Shattered

This morning while watching the ending of The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) and then the ending of Sense and Sensibility (1995) on Cable, I took down decorations. (I love old movies and Jane Austin movies I can't get enough of.) It would have taken me less than two hours, but I was interrupted by two things...well four things.... I had to stop to wash the kids' dishes and feed three hungry kitties, including the stray. And then there was that mishap.... >.<

We've had these long stemmed candle holders for I don't know how many years. The survived countless years of coming out of Christmas boxes, and their individual box. The survived three moves that way. They survived five years sitting on top of a TV, which was probably not smart given the small space and easy access to knock it off. They survived five years coming off that TV to be packed up. They however did NOT survive being tapped by an ornament in the packing up stage of taking down Christmas.

I took everything down. I piled it on the dining table, like I always do. I packed away things little by little. The only things remaining were the breakables, which I save for last usually due to the fact that all of them have individual boxes and I want to be careful not to break anything. >.<

The table was nearly cleared off. I grabbed a small music box ornament and accidently tapped the medium sized glass. It fell right over and the top simply shattered. >.< It kills me every time when my beautiful decorations get broken. After some moaning and groaning and ignoring Mother's STUPID comment about my always making too much noise while she was working, I finally swept up the glass. There was some on the floor, but most of it was on the table top. It took most of an hour to finally clean off that table. It didn't help that there was gold glitter from the leaves faking me out thinking I kept missing glass.

So, yeah. I'm pretty bummed about that. I'm sure I'll figure a new arrangement next year. But it will be sad to pull out that box and know one glass is missing. Just like it was sad the year I broke the snowman candle holder. Bleh...

Pffft...

I was productive yesterday. I didn't do all that I told myself to do, but I was productive. Cleaned the kitchen (which I will have to do again in a lil bit), cleaned the bathroom (well mostly, didn't mop or anything), did laundry, threw out some old left overs, and took the trash out. Go me. But I have not yet taken down Christmas....

Actually, I started to and will most likely finish the job even though it's 4am now. I started by taking off the snowman chair back covers and Santa "pillow" covers (they were also chair back covers, but they're rather small). I had intended to wash them all tonight while doing laundry. Anyway, I did that last night and Mom noticed.

Mom: "Taking down Christmas?"
Me: (well duh) "Yeah."
Mom: "Good."

>.<

She never liked Christmas to still be up even past New Year. So if she had said "it's about time" or something, I wouldn't have thought anything of it. I know she didn't like that I decorated and I could be wrong, but the way she said it. It might as well have been "good riddence to bad rubbish" or something equally nasty. Whatever. Anyway. My gung ho to be productive and take it down, left in that moment. Maybe a "screw you" for the tone. I don't know. I'll still take it down of course. I was going to anyway. Because I don't like Christmas up too long. I usually try to take it down the first weekend of the year, but I was otherwise occuppited. :P

Anywho... On a pleasanter note... Debbie, my Mom's cousin, came over for a visit. (Thankfully, she didn't have to go potty, as I was still cleaning it. :P ) She actually stayed and visited for a good long while. It's always fun when she visits, she's so funny and she makes Mom laugh too. We're all reading similar books, so we talked about the different series' for a while. She also shared some of her dating stories and family news. Like I guess a cousin had to have her baby delievered a couple weeks early because she had swine flu. Her sister caught it and gave it to her husband before he took their youngest out of the house. Everyone's fine. But man. The newborn's mother was in the hospital, sedated, for almost a month. She said she didn't remember anything, the delivery, being sick, nothing... :o  That had to be a scary feeling waking from that fog without the baby you were carrying.

I watched He's Just Not That Into You (2009) tonig...er, last night. And man! The lies told to avoid telling the truth. The pathetic phone watching. The over-analyzing every move a guy makes to read into it something that's not there. I may have told some of those consoling lies over the years, but hopefully not too many. I've never been a pathetic phone watcher. And thank God, I don't read too much into what guys do and say, or didn't when I was interacting with guys on a more regular basis. Ugh... The movie was enjoyable, but it did make me cringe for my fellow females.

EEPS! Almost 5am! Serves me right for stopping mid-way to surf the net.. Anywho, off I go to de-decorate... Joy.

Maybe not...

Okay, so I didn't do a whole lot of productive stuff today.... I did finish adding pretty much all my old fave links. The only links I don't have now, are the ones people gave me... Like.. personal IC/OOC blogs (well, not counting those I'm following here and Mellie's blog) and smaller/newer forums people might have been promoting. Ah well. Oh and I still gotta find that one game... the yetti? yeti? That game where ya wack the penguins to see how far they bounce. :P

It's not the best of pictures.. I took it with my cell phone. I'll have to take anouther and see if day lighting is better. But this is my new baby. :D Bubbles screen saver and all! :D ~petpets her new compy~ Isn't it pretty? (well from what ya can see... :P ) It runs so smooth and quick. And it's pretty too! :D I'm thinking about naming it. :P But I can't think of what to call it. :P

Apart from organizing my LONG list of favorites and adding a few more links, I did nothing but play on it the whole time it was on! :D And tomorrow will probably be more of that, as I won't set up the old comp again (to move more files) until I take down Christmas decorations.

Maybe I'll try being productive tomorrow... Or maybe not... :P Oh, wait.. I will be productive tonight...er later this morning... I have to wash a few dishes.. That's productive, right? :P Anywho... Off I go... dishes... kitties to tidy after... and trash duty... hopefully all before 5:30am so I can make that wake up call to Dad with free hands. :P Toodles doodles!

