Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Very Important Issues

Since I have a blog, I don't need to make my own decisions anymore. Therefore, I need you all to weigh in on the following two issues:

1. We are eligible for cell phone upgrades in a couple of months, and I kind of think I'd like a Blackberry. I like the idea of having internet anywhere, anytime, as well as GPS (depending on the model I get), a planner, email, instant message, etc. etc. Plus, it's a cool little gadget. So if you have a Blackberry, please tell me how you like it. Is it easy to use? How's the reception? What do you not like about it? (And what model do you have?) If you don't have a Blackberry, do you have feedback from someone you know who does?

2. I have a $15 itunes giftcard, which I got for Christmas. What should I get? Is there an album or artist you think I would love? Or a movie I have to have? What was your favorite album and/or artist of 2008?

Thanks in advance, Dear Readers! Blogger: absolving people of decision-making since 1999!

Friday, December 26, 2008

8 Things Friday - Christmas Edition

I've realized that I can either take pictures, or experience whatever I'm not taking pictures of. I can't take pictures and still get the full experience. Therefore, my pictures of our Christmas aren't that great, and there aren't that many. Nonetheless, here are my Friday 8 Things:

1.
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We played dominoes Christmas Eve.

2.
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Sitting across from Matt and his dad, it struck me (again) how alike they look.

3.
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My in-laws' cat will jump onto your shoulder if properly prompted, and ride around there for as long as you'll let her. It was... an interesting experience.

4.
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It's clear that Matt misses having pets.

5.
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My father-in-law in full biker regalia. He got the hood, gloves, and chaps for Christmas, and he got the jacket shortly after the bike, a few months ago. I think the bow really make the look, no?

6.
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The aftermath of Christmas Day

7.
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The newest addition to the family, whom we got to meet at Christmas dinner that evening. Matt's older cousins had him about three weeks ago.

8.
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I held him. He liked me.

Hope your Christmas brought you joy, and you were able to spend it with the ones you loved.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Festivities

Megan and I exchanged gifts the other night:

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She got me two novels about knitting, a Pirates of the Caribbean beach towel (with both Jack and Will), and a giant chocolate bar. I made her the scarf she's holding, which is black "poodle fur" on one side and girly pirate cotton on the other. I also got her some tea from my mom's tea shoppe.

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Her little sister, Becca, made everyone in the family a cookie with their name on it. I felt so special to be included! :)

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And the traditional "Heather and Megan hold the camera out and take a picture" picture.

A couple of Matt's friends are in town for the night (and couldn't go home after dinner as planned because of the 6+ inches of snow!). Rather than brave the scary scary roads (driving home from work was so bad that I made Matt come pick me up), we decided to walk to the end of our street (mayyybe a little over a mile each way) to the sushi restaurant.

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A couple of ten-ish year old boys decided to chuck snowballs at us from across the street while their dad shoveled the walk; I think one of them came close to hitting us, and one from "our" side almost hit one of them, but mostly we were just laughing. There was quite a lot of slipping and sliding, some intentional and some not. I was the only one who fell, and that was on the way back. OW! My hip's okay, and luckily nothing in my purse was smooshed or broken, but my elbow's a little sore. Snow may be soft, but the concrete beneath it? Not so much.

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Waiting for our table.

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Cheeeeeeese! I made my hat from this pattern, though I fiddled some with the sizing, since it's written for a thinner yarn than I had. You can see the ties, but not the big pom-poms on the ends, which I love! Maybe more pics later.

Now I am full and tired, and will hopefully hit the hay pretty soon.

Two more days til Christmas!!!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Wow.

The numbers were somewhat off at work tonight, so my supervisor called me into the office to help him re-count the daily deposit and find the missing money.

There was more cash on that counter than Matt and I make in a year, put together.

Amazing. Kind of scary, really. And that was just the cash; not the checks, not the debit and credit card purchases.

Wow.

Friday, December 19, 2008

8 Things Friday

1. If you read my blog through RSS or similar, I have a new banner up. Check it out, if you'd like! Since it's Christmas-y, it'll probably only be up another week.

2. We had pictures taken last week by a friend, and I'm so pleased with how they turned out! Thank you so much, Kevin. We're getting prints made for Christmas presents, as well as to send out in cards (though the cards will probably be late). Here's a sampling:

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(All the above photos are copyright kvon 2008)

3. The cookie/candy-making with Mom was a success! We were a little rushed, since a lot of other things were going on that weekend, but we got "Mock Snickerdoodles" made, as well as plain sugar cookies (I never had time to frost my half which I took home, but they were delicious just plain--Jen, it's an Alton Brown recipe!) and... I'm not sure what it's called. Almond-cranberry bark? You melt white chocolate and spread it on a cookie sheet with waxed paper on it; sprinkle on almonds and dried cranberries; drizzle with melted chocolate chips; let cool in fridge; break into pieces and eat. Yum!

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4. Also while at Mom and Dad's, I experienced the first big snow of the season! (They'd had snow there already, but it had just been rain where I live.)

