Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
99 problems
Ok, not trying to be a Scrooge here but it is hard to be in the Christmas spirit with a horrible cold that kept me up all night. And on top of the lack of sleep the cold meds I took this morning have made me feel like the living dead. And not the hot Cullen variety either.
At least I will have plenty of time to sleep tomorrow when I am snowed in. Yes, we are expected to get 20 INCHES of snow tonight through tomorrow. And when Maryland gets that much snow life pretty much stops. As a state we are not prepared and people fly into a severe panic.
If I was going to be snowed in during the month of February I really wouldn't care...but I have Christmas shopping to do and this is going to force me to do it after work next week. Scary thought. It's supposed to be a "White Christmas" on Christmas...not a "White Before Christmas" for a reason. And that reason is that snow hinders shopping.
Anyways, sorry to whine. Bah Humbug.
At least I will have plenty of time to sleep tomorrow when I am snowed in. Yes, we are expected to get 20 INCHES of snow tonight through tomorrow. And when Maryland gets that much snow life pretty much stops. As a state we are not prepared and people fly into a severe panic.
If I was going to be snowed in during the month of February I really wouldn't care...but I have Christmas shopping to do and this is going to force me to do it after work next week. Scary thought. It's supposed to be a "White Christmas" on Christmas...not a "White Before Christmas" for a reason. And that reason is that snow hinders shopping.
Anyways, sorry to whine. Bah Humbug.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Get to know you...Christmas Style!
Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your blogger friends. I got this from Black Labs and Lilly and just had to do it...because if you haven't noticed, I love Christmas! Here's what you're supposed to do...copy this entire post and paste into a new post on your blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you.This is not a Meme or a Tag. You simply play along if you wish to. Or just read the answers!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for sure! Spending time wrapping presents and picking out bow and ribbons really puts me in the holiday spirit! I don't mind bags for birthday presents but I always wrap for Christmas!
2. Real tree or Artificial? This is the first year I got my own tree and it's fake. My parents have a fake tree as well but they have gotten real ones in the past. I like both but you can't beat the convenience of the fakes.
3. When do you put up the tree? No real specific time...this year we did it the weekend after Thanksgiving (my apartment tree and my parents were actually put up on the same day.) For many years our Jewish neighbors have helped us decorate my parents tree while we eat Chinese food. It's a lot of fun.
4. When do you take the tree down? It varies...since this is my first year with my own I'll probably take it down New Years weekend.
5. Do you like eggnog? I think I have made that clear! :)
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a lot of awesome gifts but one that I remember being really excited about was when I got the "look like you" American Girl doll, I already had Samantha so I was surprised to get another.
7. Hardest person to buy for?My dad
8. Easiest person to buy for?My Sister
9. Do you have a nativity scene? My parents have a couple but I don't have my own. I really like one of my mom's that is wooden and people look like puzzles...it sounds weird but it actually looks good.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? It's a tie...when I was about 12 my aunt (dad's sister who is totally nuts) gave me and my sister these poofy dresses. They looked like something a 2 year old would wear but they were our size. We had a lot of fun taking weird pictures in them so it wasn't all that bad! The other would have to be a shirt from Abercrombie that one of my friends in high school gave me. It wasn't a bad shirt but she told me how she shoplifted it and I felt so strange having it. I'm a goody goody.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story...I basically have it memorized.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Mid-December normally.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope...but I am pretty sure once I got a recycled gift card from a relative.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sugar cookies with sprinkles.
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, white ones.
17. Favorite Christmas song? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" I know it's weird but I love it. As far as traditional songs I love "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "Oh Holy Night."
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?I guess now I technically travel 20 minutes to my parents but I think of it as staying home. Our extended family is really spread out so normally it's just us and my grandparents (who are not coming this year.) When I was very young we used to go to my grandparents house but as we got older us kids liked staying home so my grandparents would come to us.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, but I call one Donner and K says it's really Donder. I like Donner better. (UPDATED: last night we googled this (I wrote this post yesterday) and I am right!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? My parents have this really goofy angel who used to hold a star but the star part broke and now it's just the angel. She kind of looks like a cabbage patch doll. Weird, but tradition. For my tree I got a sparkly star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning...but we do open our PJs and ornament Christmas Eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Traffic and crowds!