Playing Catch Up... Part 3

January 1st, 2010!!!!
- You know, despite the goal for the day, I still woke up like it was any other day. Well not JUST any other day. Any other Daddy day. :) And even after getting ready, Dad and I started off our day like usual, with breakferast. :) Actually, no. This time we brought in our books to read while waiting for our food. That was actually very nice. Yeah, I'ma dorky reader. Sit me down in a nice enough environment with my book and I'm happy. :P
- We looked at one store, but due to the fact that it was, y'know, a holiday, it was closed. So on to Best Buy we went. I think we spent at least an hour there. Looking at computers that Dad would have liked for himself, and comparing comps that'd be useful for me. Okay, apart from asking if I could have the larger monitor, I wasn't gonna ask for anything beyond your basic comp. Cuz, let's face it, just about anything was better than what I had. And even the basic basic was gonna be more than what I'd need.
- After a while of looking around and then talking to a sales rep, we settled on a computer and package stuff... Grand total was... :o Well, I'm not gonna say, but HUGE thank you, Daddy. I won't be asking for anything for a long long while. I thought computers were getting cheaper... But then, we also got software (Microsoft Office and Anti Virus) and they set it up for me (updates and virus installs) and again, the slightly bigger monitor... It adds up, really quickly, y'know?
- While they worked on the computer, we hung out at Dad's house and watched a movie or two..... Dunno what we watched now though.... All those Christmas movies just blended in all together after a while.
- Picked up the computer and made a quick-ish stop at a market... Always stopping at a market or store....
- On the way home we hit this one lil Messican food place we (Mom, Josh, and I) used to frequent waaaay back when we lived in Anaheim. They made these awesome burritos and taquitos and nachos... Num num numnum....'
- Man, after the long day of fun and thrill of computer shopping and good food.... I was soooo tired at the end of the day... Too tired even to take my new baby out of the boxes!

January 2, 2010
- Busy, busy day... :D That actually got started with a call while I was sleeping from Nana... She wanted to drive Mom to her dentist appointment. :P But A- she wanted to cancel cuz her mouth was still too swollen to open and B- they cancelled on her anyway due to emergency of some sort...
- I took apart (unplugged) my old computer....cleaning it and the desk as I went. Man was everything dusty! I left it on the dining room table, so we had access to it.
- Then the fun began.... I took my new baby out of the boxes and wrappngs and hooked it up. :D I even installed Microsoft Office all by myself. :P
- Unfortunately, I proceded to waste hours on toying with settings.... As in desktop... screen saver.... That kind of silly nonesense. :P
- Dad came over after work to see if he could move my secondary hard drive, the one with the pics, music, and vids on it... Alas, it was the wrong fit. Ah well.. It did seem silly to put such a tiny hard drive next to my now teragig primary drive. :P So I'm moving my stuff over lil by lil.

January 3rd, 2010
- I continued messing with settings and moving files and organizing files, I'd moved, and downloading programs, and .... y'know, typical new comp stuff. :P
- With Dad coming over for din din again, I had to QUICKLY move the computer off the dining table and clean it so we could all enjoy some more tasty messican food. :D
- After dindin, Dad and I ran to the market and Target for some items... Joy. :P Mom and her darn lists. :P
- Daddy thankfully fixed it so I could hear again.. I was scared I'd broken something already. But no, it was probably me accidently checking something that I shouldn't have. Le whoops?

January 4th, 2010
- I did more of that fun organizing and new compy stuff... like starting to add favorite links... That's proving to be an on going job... after this I am SO saving a list of links somewhere.. like in an email again...

January 5th, 2010
- Yesterday, I did more new compy stuff...
- I checked over the household bills, paid one of my own, and AND.... talked to a customer service rep for my cell bill and got it cut more than in half! I rule! :D Made paying some bills much easier. :D
- After the awesomeness, I got ready for Target Tuesday! :D Sady, the trip wasn't what Dad would have liked... Darn them for not putting more movies on sale. :P
- We ran into a co-worker friend of his at a burger joint. It's a small world after all? :P Bah, no way... Dad runs into people he knows ALL the time. :P
- Anywho, we enjoyed a good meal. Mom got chicken cuz she still hasn't gone to the dentist and it's easier for her to eat. :P
- After Dad left, I added TONS of my old favorite links. Almost added them all now... :D But I took some time to just enjoy the new compy too! Like IMing friends. :D

Tomorrow....errr... Today, after I wake up.... I'll probably add the remainder of my fave links.... At some point, I'll move the old comp to the dining table again to move the files.... And oh yes... soon-ish I need to take down Christmas decorations. :P Well.... We'll see how productive I am... Seeing as how it'll be late when I go to bed today. :P And I'm starting to watch tapes of my recorded shows again.... And I make myself do one Sudoku puzzle and read one chapter a day before getting onto the comp.... to keep my brain working. :P So... Wish me luck! :P


NOTE: Editted to note that it was Anti-virus software not Virus software. Better Daddy? :P

Playing Catch Up... Part 2

December 26th, 2009
- The day started pleasant enough... Woke up and it was just another day.
- Asked Dad to come take me to get some water, y'know from those water filtering stores. I prefer he takes me over Mom... She parks in her spot on the driveway, several feet AWAY from the door and with a bad back and arm and shoulder and neck.... Yeah, she can't help me carry the four five-gallon (HEAVY) water bottles inside. So, while I know, Mom needs to start getting out more... I still ask Dad for the help. Thank you, Daddy!
- After Dad went home, I turned on my computer.... Or tried to at least. The darn thing didn't want to cooperate with me. First, it tells me there's no slave drive (who knew computers came with slaves?). Then, it says there's no boot system, blah blah... Like I know comp lingo. Anywho... I tried shutting it off and then just turning it back on (as that worked in the past), but alas... the poor thing just beepbeepbeeped at me. Le sigh....
- I took the night off (not that I had a choice) and stayed in my room most of the night.

