, we were only able to give one gift to each kid when normally we would give 3 or 4 to each. They wouldn't be very expensive, probably totaling 40-50 dollars a kid but last year we only spent 20 bucks on each which resulted in one gift bought. Each one got a Nintendo game. I know it sounds like it's about the money, how much I spend and all but it's not. It's that I want them to have a bunch of items to open not just one from us. I think I'm gonna send an Email to the parents and try to get lists out of the kids. I should do that now, the sooner the better.

See ya.

Media quote of the day: Christmas is awesome. First of all you get to spend time with people you love. Secondly, you can get drunk and no one can say anything. Third, you give presents. What's better than giving presents? And fourth, getting presents. So four things. Not bad for one day. It's really the greatest day of all time. - Michael from The Office

My busy Christmas weekend update (long post)

Friday we ran over to H Ditty's grandma's house and put up and helped her decorate her tree. That was a joy. First we brought up 3 large boxes from the basement and took out all the branches and put them into their respective piles. HD started to put the poles together. He says that we're missing a pole; I think it's just the top portion of the tree that's missing; either way somethings missing. So we all; me, him, grandma and his mom; start looking in the HUGE friggen' basement. After about 15 minutes I've pretty much given up. There's another tree down there so we grab that stuff and take it up in the hopes it's all there. I start to assemble it in another room. I tear open the bags that the limbs, etc are in. I open the last which has the top of the tree in it. I put it's bottom next to the top of the pole and realize they don't match. I call HD into the room and ask him if it matches the original tree. Sure enough it does. We could've been working on that damn tree for the last 20 minutes but grandma and his mom both insisted none of those bags could be any part of the tree.

Then there's the lights fiasco. Out of 6 strings we tried only 3 worked. But as huge as that tree is the 3 strings ended up being enough. His mom had left before we were done putting up the lights and had asked us to make sure we at least decorate the top portion of the tree including the topping since grandma is too frail and small to do it herself. She certainly didn't need to be on any step stool besides which she'd still not be able to get the top on. She had brought up the ornaments and we're going through them deciding on which ones to use or not when I realize there's no hooks. Not one box of ornaments is hooked already and there's no hooks anywhere else to be found. Plus, she now can't find her angel that's supposed to go on top. We end up having to run to K-mart to get both. The one good thing to come out of it though is dinner. It's now going on 9pm and we haven't eaten since much earlier in the day. We get it all done and head home so I can finish the cookies.

I didn't get into bed until almost 2am. Saturday we couldn't sleep in since we had a birthday party to be at by noon. I had gotten up around 8:30 to get ready and run to the store to get birthday cards and some booze for later that night at my mom and step dad's. We got to the party a little late but that's ok. Everyone was having lunch so we sat down and had a little grub ourselves.

After we went to mom's. Was there by 4 and stayed until 11. My mom and step dad have 10 children between them and many, many grandchildren. Only mom's side was there on Saturday, they'd be spending time with his side on Christmas Day. But because of all these people they decided last year to not buy any of their kids gifts anymore to save some money. So instead they bake up stuff such as breads and cookies. This year they made raisin cinnamon bread. Mom also made some pot holders and towels for us. They always make the same things for each of us so no one can complain. I was the first to open mine and instantly got a huge smile on my face and had to elbow Wayne to look. The pot holders were made out of some fabric that used to be in our bedrooms. The same fabric that was on the ugly metal utility shelves we had. She had draped the fabric along the sides to hide the supports and it spruced it up immensely. Also the same fabric was used for our curtains. It was a great way to bring back our childhood. Some of the other fabric used was the same stuff that I apparently had either a nightgown or robe. It wasn't familiar to me so it must have been when I was really young. She did make a point to let us know that the stuff she used was never on our shelves, curtain rods or my body; it was all extra fabric that she still had after all these years. Damn is she a pack rat.

