Merry Christmas (Belated, sorry)

No reason for not blogging, besides being too lazy to do so.

So, I survived Christmas, barely. Alien, her boyfriend, Butterball, Single Son and I were the first to arrive - half an hour early. The Italian Stallion (Cousin Dear's husband) greeted us with a "Thank You" ... not hello. LOL. I guess they'd been arguing because Cousin Dear still had the kitchen floor to wash and to get dressed for the festivities and he kept telling her to just go get dressed, someone MAY show up early. The thank you was because HE won that argument. And he kept reminding her all night that he was right (he's that type, lol).

In all thirty three showed up at Cousin Dear's house. Crowded and noisy, it made the house way too hot for my comfort (and my dad's too). Although I have to admit, the "M" kids were rather well behaved for a change. Made it a bit more tolerable.

Butterball was way too overwhelmed by it all. He's never seen so many people under one roof before. He wasn't happy with the heat either, but taking his shirt off helped him considerably (Dad quipped that he wished he could have stripped down, too, LOL). For me, it was as easy as stepping outside in the cold air to cool off enough (this is the one time that being a smoker banished to the out of doors is a plus ... LOL).

Since there were ten kiddies present this year, Cousin Dear decided that the kiddies would have to be fed first to make room for the adults. It was a good idea in theory, but failed miserably. The kids took over the kitchen table, and seeing that the kids were eating half the adults (the "M"s mostly, figures, eh?) decided it was time to dig in, too. Only problem is, they didn't vacate the dining room table after they finished for the next wave of diners. Ah, well, they did get the hint when four of us showed up with full plates ... lol.

But this was definitely the last time we need to worry about overcrowding. I didn't have much of a chance to talk to Cousin Dear, and Brother Deere didn't say a word to me all evening, but according to the Italian Stallion their feeling is that if one of the "M"s doesn't volunteer for the next holiday (and many many more after that), these two branches of our Family Tree are out of the "soup kitchen" business (as the Stallion put it) once and for all. Besides, he made a good point, even at holidays "they" stick together, they never mingled with Mom's branch or Aunt Silly's branch of the family ... why bother if they can't at least once a year visit with the rest of the family.

So, other than that ... it was a fairly pleasant evening. Ate way too much ... drank more than a few cups of spiked punch ... hehehe ... opened gifts from my folks ...

Click on the picture of Butterball to see the rest of my photos in the photo album ...

I had to laugh ... Mom got Single Son a pop corn popper (and a bag of kernels). He couldn't wait to get home and pop some popcorn. Only problem was, it's been so long since he's had a popcorn popper that he forgot how much to put in the thing ... he put in a half of a cup of kernels - needless to say he's got a few days worth of popcorn out of that first batch! He was in a mad scramble to find enough containers to hold it all!!

Hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas ...

Christmas 2010

Thursday ...

and I can't think of a cutesy blog title. Ah well, there's more on my mind than blog titles.

Christmas. 'Tis the Season ... dysfunctionality at it's finest.

And for once it's not me or my offspring that's causing such a stir ... LOL.

Mom's mad at the "M" cousins, Silly's upset with Cousin Dear and the "M" cousins .. yup, 'tis the season.

Of course, I didn't help by calling Mom to read to her a status update Cousin Dear put on my facebook wall. It read something like "So...I forgot to pass this along...was talking to J, D, and K (aka the "M" cousins)...each family member who has a young child...should bring a present for "their own" child to open Christmas Day at my house....I'm sure Aunt Silly, your mom, and maybe M will do something if they so choose. Please pass this on to Alien and DIL (although I don't know if DIL is coming here)..... So...no buying for anyone but one's own child/children...." Okay, so that was exactly how it read (copy and paste, gotta love it) ... and yes, names were changed to protect the guilty.