December 27th, 2009
- I woke up and discovered Mom's back went out. Yet another disc in her back had slipped and hit a nerve or maybe one of the discs, that were already sliding, slid just so... At any rate, she was walking around all question mark like. But she said she could still drive.... Liar. :P
- After I showered, I told her I wasn't going to make her drive anywhere. Not when it was obvious she was in too much pain to even drive the non-scenic route.
- As it was only an hour or two away from Sarah's wedding, there was little I could do. So, I missed my fwend's wedding. I'm sorry, Sawah.
- I was scolded later for not telling her sooner. But I can't imagine anyone at wedding/reception central having time to come get me.. Not when it's a good 45 minute drive one way!
- My Sunday was uneventful apart from that, but I hope Sarah's wedding went well... I still can't believe my friend is MARRIED! I mean, I know we're all of a marrying age (if not past it, depending on who you're talking to), but still! I'm happy for her, though.

December 28th, 2009
- A largely uneventful day... I watched lots of Christmas movies. Played online via my cell phone. I really can't thank Chrissi enough for telling me about Opera mini! I checked my main forum for signs of life. Thankfully, I was missing little, what with the holiday season keeping people busy with real life. I was able to check on my Utopia province to make sure it wasn't dying or anything. :P And Y!M texting kept me somewhat connected to my friends. I think that's what I miss most when I'm compless. Talking to people.

December 29th, 2009
- Who loves the dentist? I know my Mom and I don't. She dreads it. So much so, that she puts off treating her mouth. Well, as penalty, she ended up with an infection and a swollen mouth and we had to make plans to make an emergency run to the dentist.
- So I wake early-ish, and she checks with work to see if she can get off early. Dentist's office tells her to come in, and so we do. But the bimbette receptionist must have been on crack or something. The waiting room was filled with people. So they were way too busy to even see Mom. They sent her home, and told her to come back at 3pm. So now she's taken the morning off for nothing!
- Dad called and said he had a long lunch and so we did our Target Tuesday outing during daylight hours for a change. :P Te he! It was fun. And this way, he could go straight home after work..... Well that was the plan anyway...
- We went back to the dentist a smidge earlier than they'd said, but with hopes of maybe being seen. The afternoon receptionist had a brain and saw Mom's mouth and knew they wouldn't be able to work in her mouth. So she got a quick once over by a dentist, enough to get a prescription for pain and antibiotic meds. The hope was it would help the swelling go down enough to be able to work on by Saturday, when her actual appointment was scheduled.
- So, we left and went home. She was shaky from lack of eating (and I think lingering dread that they'd do something to her, but she never said that). Anywho, she didn't think she could go get her meds. So.... I called Dad to see if he could take me when he got off work. Sorry Daddy!

December 30th, 2009
- Wednesday went pretty much the same way Monday did... Nothing but cell net and Christmas movies. :P

December 31st, 2009
- Daddy came over for the last visit of the year. :P Te he.
- We ordered Pizza Hut, which here is WAY better than Norwalk. Got pasta for the Mama who's still not able to eat tons of heavy chewing foods. :P
- Dad looked at the computer. And he was able to reformat it. But it didn't cooperate even still... It was missing some stuff or something... And settings wouldn't behave... We both agreed, taking it out back and shooting it would be for the best. :P But silver lining was....my secondary hard drive was unaffected and so all my personal files remained! :D Whew....
- I almost forgot it was New Year's Eve. At midnight, I heard the neighbors screaming and shouting and tooting their lil party favors. And I was like, what's going on? Oh, right. New Year's Eve hasn't been really special or excited since I was a kid who had to struggle to try and stay awake. Heck, I wasn't even watching the SyFy Twilight Zone Marathon this year. :o The night was just another night for me, mentally speaking.

The next day would be different... :)

To be continued....

Playing Catch Up... Part 1

Last month, I was having fun blogging about just about everything. :P Christmas week was so busy that I kept putting off posting updates. Boy, am I sorry I did that. Now the details are fuzzy at best. Too much to recall. But I'll give it my best shot! I will say this right now though... I've watched ALOT of Christmas movies since my last post. So many I can't even recall all the ones I saw, so I won't be listing them. :P

December 22nd, 2009
- Target Tuesday with Dad. :D  I dunno why, but it never gets old or less fun. But then again, I was the girl who would walk to Target for little to no real reason.


December 23rd, 2009
- My friend, Sarah, and I had plans to hang out while she was down from Washington. So, she, her boytoy, and her sister picked me up and we all took off for the day's adventure!

- BJ's, a time honored tradition. It was Aimee's first time and I think she enjoyed it. :) I scolded Sarah for depriving her little sister of the treat that is BJ's with their deliscious mini pizzas and pizzookies for so long! Despite being relatively less crowded than usual, service was soooo slow. Friendly, but slow.

- We headed for the mall, and poor Waltson (I'm sorry if I botched that spelling, Sawah!) did what most husbands of several years have to do..... Drop us off, while he went to find parking. :P We headed for a dress shop to find Aimee a dress she could wear as the maid of honor. :) And like everything else with the wedding plans, the dress was found quickly and I believe Aims even said she could wear it again for a dance. It was fortunate that the dress was found so easily, as there was a time issue. Aimee had a party to get to and kept texting her friends throughout lunch and shopping, for which I teased her about. :P "Like, OMG, Erin! They're taking SO long to get our food here."

- We headed to Sarah's Mom's place to drop off Aimee. I had fun talking to their birdies.. Tehe, the one was soooo chatty!

