Well, lest anyone think I'm a total Scrooge, let me just say that there is quite a bit of Christmas music that I like and a few Christmas carols that I like so much that I will stop and listen to them no matter how early I hear them. Yes, Annoying Co-worker has Christmas music playing again. She stopped last week, but I think the fact that it is now Thanksgiving, and a short week, has given her a new lease on Christmas spirit. She turned the Christmas music back on yesterday and it looks like it's here to stay this time. Oh well. At least it's a short week.
Since I was raised in church, I tend to like my Christmas music religious and choral. As the great Bing Crosby sings in "The Christmas Song", "Christmas carols, being sung by a choir" - yes. That is the way it is supposed to be. (Side note - you may notice in this post that I often cannot remember the proper name of Christmas carols. I do a lot of "that one that goes 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire'". Part of it is that I have a lousy memory for song titles and part of it is that I kind of avoid Christmas music as much as I can.) Anyway, I like most church Christmas carols. In fact, I can't think of any I don't like. "Joy to the World", "Silent Night", "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem", "Gloria in Excelsis Deo". Open a church hymnal to the Christmas section and I would be perfectly happy singing any of those songs. (Random fact - On not just Christmas carols, but most well-known church hymns, I can often sing more than one verse from memory. I can do almost all of Amazing Grace. And I have not set foot in a church in over ten years.) Also, one thing about me that you cannot get over a blog - I love to sing and I have a pretty good singing voice. Singing hymns was my favorite part of church and really the only thing I miss. I was in the choir and always in a Christmas program of some form. So I have sung Christmas carols a lot. That's the other hard part about listening to Christmas music - I REALLY want to sing along. When I lived with my mom, we had a deal. I would play the piano and sing while she decorated the Christmas tree. (I hate to decorate the Christmas tree. She can neither play piano or sing.)
Other than church Christmas carols, there are a few Christmas carols that I really love. "The Christmas Song" (that's "chestnuts roasting on an open fire", right?), "Carol of the Bells" ("hark, how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, throw cares away"), "Mary, Did You Know?" (favorite line - "When you kiss your tiny baby, you kissed the face of God." I think this is true of every baby, not just Jesus. I certainly feel that way about my babies.) "What Child Is This?"
And then there are just the fun Christmas songs. "Step into Christmas" by Elton John. "Happy Christmas" by John Lennon. And the guilty pleasures. The funny Christmas songs - "The 12 Pains of Christmas", "Merry Christmas from the Family" by Robert Earl Keen". The one that makes my husband cringe, but that I own on cd and will proudly admit that I play well into January - "Last Christmas" by Wham!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Random
So I've been in a swirl of "too much to say/ not enough to say/ these things are hopelessly unrelated". We've all been sick AGAIN GAH WHAT THE HELL is up this year?! We got over the flu, then got the stomach flu. Got over the stomach flu and now have terrible colds. Just wake me up in May, 'KTHX? I don't even LIKE Christmas all that much. After Halloween, it's all downhill to me. And one of my co-workers is one of those super-Christmas spirit types. My least favorite co-worker, no less. For reals, yo. The other day, she had Christmas music playing out in the main office area. I was out there to talk to someone else for a few minutes and I looked around and said, "If we have to listen to fucking Christmas music from now until Christmas, I will probably go postal. The only thing that will keep me sane is having my own office and my own radio." (I have both. I will be known as the Office Scrooge or the Office Grinch by Christmas. I have no problem with either title. I own both movies.) She's already reading Christmas books. Meanwhile, I'm listening to an absolutely phenomenal book on cd about a serial killer who kills terminally ill people. I think it's safe to say I'm this girl's polar opposite.
The serial killer book is The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe and it's so good that I bought it at the used bookstore the other day before I even finished listening to it on cd. Apparently, Inger Ash Wolfe is a pseudonym for a well-known North American author. He or she must be a Canadian author, because the book is set in Canada and the author seems very familiar with Canadian police procedure, geography, etc. I don't really care if the author wishes to remain anonymous, the only thing that frustrates me is that I would totally buy and read more books by this author RIGHT fricking now if they were available. This is going to be a series, and there is a second book, The Taken, which is available in Canada, but that doesn't help me much, now does it? (Okay, yes, technically, I could order it on the Internet, but I'm trying to curb that habit.) I can't seem to find a US publishing date for it. Whine. Patience is not at all my strong suit.
