Why I do not have cats.

http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2007/12/merry_christmas.php

'Nuff said.

Terrific Christmas

It's Friday, and Mom and Maura just left on Wednesday morning. It really was a perfect Christmas--enough time to ourselves before they came (including a day-long hockey tournament, which is an excellent way to bring in the holiday), a long enough visit without needing to kill either one of them, a happy farewell, and then some time off to ourselves.

Sunday morning, I played handbells in the balcony of our church. It went terrifically. Then there was the rehearsal for the Christmas pageant, which actually went quite well except for G (Mouse #1) getting silly and a bit rough-and-tumbly with Mouse #2. Plus, he read from the script and the director (one of our babysitters) wanted there to be no scripts. Overall, it was fine.

We went home to do some last-minute cleaning and tidying up and got lots done that I had wanted to. I can still see/use my counters on the other side of the kitchen and that makes me so happy! We had expected them at 3 but they called, delayed, and arrived about 6. I started a lentil soup--and then realized I had no smoked sausage to put in. They argued that it would be fine without the sausage (even though it would have taken me just minutes to get it), and it actually was. I put out cheese and crackers (TJs has a Stilton with Apricots that is really nice) and some wine, and they relaxed while I finished the soup. It was perfect--warming everyone up after unloading the car in the chilly air.

The three puppies are darling--big(ger), cheerful, bossy Lola, the pug; seemingly mild-mannered Walter, who can be pushy and vicious when he wants to, clearly the alpha; and unassuming Mr. Bean, who must be coaxed from the crate even when the others are clearly having a ball jumping all over your lap. They are also poop and pee machines; we filled my extra garbage cans with used newspapers in the short 4 days they were here. We walked them, running as they sprinted to give them exercise and finding out that 3.5-mo-old puppies can run faster than I can at my top speed. Their little legs move so fast that I joked that they look like cartoons.

We put them up in my ex-pen in the kitchen, with their crate in a cubby and the ex-pen's doors attached to it. Amazingly, even though they chewed a bit on my (ratty) back-door rug that they managed to pull into the ex-pen a bit, they didn't get into the guinea-pig food at all, even though it was next to their crate and pretty easily accessible. They did enjoy the chew toys we bought them at our local pet supply store, including the radioactive bat chew toy. It was great to get up in the morning, sit down in the ex pen, and be covered in enthusiastic puppies. It wasn't bad waking up to find them gone, though. Quieter, less poop, etc. :)

Wednesday, they left later than they'd planned, which put us late for catching the ferry into SF to meet a friend for lunch. We drove instead, and were pretty much right on time anyway. Had a wonderful lunch at Taylor's Automatic Refresher restaurant, which has amazing sweet potato fries. Then we parted, G and I heading down to Pier 39, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening. We found G a cool t-shirt that changed color in the sun and looked like a black-and-white drawing in the shade (like this). Saw two different people waste their $3 in the Super Claw machine, which is just as disappointing as the original Claw, but more expensive. (The second person *nearly* got a toy--but no dice.) I splurged on a beginner kit of Bare Escentuals makeup, which was as amazing as I've heard--very natural looking IMHO but also pretty amazing improvement in my facial tone. We toyed with the idea of eating dinner there, but decided to head home to warmth and basic pasta dinner. After spending $11 to park at the ferry building (note to self: don't stay more than 2 hours next time--the 3rd hour costs more than the first two!), we were lucky to find street parking 1 block from Pier 39 with no restrictions. I did expect my car to have been towed when we got back, though--it seemed just too good to be true. But it wasn't. We settled in and made our way home, having had a fun day, just the two of us.