- The three of us took off to go look at lights in this lovely spot in Huntington Beach. Man the neighborhood must work together to get it all set up! We parked the car and just walked up and down the area. It was amazing. There were some truly lovely areas and some pretty fun scenes too!

- While Waltson waited in the car, Sarah and I went into David's Bridal and picked up her dress. It was absolutely beautiful and so very very her. :)

- And then it was a quick stop to Target for a forgotten item for my Mom, which turned out great as she needed to go, too! Also a good thing I was there, cuz I asked the important questions, like.... Do you have plates and things for the reception. :P

It was a great day with my fwend, and I got to know Waltson alot better... Well alot better than I knew before, which was a brief meeting last year and whatever Sarah told me. But I got to see for myself, and get a feel for him and how he treated my fwend. I gave him my stamp of approval. :)

The only bummer of the day was when my digital camera decided to finally die. It's been acting up for weeks. At first, Dad and I thought it was just the screen on the fritz. But that last week of its life, I noticed the pics were getting more and more on the blurry side. And before the day even bagan, the darn thing died on me. :( Bummer cuz, I took a cute pic of Sarah, Waltson, and Aimee, which did not come out. Ah well.


December 24th, 2009
- Dad and I went to the movies for the first time since April. We watched Avatar (2009) and I absolutely loved it! Visually stunning and I just loved the story and the action and everything! I know it wasn't easy for Dad. For me, I'd been to the movies a couple times since April. But I am thankful he took me.

- We picked up some fud and went back to his place to watch a movie (or was it a couple movies?).

- He pulled out Josh's camera, so I had one to use for Sarah's wedding. But we went to look at cameras at the store(s?) to see if there was one I really liked. And as half of them had dead batteries to look at them, I couldn't pick one. Not that I'm entirely certain I'd know what I was looking for/at anyway.

December 25th, 2009
- Mom and I watched movies almost all day long. I'd told her I was going to tie her down and force her to watch whatever I picked. :P So, we watched: Enchanted (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009),
 and I ca't recall if there was another movie after that....

- At some point in the movie watching, Nana came over with goodies. She brought cookies from our cousin Debbie's place (Yum!), a box of See's Candy (drool), and she gave me a little gift. :)

It was a nice and quiet day. And later (that day or the next), Mom admitted she was distracted some, which she suspected was my plan. She was right. And I'm glad it worked, if only a little.

Where to begin...

I told myself to handwrite blogs, so I wouldn't be stuck right now...but I didn't. :P

So, raise your hand if ya noticed I was gone. Yep. Now, Christmas week I was pretty busy and or distracted, but it's the day after Christmas that kept me away.....

My computer went kaput. Yep, finally hit that stage where ya just want to take it out back anbd shoot it. Currently it's a really big storage device for my music and pics. I'm proud of myself though. Yes, I was bummed I was compless for a week, but I logged online via celly phone. Opera Mini on my lil Razr was my friend for the week. Apart from checking my games and forum once a day or maybe every other day, I wasn't completely mopey. Kudos to me.

Anywho, there was LOTS I was gonna blog about between my last post and now, but as I mentioned I didn't take notes, so now ya only get my best recollection of the events of the past couple weeks. :P Just not tonight...

My Dad bought me a brand spankin' new computer. I've spent all day assembling, customizing settings, downloading programs, moving files from the old comp. to this one, and now I'm tired. I still have more files to move and haven't even started re-saving favorite links. But more on the new compy later! :D

Thumpety-Thump-Thump...

Friday, Nana came over with a box of odds and ends... one of those odds was a ham! I can't even remember the last time we even had ham. She was happy to see the place was decorated. So I'm glad she got a chance to see it, since she was the one who suggested to Mom that I do it.

I know I said I'd watch two or more Christmas movies, but I only watched one movie. The Nativity Story (2006). I don't think I've seen previous versions, but I did enjoy this one. Actually, I think I liked it more than I thought I would, and I'll probably watch it every year they decide to air it. I also think I should have snagged it, when I saw it at the store on Sunday.

Saturday, I woke up half an hour earlier than my alarm... leaving my "Vampire Diaries" (2009) dream cut short. Now I'll never know what happened to Elena and Stefan. Ah well... Waking early gave me extra time to be productive before my plans with Issi. :)

Issi Claus came with gifts for all. :) Assorted coffees for the coffee addict in the house, Mom. And while she felt bad for lack of gift to return, she loved the gift. I believe she said she was anxious to try one the next day, but I wasn't there to see if she did or not. :P And I got an awesome Mickey jacket (that I wore that night and the next day :D ) and a cute Mickey purse. I imagine both will get lots of use. :D And her parents gave me a beautiful tapestry throw, which I am still debating on hanging or using. Either way I'll have to keep it out of reach of furry bratlings. Maybe I'll take a pic of the jacket and bag later, but I found this pic of the image on the throw online. Isn't it pretty? And with the woven tapestry texture it looks even lovelier.

After a long drive, we finally made it to Disneyland! Two things... Wow, was it packed! And... OMG! They let all the looneis out or something! People showed up in one piece pajamas... the kind with the feetsies! But the majority of the wierdos showed up in what looked like a box of crayons threw up all over their clothes along with arms covered in bead necklaces. It was crazy! Still as busy as it was, we were able to make it onto It's a Small World.  I only had enough sense to take a couple pics inside the ride, and it was with my cell phone camera instead of the digital camera I had in my purse. :P Unforntunately, only this one came out. But before we left, we did stop to take pics of the lit up Small World and Castle. Dunno how good they turned out, but on the camera they looked beautiful. :P

While we were only there briefly, I was able to get my holiday Disneyland fix. :D Besides it being way too packed to stay and play, we had to go and fight traffic to get to a concert! Yep, yep... We went to the tobyMac's Winter Wonder Slam Concert. :D So, I got to listen to B. Reith, Stephanie Smith, RelientK, and TobyMac. They played some of their songs, covers to some mainstream songs, and some holiday songs. All in all it was good music and great fun! I even bought a CD. :D I got Stephanie Smith's CD. I may have to borrow CDs from Issi, as she got one from each of the artists. :P Anywho, we grabbed a quick bite before heading back home. It was a fantastic night.