So, why are Mom and Silly so pissed off? Because it had been suggested early that the kids do a gift exchange, bring one gift for each child you have (one kid = one gift, two kids = two gifts, etc) ... and the kiddies would swap gifts with their cousins. But of course, no one wanted to do that. So ... the "M" cousins think it's better to bring a gift for your own kid so they can open it there. Hello? How stupid!! The gift starts out at your house, gets opened (maybe parts get lost) and then you have to take it BACK home again? And it's pissed them off because the "M" family once again calls the shots, because they don't want to buy gifts for the other little kids, yet the four adults of the "M" family have never hosted a family holiday meal, they don't bring a dish, don't clean up and don't contribute to the costly holiday dinner hosted elsewhere.

On the other hand, Mom's happy that she doesn't have to buy any more gifts .. in fact she picked one from a dozen or so gifts she'd bought for all the kiddies and will give that to Grandson. Other than that, she'll be taking all the other gifts back to the store as soon as possible.

Mom and Silly are so pissed off that they claim this is the last of the family meals. No more Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. Well, as long as the "M"s are concerned.

Damned soap opera, I tell you ...

As long as we're on the Christmas Soap Opera box ... soap box, get it ... There is NO tree at my house. I "won" ... or I should say that DIL refused to clean up her mess, got mad at me in the process, and gave up bitching about wanting the tree put up. Funny thing is, she still has her messes to clean up, but now she won't have the reward of seeing the pretty tree up this year.

Funnier yet, is that once they move out, I will be putting up the Christmas tree for all to enjoy during the holiday season.

DIL had been telling Single Son how she's fed up with me not cleaning up the kitchen. He laughed ... told her "but she does clean up, just not after others". Yup, we're back to that ... her not cleaning up after she uses the kitchen (or bathroom, or living room, or ... any room for that matter). I've given her warning that on the Monday after Christmas I will be taking my house back, and that if she has anything important that she wants that's not put away in a safe place she may be at risk of losing it. I've even provided a folder for her for Grandson's school stuff and a place to store it - let's see if she uses it. If not, I don't care if it's important or sentimental or not, it will be thrown away!! I'm tired and I want my home back!!

I did mention something to Married Son about it, and he said, "is that a good idea, Mom, you know that'll tick her off". I told him I know it will but too bad. His response? "Good, maybe it'll make her mad enough to move out". Yup, he's fed up with her crap, too. He's talking about the big D once again ... I wonder if he'll actually go through with it in 2011. Then again, if he does that will mean he won't be moving out of this house any time soon - he'll be yet another divorced kid who moves back in with Mommy. Oh wait, he can't move back in, he's ALREADY here! Damn.

On the bright side, I'm only four years away from being able to move into senior housing.

Dear Santa. It's me again. I know it's last minute, and probably too late for this Christmas but I want to let you know that what I really really really want for Christmas is an empty nest. Maybe this is enough warning so that by next Christmas I can have my wish granted? If you can't grant me an empty nest, can you at least give me a somewhat emptier nest? I think you know which "Birdie" needs to go and which can stay indefinitely. Thank you Santa. P.S. I read where there are certain people who think you're too fat and send a bad example to the children of the world. You're the most generous person I know (next to my folks) and don't deserve the bad wrap because they're narrow minded fat-phobics. Make sure those fools get rotten carrots in their stocking ... they don't even deserve coal!!

Sharp Knives ...

Apparently Cousin has been persuaded to have Christmas at her house. She said she didn't want it, didn't want the cleaning, cooking, and chaos that goes with one of our extended family holidays but someone (I'm assuming Aunt Silly) persuaded her otherwise. Besides she doesn't cook - her hubby does ALL of the cooking and the majority of the cleaning. Her job is to oversee his progress.

I got the notification on facebook. I then sent word to my three children (on facebook) as to what the plans for Christmas are.

Well, we know DIL ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but this is ridiculous ...

My facebook message to the kids ...
[Cousin] just got ahold of me through facebook, Christmas will be at the [Cousin's] house ... time to be announced.

Not so intelligent DIL responds to my message ...

Ok I need day and time asap, so I can request day off. :) thanks

 

My reply ...

Christmas Day ... probably around three or four in the afternoon ...