Thursday, we had had plans to use G's gift card for Build A Bear Workshops, but then couldn't find his bear for which to buy clothes (didn't have enough for a new animal, and Lord knows he doesn't really need more), and G was no longer all that interested, so we abandoned that plan. Went on a few errands in the afternoon, buying bag feet, clasp, stiffener, and lining material for a cute felted bag I'm making. Also picked up some more fabric for some sock-knitting bags I've designed and made and gifted to one lucky person so far. Found some things at Tuesday Morning, just down the block from the fabric store, a couple of closeout Christmas things at Beverly's, and stocked up on supplies for the guinea pigs at Petco before heading home to another casual evening relaxing.

I'm working today, but it's a pretty casual day at work--not a lot of us here and pretty quiet overall. Nice having a 1-day work week; next week will be blessedly short but not as short as this!

Meme from snarfdog

-Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, except for those weird-shaped gifts.
-Real tree or artificial? Artificial. We've traveled for Xmas so many times, it's nice to have a tree we can put up, decorate, and then not worry about fire danger while we're gone. (Or, God forbid, have to take down BEFORE Christmas!)
-When do you put up the tree? Well, this year, I put it up like last Saturday. I usually try to get it up the first week of December.
-When do you take the tree down? Natural tree, by the first pickup. Fake? Whenever I damn well please.
-Do you like eggnog? YUM. And Allison taught me how to spike it this year! Lovely with a little drizzle of bourbon (don't worry, Mom, there's lots of Bourbon left).
-Favorite gift received? The kind that makes me think warm fuzzy thoughts about the giver all year long. (Or the yummy kind that's gone by Dec. 26.)
-Do you have a nativity scene? We do now. It's more of a work in progress than anything else. Started it 2 years ago and we have several sheep, a sickly looking cow, 1 wise man, and a baby Jesus. Maybe a Mary.
-Hardest person to buy for? I have several friends who seem to see something they want and just buy it. Makes it super hard.
-Easiest person to buy for? My Mom, I guess. She's great about letting me know early what she wants.
-Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Holy cow. A wonderful, sweet neighbor gave me a poncho when I was maybe 10 (and ponchos were out out out) that was an orange the color of vomit. I hated that thing. Loved her, though. She meant well.
-Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail if at all. I'll try again this year. I also believe in New Year Cards.
-Favorite Christmas movie? The Grinch. Always.
-When do you start shopping for Christmas? Mostly by October, although I do sometimes get something early in the year when I spot it.
-Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Oh yes, honey. Some things are just not for me. I was able to Freecycle a gift this year to someone who really needed it. That felt great.
-Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peppermint... well, anything. Peppermint "Orange" is terrific.
-Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored, the kind with 7 functions. I pulled them off someone's tree that they'd dumped by the curb on 12/26 one year. Love them.
-Favorite Christmas song? I really like almost all of them, but lately, "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" keeps swooping through my head.
-Travel at Christmas or stay home? We've traveled more years than not, but this year, we're staying put.
-Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Nope, I always forget one or two.
-Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel. When I was growing up, it was a little stuffed fabric peacock.
-Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One Christmas eve; the rest, Christmas morning.
-Most annoying thing about this time of year? Everyone saying "Merry Christmas" to me when they don't know that I celebrate. What if I were Jewish? It would be so maddening. What's wrong with asking first? It's easy enough.
-What I love most about Christmas? My son's eyes light up at seeing what "Santa" brought. He stopped believing in the Tooth Fairy before he lost his first tooth, so darnit, I'm going to enjoy this!

I'm not tagging anyone--I'd love to see your answers, though. Blog them (and tell me), or put them in the comments if you don't have a blog.

If you celebrate--Merry Christmas!

That made me laugh

Tracfone left me a message today to wish my a happy holidays and happy new year. "For more information, please call 1-800-..."

For more information on how they wish me happy holidays? What more is there to say?

LOL

Entertaining in order to get a clean house

Hey, it works for me. I planned and gave a holiday party, giving myself a full month to get ready. So I spent a month cleaning, purging, organizing, clearing, and wow is it nice to have my counters clear, finally! There is always more to do (the top of the filing cabinet, for one), but I am really glad I got SO much done. I even decorated!