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This was taken through the upstairs window at about 1am, but that gives you an idea. So pretty! Not a ton of fun to drive home in the next day, but I'm glad we're finally going to have a white Christmas! I don't remember the first snow being this late in the season! There are more snow pictures to come.

5. I got two new dresses the other day. For $5 each!!! I tried on a solid turquoise one and liked it, then figured I would get the plaid as well.

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I love the plaid one even more! They're both great with tights and boots in the winter, and since they're 97%/3% cotton/spandex, they'll be wonderful with sandals in the summer, too. I love a bargain!

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Fab button detail, and the waist is elastic so it just slips on over my head. However, wearing these over tights requires a slip, which I haven't got around to making yet, so it was kind of... static-y when I wore it the other day. In all my spare time, I should sew a short slip. (Say that five times fast!)

6. I came home from Wal-Mart today frustrated and upset at some little thing, but it seemed like a big thing after working 7:30-4:30 (9 hours because I had a meeting at the end of my shift). This made it a little better, though.

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Matt had set this on my desk, and after crying on him for several minutes (and feeling like a doofus because there was really nothing to cry about!) this made me start crying again with happiness. What a sweetie. He hates chocolate + orange flavors, so I never have to share these!

7. Why am I still awake? (Too busy on Friday, so I'm writing this Thursday night and setting it to post Friday morning.)

8. The cupcake apron!

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I love how it turned out, except I made the waistband a little too wide, so it sort of scrunches up when it's tied on. Oh well. The recipient loved it, and I'm glad! What should I make with the scraps? I love those fabrics together!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Things I Like About the Christmas Season

*Double-bagging things at work, because a wife is shopping with her husband, or a mom has to sneak stuff in past the kids

*Sugar cookies, even with no frosting

*Designating a particular place in the closet off-limits, and stashing presents there

*Being able to wear red and green together, and not look clashy

*Jingle bell jewelry

*How everyone gives more to charity, whether it's time, money, or items

*Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in candles, drinks, and food

*Getting to see friends and relatives I don't see often

*Hot cocoa with a candy cane hooked over the rim of the mug, slowly melting peppermint into the chocolate

*Watching movies I haven't seen for a year

*Strings of white lights swirled around bony bare tree branches

What are your favorite things about the season?

Monday, December 08, 2008

Christmas Poll

I think I have Christmas on the brain....



I do indeed have my tree up and decorated, except for the topper. We, ah... ran into a little problem with that.

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It's cracking me up. Guess I need to go get a lighter-weight topper soon! I'm thinking blue. Full tree pics once that's up.

Oh, and by "we" ran into a problem, I mean "I." Matt's not a big holiday spirit kind of person, so after he helps me set up the tree every year, the rest of it's pretty much up to me. Oh well, I'd rather do it my own way and have it look the way I want it! I'm such a control freak. (Wonder where I get that? *Coughmomcoughcough*)

Happy December 8th! Now I'm off to start Bernice's post for the day! No wonder I haven't been blogging much, all my writing time is taken up by her!

Friday, December 05, 2008

8 Things Friday

1. I feel like such a partier! Rachel from work got dumped by her boyfriend of three years on Tuesday night, so after being miserable at work all day Wednesday (though with a really cute new haircut!) we went to a sports bar-type place with a handful of other work people and drank Woodchuck hard cider and sat around for several hours. It was fun. Tonight, we're going dancing! I've never been out dancing before! All the more dancing I've done is at weddings. So first we're going back to Sports Bar Place for a drink or two, then to a club (do we have "clubs" here? or just bars with dancing?). We're not starting this til 10pm (happy hour! cheap!) and I have no idea when we'll get home. So far I think it's just me, Rachel, and Melony, but I thought there would only be four or five of us on Wednesday, and it ended up being about 12, so we'll see! I'll let you know how it goes.

2. Behold, the Tree of Happiness:

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Love love love it! I have tomorrow off, so I'll dig out the box of ornaments then and put them up, while listening to Christmas music, of course. Doesn't it just GLOW?

3. Underneath the tree (with my super-lame makeshift tree skirt: scrap blue cotton) sits my little "herd" of penguins.

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Someday I shall have an army of penguin stuffies, mwahahaha! (Thanks again, Aunt Linda, for the newest two. The knit ones are from two different knit swaps.)

4. Watched Nightmare Before Christmas this evening. Love, Actually will probably be watched tomorrow (since I own it) and I think The Holiday is next on the Netflix queue. What are your favourite Christmas movies? And what about movies that aren't about Christmas, per se, but that contain Christmas? I need mooooooore!

5. Aughhhhhhhh what am I doing to do with my hair tonight? I HAD to wash it as soon as I got home from work this afternoon, it was gross. But right after I wash it it's total fluff, and too slick to do much with unless I dampen it and put it all up in braids or buns or something. OY, hair.

6. I was going to show you pictures of the finished cupcake apron.... but the pics are still on my camera, and I don't have time to resize and upload them right now. Soon, soon!

7. I shaved my legs today for the first time in I don't remember when. Sorry, Carrington! :P It wasn't a conscious decision to not shave my legs, I just don't see any reason to when they're covered by long pants/knee socks/tights/long skirts all winter. But I wanted to feel girly and pretty, so zzzzip went the razor!

