Post Christmas Post

So, yes, Christmas is over. I remember always being so bummed when Christmas was all over as a kid. Sure, I had all the toys to play with, but the anticipation was all gone. Also, school was just around the corner. Now it's more of a relief when Christmas is over, especially when you have to host Christmas day. We don't cook all that much, and since it was Christmas we couldn't order out, so that makes us worry a little bit. Luckily my mom brought a ham that just had to be heated up, we made some pasta (I can do that) and we had some au gratin potatoes that needed to be cooked in the oven. Easy as pie. Speaking of pie, as usual we had way too many desserts.

Yes, that is a present cake with and edible bow. No, I didn't make it. See above.

But, what is Christmas about if not to over-indulge in treats? Oh yeah, gifts. I got to stay up until 1:30am on Christmas Eve to put together our daughter's Barbie townhouse. See, Toys R Us were nice enough to ship it to us in the regular box so when I picked up the kids from school one day it was sitting in front of the door for her to see. We tried to play it off that it might not be for here, but she wouldn't have it. Luckily, a friend at work came up with the idea that I put it together the night before and leave a note from Santa saying he had to drop it off early so his elves could come and put it together. She totally bought it. Kids.

The kids did let us sleep a little late on Christmas which was nice, but that meant Jenn and I were scrambling around all day to get things ready. I had actually just come home from picking up sushi, for an appetizer, when my mom and sister showed up. Of course my mom's first words were about the driveway being slippery, but she came early to get the ham going, so what could I say? Overall it worked out well. I think everyone had a good time.

On to other stuff. Because everyone else was doing it, I started a Tumblr blog. Or is it just a Tumblr? I don't know what all I'm going to put up there, but if this space is any indication, you know it is going to be awesome.

Also, if anyone is interested in joining our Flickr group go here and send me a message and I'll put you in. It's not an every day thing, but at least once a week. It should be fun; it was last year.

That's all for now. Happy New Year!

How to stay alive on Christmas

Sure, the whole zombie thing is getting played out lately, but I wanted to share this anyway.






Merry Christmas! Watch out for the undead!

(Seen on SF Signal)

Don't mess with my Clapper!

Oh, the Clapper. The most famous of cheesy gifts ever. They have have been ramping up the ads for The Clapper since Christmas is coming. You know, it is the perfect gift for the old and truly lazy. Call now!

Here's my problem, the now have a Clapper Plus that comes with a remote. It's like they have brought it into the 20th century now. (Yes, I know it is the 21st century, that's the joke.) It's just another part of my childhood being wrenched away from me! Sure, you can still clap to make it work, but now you have the option of being even more lazy and not expend the energy it takes to clap. That is not the Clapper we all truly love. Who doesn't find the part of the commercial with the old lady clapping and rolling over in bed a classic bit of TV advertising? We all do. Now the old lady can just push about and roll over. That's not exciting. Besides, what happens when the batteries die on the remote. Now she's going to need to call her grandson over to change them. How is that any easier?

I say we all boycott the new Clapper and just buy the old version. Who's with me? Otherwise more classic bits of crap gifts are going to change. I hear the Chia Pet people are coming up with a version that has a fake plant in it. Can you just imagine that?!

Weekend Assignment # 248: What'dja get?

Thanks to Karen I now know how to spell "what'jda". I use the word all the time; now I know the proper spelling. See, who says you can't learn anything by reading blogs?

Anyway, for this week's assignment Karen wants to know what we got for Christmas. That's probably obvious by the title, no?

Specifically Karen asks:

Weekend Assignment #248: What was the most interesting or unexpected gift you received this holiday season?

Well, one that kind of covers both was a game that Jenn gave me. Actually it's three games for the price of one! What a bargain! Yes, I'm doing that on purpose. Why? Well, just look here at the set of games; it kind of makes you talk like that. I'll wait. Jenn got it for me because I would watch the Match Game whenever it came on. I can't help myself. She likes to make fun of me for being stuck in the 70's because I like to watch Columbo, Quincy, M*A*S*H, etc. What can I say? I like good TV shows that just happen to be about 30 years old. Is there anything wrong with that?