Sunday, I made Dad a Bob Rivers CD while I got ready to go play with him. We went to eat and then braved Wal-Mart...on a weekend....before Christmas. It was a mad house, but I was able to get most of what was on my supply/grocery list. And after we survived that trip, we went back to Dad's house to watch movies. :) Since I missed the TV airing of Frosty the Snowman (1969 TV), we watched it on his holiday classics collection DVD. I don't think I'll ever be too old for that one. :D And we also watched Igor (2008), which was just a good, funny movie. :)

We took the scenic route home... :D And the scene was all about Christmas lights! We drove up and down streets looking at lovely displays. :D There was ALOT of work put into some of these. And I'd HATE to see their electric bills. :P But I am so glad we got to see them. And before going home, we picked up some Pioneer Chicken. Yummy! :)

Soooo.... Since I didn't have time to watch a whole lot of my Christmas movies, I made up for it yesterday (Monday). :P I watched ALOT of movies.. Well, alot for one day, anyway. :P Let's see, I watched Unlikely Angel (1996 TV) on TV. I finished watching Crazy for Christmas (2005 TV), which I'd actually started Friday night before bed. I watched A Christmas Carol (1984 TV) with George C. Scott, one of many versions I have. And finally, after midnight, I watched Christmas in Canaan (2009 TV).

There's more I was gonna babble about, like Sarah's getting Married! o.0 But I must get to bed for a "nap". Got stuffs to do before Target Tuesday. And it is already way past the time I thought I'd be asleep. :P Oops. :P

Dreaming....

Last night, I dreamt of my brother. It was weird, because it was him but not exactly. He was healthier looking, more like he was when five or more years ago. We were looking at pictures of he and I, which was odd for three reasons... A- He was actually IN the pictures. B - He was smiling or laughing and generally happy in the pictures, as he was pretty much throughout the dream. And C- He was wearing color in most of the shots! We were at Nana's house, and he was sitting in the dining room socializing rather than hiding in some room with music or the TV. The whole thing was so strange. But in the dream, he and I talked and laughed like we used to every now and then. But he seemed happier. At some point, we were going to an amusement park, Disneyland I think. Which was also unlike Josh, since after working there he didn't like going there or always resisted the idea.

Anywho.... I finished my book today and started the latest book in the series. Hopefully, this one won't take me as long to get through. Or at least, hopefully, I finish it before the new one comes out and Mom reads it. Ah, so many books to read...

I watched the Christmas episode of "Accidently on Purpose" (2009) yesterday. I started like a bunch of Christmas movies, but I'd get so far and get bored with them. :P Cleared alot of tapes that way... Today I watched/listened to On the 2nd Day of Christmas (1997 TV). I think I've watched this movie every year they've aired it. :P And it's not even one of my favorites! Heck, I haven't even watched my favorites yet! I've yet to see any of my DVD/VHS holiday movies. :P Gonna have to start watching two holiday movies a day in order to see everything by the end of Christmas day!

The Halls Are Decked! :D

Come on in! I didn't put up lights, as there isn't enough to be worth it and we lack a ladder and I don't really know HOW to hang them properly. :P So there's not much to look at outside. :P

Poor lil angel lost her fingers in one move or another. I'm not really sure why I took a pic with just the angel... I mean you can't even tell it's on a surface just big enough for that one item. :P Yeah, the architecture of the entryway is all weird. But the  I'm not sure why I took half of these pics... or why I'm putting up every single one of them. :P

Alas, no mistletoe... Just this pretty lil thing. Actually, I don't think we've ever had real mistletoe.

This is hung outside my bedroom, so I get a smile when I go to bed. I love Peanut. :D He's just so cute.

Even my computer got decorated! :P And I shake that lil snow globe just about everyday. :P

Anywho... That's my home right now. :) It's actually pretty tame. In Christmas' past, I used to hang those strings of tinsel ALL over the place. I mean if it wasn't moving (and sometimes if it was, Oreo) I'd hang the shiny stuff on it! :P And of course, there's no tree again this year. Mostly because I don't know where to put a tree here. Well, we could get a smaller tree and put it on one of the end tables. But meh, I don't feel like testing lights again this year. I tested ALL my lights last year. Hung some on the window, then rarely remembered to turn the dumb things on. :P I think I'll skip the hassle. I just asked Dad to take me to a tree lot so I can just smell that lovely tree smell at least once this year. :P

Oh! I took a pic of the masks. They coulda been put up a bit better, but oh well. They look nice enough and at least they're up. :P  As I cheated and used a poor pic to guide the hanging process, I thought I should take a better pic for the next move. This way, I can see it better and, hopefully, remember NOT to clump the bottom masks too much. Hopefully....

I've kept up with a Christmas movie a day thing. :) Sunday, at my Dad's house, among other movies, I watched Four Christmases (2008). Monday, I watched most of Holiday Switch (2007 TV), most cuz cable cut out for a minute or two....grr.... And today, I listen/watched The Family Holiday (2007 TV). And I may watch something else tonight...maybe... Unless I go to bed early....ish.