8. So far I've still been writing one entry per day in Bernice's diary! Not sure how long I can keep it up, but while I have plot and time, I'm going with it. We'll see what happens over Christmas, and when we have company over New Year's, but I'm just taking it one day at a time. Hop on over and read, if you haven't, and weigh in on my poll if you've read at least a little of it. I would much appreciate it!

P.S. Mom, my friend thinks you're cool. (Look at the comments)

P.P.S. Stuff like this reminds me now and then that the whole world doesn't always suck. ♥

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Christmas Meme

1. What is your favorite Christmas carol/song? Carol: Silent Night. Song: White Christmas, though I've been listening to The Man With the Bag a lot lately.



I've been listening to a different version, though, by Kay Starr.

2. White lights or multicolored? White on the tree (so they don't overwhelm the ornaments), coloured for outside.

3. Do you you have a cut tree, live tree or an artificial tree? Fake all the way! We LOST the bottom 1/3 of our first tree (how do you LOSE part of a Christmas tree??) so now we have a fabulous new WHITE, PRE-LIT fake tree. Pictures hopefully tomorrow.

4. Eggnog, mulled cider, or hot chocolate? Ughhhhhhhhhhh eggnog. *Gag* Mulled cider, eh. Hot chocolate for the win! Marshmallows for bonus points.

5. Do you decorate your house with lights? One year I put lights in the inside of our window, and paper snowflakes, too. This year I've wrapped coloured lights around the railing of our little back balcony. Since we have an apartment, that's all the more I feel like doing/can do.

6. Do you write a Christmas letter? I did last year and felt "eh" about it. Matt's little sister calls them "bragging letters," but I think it's usually more of an update for those relatives and friends you only see a couple times a year.

7. Do you like receiving Christmas letters/photos? Yes! I like non-Christmas themed photos better, so you can keep them up year-round, but the little themed photo things you can make at Wal-Mart are cute too. And I totally love the update letters, though I really only get one or two of those.

8. What is your favorite Christmas story/movie? I still like The Night Before Christmas, because I like cheesy rhyme-y things, at least for the holidays. And I love watching Love, Actually to get in the Christmas mood. It's just so heart-warming!

9. Have you ever made a gingerbread house? When I was about 11 or 12 we were at my Dad's parents' house for Christmas, and my aunt actually baked all the little shapes for us to make a few gingerbread houses. I still have the pictures, and I remember having a lot of fun sitting around the big table with my cousins and parents and aunts and uncles, eating candies and getting icing all over, then displaying the houses at Grandme and Grandpa's.

10. Poinsettias or holly? Please, please, please never give me live plants. Ever.

11. Do you display a nativity scene? Yup! Except now I can't remember where it came from. I want to say my grandma painted and fired it all for me in her ceramics class.... It's all brown, and fairly simple, but I like it!

12. Do you bake Christmas cookies? Depending on work and travel and everything, Mom and I have had a baking day near to Christmas for the last few years, if we can manage it. There's this great picture we took with her camera's self-timer several years ago:

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We stacked the camera in the far corner of her little old kitchen, on top of like... a couple of books, a "tin" of Nestle Quick, and probably a box or two of instant mashed potatoes or something, then used a hand mirror to peek behind it and see the screen so we could tell if we'd be in the shot! It was kind of an adventure, but we were so proud of ourselves for figuring it out. And apparently laughing, too.

13. Ham or turkey? We never have turkey except on holidays, so I'm all about the turkey!

14. In what languages can you wish someone a Merry Christmas (without cheating)? Three! (Sort of.)
American: Merry Christmas
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
British: Happy Christmas

Har har, I know.

15. Do you know all the words to Jingle Bells? Not the middle parts about the horse and stuff....

16. Do you put presents under the tree? Totally! Although they're usually only there a few days before Christmas, because the shopping and wrapping isn't done til then.

17. How do you eat a candy cane? From the straight end, not the curved end. (Does this question make sense now, Jen?)

18. What is your biggest holidays pet peeve? RUDE CUSTOMERS. Being cranky to me is not going to magically change policy or fix your broken item or make your expired coupon work, or do anything else to help the situation at all. I wish people could just take a deep breath, remember that it's just stuff, and understand that I am not trying to screw them over, I'm just doing my job. Ugh. Luckily, this happens but rarely.

19. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? I don't know that we really have any.... I guess the baking/candy-making? I also like wearing my Christmas socks, earrings, and headbands.

20. What was the best present you ever got for Christmas? My sewing machine! I've used it loads, and will continue to use it frequently probably until it wears out and I have to get a new one.

21. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? My family always opened gifts Christmas Eve (usually after church service) and then woke up to stockings Christmas Morning. However, Matt's family opened one gift from under the tree on Christmas Eve, then all the rest of the gifts as well as stockings on Christmas Morning, so it depends on who we're having Christmas with that year. (Also, Matt's family WRAPS everything in the stockings, down to pens and lip gloss. They're inside a stocking! You can't see them! Why must they be wrapped? LOL)

Thanks for the meme, Jenny!

Tune in tomorrow for 8 Things Friday.