23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My parents give us an ornament every year so those are all really fun to look back and remember what event or activity prompted that ornament for that year. But my favorite ornaments are some of the ones my mom got when she lived in Germany...they all have little stories that go along with them.
24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? We don't really have Christmas Dinner. My parents host a small a party on Christmas Eve with neighbors and friends, then we eat big breakfast Christmas morning. In past years my mom has made breakfast casserole and monkey bread but this year we are going to a diner and I think that will be fun too. For dinner we usually have something easy and that can be semi-made ahead so my mom can relax. We have had everything from crab cakes to lasagna to just eating leftovers from the night before!
25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? The same thing I do every year!
26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Christmas is the one holiday where my family has very set things we always do so I have a lot of favorite traditions...but one would be the Christmas pajamas. Every year my siblings and I get new Christmas pajamas on Christmas eve and basically wear them all day on Christmas while we hang around the house watching movies. Last year K got them too so my brother finally had someone to match with. This year I helped my mom pick them out and we got ones for my mom and dad too.
27. Favorite tradition now? Being the "elf." My mom always works very hard to "make Christmas happen" and last year everyone was asleep or going to sleep (including my dad) and I could hear her struggling to bring the presents up from their hiding spots and doing the stockings all alone so I went and helped her. I never thought I would want to do that (and ruin the surprise in the morning) but it's fun to make Christmas happen and now she calls me the elf!
28. Favorite Christmas Memory? This is hard because I have a lot, so I'll go with the completely non-traditional Christmas I had my senior year of college. My parents decided to take us on a cruise instead of giving us Christmas presents so we were at sea on Christmas Eve then in Honduras at the beach on Christmas. I wouldn't want to skip out on traditional Christmas every year but it was neat to do something different! The ship was all decorated for Christmas and they worked in a lot of holiday shows and activities.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for sure! Spending time wrapping presents and picking out bow and ribbons really puts me in the holiday spirit! I don't mind bags for birthday presents but I always wrap for Christmas!
2. Real tree or Artificial? This is the first year I got my own tree and it's fake. My parents have a fake tree as well but they have gotten real ones in the past. I like both but you can't beat the convenience of the fakes.
3. When do you put up the tree? No real specific time...this year we did it the weekend after Thanksgiving (my apartment tree and my parents were actually put up on the same day.) For many years our Jewish neighbors have helped us decorate my parents tree while we eat Chinese food. It's a lot of fun.
4. When do you take the tree down? It varies...since this is my first year with my own I'll probably take it down New Years weekend.
5. Do you like eggnog? I think I have made that clear! :)
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a lot of awesome gifts but one that I remember being really excited about was when I got the "look like you" American Girl doll, I already had Samantha so I was surprised to get another.
7. Hardest person to buy for?My dad
8. Easiest person to buy for?My Sister
9. Do you have a nativity scene? My parents have a couple but I don't have my own. I really like one of my mom's that is wooden and people look like puzzles...it sounds weird but it actually looks good.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? It's a tie...when I was about 12 my aunt (dad's sister who is totally nuts) gave me and my sister these poofy dresses. They looked like something a 2 year old would wear but they were our size. We had a lot of fun taking weird pictures in them so it wasn't all that bad! The other would have to be a shirt from Abercrombie that one of my friends in high school gave me. It wasn't a bad shirt but she told me how she shoplifted it and I felt so strange having it. I'm a goody goody.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story...I basically have it memorized.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Mid-December normally.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope...but I am pretty sure once I got a recycled gift card from a relative.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sugar cookies with sprinkles.
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, white ones.
17. Favorite Christmas song? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" I know it's weird but I love it. As far as traditional songs I love "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "Oh Holy Night."
