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.
Relevant but mindless Drivel
Suffice it to say, I am not in much of a state at the moment to put much though into a post as we continue to deal with the passing of TheWife’s Step Father. So, since I owe Chicka a Meme anyway, and I fear what will happen if I stall on it any longer, it seemed a good day for such an endevour.
Here are the rules. Write a post using each letter of your middle name, describing something relevant to your life. Tag the same amount of people as you have letters in your name.
E – Emotional – If my middle name was Peter I would say passionate, but I will settle for emotional. I am rarely ambivalent about things I care about. I almost always build emotional ties to people, or causes that are quite strong.
D – Determined – My father usually called it “Stunad” (pronounced stew-nad, I like most others have no idea how it is spelled) or “think headed” but I prefer determined. When I set my sights on something, my determination lets little (including logic) get in my way of drive to attain it.
W – Water – I love the ocean. I could never live some place that did not offer easy access to the ocean. One of the things I love about New Jersey is how close you are, almost regardless of where in the State you live, you are never more than about an hour away from “the shore”
A – Animated – I’ll blame it on Italian heritage, but if you taped my arms to my sides, I would probably lose the ability to speak.
R – Recycle – my father was always one to recycle (or actually reuse) as much of whatever he had, to a point where it was annoying, because he never threw anything away. I am not that bad, but in my drive to keep this planet in good shape for future generations, I am a big proponent to recycle as much as possible so the planet doesn’t become one big landfill.
D – Disorganized – If there is a method to my madness, nobody (including me) has figured it out yet. Probably a by-product of being ADD, “stacks” is the closest I often reach in terms of organization. (except on my computer where I am so organized, TheWife who borders on organizational Obsessiveness goes “damn, now that is organized.”)
I am not going to tag anybody specifically for this since so many hide behind pseudonyms, plus I have not had much luck enticing people into doing them. But if you are inclinded to play along, please by all means do so, and just comment here so I can read along.
Blogspotting – I Rock Squared… with a catch
OK, so I am not the most humble of people (shut up, you) and I have to admit that I get giddy over things that I probably shouldn’t get so giddy over. But I have to admit that while they may be “only memes” that when these silly little “awards” come my way, I feel really great.
Because really, they are truly things given by your peers, and if one of my peers believes I am worthy of an “award” it means the world to me that they believe I am worthy of it. So imagine my surprise when I get hit with not one but two such things at virtually the same time.
The first was from Crazy Life, Makes Me Tired, that says I am a Rockin’ Blogger.
I am greatly appreciative that somebody actually thinks that way. But the swelling in my head didn’t stop there as Liz at This Full House, trying to buck trends (and gender lines) , and says I am a Rockin’ Girl Blogger.
I might have been actually gotten a little upset about this, but since I wasn’t the only man that she decided was a “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” (and of course that I am an a attention whore sometimes), I just smile and say Thanks.
Now of course the real hard part is trying to decide who of all the Rockin’ Blogs I have on my blog roll that I will hit with this (and who hasn’t already had it bestowed upon them).
Just out of a sense of a more traditional value, (plus the fact that I have at present more female bloggers than male) I will break it out by gender, but only because of the name of the awards. (Otherwise, I would just like to give both to everybody).
I’m not going to try and describe the nuances of why all these people rock. Just know that they do. I am probably not breaking any new ground here with these great folks, but if by chance you aren’t reading one of them, then by all means go check ‘em out.
Rockin’ Bloggers |
Rockin’ Girl Bloggers |
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Honea Express |
Busy Mom |
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L.A. Daddy |
The Frog Report |
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The Blogfathers |
Things in your Head |
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Mitch McDad’s World |
Suburban Oblivion |
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Cynical Dad |
Notes from the Trenches |
Just the Facts
I got tagged not once but twice with this meme, so I figured I had really better get to it.
Here are the rules:
- List 8 facts/habits about yourself
- Post the rules at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed
- Tag 8 people and post their names, go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and ask them to read your blog.
So here we go.
