Christmas Day

Well, it's been a lazy Christmas day. Heck, I am still in my pj's - I never left them. I've spent the day playing with pictures, making dysfunctional ginger-people, and watching Christmas movies. It's been great.

I originally planned this year to make a "homie" Christmas village to rival the Charles Dickens version my mother has. (Homies are these completely NOT p.c. little plastic figurines that you can buy in quarter machines at the grocery store.) Well, I have a nice little collection of them and they need a Christmas village. I never got around to it this year, but I fully intend to next year. Anyway, instead of the homie village, I gave the ginger-people a winter scene. Here are a few fun pictures... I tried to be productive today. It just didn't happen.

Merry Christmas!

Jingle Bells

Speaking of family, this is dedicated to my mom, whose favorite Christmas song is the dog version of this holiday classic... Whoo! Just freaky.

Who Needs Flowers?!? And Andy is Here, So Merry Christmas.

Okay, thank you to my little fan club (who never comment on my blog - just comment in person). I'll give you a taste of what you've been missing. Thanks for missing me. I'm sorry for the sparse lackluster posts lately. I've just been busy with Christmas decorating, cookie making, shopping, mailing, and whatnot. It wears a person out. But I'm back.

First off, Timmy and I took some great pictures two weekends ago when we went to the NY Botanical Gardens. Yes, it is the dead of winter and there is snow on the ground and no there are no flowers. But we needed a good winter photo to send out with our Christmas cards (which will all be late because no post office carried the Christmas stamps and you just can't send Christmas cards out with a stupid liberty bell on them, you know what I mean?!?). Well, I just fixed the pictures we took that day, so they are on Flickr now. See them here. There is an array of goodness, from the train show to gingerbread houses. We try to make a tradition of seeing the Train Show at least every other year. It's THAT cool. And the gingerbread house display is usually really great. There were two of them this year that were worth photographing. The others weren't worth their frosting. (I hope you laughed at that, because I thought that was pretty funny.) Speaking of gingerbread, Tim and I took a cool picture that I want to share with you reader. I like it. I call it A Gingerbread House of Our Own.

While we are talking gingerbread, baby brother (and captain of my fan club) Andy is here now and we are planning on making gingerbread men tonight. We started his visit off right by having Taco Bell (his idea) and watching Christmas Vacation, a Bennetch family Christmas staple. It is gonna be fun having him hang out for the holidays. We are planning to go into the city tomorrow to see the 5th Ave. lights, watch lots of Christmas movies, have a Christmas spiral-cut ham, and play Christmas games. I am just oh so Christmasy. Eat your heart out.

Well, to help put you in a Christmasy mood, let me leave you with just one more Christmas picture... This was my theatrical debut - as the Christ child. (Yes, Joseph and the Inn Keeper DID wear plaid shirts back then, didn't you know that?)

Thirsty?

(For more funnys, check out this super creative chap...)

Tea Time

Anyone game for tea and crumpets? My buddy Ann took me to the yummiest and cutest of all tea places yesterday. We had a feast! And the girl-time was extra nice, too (much needed). Ann lives in the city and has twin baby girls, so I think she needed the girl-time, as well.

We went to "Alice's Tea Cup" as in Alice in Wonderland. Let me tell you, it was a wonder. They have an entire menu of teas. And yummy teas, too - we shared the Christmas Blend and a tea called Trafalgar Square (tasted like a peppermint patty). We had tons of little sandwiches, scones, cookies, and other fanciness. We were there for 2 hours! Then we did a bit of shopping and headed back to her place to play with the girls. What a fun day!

(Sorry the pics kinda suck... I forgot my camera, so these were from my phone.)

Snowed In

Oh man. It's been a long day / week / month / year... (Pick one - any will do.) I have been frantically working on all the Christmassy things - ie. cards, presents, parties, etc. - and I am pooped. It's a good thing that hubby and I are staying here this Christmas. I thought this Over The Rhine song was completely appropriate for how I feel right now (although, I almost posted "All I ever get for Christmas is Blue" and that would have worked too). So, I guess I'd better check the forecast...

Snowed In With You (by Over the Rhine)

When you come home

And all the world's asleep

I'll close my eyes

And breathe with sweet relief

This world has had you

Long enough for now

And when I get you home

I'll show you how...

I wanna get snowed in with you

I wanna shake off these winter blues

These ain't no blues that I can use

And when the lights are gleaming

I'll be leaning into you

What's a girl to do?

I wanna get snowed in with you

I'm gonna make every effort to

Be so good to you

That when the snow melts away

You'll want to stay
Snowed in with me

Till it's time to take down the tree

And it's all I really need baby

To be alone awhile with you

What's a girl to do?