I also got the 20th Anniversary DVD set of MST3K. I'm really looking forward to watching that. It's too bad that I got that as my vacation is coming to a close. I'm sure I'll make time to watch it soon. Maybe this weekend.

Jenn also gave me a Flip video camera. I've been playing around with it a little these last few days, but haven't actually downloaded anything off of the camera yet. I recorded the kids playing a video game today. It was pretty fun to watch.

That is about all of the interesting things I got. I got a few gift cards that I already used. I bought a backup hard drive, like Karen did, as well as the new Stephen King book and an older Allen Steele book. Again, I wish I bought them before my vacation was ending. Then again, I was so busy I probably wouldn't have had much reading time anyway.

Extra Credit: What was the most interesting gift you gave this holiday season?

Jenn found this one, too. My mom smokes. A lot. So, when she comes here or my brother's house she has to go outside all the time. So what makes a perfect gift? Why the smoking mittens. With a convenient hole to put a cigarette through while keeping your hands warm. Hopefully she will use them.

That's about it for me. What about you?

Christmas week Wrap up 2008

Well, it's over. Another Christmas come and gone. I can't believe the year is almost over. It seems like it was just August. Actually, today feels a little bit like spring. The snow has all melted, and it is raining now. And flooding. Not near us, but a lot of flood warnings are out for the Chicagoland area. I'm sure next week everything will freeze again.

Christmas Eve was a weird day. Jenn had to work, which seemed odd, and the day started with some snow, then some melting of snow, then it was 12 degrees by 10pm. We went by Jenn's cousin's house to get together with her side of the family. It was nice, though the place that they ordered food from screwed up. They had made some food, as well as bought some from somewhere else, so we still had plenty. The kids got some toys (you can never have enough), I got an Amazon.com gift card, and Jenn got a shirt that she has to return. I've already gone to Amazon's site to see what I want to buy. I need to narrow it down now.

Though my son was worried about being able to fall asleep, they both did fine. We managed to get them to wait until 8am to go downstairs and open presents on Christmas morning. I'm still not sure how we did that. They ripped open all their presents and were both happy with what Santa gave them. We went to my mom's house that night and got even more gifts. I have a lot of gift cards to use which is good. The problem is always figuring out what the best deal for my gift cards is. I want to get an external hard drive. Ours is small, and full, and if the hard drive on the desktop blows up I don't want to lose all of our pictures.

Jenn gave me a Flip video recorder. I've been playing around with it and I'm sure I'll be posting some videos with it soon. I know you can't wait!

This weekend has been spent putting things together so far and helping my son play Wall-E, Lego Batman, and Lego Indiana Jones. He needs help with some of the harder tasks; it has nothing to do with me wanting to play the game at all. Actually, I was just playing the Indiana Jones game while he was in bed. I had to make sure he didn't miss any secrets. Really! The best part of the Lego games is that you can bust anything and get some coins. See a plant; smash it. See and wheelbarrow; smash it. It's kind of fun.

This afternoon I spent at least 2 hours putting a castle together for him. It's made up of Lego-type pieces, 550 to be exact, so I didn't finish it. I was getting frustrated, and Jenn knew it, so she told me to take a break so we could eat dinner. She knows I'm not good at building things.

Now we are relaxing. The kids are both asleep and we are watching TV. Jenn is watching a video she got from her sister as I type. It's called The Spirit of the Marathon. Since I have no desire to run one, I don't have the spirit required to watch it closely.

I am off of work until December 31st, which is nice, but I also need the rest. I've been staying up too late; I'm too old for that.

Have you all recovered from the Christmas holiday?

Creepy Christmas candy: take one

I saw this today at the store. It may be hard to tell by the picture, so I'll explain a little bit about it. It's a Reindeer that sticks out is tongue. Said tongue is a sucker that you eat, or lick. So, in a sense, you are licking a reindeer's tongue. Lovely. And gross. Who wants to lick a reindeer's tongue? (Insert your own joke here).

Just wanted to share. You're Welcome.