Today was Target Tuesday. I saw a book we borrowed from our cousin. We don't usually buy hardbacks, as they're more expensive. But she couldn't wait to read it, so she bought it. When she finished, she let us borrow it. Anywho, they have the paperback there, and I felt silly for wanting it, even though we have a copy we can read at home. Like it was silly just to want it, just to have a copy of my own. I mean I haven't even finished reading the previous book enough to get to that newest book! Maybe it's cuz I just love getting books?

Anywho.... I'm hungry again... And I'm dying to see how the dancers of So You Think You Can Dance are doing. Off I go. :)

Fa la la la la!

Soooo.... The week didn't go exactly as planned. Didn't watch stuff when I said I was gonna.. Didn't do stuff on the schedule I'd wanted. But everything eventually got taken care of. :)

Holiday movies watched:

Tuesday
I put on Christmas in Connecticut (1992 TV), to go to bed with noise. I like the classic version. But like a train wreck, I kept watching this awful version until I fell asleep. AND then proceded to finish watching it when I woke up. As it was Target Tuesday, I didn't watch anything else after the shopping fun, KFC eating, visiting, and net stuff.

Wednesday
While writing out Christmas cards, I watched three movies: A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004 TV), Undercover Christmas (2003 TV), and Mrs. Miracle (2009 TV). And because I was so into the movies it took me allllll night to finish those few cards. :P

Thursday
I went to sleep that morning to some HGTV special on Disney World's decorations. Holy cow! There's SO much there. They have people working on making or maintaining Christmas decorations ALL year long. I want THAT job! Anywho... When I woke up, I watched The Ultimate Gift (2006). That was a good movie... Spent the afternoon/evening hanging masks, the evening cleaning, and the night decorating. Some time during the decorating, I watched Christmas in Connecticut (1945). :) Okay, I mostly just listened while I was busy working. But still I enjoyed it MUCH better than that awful remake.

Friday
Dad came over and we had dinner and hung out for a while. :) After he left, I was too scatterbrained to focus on any movies. I tried watching Toys (1992). Okay not EXACTLY a Christmas movie, but I like it and the holiday song at the beginning.

Saturday (today even though it's past midnight cuz I keep stop starting this)
Uh... Yeah... Scatterbrain-ness continued. I started Toys over this morning. Play/paused ALL day long and only just finished it at like 1:20am (Sunday). :P Between one of those breaks I watched Holiday Affair (1996 TV). Oddly enough, I like this remake. Some work, some don't, I guess. :P I recorded Holiday Switch (2007 TV) for tomorrow or whenever.

Let's see, I think that covers most everything... Well there was some other unpleasantness, but nothing to get upset over again by retelling the story. I'm over it now. :P And well Mom's not overly happy I decorated.... But she's going to be depressed either way, so I'm not going to suffer. I'll put up pics later. Oh, was worried my digital camera mighta been broken for good. Thankfully it started behaving again. Whew.

Anywho.... Supposedly, Mom and I are going to attempt our supply run to Wal-mart again tomorrow (it was raining too hard this morning), and she wants to leave at 7am... Which means at the latest a 630am wake up for me... and I still have dishes to wash and litter to tidy and the whole bedtime routine..... Eeeps! It's almost 2am! Toodles doodles!

Toto, where are we?

Well the rain was short lived. Bummer. Woke up this afternoon to crazy winds. Glad I don't have to go outside today. The wind's been banging against this old lil house all afternoon and evening. It sounds so loud, like one good blow will knock the house over or break the windows. It's crazy. But me being me, I still like it. Y'know, cuz I'm safe inside. :P I might not like it as much if I were out and about. So I hope it's tamer weather tomorrow.

Haven't talked to Mom yet about how she'll feel about me decorating, well now that Nana's suggested it. Which is fine, cuz I still need to do pre decorating cleaning. But by this weekend I hope to have a Christmassy house. :) I'll TRY to keep it to a minimum, but no promises.

Looks like everyone had an unhappy morning for one reason or another. Dad with work stuff. Nana went to the hospital (she got dizzy and worried, but it was nothing but a simple inflamation in her ears. whew.). For some reason, customers were especially grumpy for Mom, but then that could have been her perspective as a lack of sleep victim. And me.. Well I got attacked on my game! Lost land and couldn't retal as we were surrendering. Okay, so my morning wasn't as bad as everyone else's. :P

I kinda watched/listend to Unaccompanied Minors (2006) while checking my net stuff. Wasn't plannning on it, but it was on for noise. Later tonight I'll be watching A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004 TV) and possibly Undercover Christmas (2003 TV) while finally filling out Christmas cards. :)

Tis the Season...Sorta

Christmas movies watched this weekend:

Friday

• The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
• Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Saturday

• Holiday Affair (1949)
• Recipe for a Perfect Christmas (2005 TV)

Sunday

• A Dog Named Christmas (2009 TV)
• Holiday in Handcuffs (2008 TV)

Annnnnddd.... I recorded others, which I'll watch on days when there's no holiday movie or special I care to watch.

Friday and Saturday, I kinda just half watched the movies while trying to keep up with reading the new posts at an RP forum of mine. I'm not sure why, but while I can read a book for hours, it takes me forever to read text on the computer. I hate holding my RP partners up, but what can ya do. Between all the reading and movie watching and attempting to do Christmas cards, I didn't have the creative energy to write a post myself. Ah well...

Spent Sunday with Dad, so those movies were watched at his place while drinking some eggnog (the non-alchol kind :P ). Handcuffs I'd seen before, but it's still funny to watch. The Dog Named Christmas was a good movie that touches the heart and brought a smile to my face. The rain was nice enough to wait til Dad and I finished all of our stops through out the day. Which is good, I didn't want to have to wear my noisy rain jacket.