Three of the girls put on a skit again. This time it only lasted about 2 minutes but was still very enjoyable. There were only two things that were negative throughout the whole night. For those of you who've seen some of my posts with pictures you know that I'm a heavy girl (that's putting it nicely). I don't need anyone telling me I'm overweight, that I should lose weight, that I'm big, or anything else of that nature. I certainly don't need anyone being an ass in other words. Wayne and I were sitting next to each other at the dinner table. We had all finished eating but were still sitting around talking. He was sitting at an angle with his arm resting on the back of my chair. I had gotten up to get something, don't remember what & it's not important. I came back to my chair from behind him. Between our chairs and the wall was a plant stand that had plants and old time tin boxes. So as not to hit Wayne's arm I twisted to get by him and twisted in just the right way as to bump the stand and two of the tins fell. No biggy, didn't break anything, no plants were harmed. He immediately chimes in that if I weren't so big I wouldn't have hit it. Said something else too that I've chosen to forget. I smacked him on his head and told him to shut up, that I was trying not to hit him that's the only reason I hit the stand. Now, of course it bugs me but by him saying that he's also saying it to my husband who's overweight and our own mother. She's not quite as heavy as I am but she's still heavy. He's said things like this before and it drives both HD and myself up the wall.

The other was that I almost ruined Santa Claus for some of my nieces and nephews. I had had a few drinks, I was only beginning to buzz but it was still enough to impair my thought process. On another site there was a question and answer post and one of the questions was: when did you find out the truth about Santa? I had answered that I don't ever remember believing in him although I'm sure I did. So for some reason that popped into my head at mom's so I called her over and asked her. Not paying any attention that a few of the kids were running around within ear shot. She just said she didn't know and walked away and one of my brothers told me to shush. I felt bad but none of them heard, luckily. And although I don't remember ever believing I do remember knowing that adults didn't believe. I don't know, my brain is complicated. So because I almost fucked it up I never got an answer, I still want to know.

Sunday we were able to sleep in since we didn't have to be at grandma's house until 6pm. Although we did stay up really late. I think I didn't go to bed until 3 or 4 and HD didn't get into bed until close to 9 I think. We had watched the last 4 episodes of last season's 24. All went well at her house. The only thing that happened was the usual. His uncle can get pretty heated over nothing much at all. Plus he seems to raise his voice at his wife an awful lot. Which he did twice. The worst part of that is that his daughter, whose 10, is in ear shot every time. That's just uncalled for. But overall it was a nice night. We left around 11 again.

Stayed up late, again, watched The Devil Wears Prada which I had gotten from my brother Scott on Saturday. Good movie. Got into bed around 2, HD around 3:30 or so. Was up by 7 to go to his dad's house. Dad's always goes well, no problems ever, which is always nice after his uncle's presence. We got the new George Foreman G5 that we wanted. That is going to be one awesome kitchen appliance. After opening presents we went to breakfast. His sister and nephew who are living at their dad's weren't feeling well and we were very tired. So after eating they all went home and so did we.

Both of us crawled back into bed soon after returning home. I got back up around 3 then got him up at 5 to get ready for work that night. He worked and I went to a couple sites I read. Watched the Dallas and Philly game. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I don't know all the particulars, HD tells me and I promptly forget, about how the playoffs will work. But I know by Dallas losing it helps the Saints so that's a huge plus. Plus, I'm not a Dallas fan, at all, so that was nice to see.

So that was my Christmas weekend. For most of it it was a pleasant and fun time. Made quite a few people happy with what we gave which made me happy. I'm hoping we can do this three day thing again next year rather than pile my mom's and his mom's gathering together on the same day like normal.

Hope all of your weekends, celebrations or not, went well.

Media quote of the day: A fat man, trying to squeeze through a narrow chimney, and I taunt him with Oreos and whole milk. - John "The Biscuit" Cage - Ally McBeal No one would dream of telling Santa he's fat and should lose weight, but then, I'm not Santa. Meh