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?I guess now I technically travel 20 minutes to my parents but I think of it as staying home. Our extended family is really spread out so normally it's just us and my grandparents (who are not coming this year.) When I was very young we used to go to my grandparents house but as we got older us kids liked staying home so my grandparents would come to us.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, but I call one Donner and K says it's really Donder. I like Donner better. (UPDATED: last night we googled this (I wrote this post yesterday) and I am right!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? My parents have this really goofy angel who used to hold a star but the star part broke and now it's just the angel. She kind of looks like a cabbage patch doll. Weird, but tradition. For my tree I got a sparkly star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning...but we do open our PJs and ornament Christmas Eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Traffic and crowds!
23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My parents give us an ornament every year so those are all really fun to look back and remember what event or activity prompted that ornament for that year. But my favorite ornaments are some of the ones my mom got when she lived in Germany...they all have little stories that go along with them.
24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? We don't really have Christmas Dinner. My parents host a small a party on Christmas Eve with neighbors and friends, then we eat big breakfast Christmas morning. In past years my mom has made breakfast casserole and monkey bread but this year we are going to a diner and I think that will be fun too. For dinner we usually have something easy and that can be semi-made ahead so my mom can relax. We have had everything from crab cakes to lasagna to just eating leftovers from the night before!
25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? The same thing I do every year!
26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Christmas is the one holiday where my family has very set things we always do so I have a lot of favorite traditions...but one would be the Christmas pajamas. Every year my siblings and I get new Christmas pajamas on Christmas eve and basically wear them all day on Christmas while we hang around the house watching movies. Last year K got them too so my brother finally had someone to match with. This year I helped my mom pick them out and we got ones for my mom and dad too.
27. Favorite tradition now? Being the "elf." My mom always works very hard to "make Christmas happen" and last year everyone was asleep or going to sleep (including my dad) and I could hear her struggling to bring the presents up from their hiding spots and doing the stockings all alone so I went and helped her. I never thought I would want to do that (and ruin the surprise in the morning) but it's fun to make Christmas happen and now she calls me the elf!
28. Favorite Christmas Memory? This is hard because I have a lot, so I'll go with the completely non-traditional Christmas I had my senior year of college. My parents decided to take us on a cruise instead of giving us Christmas presents so we were at sea on Christmas Eve then in Honduras at the beach on Christmas. I wouldn't want to skip out on traditional Christmas every year but it was neat to do something different! The ship was all decorated for Christmas and they worked in a lot of holiday shows and activities.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wishful Wednesday: Holiday Experience
I wish I could relive one particular holiday experience over and over again, and it would be the basketball incident!
When my siblings go to bed on Christmas eve we always say "Whoever wakes up first, wakes up the others." We still do this at 17, 21 and 24 years of age. Typically during my childhood Christmases, my sister or I would get up first then wake up the other one and go down and get our stockings. We would bring the stockings to one of our bedrooms and look at everything, then wake up my brother and take him to get his. Once stockings are done we are allowed to wake up our parents and open presents. We are not supposed to mess with any presents until then.
The year this happened (I was probably 12 or 13 and she was probably 9 or 10) my sister and I went to get the stockings and noticed that there was a stuffed basketball, unwrapped under the tree. There was a note in the "Santa handwriting" addressed to my sister that said "Look inside" taped to it. Even though we had never tried to open presents before we couldn't resist opening the basketball. It just seemed to strange to have a present inside a stuffed "animal."
Or should I say...trying to open the basketball. We looked for a zipper or Velcro to open it and couldn't find anything. We then tried to rip the thing open. Also no luck. We were about to get scissors when we realized that our parents probably would not be happy if they saw we had opened a present.
After looking at our stockings we woke up our parents. Even though at that age we knew the truth about Santa, we always (still do this too) make a big show of what we got from Santa and what is in our stockings. So my sister told my parents about the basketball with a mysterious something inside. I told them we had tried to open it and couldn't.
My mom looked at us like we were crazy and told us to read the note again. In our frenzy we didn't notice that it said "Look outside" not "Look inside." If we had looked outside we would have seen the basketball hoop my sister had been wanting, set up in the driveway.