On the way home, we passed quite a few houses with Christmas lights. Dad said, closer to Christmas, we can take scenic routes to find more festive neighborhoods. :D I can't wait. Even this very street, which had few homes lit up last year, has quite a few lit up this year. It's nice to see.

Sunday was a good day. Had a good breakfast at a charming little restaurant. Ran some errands and goofed around. Watched those two movies. More errands, which included a hilarious moment at the gas station (see, Dad, I'm not telling.... Well not blogging it anyway. Told Mom. :P). Then came home. So yesterday was a good day. :) Thank you, Daddy!

After Dad left, Mom told me Nana asked if I was putting up Christmas lights. I guess she told Mom that maybe I should decorate a little. I'm not real sure why, whether it's because she wants to see it or because she thinks I/Mom/we need it. So Mom told me and said she was leaving it up to me. So I dunno. I wanted to for me. For me it's extra sad without my inner Christmas elf locked in. Ah! Possibly the reason why I couldn't fill out cards on Saturday.

Anywho, dishes to wash and a nap to take.

When Christmas Comes to Town....

I watched (well mostly watched) The Polar Express (2004) today. It's a beautiful little movie for being a cartoon. The elves are a bit on the creepy side though. Seriously.. When one of the elves is trying to get one of the kids to give back the present so they can put it in the big bag of presents, he says, "trust me" in a very creepy, might be a pedo, kind of way.

Thanks to it getting darker so early, even with driving around for quickie errands, I get to see more and more Christmas lights. Some good.. Some bad... but almost all of the houses lit up put a smile on my face.

I started thinking about the silly holiday newspapers I made a couple years ago. They were fun to make, and I'm debating on making a few issues again. :P We'll see....

Bumbles Bounce!

Tonight's holiday movie: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964 TV). Gotta love the classics. :)

Yukon Cornelius: This fog's as thick as peanut butter!
Hermey: You mean pea soup.
Yukon Cornelius: You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like!

Anywho.. I was gonna put up a pic of the squirrel from yesterday's Target Tuesday adventure, but it was too dark and the cell phone camera didn't take a good enough pic. Ah well. The lil bugger was cute too. Brave lil bugger. It was sitting in the middle of the alley we were trying to drive down. Dad was driving slow so as not to spook it, but the bugger was watching us rolling towards him. :P Next time, I'll bring my actual digital camera.

Last night's movie was cute. Two families, now blended through the parents marriage, were both struggling to find a way to celebrate Christmas, each one having very different traditions they didn't want to let go of. I suppose we were lucky. We never really had that problem. I mean, yeah, at one point both my parents remarried, but our Christmases didn't change that much. But then I don't recall ever having set-in-stone traditions. Well, other than Mom exhausting herself for three days to bake her special variety of holiday cookies, enough to feed an army! I kinda miss that, but I SO don't miss the kitchen clean up. Mom and Josh baked.... I was left to clean since I tended to burn or screw up the recipes. :P Yeah, the only thing I ever made successfully during the holidays was fudge. Three or four ingredients mixed in one bowl and cooled in the fridge....not exactly rocket science. :P Although there was that one year I made truffles for no reason. Nummy...

Santa?

Last night, I had a number of odd dreams. The last ones were the typical strange and cool dreams I always have. (I love my Doctor Who dreams. :) ) But those weren't the ones that stood out the most this time.

I don't think I ever believed in Santa Claus, not even as a child. When I was young, my parents took us to church and so we weren't raised to believe in him. I like him well enough in Christmas movies, but then I also like movies with superheroes and elves and unicorns. So having a dream with him in it was a bit weird.

I dreamt Santa showed up at my house for a visit, dressed in normal clothes. I think he asked about the lack of decorations or maybe just noticed it, because when he returned, he had a bundle of Christmas lights. Santa, himself, proceded to put up the lights! He asked if I had any more hooks and I started going through the Christmas boxes.

At some point Mrs. Clause and Mom were there, Mrs. Claus beaming over her husband's work and Mom unsure whether she wanted this or not. Soon enough we were all taking part in the decorating.

Sadly, I woke before we went outside to see the lights, but from what I could see through the door, they looked amazing.

I'm not sure why Santa and Mrs. Claus were there. I know I was thinking about Christmas lights and wanting to see some nice displays. I myself haven't bothered to do nice light hanging in ages (they always fall or I give up). And I probably had decorating on my mind because I usually start on the first week of December if not the 1st. But Sants? Um, okay? It was a nice dream anyway.

I've decided I'm going to watch at least one Christmas movie or special everyday. I have several on DVD, VHS, and recorded tapes already. And there's always plenty to choose from on TV all month long. Today I'm going to record Our First Christmas (2008 TV), since it's on soon and I will be out on my usual Target Tuesday adventure! :)

On a completely unrelated note, I've lost a total of eight pounds since that first weekend I got sick. Not bad considering I wasn't trying. It's the amazing Cold and Flu diet, yay. :P

They Make Me Smile

I love old movies. I used to watch AMC (American Movie Classics cable channel) and TCM (Turner Classic Movies cable channel) whenever there was nothing on TV. And now and then, I would end up watching these wonderful gems, like Bachelor Mother (1939) or Bringing Up Baby (1938). They're just so cute and fun to watch.

I was checking the TV guide for any Christmas movies that might be on and it looks like The Shop Around the Corner (1940) is on tonight. :) I saw the Judy Garland musical remake first.. Well actually I saw the Tom Hanks' You've Got Mail first. But I like Jimmy Stewart in the Shop better. :)

Anywho, before I go on and on about other old movies I like, I'm going to finish watching Bachelor Mother on YouTube. :P

Trekkin....