DIL: Ok. I think I already have it requested. But ill check tomorrow.

Me: k ... you mean they're open on Christmas? That's crazy!!

DIL: Ah, no. I don't think so haha!! Der. I took xmas eve off hahahaha. I'm ok, really. Oy.

Me: lol ... k

 

Ummmmmm ... last time I checked my calendar Christmas was still on December 25. And dinner, well, that's still an early evening meal isn't it?

 

Now that we're on the topic of Christmas ...

 

Does anyone else think it's too early for Santa's appearance? He's going to be one of the more upscale malls, starting TOMORROW!!

 

Hello? Can we get through Thanksgiving before the Jolly Ol' Fat Man comes to a mall near us?

 

Commercialism, gotta love all the commercialism ...

 

Bah Humbug.

Whew, I Survived Another Family Christmas!!

As much as I love Christmas, I'm glad to say it's OVER!! At least for another year. And it'll take me that long to mentally prepare myself for it again.

Our family holidays are crazy. Not just Mom, Dad, us kids and our kids (and grand kids), but aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. It's a zoo! Nineteen adults and eight kids ... oy!! And two adults were ill and couldn't be there!! It was a houseful for sure.

Kids running all around the house, jumping on furniture, crawling under furniture, spilling their sippy cups, arguing over toys ... and on and on and on.

That's Alien in the pink polka-dots.

Add that Cuz's house has white carpeting throughout and a beautiful WHITE sofa in the Living Room ... well, it made for one hairy evening watching certain kiddies jumped with their sippy cups on said white sofa! And I must add here, Grandson was a perfect little gentleman!! He remembered his manners, and actually told a few of the older kiddies "don't run", "no drinks in that room", etc. I'm sooo proud of him!!

Okay, the griping out of the way ...

Cuz's Hubby cooked dinner this year. Yummy ... absolutely fabulous! Appetizers included shrimp, chips and dip, nuts, salami and cheese tray and more. Dinner was a huge spiral-cut ham, Italian sausage, spinach, sweet potato casserole, baked potato casserole, salad, and Waldorf salad. Dessert included two pumpkin pies and a dozen different holiday cookies. Enough that we all were full by the end of the evening.

Don't forget to KISS THE COOK!

Cuz's hubby made a punch that carried a heck of a punch. I had three or four glasses of it myself. Luckily I wasn't driving home last night! LOL! Dad talked me into getting him a glass of the high powered punch. Dad hasn't had a drink in years, this could get interesting! And of course I had to ask how we'd tell IF he got drunk? He slurs his speech and walks with a stagger because of his stroke. No telling if Daddy was drunk!

Cheers!

We got onto the subject of odd family pictures. Mom looked at me and tells the entire family that I have the biggest collection of photos of her flipping off the camera. It's true! I do! Seems every time I point the camera at Mom her middle finger (in her words) "goes into spasms and I can't help but to stretch it. It's not my fault I'm allergic to cameras". Well, not every time, just most! LOL! And wouldn't you know it? She was showing Aunt M how she flips the bird - and I grabbed the camera! Can't let a birdie pass me by! LOL!

After dessert we opened gifts. I got an indoor weather station with lighthouse design, two pairs of jeans, socks and two checks. Not sure what I'm gonna buy ... probably put it towards a new computer chair. I so forgot to have Alien take a picture of me in my *Winter Wonderland* penguin shirt! I'll have to see if Cuz has any pictures I can snag from her!

I pulled a little joke, a family tradition really, on Grandson. He loves cars. I bought him a bunch of cars for Christmas. They're in those blister packs so while I was wrapping them an idea hit me. I wrapped two of the packages, then put them together and wrapped those together. Then I took the other two sets of cars and did the same. THEN I wrapped those together to make one neat little package. Grandson is NOT a wrap-ripper, he painstakingly unwraps his gifts and throws the paper away before he goes on to the next gift. Poor kid, he spent a good ten minutes unwrapping my gifts! Too funny!

I know there's a gift in here somewhere!

Cuz and Princess O

Grandson and one of the cousin's kids

Traditional Picture of Taking Pictures Picture!


All in all, it was a great Christmas. I'm just glad it's over for another year!
Hoping ya'll survived Christmas!

Christmas 2008

Before the chaos and confusion of gift opening. How pretty!!

Christmas at my Cousin's house.

Merry Christmas

What a leisurely day this is turning out to be! No waking up at the crack of dawn by little ones excitedly screaming "Santa was here! Santa was here!" I kinda like it. But I admit, I do miss it, too. Christmas just isn't the same with the kiddies all grown up. Sure, there's Grandson but they're not here yet. They're having Christmas Breakfast with her folks. We'll open our gifts when they get here later this afternoon. Single Son is still sleeping. You don't know how bad I wanna bust into his room and yell "Santa was here! Santa was here!". Would make up for a lot of years of the kids doing it to me. Think if I jumped on his bed I'd be carrying it too far? LOL! But I won't ... the last thing I recommend to anyone is barging in on a sleeping COP and screaming anything. I'd like to be able to go to my cousin's house for dinner tonight and not be in the emergency room being patched up, ya know?

So, that's what we're doing. We're headed out to my Cuz's house for dinner and family gifts. We don't need to be there until 5 PM. I told the kids we had to leave here by 4 PM. It's only a twenty minute drive ... BUT they way they are all late for everything I learned a long time ago to lie about what time we need to be there. Now watch, this'll be the one day in their lives that they're all actually ready to leave when I say we have to leave.

I'm sorta excited this year. I get to meet Cuz's granddaughter. She's just celebrated her first birthday and I've never seen her!

Hoping ya'll have a very Merry Christmas! And that Santa brings you everything you want!

And it wouldn't be Christmas without ...

  Merry Christmas! 

Track Santa on Radar!!

Track Santa!! Start at NorthPole.com
Just follow the links on the left side of the page to the NORAD site.

Military center tracking Santa's sleigh ride
   
By IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Writer Ivan Moreno, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 24, 6:51 am ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Who says Santa Claus doesn't exist?

The military personnel charged with being the eyes in the sky are certainly acting like he does — and they've been joined on the Internet by millions of believers.

Even doubters have reason to pause when they hear the North American Aerospace Defense Command — or NORAD, which monitors air and space threats against the U.S. and Canada — is in charge of the annual Christmas mission to keep children informed of Santa's worldwide journey to their homes.

"They challenge it, but only to a point," said Senior Master Sgt. Sharon Ryder-Platts, 49, who for five years has been a Santa tracker, taking calls from those wanting to know the location of jolly old St. Nick.

According to NORAD, Santa began his latest flight early Wednesday at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia. NORAD points out that only Santa knows his route.

Last year, NORAD's Santa tracking center answered 94,000 calls and responded to 10,000 e-mails. About 10.6 million visitors went to the Web site, which can be viewed in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Chinese.

NORAD's holiday tradition can by traced to 1955, when a Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears, Roebuck & Co. ad telling children of a phone number to talk to Santa. The number was one digit off, and the first child to get through reached the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.

Col. Harry W. Shoup answered.

Shoup's daughter, Terri Van Keuren, said her dad, now 91, was surprised to hear that the little voice on the other end thought he was Santa.

"Dad thought, `What the heck? This must be some kind of code,'" said Van Keuren, 59.

Shoup, described by his daughter as "just a nut about Christmas," didn't want to break the boy's heart, so he sounded a booming "Ho, ho, ho!" and pretended to be Santa Claus.

Enough calls followed that Shoup assigned an officer to answer them while the problem was fixed. But Shoup and the staff he was directing to "locate" Santa on radar ended up embracing the idea. NORAD picked up the tradition when it was formed 50 years ago.

"If we didn't do it, truly I don't know who else would track Santa," Maj. Stacia Reddish said.

The task that began with no computers and only a 60-by-80-foot glass map of North America now includes two big screens on a wall showing the world and information on each country Santa Claus visits. It took off with the Web site's 1997 launch, Reddish said.

Now, curious youngsters can follow Santa's path online with a Google two-dimensional map or in 3D using Google Earth, where he can be seen flying through different landscapes in his sleigh.

NORAD officials are hesitant to list all the potential sites Santa will visit with certainty.

"Historically, Santa has loved the Great Wall of China. He loves the (Space) Needle in Seattle. He of course loves the Eiffel Tower," Reddish said. "But his path is completely unpredictable, so we won't know."

Ryder-Platts, 49, who has a 17-year-old son, said taking calls from children helps her keep her Christmas spirit.

"For someone like myself, my son is older, you know it just keeps you in touch with the spirit of Santa Claus," she said. "I miss out on that at home so this keeps me close to Santa. I believe! It keeps me in touch with other believers."

___

On the Net:

http://www.noradsanta.org

Tequila Christmas Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs

Nuts

1 bottle tequila
2 cups of dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the tequila again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup... just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Check the tequila. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat.

CHERRY MISTMAS!    

Maxine's Night Before Christmas

Christmas Cheer and Frosty Toes

Today was Lake Orion's 14th annual Christmas Parade. Well, yesterday really. I'm posting this in the middle of the night. LOL!

I went with Single Son. He had to work, he wanted me to take photos of the parade. Needless to say, he didn't have to twist my arm to get me there.

Lake Orion is a quaint little village located about 40 minutes north of Detroit. I *love* Lake Orion!! So homey ... where neighbor knows neighbor. And people actually stop to say hi to you when you pass them on the street. Oh, and stop by their website ... Single Son is the web host ... I know ... shameless plug. The site is still under construction, so not all pages work yet.

We had to arrive early, as Single Son was assigned to the parade staging area. Busy, busy!! With over 130 floats and organizations marching in today's Parade, it's the largest local parade outside of Detroit's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I wandered around the Village for a few hours. Talking to local business owners, residents and just about anyone who passed by. Like I said, friendly little place Lake Orion is.

Stopped to eat a late lunch at The Poppy Seed Deli and Coffee. Delish!! And of course, I lingered there to keep warm. If you're ever in the area and want some great flat bread sandwiches, delish soup and a cozy small town environment, head on over to Poppy Seed!

Man, it was cold!! Snowed the entire day, too. My toes were so cold that I stopped by one of the stores for an extra pair of socks. Extra thick and fuzzy ... ahhhhhhhh!!

At 5 PM I headed to the other side of town - a two minute walk, half of that spent waiting for the crosswalk sign to change - over to where they'd set up the stage for the Christmas Carolers. A group of talented gals ranging from early elementary to high school ... all from a local talent academy. And talented they were!! The youngsters sang my favorite Christmas song ... *I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas* ... just too cute!

The parade started at just after 6 PM. My poor camera! It was a chilly 28 degrees, and like I said earlier, it snowed the entire time. My camera's computer kept thinking the batteries were low ... and would try to shut the camera off! So between floats or other participants I'd have to cuddle the camera to keep it warm! I managed to coax the camera to cooperate for over 120 photos. Although, I admit, next year I think I'll set up a tripod ... between the cold and the motion I had a higher than normal percentage of blurry photos. Grrrrrr. Just wish there was some way I could shelter the camera from the cold. I'm not the only one who had the problem, too ... more than a few people were in the same boat!! Who'da thunk we'd need a temperature rating on our digital cams? LOL!

So ... here's my faves from the ten or so dozen photos I took ... enjoy ...

Historic Village of Lake Orion Michigan



Chief of Police



Christmas Carolers



Santa Claws



The Man of the Hour ...

I have a few more photos in a photo album ...
ENJOY!!

And, if ya'll are in the area ... stop by ... especially if it's Parade Day ... or Fireworks Day ... or whenever ... Lake Orion really knows how to host an event!!

Parade

2008 Christmas Parade.

Christmas 2007

Brother's tree ... look at all those gifts!!

Just a few Christmas photos. Sorry, none of me. Always the photographer, never the photographee!!