The Days of December 2008!

Peering Into December

December is here! Yay! Thank you for the holiday ideas, everyone! You did an amazing job – well you always do!

1. Summer Memorial Day
2. Interrupt Your Cat’s Nap Day
3. UN International Day of Disabled persons
4. Christmakwanzikah
5. Donate to Charity Day
6. Eggnog Festival
7. Share an Unhappy Holiday Memory
8. National Brownie Day – Eat a Brownie
9. National Pastry Day – Eat Some Pastry
10. Send an Animated Christmas Card Day
11. Share a Happy Holiday Memory
12. “Ohhhh, the Weather Outside is Frightful” Day (Blog about an experience you had with bad weather around the holidays)
13. National Ice Cream Day – Eat Ice Cream
14.”You Really Shouldn’t Have” Day (Blog about a gift you received that wasn’t you or you re-gifted)
15. Tara Starts Her Week O’Vacation! Yay!
16. Cookie Day
17. Festival Of Lights Day (String Up Christmas Lights)
18. Solipsist’s Birthday
19. Wacky Present Day (Give a Wacky Gift to Someone You Know)
20. Celebrate Hibernation
21. Winter Solstice – Party all night til the sun comes up!/Hanukkah Begins at Sunset
22. Tell Us What You Really Want for Christmas/Hanukkah
23. Winter Wonderland Appreciation Day
24. The Night Before Christmas Day
25. Merry Christmas One and All and All and One!!
26. Boxing Day Extravaganza/Kwanzaa
27. Regress to Your Youth Day
28. 10 Things I Hate About Winter Day
29. Write Your New Year’s Resolutions Day
30. Send “Thank You” Cards to Everyone Who Gave You a Present Day
31. Give Yourself a Pedicure Day

Other Monthly Observances for December

Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month (US National)
GERD Awareness Week (Gastroesophageal Reflux disease)
Hi Neighbor Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Prevent Blindness America
Stress Free Family Holiday Month (US National)
Read A New Book Month

(Belated) Saturday Scavenger Shots: Gratitude

Hey, sorry this is late. Just had a few days there where I did not feel like posting anything. Blogger’s Block perhaps? Oh well.

Gratitude was the word for this week, and it was chosen by Ms. Ksra. There is such an abundance of things out there that I’m grateful for, but putting my finger on just one or two things was actually challenging.

These photos are of my mom and dad. I know I posted these awhile back for another Scavenger Shot word, but pretend you haven’t seen them yet. There just aren’t that many photos anymore of my mom and dad posing together, unless I bug my mom to go through the box of photos she has at her place. Besides, I like these photos.

Anyway, every now and then it hits me how lucky I am to be the daughter of those two, wonderful people. I could’ve been born into a nasty, abusive, neglectful family. It happens to way too many kids everyday. But nope, I am grateful that I was born into the family that nurtured, sheltered, fed and raised me into who I am today. Quite frankly, people, I could be much scarier. To express every ounce of gratitude that I feel towards my family would probably be an overdose.

Speaking of overdose, I’m also grateful that we could overdose on food like this for Thanksgiving. We showed our gratitude towards my mom for preparing all of this food, by clearing the table and assisting in the ultimate clean up of the kitchen after we ate.

Here is a candid (sort of) photo of one of my brothers and his family last Thursday. My brother and one of my nephews saw the camera comin’ and posed. Once the flash went off, my other nephew gave me a “You are such a dork” look and simply asked, “Why?” My response was, “Why not?” Anyway, my brothers and their families are funny and they make me laugh. That’s another reason I’m grateful for my family. Always a source of amusement!

So I think I tore into that word enough for today! Onward to the next word!

Pass Me That Plate of Happy Thanksgiving, Please!

Hey lovely bloggers! Just here briefly before I head on out to wish you a Very Happy Thanksgiving filled with all the happiness, laughter, drumsticks, stuffing and leftovers you totally deserve! This is a day to forget about any diet you were on or were thinking to go on. Just for today…and well maybe a few days after too, because there will probably be leftovers.

Here’s something from comedian Jim Gaffigan:

– “Thanksgiving…it’s like we didn’t even try! The tradition is that we over eat!”
– “Hey, how about a holiday where we just eat a lot?”
– “But we do that everyday!”

To sum up….

No Room for Tofu. Sorry, Tofu.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

A Movie Meme!

I’m bored tonight, and really don’t feel like posting anything that’s in my head (it’s a sea of mixed thoughts, and I wouldn’t know where to begin). So I went searching for an interesting meme thing, and found one! At least I think it’s interesting, it involves movies and quotes, and it has a quiz twist to it too.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 13 movies
2. Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it’s guessed.

This part is for you, the reader:

No Googling or using IMDB search functions.
Leave your answer(s) in the comments.
Whoever guesses each one correctly first will get the credit.

Okay, so some of these might be very easy for you, some incredibly difficult. But have fun!

1. “You can’t scare her, she’s sleeping with Prince Valium tonight.” – from Beetlejuice (guessed correctly by Churlita)

2. “I’m giving thanks that we don’t have to go through this for another year. Except we do, because those bastards went and put Christmas right in the middle, just to punish us.” – from Home for the Holidays (guessed correctly by Laura B.)