It's funny how sometimes it's a little thing that you remember. Even though this story is not about my most exciting Christmas or the best gift I ever got, thinking about the two of us in our matching Christmas pajamas trying to rip open a stuffed basketball with our bare hands always makes me laugh!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Happy 101 Blog Bling
Jenny DB from So Say I gave me the Happy 101 award. I also totally stole her term "blog bling" for these awards because it is just too cute. Thanks Jenny, and sorry this took me so long!
Here are the rules:
1) List 10 things that make you happy.
2) Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. (Only since you all brighten my day with your blogs and comments, I am breaking the rules and tagging anyone who want to play!...I am such a rebel)
Here we go:
1) The beach
2) New books
3) Singing, especially songs from musicals
4) Gossiping with my friends
5) Wineries
6) Free gifts with purchases
7) Good hair days
8) Baking Christmas cookies with my brother and sister
9) Eggnog (see my last post)
10) Waking up with my sweet boyfriend and cuddy puppy everyday
ode to eggnog
Yesterday my day was made when I read this quote from Nicole Richie: "I'm a big eggnog drinker. Not the kind with alcohol in it, but the regular kind. I thought that everyone drinks eggnog, but as I'm getting older, I'm learning that people actually think it's really gross, but I love it, so I will definitely have some eggnog!"
Finally, a kindred eggnog spirit. Except, she is far skinner then I am and I will never drink eggnog with her or even stand next to her because it will make me feel bad about myself. If I was ever somewhere with her I would eat plain lettuce leaves and give her all the eggnog...she needs it more.
But seriously, I think her quote summed me up perfectly. Every year when I notice that eggnog has appeared in the grocery store I know that Christmas is finally here.
In my opinion the only eggnog worth drinking is the canned kind. Although, I have never actually tried homemade, the thought of drinking something made by a random person in their kitchen with raw eggs makes me feel like I am going hurl. I have had it with booze mixed in, and like Nicole, I prefer it plain.
Also like Nicole, I always assumed everyone loves eggnog as much as I do...but they don't. No one ever drinks it but me. Why is that? It's amazing. I don't understand.
Do you drink eggnog?
Monday, December 14, 2009
done...done and done!
I feel like I keep saying this, but in advance, I am sorry if my blogging is sub-par this week. It's supposed to be crazy at work (this is our busy time of year) and I have a lot of shopping and Christmas stuff to do after work.
I had a productive and fun weekend at my parents. Saturday my mom and I spent the whole day shopping, it was kind of like sprinting from store to store grabbing stuff then moving on to the next store. I was exhausted when we got home. Mom got a lot of stuff she needed, but I still have a bunch of presents to buy.
Sunday we went out to breakfast, my parents have this new habit of going to this diner every Sunday morning and it is really delicious! We are actually going to go there after opening presents on Christmas morning this year. After breakfast I got to work on all of my applications and...here is the exciting news...I finished them all! And as of this morning all of the supplemental information is also in the mail! Yipee!
I am still waiting on if I will have to take any extra coursework but my mom asked a couple girls she knows from her school that are in the program (at my top choice school) and they said a lot of people do have to take something but it isn't a big deal.
So now the waiting game begins!
I had a productive and fun weekend at my parents. Saturday my mom and I spent the whole day shopping, it was kind of like sprinting from store to store grabbing stuff then moving on to the next store. I was exhausted when we got home. Mom got a lot of stuff she needed, but I still have a bunch of presents to buy.
Sunday we went out to breakfast, my parents have this new habit of going to this diner every Sunday morning and it is really delicious! We are actually going to go there after opening presents on Christmas morning this year. After breakfast I got to work on all of my applications and...here is the exciting news...I finished them all! And as of this morning all of the supplemental information is also in the mail! Yipee!
I am still waiting on if I will have to take any extra coursework but my mom asked a couple girls she knows from her school that are in the program (at my top choice school) and they said a lot of people do have to take something but it isn't a big deal.
So now the waiting game begins!
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