Mom and I watched the new Star Trek movie tonight. I saw it with Dad last weekend, but I wanted to see it again. :D As you may have guessed, I really enjoyed it. I was SO sad when I thought the franchise might be dead....stupid Enterprise series... And after looking something up on IMDb, it looks like there may be a sequel in the works too! YAY! Whether they keep making a bunch of films on the one crew or branch out, I care not. So long as they just keep making Trek films and or shows, I'll be a happy camper.

Man, I remember watching the original series as a little kid. I can't actually watch it now. It's just too weird to watch the funny acting in those horrible sets. :P But at like 10 I was hooked on the Next Gen. series. Some of their earlier episodes are funny to watch too. :P After seeing all the improvements that film and TV's made it's just silly to see the old old school stuff. Hehe... Doesn't mean I wouldn't want to collect it all some day. Voyager is still my favorite series.

After seeing the new movie, I think I'll have myself a Trek marathon. I've never seen ALL the Trek movies. Shocking, I know. But now that I own 'em, I will have to watch them. :) And I do have chunks of the Next Gen. series on tapes back when the only way to collect TV series' was through Columbia House. And I have seasons 1 and 2 of Voyager. So yeah. I could have myself a really good week long marathon, if I wanted. Maybe I'll save it for Mom's next four day weekend. Help distract her from the holiday.

I love this song.... :P This isn't the official video but the other ones I didn't care for as much... So enjoy the giggle. :D

Tra la

I woke up REALLY early this morning.. 430am.... Okay, I slept for 12 hours before that due to not sleeping for two nights (days) in a row. Well no, I did have a 2-3 hour nap on Wednesday. And then I finally crashed at like 330-4pm yesterday, after Mom told me for the third or fourth time to go to bed. :P

It's weird that I woke up right at 430 though. That's the time I needed to be up if I wanted to call Dad for his wake up call. I didn't even set an alarm for it. :) I had lots of weird dreams. Dreams I wished I'd remembered to write down. I think alot of my dreams would make cool stories if I'd only remember to write them down. Ah well.

After talking to Dad for a bit, I got up and did the usual morning routine. Then I got all productive. It was too early to hop in the shower (cuz then I'd come out to the cold and I'm still getting over being sick and I didn't wanna risk it. :P). So instead, I cleaned the kitchen. Fed the kids. Filled water bottles for the freezer. Cleaned the bathroom. Tidied the living room and put away stuff. Cleaned the dining table. Folded laundry.

I took a break after all that... Got online. Mom was still asleep, so I didn't want to mess up the bathroom til she got a chance to see it clean. Did my usual net stuff while talking to Steven for a couple hours. :P

Then finally took a shower and got productive again. Folded the stuff from the dryer. Started more laundry. Changed the sheets on my bed. Tidied up my room, including some minor dusting. Put away stuff in my room, cuz like I had tapes ALL over the place. Then I FINALLY stopped being lazy about making myself some food.

Yep, yep, yep.. Been a productive day. Earlier I was thinking. This all was what I'd call half-assed cleaning compared to what I usually do before decorating for Christmas. And the lazy part of me was pushing me off the indecisive fence I'm on about it. But after the lil convo I just had with Mom, the decisions been made for me. I won't be decorating this year. Le sigh.

Soooo.... I'm going to see if I can't send some Christmas cards. I'm not going to go all crazy and send them to every aunt, uncle, and cousin I have an address for...just the people I talk to or I'm thinking about. I'll be stealing from the stamp fund, but oh well.

I wish I had the extra to get people gifts. Not everyone. I've never been that crazy. But you know those closest to you. As is, the only one to get a gift of any kind is my friend up north. And that's only because I bought my two best friends a non-occassion gift and then I didn't get a chance to see her when she visited this past summer.

Yesterday was just another day for us. Nana apparently made Pecan Pies even though she wasn't going to do anything for Thanksgiving. I guess since my Unclde David and fam. were supposed to come up and visit yesterday, she felt she HAD to make them. She made one for them and one for us, but Mom was too sleepy to go pick it up. And Nana was too bummed that David cancelled or postponed the visit til today so she ddn't want to drop it off. If my uncle DID make it to her house today, I imagine she'll have him drop it off for her on his way home. As it's almost 330pm and it's a 2 hour drive for him to go home, I figure we'll find out if he came soon enough.

Mmmmm.... This started out positive... Maybe I should have talked to Mom AFTER I finished blogging.... Ah well...

Smile! You'll live longer...

The movie worked. Brought a smile to my face and I can feel a hint of the old holiday elf wanting out. One of my fave Christmas movies is on tonight, I may watch it. The Christmas List. And I am probably gonna change my ringtone to the holiday one I got last year. Still debating on actually decorating, but we'll see.

Dad came over for dinner tonight. He brought pizza.... Mmmmmmmm.... I'd been DYING for pizza for ages and it was delish! Don't tell anyone, but he's napping on my bed right now. Poor Daddy. :) I'd take a pic, but for some reason people don't like it when ya snap photos of them sleeping. :P I hope the nap does him good. And my bed is much comfier than his...well I'd imagine as mine's newer.

I stayed up all night, no surprise. But most of the night I was busy moving my blogs. I finished. All the blogs I wrote and kept at Myspace have now found their new home here on Blogger. Had to move them manually, as neither Myspace or Blogger had a cooperative export/import option. But I'm happy now. I can close my Myspace account now.

And now.... for another slice of pizza and my Christmas movie. :D