Drift with me

While we're still awake

Every new snowflake

Is like a wish we make

Dream with me

Leave your cares far behind

Is all love snowblind?

Let me awake in time to find
That I'm snowed in with you

Cataloging and More

I've finally found a great site that is helping me catalog all my PEZ Dispensers! I've been looking for a good one for ages. I have a rather large collection (like around 300+) and sometimes it's tough to remember exactly which ones I've already gotten - hence the seven or eight Santa Clauses.

Bonus: while researching some of my odd older PEZ, I came across this great site that inspired me to revisit some of the duplicate dispensers I have to create something inspired! This site cracks me up. Check out what this person has created! I love this ET.

Christmas Trimmings

My throat hurts and I feel rotten... but at least my house looks beautiful. (Guys don't understand this, but when your nest looks cozy, it makes things seem a little better.)

My Christmas tree is up and it is so pretty. I think it is the best one yet. We got a real tree this year and it smells so amazing - a Frasier Fir. The cats like it too. Mr. Pan loves to just sit under the tree - like a present - and stare up at the lights.

My favorite thing every Christmas is putting on the ornaments. I try not to rush hanging them on the tree because I like to look at each one and remember why it is special. The ornaments pictured here are all very special: the Barbie bride and Ken groom were our wedding cake toppers, the red cardinal reminds me of our first house in TN (I had a cardinal family that lived in my apple tree), and the framed photo is of our first winter in NYC - strolling along Central Park.

Every year we try to get another ornament or two that means something or is from some place we've visited. This year, we added a bunch! We added a new tree topper - it's a wrought iron angel we got in Lake Placid last February, a blue fleur de lis ornament from our brief Quebec visit, an "imagine" ornament from the John Lennon mosaic in Central Park, an engraved pewter ornament from Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables" in Salem Mass, and a gold ornament that shows a covered bridge from Elizabethton, TN. A busy year! Our tree is full of special memories, from our childhood, to our Christmas engagement party back in 1998 (where everybody showered us with ornaments!), to the present. And isn't that part of what Christmas is about? Remembering? I think so. And I can't wait to add new memories to the tree.

Not Bad - HORRIBLE

This is the worst picture there has ever been of my brother. I look at this and it makes me laugh till I practically pee myself. Notice the lovely Bill Cosby-esque sweater he has on... and the handful of those foul circus peanuts... and the angle that makes my ordinarily handsome and SLIM brother look like he is over 300 pounds! (He is going to be so mad.) I had to post this because today I needed a bit of comic relief. The way my day so far has gone is:

1) I was the person in charge of the library today. Big boss was off, her assistant was sick, and my boss was taking a vacation day. Daggum it. I hate responsibility. And what is it? Murphy's Law? Yeah - of course something happened. Some kid slipped on our icy entrance. I had to call the town lawyer and write an incident report and everything. Daggum.

2) My stupid car broke AGAIN. What is the deal?!? We have been to the mechanic SO many times in this past two months. Not cool. I see dollar signs. Merry stinking Christmas.

3) My keyboard is also broken. I cannot use the arrow buttons (which I use surprisingly frequently) and also my apostrophe button! So, no contractions for me, which makes my writing way too proper.

4) And finally, I am losing my voice AGAIN. This is vocal loss #3. This has been a rough season for me.

And hence, my need for comic relief. Sorry Andy Pandy. You know I still love you. I am just laughing at your expense.

Johnson City Visit

Well folks, I've finally loaded the pictures we took of our visit to Johnson City, TN - our old hometown. Anyway, they are viewable here. Also, here's a short video for your enjoyment! (More Thanksgiving pictures coming soon...)

Snow

Snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow

Where it's snowing
All winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That's what I'll do
How I'm longing to ski
Through the snow-oh-oh-oh-oh

Those glist'ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

What is Christmas with no snow
No white Christmas with no snow
Snow

I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow
I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow

The Golden Compass

The coolest thing about living in a highly populated area is sneak previews. Yeah, I said it. And I'm going tonight (already purchased my tickets and everything) to see the new flick The Golden Compass. I realize that this will be a movie adaptation of the book, which always leaves this librarian wanting much more (think: Eragon), and it will probably gloss over some of the major aspects of the book itself. That is a risk I am willing to take.

And for those boycotter's out there, thanks so much for the emails. It is not that your message fell on deaf ears, it is simply that I don't agree with you. Reading is and has always been a subjective activity anyway. I know Pullman's stance on religion (or rather Religion) and that has neither added nor detracted from my enjoyment of this trilogy.

So let the controversy begin! (Here's an article from School Library Journal - my central source of "professional" reading.)