We finally watched the Clue movie! It is very entertaining! I loved the three possible endings. It's rated PG, so while I wouldn't say it's a "kids movie", there isn't really anything objectionable in it. Most of the "double entendres" flew over my kids' heads and even the murders are pretty tame. Very entertaining for all of us. Thanks for the recommendation, Malnurtured Snay!
The serial killer book is The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe and it's so good that I bought it at the used bookstore the other day before I even finished listening to it on cd. Apparently, Inger Ash Wolfe is a pseudonym for a well-known North American author. He or she must be a Canadian author, because the book is set in Canada and the author seems very familiar with Canadian police procedure, geography, etc. I don't really care if the author wishes to remain anonymous, the only thing that frustrates me is that I would totally buy and read more books by this author RIGHT fricking now if they were available. This is going to be a series, and there is a second book, The Taken, which is available in Canada, but that doesn't help me much, now does it? (Okay, yes, technically, I could order it on the Internet, but I'm trying to curb that habit.) I can't seem to find a US publishing date for it. Whine. Patience is not at all my strong suit.
We finally watched the Clue movie! It is very entertaining! I loved the three possible endings. It's rated PG, so while I wouldn't say it's a "kids movie", there isn't really anything objectionable in it. Most of the "double entendres" flew over my kids' heads and even the murders are pretty tame. Very entertaining for all of us. Thanks for the recommendation, Malnurtured Snay!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Snippets
Ooh, wasn't BlogShare fun! I love hearing other people's secrets!
Some snippets from my life recently....
Took Supergirl to see Where the Wild Things Are yesterday and we both loved it. I was really wondering how they were going to make a picture book with very few sentences into a full-length movie, but they managed it beautifully. They added a lot, of course, as I expected, but it all felt very true to the story. I would have added one scene at the end, but that's just me. It was visually gorgeous, of course.
I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest over the weekend and it was awesome. My biggest fear was, since Larsson had planned more novels in the series, that this one would not have a decisive ending. That it would leave the story hanging, the way the previous two had. I am so pleased to say that I was wrong - this book very neatly ties up all loose ends. The story could continue, sure. The main character is still alive and will do more and there is more that we could learn about her. But the story can end here satisfyingly.
On Friday night, we taught Supergirl to play Clue. Since then, she has been obsessed. We have played Clue every spare second of every day. What's funny is how differently we play when just Supergirl and I play versus when Rock joins in. Rock, being former military, is very strategic. In fact, it took me three or four games to figure out that if I went to a room that I had the card for, I could make them show me a person or weapon card. Since then, I've found myself trying out different ways of controlling the different variables and making them show me certain cards. I caught myself strategizing Clue in the shower this morning.
Perhaps the 7 year old isn't the only one obsessed, is what I'm saying here...
Some snippets from my life recently....
Took Supergirl to see Where the Wild Things Are yesterday and we both loved it. I was really wondering how they were going to make a picture book with very few sentences into a full-length movie, but they managed it beautifully. They added a lot, of course, as I expected, but it all felt very true to the story. I would have added one scene at the end, but that's just me. It was visually gorgeous, of course.
I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest over the weekend and it was awesome. My biggest fear was, since Larsson had planned more novels in the series, that this one would not have a decisive ending. That it would leave the story hanging, the way the previous two had. I am so pleased to say that I was wrong - this book very neatly ties up all loose ends. The story could continue, sure. The main character is still alive and will do more and there is more that we could learn about her. But the story can end here satisfyingly.
On Friday night, we taught Supergirl to play Clue. Since then, she has been obsessed. We have played Clue every spare second of every day. What's funny is how differently we play when just Supergirl and I play versus when Rock joins in. Rock, being former military, is very strategic. In fact, it took me three or four games to figure out that if I went to a room that I had the card for, I could make them show me a person or weapon card. Since then, I've found myself trying out different ways of controlling the different variables and making them show me certain cards. I caught myself strategizing Clue in the shower this morning.
Perhaps the 7 year old isn't the only one obsessed, is what I'm saying here...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
BlogShare 2009
Every year, -R- at And You Know What Else runs Blog Share, an event in which all the participants write an anonymous post. The posts then get mixed up and sent to different participants and posted anonymously on someone else's blog. So, I wrote a post and sent it to -R-, she forwarded it along to someone else, and they are posting it today. Someone else wrote the post you are about to read, sent it to -R-, and she sent it along to me to post today. Feel free to leave comments for today's guest poster, he or she knows that his or her post is going to be posted here and I'm sure would love to hear your feedback. For more information and a complete list of participants, visit And You Know What Else. And now, please enjoy our anonymous guest post for Blog Share today....