1. I held jobs as a Cabinet Maker, Emergency Medical Technician and a Stockbroker before I settled down into a career as a computer programmer.
2. I tried my hand at Stand Up Comedy for a while working in all sorts of night clubs in NY and NJ. Never made any money at it though, which is why it isn’t listed under number 1.
3. I shattered my knee during a school softball game because the school did not have proper equipment. This was before people filed lawsuits for such things.
4. I had 2 college scholarship offers recinded because of medical issues due to my knee.
5. I was an alterboy in a Catholic Church when I was a kid. (And before anybody asks, the answer is “No” although I was friends with somebody that was paid off by the church.)
6. As a kid, I had allergies so bad, I had to go weekly for shots from the time I was 4 until I was 15 years old.
7. I met TheWife at a bar on Karaoke night.
8. Despite being offered as much as $500 for the $150 ticket (mind you this was 1988) , I attended opening night for Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. I have no regrets about not selling that ticket.
So, there you have 8 facts about me you are probably in no way better for knowing. At this point, I am supposed to tag 8 other people. But I don’t know that I have 8 people that haven’t done this one already, or you know actually play these games, but what the heck. I will list 8. If you have done it, oh well, sorry about that. If not, give it ago.
1. Busy Mom (I’m just going to keep tagging you until you do one of them)
2. Daddy Detective (Hey, your off for the summer, you got the time to do it)
3. Chicka Nuts (’cause inquiring minds wanna know)
4. Family Circus (c’mon you can do it between clients)
5. five dollar shake (it will take your mind off waiting for that first grandchild)
6. Overactive Imagination (ditto)
7. Reality Me (Because any man that puts bats in his freezer has got to have things to share)
8. One Biscuit Hound (because not everyone can crack open coconuts while still in their jammies, and must also have some interesting tidbits to share).
Mangia
Sometime a Meme is good when you are unsure to write. And when it is about food, well then, it is something that is right up my alley. So when Kel tagged me for this I was more than happy to comply, although coming up with just 5 was a bit tough.
Anyway here are the rules:
1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the state and country you’re in.
2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).
3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.
Here are my 5 -
1. The Crab’s Claw – Lavalette, New Jersey – this is stretching “locally” a bit since it is about an hours drive away, but it is in New Jersey so I count it. Located at the Jersey Shore, this is one of the best Seafood Restaurants in New Jersey, and with the wait you have on weekends, it is obvious that this is not a well kept secret. Oddly, they also have the best Buffalo Wings I have ever had.
2. The Spanish Pavillion – Harrison, New Jersey – in the next town over from me, they have a string of Portugese Restaurants that are mouth watering delicious, but The Spanish Pavillion is a cut above the rest. Served family style with large portions, nobody goes home hungry. And Sangria that is to die for.
3. Carmines – New York, NY – Yes it is in another State, but it is closer to my house than The Crab’s Claw (much closer). Italian Food that tastes like it was made by an Italian Grandmother, and served family style with portions that a Grandma would serve.
4. Park & Orchard – Carlstadt, New Jersey – a slightly eclectic menu with only the freshest ingredients, this is a world class restaurant right near home. It has garnered accolades from Zagats and The New York Times among others. Though I haven’t seen any lately, it was a place that has been frequented by many famous people in the NY/NJ area.
5. Lee’s Hawaiian Islander – Lyndhurst, New Jersey – at first glance you might call it a glorified Chinese Restaurant, but this Polynesian restaurant is far from the standard fare you would find in a typical Chinese restaurant. It would be like comparing Burger King to a steakhouse. And the atmosphere is classic Tiki Bar stylings (classic in this case meaning a bit old and dated, but still charming).
So now in an effort to find some awesome dining in other parts of the country, I will tag:
Domestic Psychology – the southern belle representing the State of TN.
Full Plate – exquisitedly reigning over all things CT.
Five dollar shake – bringing sophistication to MI.
Overactive Imagination – Another charming southern Belle, this one showing her charms in FL.
Family Circus – proving that you can be a classy woman and live in the State of TX.
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