I'm here.., kind of for the mOment anyway. I still have Christmas music up and that annoys me , but I can't do a whole lot about that mow. I'm doing this from my iPhone because I'm currently stranded on an island due to ship wreck. Ok so that's a lie, I'm just really really lazy. Kids are still alive and doing well..,I haven't locked anyone in the garage or anything..so that's good. I suppose stuff like that isn't funny really because everyday stuff like that and worse happens to kids..like the ones who got murdered by their mom because they were mouthy, sheesh. Hear about that one? No? Well it's true..let's see what else? I had my gallbladder taken out, that was fun. GICOE is pretty much history...yay. I'm starting my masters Tuesday...which I'm dreading. Anyway, hope you all are doing well and I look forward to seeing what everyone has been up to.

Ghost of Christmas Past Part 2

The other day I spoke of Hamsters, Baby Dolls and Ventroliquist dummies (Yeah, I was kind of a weird child). I also remember going to see Santa and every year it was at the same place. It was like a cute little portable building, just big enough to fit Santa and his big chair. You would go in and sit on his lap and tell him what you wanted. I think your parents just kind of hung out at the door. Yeah, kind of creepy. I can see why they stopped that. They must have stopped that because I havent seen one of those set ups in years. Now the Santas are in the mall...out in the open so people can keep their eyes on them. Make it a lot harder for Chester the Molester to dress up as Santa Claus. Thats a good thing.

One thing cool about my Christmases when I was a kid was the employee Christmas party where my dad worked. See, he worked at Disneyland..and what could be better than a Christmas Party? A Private Christmas Party at the Happiest Place on Earth. Yep. They would keep the park open a little later for employees and their families....and you just went wild. Everyone else...get the heck out. I remember being able to bring a friend a couple of years. I also remember that on our way out all the kids would get a Christmas stocking full of candy and little toys, coloring books, stuff like that. This party also meant that I got to see the son of a fellow employee of my dad's. He was cute, and he thought I was cute. I guess he grew up though to have problems staying out of prison.....Oh well.

I loved the decorations of my childhood Christmases too. My mom had this nativity set that was cool...I used to play with the set like they were action figures..which required my mom to repair them on more than one occasion. Im sure it drove her nuts to find Baby Jesus between the couch cushions or near the dog food bowl.

We had this cool light thing too. It was a big wheel of colors...and when you plugged it in and turned it on, it would rotate colors across the ceiling and walls. When I was a teenager I coveted that color wheel. It would be so cool in my room with by beads hanging in my doorway, my insence and my Pink Floyd...but alas it never ended up in there. Im not sure what happened to it actually, but I miss it.

We had these candles that were shaped various Christmas characters like Santa and Frosty. They would often hang out with and sometimes argue with Mary, Joseph, or one of the wisemen. I think they melted one year in the heat of the garage because on year, they were just gone.

My most favorite decoration of all time though, is the one that sits atop my own family tree right now. The angel. She has dark hair, a halo and wings and is wearing a white dress...she is more like a doll than a statue..her dress is real material. It was on the family tree ever since I can remember. When my best friend died when I was twelve, that angel reminded me of her...and still does to this day. Someday, I will hand it over to S, and tell her the story, and so on and so on.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

This will be my 41st Christmas on this earth. That's a lot of Christmases. I have gone from asking Santa for a hamster to a Kindle. I hope the Kindle lasts longer. My very first Christmas I was only a few months old, but there are pictures of me in a little red "Santa" onezie in my baby carrier thing. They would place me there and I would marvel at the pretty lights and shiny tinsel, in between scanning the room for my favorite beings (other than mom, of course) like big brother and the family dog. Not a whole lot has changed there either. I can still be found this time of year sitting by the tree and staring at the shininess of it all, with dogs close by.