3. “Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?” – from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (guessed correctly by BabyBull)

4. “You put the ‘suck’ in ‘liposuction’ You put the ‘ooo’ in ‘jiu-jitsu’ You put the ‘ism’ in ‘This is all just a defense mechanism’.” from “Not Another Teen Movie” (guessed correctly by Snake)

5. “You… you got a love bite on your neck. He’s coming back this morning, what’s the matter with you? You’re life’s going down the toilet!” – from Moonstruck (guessed correctly by Ksra)

6. “I would rather die a thousand deaths than see my mother’s dress on that spoiled, selfish cow!” – from Ever After (guessed correctly by Eroswings)

7. “It’s not difficult to surmise how Nathan here feels about killing guards; and my own proclivities are, uh, well-known and, uh, often-lamented facts of penal lore.” – from Con Air (guessed correctly by Manuel)

8. Person 1: “Thank you.”
Person 2: “For what?”
Person 1: “For saving my life.”
Person 2: “How presumptuous.”
– from “Queen of the Damned” (guessed correctly by Snake)

9. “Word is you’re on your way down. Fresh meat. Finger lickin’ good.”

10. “When you first entered the restaurant, I thought you were handsome… and then, of course, you spoke.” – from As Good as it Gets (guessed correctly by Manuel)

11. Person 1: “I happen to LIKE the roller coaster, okay? As far as I’m concerned, your grandmother is brilliant.”
Person 2: “Yeah if she’s so brilliant why is she sitting in our NEIGHBOR’S CAR?”
– from Parenthood (guessed correctly by Eroswings)

12. “I’m fireproof, you’re not.” from Hellboy (guessed correctly by Eroswings)

13. “You think of women as disposable pleasures, rather than meaningful pursuits. So as charming as you are, I will be keeping my eye on our government’s money – and off your perfectly-formed ass.” – from Casino Royale (guessed correctly by Eroswings)

What Does Your Thanksgiving Meal Say About You?

Since Thanksgiving is approaching quickly, I thought I’d post this quiz. Even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, give the quiz a try and have fun!

What Your Thanksgiving Meal Says About You

When it comes to the holidays, you follow and love the big traditions. You look forward to them every year. You see the holidays as a time to be close to loved ones. It’s a good time to reconnect and make memories. You like the more adult aspects of the holidays – parties, cocktails, and having time off from work. During the holidays, you are likely to feel energetic. At your worst, you feel bored. You consider yourself to be a bit of a purist, and you’re proud of it. You tend to spend your holidays sharing and pitching in. You’ll do whatever needs to be done.

What Does Your Thanksgiving Meal Say About You?

December is Comin’ Round

Since this coming week is the very last week of November, I thought I’d start asking for December holiday ideas now. Any crazy, funny days you’re thinking of, any birthdays, anniversaries etc..etc…Just let me know!

Here are a few photos to inspire you:

This is the house I grew up and lived in for 19 years. I loved that house, even with all its imperfections. If you want to read about it, here’s the post I wrote awhile back. At the time, I couldn’t find the photo.

Here’s a recent photo of Skittles taking a nap on my desk chair. I sat on a less comfortable, dining room chair so that I wouldn’t disturb her while she slept. But then of course taking photos of her probably interrupted her nap too. Oh well.

Saturday Scavenger Shots: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

NoRegrets of WomanWithNoRegrets came up with a tricky word this time, and off and on all week since I found out about the word, I’ve had the song stuck in my head. I couldn’t take a picture of my brain, though. Talk about tricky! I then thought I’d dress up as Mary Poppins because I have a long coat and an umbrella. No hat, though and well I’m just not Julie Andrews.

I did buy a purse recently that kind of reminds me of the big purse Mary Poppins carries with her all the time. Just the bulkiness of it, I think. So here is my photo:

Mary Poppins Magic Purse

So that’s all I’ve got this time. A photo of a purse that looks like the one Mary Poppins carried in the movie “Mary Poppins” where they sang “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

Happiness Is…. (2008 Version)

Happiness/Bliss/Ecstaticity (I’m making it a word) Is….

Working hard all week up till 7pm on a Friday night, having everything go well while working, and getting lots of stuff done that needed to be done, driving through the muck of lake effect snow to finally arrive safely at home where I could slip into something much more comfortable (hot shower, slippers, sweatpants, oversized T-shirt) and know that I have the rest of the weekend to do whatever I want. Seriously, need I say more? I had it in my mind to draw something like this while I was driving home. The streets were snow-covered and tailgaters were in the vicinity. Winds were blowing, it was cold…and my motivation was to get home and celebrate the end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend. You can imagine how relieved I was to finally park my car at my apartment. I don’t ask God for much, but I definitely thanked Him for the whole damn day as I turned off my car.

I hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing, fun and stress-free weekend!

What Does Your Home Say About You?

The lovely Laura B. has the following quiz on her blog, and I wanted to try it too. Try it yourself! Ya just might like it. Oh and have yourself a merry little weekend!

What Your Home Says About You

You don’t come across as very intellectual or serious. You seem like a bit of a goofball. Your hygiene is passable, but you may be hiding some dirty secrets. You are a fairly domestic person. You can probably make a decent batch of home cooked cookies. You are not a nurturing person by nature, but you can easily take care of someone you truly love. You feel settled in your life. You have enough time to focus on little details. You are a somewhat self sufficient person. You can do fine on your own if you have to. Your friends see you as accommodating, peaceful, and forgiving.

What Does Your Home Say About You?

Taste Test

Remember that book I blogged a review about awhile ago? The book was called “Take Me Out” by English author Martyn Clayton. Well I finished the book and it was a very good read. Now I’m onto the sequel called “Connections”. In that book, the main character makes a sandwich consisting of pickles/gherkins, potato chips, shredded cheddar and brown sauce/A1 sauce all on a granary roll. In response to a taste test the author did himself, I wanted to try the sandwich too. So I did just that the other night (adapting with some ingredients because I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store in the snow and rush hour traffic). I ate the whole dang sandwich! It was pretty good! So here are my findings on video: