All Hannah…er… Miley
It was a non-stop weekend around here, LatteGirl’s first hockey game was a rousing success. A nail biter of a game, that went into overtime and a shootout before the Devils escaped victorious over the Bufallo Sabres (much to Chicka’s chagrin… hehehehe). She looked a bit overwhelmed and confused for much of the game, as many people are trying to follow the puck around for the first time, but was standing, screaming and cheering by the time the Devil’s scored in the shootout, and was declaring how she wanted to go with me again.
Of course much of this was only a bit of background story by the next day as she prepared to go back to the Prudential Center once again, but this time to see Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. Between Santa Claus, Mommy and Daddy, and some relatives, she was completely decked out in everything (except a blond wig) in Hannah Montana apparel. Shirt, Denim Jacket, Jeans and even her purse sports the logo of the Disney Channel Pop Princess. They arrived at the arena 3 hours before showtime (and an hour before the MileyWorld bus for the fan club showed up. Not quite suprisingly, she was not the only one, as on my way to the office about 1/2 hour before that, I saw tweens and parents already milling around the train station area a couple of blocks away from the arena.
Needless to say the show was a big hit as Miley and the Jonas Brothers were “so on” (or so I was told). The only disappointments (if you can call them that) was first at MileyWorld they had some sort of Karaoke setup for people to sing songs, but LatteGirl did not get picked (this is one of those instances, where I almost regret her being so polite and well mannered, she would raise her hand to show she wanted to sing, but was not jumping around, screaming and pushing like others were and she just really never had a shot to get picked) and the second “issue” was that LatteGirl refused to leave afterwards, as she tried to get a glimpse of Miley up close. She did manage to spot the Jonas brothers and “they waved right at me.” But Miley was apparently whisked away in a separate car. LatteGirl simply would not accept it to be true until a security guard from the building confirmed that “Miley has left already,” before she finally resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to see Miley.
Sunday was a get together with TheWife’s side of the family, where there were a few tense minutes when I heard about supposedly racy photos of Miley that were posted at PerezHilton.com. Fearing another “Spears-like” scenario, I was quite releived to find out that this was more about somebody trying to make a big deal out of something that wasn’t, and I am only linking to it here so that other parents that may hear about it can actually see it for themselves so they are not panicked (as I was at first), because when you read the headlines, like at MSNBC that says, “Miley upset about leak of racy photos” you initially assume (or I did) that they were much worse than what they turned out to be.
And finally it was quite pathetic to hear read this story about a mother that admitted lying about her husband dying in Iraq in an essay to win Hannah Montana tickets. This really has me all twisted up in side. The promoters of the contest are considering pulling the tickets away. At first, I thought “Good” she deserves it. And the mother really does. However, I feel sorry for the six year old daughter who has now already been told that she won a makeover, a flight and tickets to the show. How do you tell that poor little kid that, now you can’t go because your mom is a lying, manipulating sleezeball that won the prize under false pretenses?
Well, none of that fortunately actually affects us, and at least for now it is all Miley all the time around here.
The Best Present
Now that I am done feeling sorry for myself, I should probably cover some of the good things that come up this holiday season. One in particular caught me completely by surprise, and to date now would be what I would call my best present ever. It came in a slim little envelope, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was before I had even opened it. A ticket to a New Jersey Devils hockey game. Something I enjoy going to several times a year, and especially now that they have moved to the new Prudential Center which is much closer and easier to get to than the old Brendan Byrne Arena…er… I mean…Continental Airlines Arena…whoops check that now it is the Izod Center. (Did I mention how much I hate this corporate name sponsorship stuff?)
Anyway, unless I happen to be going to a game with my sister and brother-in-law this is a trek I usually make alone. But when I opened my gift, I found 2 tickets. It turns out that LatteGirl has decided that she wants to go to a hockey game with dear old dad. Now it may sound silly to some, but you can’t imagine how happy this made me. I love hockey, and always imagined I would be able to share my passion for the sport with her. As the picture to the right (circa 2001) shows, I had been grooming her for this from the very beginning.
However, as she grew older, things changed. My little fan, who I was feeding at 1 am when the Devils beat the Dallas Stars in 2000, and cheered with me for every goal, and consoled me when the Devils lost to the Avalanche in 2001, was no longer interested in sports. She was a girly-girl more interested in dolls and princesses. The Red and White Devil’s jersey was no longer fashionable enough for her (hmmm… I wonder if they have a Devil’s Jersey in pink), and she would rather watch Raven or Zach and Cody or Hannah Montana than to even think about watching a hockey game any longer. It was not as if I was heartbroken or anything. I am not one of those fans that use “we” when talking about a team I am a fan of, as if I was actually part of it. But, I was sad that I wouldn’t have this to share with her.
So, knowing that, you can imagine what a warm feeling (understatement) it was when, as I had a confused look on my face when I found two tickets, she jumped up and declared that the other ticket was for her and that she was going to the game with me.
So tonight we will eat overpriced greasy junk food, snap some pictures (so that I have proof that this isn’t all just a dream), survey the landscape for tomorrow’s outing to find out where the MileyWorld bus will be set up before the concert (hey I gotta make some concessions here), and cheer on the Devils as they take on the Buffalo Sabres.
Regardless of the outcome of the game, tonight, at least for a night, I am the winner.
5 years
There was something wrong with me this holiday season. I know it, but I don’t know exactly what it was. Nothing felt “right” nothing seemed to fit quite as it should (I don’t mean clothing smart ass), and it was all rather uncomfortable. I am actually quite happy that the majority of it all is now in the past, and I can hope for a better mood next year.
I know to stop and appreciate everything I have. I am very fortunate. And I was able to at least recognize that this year. In my head anyway. It still just never felt right. By all weights and measures, this should be a dream, but it wasn’t. Yet 5 years ago should have been a nightmare, and that may have been one of the best years ever.
5 years ago, I was working at Toys R Us because every dang technology company seemed to not have any openings after everybody that got laid off between the Dot Com Bust and the mess of 9/11. Those that did have positions, would not hire me me because I had too much experience and they were sure I would bolt as soon as the economy got better. So instead I was working 60 hours a week at Toys R Us, busting my ass for way too little money. We were financially struggling to survive. IRAs and 401Ks emptied. No savings left. We were just trying to find a way to hold onto the house.
Xmas that year was obviously going to be a difficult one for presents. But LatteGirl was 2-1/2, and this was the first Xmas LatteGirl really fully understood Santa Claus and presents. We couldn’t just “skip” Xmas. So, I took every hour of overtime that they would give me. I would rummage through the items that were going to hit the clearance tables to see what bargains I could find that I might be able to afford. Meanwhile, the rest came from a few rummage sales and a few visits to several different dollar stores looking for items that weren’t junk quality.
By the time Xmas morning rolled around, we had a decent “stack” of presents from Santa, that looked like a lot, but in the end cost us less than $40 total. While in some ways I felt bad, and swore to myself that we would never go through that again, it was still quite a Xmas. LatteGirl was still thrilled with what Santa gave her, we had a great day, and everybody was happy.
This Xmas by comparison was easy. Thanks to the extra week between Thanksgiving and Xmas, I had most presents bought and they were wrapped ahead of time. This was the first Xmas in I don’t know how long that I wasn’t doing something that required me to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning, such as baking or assembling one of Santa’s gifts, etc. This year LatteGirl seemed to learn to actually stop and look at what she got when she opened each present rather than unwrapping, tossing on a pile to get to the next present to be unwrapped.
I’ve had signs. In one case literal, a snarky billboard (or more precisely a picture of a billboard) that I saw somewhere, had the saying on it, “Santa Likes Rich Kids Better.” Or some excellent blogging, like this wonderful post by Whit that really made me think. And yet, you would think that after only 5 years, I would remember how tough I had things then, and would be thrilled, and yet I am not.
I know somewhere in here I am supposed to put the requisite message that money can’t buy happiness and all that. But while true, it is just a bit too cliché, and I am feeling too grumpy today to be cliché.
Xmas Eve Non-sequitur – Bullet edition
Well, being able to eat solid food has returned just in time for Xmas. Yeah me! But, has left me somewhat of a bad blogger lately, and with everything left to do, precious little time for coherent thought remains, so…. I present Brain dump, bullet style.
- There are a couple of presents that I thought TheWife was getting, and she thought I was handling the purchase of. Naturally, neither of us actually checked with the other until last night. Which sent me out to Wal-Mart on the Sunday evening before Xmas. Which unfortunately yielded far too little in the way of completing the purchases I needed to make, so I will try it again today… elsewhere.
- To the folks at Wal-Mart: Are you making so much damn money that you can throw away sales? I was in your store last evening, and the toy department was damn near empty. The only items left were open/broken boxes, and things that will be on sale at the end of January because nobody is going to buy them. Oh, I know you have toys. I saw pallets of them shrink wrapped in the aisles blocking shoppers, and making navigating with a cart practically impossible, so I guess people who went this morning will actually be able to buy something, but I am certain that I was not the only person that left your store with money I wanted to spend, only to be turned away because there was nothing out for me to buy.
- I am in the office working today. That precluded me from getting an early jump on the needed shopping. I will happily shop somewhere that is not competitively priced, if I can just get what I want and get the hell out of the store with my sanity (or what is left of it after Wal-Mart) intact.
- I have spent more on Xmas presents this year than I ever have in the past. I blame part of this on the ease of Internet shopping, and the extra week between Thanksgiving and Xmas. The biggest problem was that damned Amazon Prime account I signed up for. Without having to worry about shipping costs, I could shop and purchase as much or little as I wanted at any time. This made it much easier to just add “one more item” to buy and ship off way to easy, and it shows with how many “one more items” I had delivered.
- This is the first year I don’t have to stay up late to wrap and/or assemble presents. This is blowing my mind. The thought of spending Xmas without being in a Zombie like state from only having an hour or two of sleep sounds really nice.
- As much as everything seems to be going well with the extra week between holidays, I somehow still managed to not find time to bake. This is the closest thing I have to a regret this year, and when I stop at the bakery and buy some cookies, I am sure I will get over it.
- Did you forget? You can track Santa Claus’ journey today(night) thanks to the folks at Norad. There is even a tracker that will enable you (though Google Earth) to track Santa in 3-D.
Santa Meme
I found this Meme over at BusyMom‘s place, and while she didn’t actually tag me, since I am currently recovering from oral surgery (yes again) and not in much of a mood for original thought, I figured this was just what the doctor (or dentist) ordered.
1. Wrapping or gift bags? I am the exact type of lazy S.O.B. that they were targeting when they invented the gift bag. Oh, I can wrap just fine, but would rather do just about anything than wrap gifts. For the holidays predominantly TheWife handles the wrapping, except I get left with the “odd shaped” packages.
2. Real or artificial tree? I prefer a real tree. I always had an artificial one growing up, and always wanted real trees, and had one every year since moving out of my parent’s home. Until 2 years ago, when TheWife declared that we would go artificial. Now we have an artificial pre-lit tree. I grouse about it all through the holidays, but am happy when it actually comes time to putting things away, and not having to spend the better part of January and February still finding needles about the house.
3. When do you put up the tree? Precisely whenever we get around to it. It was later on purpose when we had a live tree because we didn’t want it to be all dead needles on Xmas morning. Now it is whenever we can fit it into weekends that are usually filled with LatteGirl’s activities.
4. When do you take the tree down? On the 13th day after Xmas (or the nearest weekend immediately following)
5. Do you like eggnog? I love and drink entirely too much eggnog.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Any gift that didn’t include socks, or underwear.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A Fruitcake (yes seriously)
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both. I mail all those that I can, and e-mail those that I do not have addresses for.
10. Favorite Christmas Movie? Merry Christmas Charlie Brown.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? For the past couple of years, Cyber Monday. Before that, usually the Saturday before Xmas.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Antipasto, before the main meal. This is about the closest thing my family has in the way of a holiday “tradition.”
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Now I am stuck with Clear as that is what came on our pre-lit tree (see #2)
14. Favorite Christmas song? “The Twelve Pains of Christmas”
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? “Travel” (if you count 11 miles as travelling). Xmas belongs to my Mom, and the only way we are getting from her, is to pry it from her cold dead hands.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer. Of course. You have the originals from A Visit with St. Nicholas: Dasher, Dance, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (that somehow later became Donner and Blitzen). Later, through other stories you added Rudolph (not to mention Clarise and Fireball), and thanks to some funny play on words, later added the not so popular cartoon character Olive (Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names). And finally, in The Santa Clause 2 (The Mrs. Clause), we are introduced to Chet, that has to fill in for the overeating Comet.
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither, we have a old world Scandinavian Santa Claus.
8. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Christmas morning.
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Stores that try to shove more stuff than they can fit into the store, and stores that sell things that don’t belong there. Do I really want to buy a new Plasma Television from the Supermarket? Does ever single retailer in the word have to stock some display of meats and cheeses that for some reason doesn’t need to be refrigerated?
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? We have enough ornaments to decorate probably 3 trees, but yet, nothing that you would probably call a “theme. Oh sure we have “batches” like Dr. Seuss collections, and Precious Moments, but none of them in large enough quantity to do a tree in a single style by itself.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Milk and Cookies, as well as some carrots for the reindeer.
22. Least favorite holiday song? Whichever one I have heard once too often that particular year. For example, I like Grandma got run over by a reindeer, but sometimes it just gets so overplayed that I get totally sick of it.
23. Favorite ornament? A Precious Moments, “Baby’s First Xmas 2000″ ornament. It is the only one that is guaranteed to be on the tree each and every year.
Since I didn’t actually get tagged for this I can’t rightfully tag anybody else, but if you would like to participate, I would love to know.
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