I did get my hamster one year. A Teddy Bear Hamster...which I named "Teddy". I think this was my 5th Christmas. He came in one of those Habitrail things, with a tube leading up to a skyline apartment and a nifty running wheel on the main floor. Teddy didn't last long, as one day he got out of his cage (those little "clips" that held the lid on, weren't very easy for a five year old to secure properly) and in a frantic attempt to catch him again, I grabbed him and squeezed a little too tight...then he bit my thumb. I can still remember my horror at the blood dripping from my thumb. Sadly, when I squeezed too tight I injured him pretty badly and my dad had to put him down. Sad, yes I know. I still feel bad about that and have never owned another hamster again and am thanking God that my children have never expressed interest in the little rodents.

I also remember the year I got my "Baby Chrissy" doll. You could make her hair short or long all by a little string on her back. What was cool about her was that she was big enough that I could dig into mom's cedar chest and pull out some of the baby clothes she still had of mine and put them on the doll. That doll wore my
"dedication" gown for a long time...until I got tired of it on her and started making the cat wear it.

One year I got "Pete" the ventriloquist dummy. He came with his own red case and everything. I had visions of becoming this really good ventriloquist. Right up until I saw the movie "Magic" about the homicidal dummy. Then I put him deep in my closet and piled a bunch of crap on top of him so he couldn't "get out". I eventually sold him for 5 bucks at a garage sale. Sorry Pete.

That is what pretty much comes to mind when I think of my past Christmases. Well, except for some of the Christmas decor items my parents had laying around. That is another post though. So thank you Teddy (RIP), Chrissy and Pete for the memories.....

Christmas Tunes

The Christmas playlist is up. So turn it up and enjoy. Hope you all are getting your stuff done...Im working on it today, and its SNOWING.

Wierd Stuff....

I did a little lunch time shopping today. You know just a "few little things" left on my Christmas list. While, out I was experiencing weird stuff...maybe its just me, but I thought they were weird.

I went to McDonald's for lunch (shut up, I like their fries, OK?) and I ordered one of the "snack wraps". The Angus Beef snack wraps. I thought the beef would be like, strips of beef...um, silly me...no.  Maybe some of you already know what it is, but just in case you dont...heres my good deed of the day. Its a tortilla (a regular tortilla, not a "wrap") with a hamburger (the Angus beef variety I guess) patty wrapped in it. Of course theres stuff like cheese and onions in it..but if I wanted a hamburger, Id get a hamburger. Or if I wanted a burrito, Id get a burrito. No need to mix the two up.

then I was standing in the crazy Christmas shopping line and I heard a checker a couple stands over talking to some one she knew..they asked her how she was, and loud enough for everyone to hear, she said:

"Im doing alright, except for having to put my Puppy down".

Talk about the sucking the Christmas spirit right out of me. That did it. Now I want to turn off all the lights in my office, curl up in a little ball, and cry. I mean her PUPPY? If she had said "Dog", it would have still been sad, but they die when they get old, and sometimes when they arent so old..but no one should have to think about a puppy, a BABY dog, with their sweet puppy breath and velvet soft tummies DYING. Its just  not Christmas conversation, ya know? What with all those kids and ME in the store. Sheesh. It did kind of get quiet after she said that too..lol.

This isnt really weird...well maybe it is...because teenagers ARE weird, and I think it falls into that category maybe. Last night was my two youngest squids Christmas concert. We had a lovely time....with the exception of A's teacher making him trade places with a little girl while he was on the risers...because he kept turning around to talk to "Connor". No amount of shaking my head and frowning could get his attention though while he was up there...so eventually it was too late....the teacher saw. He claims Connor was "poking" him in the back...know what? I BELIEVE him. I do...I know "Connor". Anyway, after the concert was over we went to my moms house so she could see their outfits. And L...my 12 year old boy (soon to be a teenager) was NOT the well behaved child he normally is. He kept messing with me and everyone else in a teasing way and would not stop, no matter how much he was asked. When he came very close to knocking over moms Christmas tree, because he was crawling under the little table she had it on (its a small tree), he was sent to the car. I just think its weird that HE is the one acting up...is this a shade of things to come when he is a teenager? Do they all think they are hilarious all the time?

Awww thanks....and diary of middle school mom.