I got to see Andrea, Liz, fabulous Val; Soosun and her crew; Anna H and her crew; "Aunties" Nancy and Chris; my other ex, Linda, and her sweetie, Mary; a fellow SMC, Lynette, and her handsome son Alexander; and my friend Allison and her daughter, the other mom having been called away to Youth Minister duty at her church.

I made these amazing hors d'oeuvres called Tiropetes (warning: opens a PDF) that I never make because I have the mental idea that they're hard and time-consuming. Not so much! G helped me finish making them, brushing the melted butter on the phyllo dough, cutting the strips, and then folding the triangles. I even ended up with an extra sheet of them that I froze!

Folks kindly didn't arrive till 5:20, which gave me just enough time to be ready and do hardly anything during the party but talk, eat, and drink. Allison brough 3 bottles of Prosecco, which I enjoyed quite a bit; one bottle is left in the fridge to be enjoyed with my sister. I had Swedish meatballs and "cream sauce" gravy from IKEA, Kraft mac & cheese, and cut-up Hebrew National hot dogs in BBQ sauce from TJs. Everything was a hit with folks, which was nice. Linda brought a dozen bottles of water, which were entirely consumed (that seems like a good thing).

I really had fun visiting with folks, and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, too. What a great way to celebrate a holiday.

I got a point!

At our game last night, I felt, again, like I could actually do something on the ice. I can chase down the puck and sometimes win it, make a pass that connects, send a cross that's placed well, and even shoot! Not score, but that is coming (and I am still basking in the glow of my first Red goal, 'lo these many games ago... it was a sweet one).

In last night's game, I shot at the goal and it was deflected into the corner. I chased it down, followed by other players, and crossed it fairly blindly in front of the net. Steph was right there and shot it into the corner of the net... Tweet! It was a goal!

That felt especially sweet, since I had

• Shot
  
• Caught my rebound
  
• Made a cross that was in front of the goal (rather than behind or bouncing off the goal, or way too far from the goal, or right into an opposing player's stick), and
  
• Connected with my teammate.
  

I think I might be catching on to this thing called hockey. Yahoo!

(On the other hand, I really need to work on my speed. I was chasing down a loose puck that was sliding towards their goal, skating my ass off, and Carolyn went past me as if I were practically standing still. Wow! (Nice work, 'poof!)

They were not mean

Everyone is shy to some degree. I had an ex who refused to go to a party where she didn't know nearly all of the people there. I will go to gatherings where I don't know many people--or any--but I do get nervous about it.

I was encouraged to contact a local knitter/designer who holds a monthly Lesbian knitting night. I had actually met her before at a trade show, but it was a while ago. And I suspected (and was right) that I wouldn't know anyone there. The hostess and her partner provide pizza and others are asked to bring side dishes. I was floored, for whatever reason, trying to choose a side dish to go with pizza. Plus, I didn't have a a lot of time, my time management skills still needing improvement. So I settled for reheating half a spaghetti squash with butter and parmesan cheese, G and I having enjoyed the first half the night before with spaghetti sauce.

As I drove there, my mind decided to torture me with possible scenes: indignant vegans questioning me about using dairy products in my dish so that not everyone could enjoy it, etc. (I seem to have met enough indignant lesbians to be able to picture them easily.) Finally, I remembered we were having pizza... which is traditionally topped with dairy. Duh!

Turns out it was a rather variant group although most of the attendees that night (apparently, there are about 30 in the whole invite list) were older (I was imagining younger), and everyone was interesting. Mostly, folks talked. Some knitting was done. (I'd been warned this would be the case.) We also talked about machine knitting, weaving, and spinning, and the hostess gave me a length of Blue-faced Leicester to take home to spin!

I'm glad that, despite my shyness and my imagination picturing excruciatingly unpleasant scenarios, I am willing to go to events like this--and that I go. I made a thousand and one excuses to myself why I should not go, but was so happy that I went (and so wrapped up in conversation, that I picked G up late and ended up tipping the gym guys a $20 for their patience).