I want to thank all my faithful followers and commenters for making me feel better after my whining post the other day. You guys are awesome. I changed my background, and will put the Christmas playlist up shortly. The computer Im on now wont let me go to Playlist.com...so I'll have to wait.

Tonight is the annual Christmas concert for the elementary school. Second verse, same as the first. Well, with the exception of only having two kids in the concert now that L is in middle school. I cant wait to put the tie on little guy tonight. He is going to be so cute.

Speaking of  middle school...I spent almost the whole day there yesterday for "Parents Back to School Day". Its where you can go and follow your middle school child around to his classes and sit in the class and see what a typical day for him is. It was kind of cool.

First of all let me brag hugely here for a second...L is not only on the honor roll, but he has a 4.0 and is the ONLY 6th grader to have a 4.0. There, brag over.

I actually LEARNED something in his math class. I hate math, but I do believe if I had the teacher that L has, I would love it, because it was the funnest period of the day. I totally cant believe I just typed that. The way he was teaching made things make SENSE to me. I already know most of the kids that L calls friends, but I got to meet a few others. I saw how messy his locker is (he needs an organizer) and I also saw how the front cover of his binder has been taped back on (he needs a new one!). I was kind of releived to see that at this school in this tiny town, boys and girls still dont have much to do with each other in 6th grade. It was SO not like that when and where I went to 6th grade. Really, it was like an episode of Peyton Place. Yesterday though, at his school, the boys and girls seemed to stay away from each other for the most part. That made me happy. Im definitely not ready for that drama yet.

During science class L kept trying to grab my arm and force my hand in the air to read outloud from the text when the teacher was asking for volunteers. I ended up locking my arms in front of me, and then he resorted to pointing at me. His teacher said: "Your volunteering your mom to read". To which I replied, "apparently he needs to see the definition of a volunteer". Little brat.

The hallways were scary, and it was here that I witnessed some of the behavior Im terrified of as he gets older. I dont even like him WITNESSING it. Some (older-like 7th or 8th grade) boy slapped some girl on the butt....I wanted to yell at him, but figured that would not exactly make L's life easy. You cannot walk down the hallway without touching other people though...its just too crowded and the halls too small. The butt slap however, was definitely intentional.

I did not eat lunch with him however, Ive seen what they eat...no thanks. Really, my school lunches were always good...these are just terrible. So I went to the sub shop across the street and had lunch with the husband, who laughed in my face when I suggested he spend the rest of the day at the middle school too....oh well.

It was an eye opening experience and I will worry less, I think. I can now envision things the way the are when he tells me about his day..so it was really cool and Im glad the school does this. He didnt even try to ditch me in the hallway like my friend's son did to her. So for that, he gets an A.

Open Letter to Bloggy Land....

Dear Bloggy Land,

Its not that I dont love you, because I do. Its just that I dont feel like I have much to offer at this moment. Just more gripes and complaints. Im also feeling like crap, physically. I also want to rip GICOEs face off with a butter knife (sick or not) if I ever see him again, he has ticked me off to no end. I yelled at a McDonalds worker today while at the drive through....through the speaker thing, not at the window, although I felt like doing that too (do NOT mess with me at 3 am pre coffee...just sayin').

Yes, I am wondering how all my bloggy buddies are doing and I do miss reading about them and want is going on in their worlds. I only hope that they forgive me when I do come back. Im feeling guilty about your background reflecting Thanksgiving still...when its so obviously Christmas time. Yeah, and dont mention the fact that my beloved Christmas playlist isnt up yet (either is our Christmas tree, Ok?).

I have been spending a little more time on facebook, yes it is true. Im sure its just a phase. Honestly though, I get a little frustrated by having only 76 followers...STILL. While other blogs are in the hundreds at least. Its much more fun to go to facebook where the number is much higher. I mean who wouldnt choose the bar that most of their friends go to over the one where there a far fewer friendly faces?  Just an observation, thats all. 

I hope everyone is doing well......I will be back soon, I think. Till then, stay warm, stay dry, stay Merry.

Sincerely,
Me.