I'm considering have an affair.
It's hard for me to even see the letters written down, but there it is. My life is not fulfilling for me anymore, but no one would ever know looking at the outside. From the outside, we are a very happy, well balanced family. We both work full time, we have 2 amazing children and own a beautiful house. People are always telling me they don't know how I do it. And of course I smile and laugh it off. But I'm NOT laughing. I'm SCREAMING on the inside and no one can hear.
People see me as the one who takes care of my family. Meals are always on time, my house is always clean and my children are happy. My spouse never has to do any domestic chores because I stay up late to take care of it so there is always time for our children.
But I want ME time. I want to be able to curl up with a book and not worry about anyone. I can't remember the last time I did. I'm tired and I want to be pampered. There is a person in the building that I work who has been dropping some not too subtle hints, and I think I'm going to encourage them. I cannot break up my family unit, but I want to be happy. This seems like the only way to do it.
I'm considering have an affair.
It's hard for me to even see the letters written down, but there it is. My life is not fulfilling for me anymore, but no one would ever know looking at the outside. From the outside, we are a very happy, well balanced family. We both work full time, we have 2 amazing children and own a beautiful house. People are always telling me they don't know how I do it. And of course I smile and laugh it off. But I'm NOT laughing. I'm SCREAMING on the inside and no one can hear.
People see me as the one who takes care of my family. Meals are always on time, my house is always clean and my children are happy. My spouse never has to do any domestic chores because I stay up late to take care of it so there is always time for our children.
But I want ME time. I want to be able to curl up with a book and not worry about anyone. I can't remember the last time I did. I'm tired and I want to be pampered. There is a person in the building that I work who has been dropping some not too subtle hints, and I think I'm going to encourage them. I cannot break up my family unit, but I want to be happy. This seems like the only way to do it.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Not Winning Mother of the Year This Year
Monday night, I took Supergirl to Target. On our fairly short list was the movie Clue. (A Halloween recommendation from Malnurtured Snay.) We wandered the entire movie section looking for it. As we wandered, Supergirl was drawn to another movie. Not Hello Kitty, or Barbie, or anything else appropriate for a seven year old girl, oh no. Not my daughter. No, she was drawn to the Snoop Doggy Dogg movie. Yeah, the one with "Pimping" written across his forehead. Which she promptly started sounding out. And turned to me and said, "Mommy, what's this word? Pii, piim, piiimp..." Oh. My. Hell. I had about 3.2 seconds to distract her with, "You don't need to know that word, honey. Look over here!" Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "Seriously, HOW did a simple trip to Target involve the word PIMPING?" and "Rock is so going to kill me if she comes home from Target and her new word is pimping!"
The other night, I had Wildman convinced that he had a tail. We were having some discussion about animals and how animals had tails and people don't. And I said, "Except some people. Like you kids. You both have tails. You got them from me. I have a tail, too. Tails run in my family. They don't run in your daddy's family." Rock snorted at that one. I'm kind of "that person" in my family - I say weird things to see if the kids will believe me. Supergirl is too old, she doesn't believe my wild stuff anymore. Wildman is still a little susceptible, though. We ran around for a while, shouting about having tails. Then, he decided that he didn't really have a tail and that was pretty much the end of it. Just another way I'm trying to warp my kids.
The other night, I had Wildman convinced that he had a tail. We were having some discussion about animals and how animals had tails and people don't. And I said, "Except some people. Like you kids. You both have tails. You got them from me. I have a tail, too. Tails run in my family. They don't run in your daddy's family." Rock snorted at that one. I'm kind of "that person" in my family - I say weird things to see if the kids will believe me. Supergirl is too old, she doesn't believe my wild stuff anymore. Wildman is still a little susceptible, though. We ran around for a while, shouting about having tails. Then, he decided that he didn't really have a tail and that was pretty much the end of it. Just another way I'm trying to warp my kids.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Both Sides Now
Whew. Sorry for disappearing again. Things have been crazy around here. We've had the flu - not swine flu, I don't think, since it was very mild and only lasted a few days. But we passed it around the house, of course, and there's just not much more depressing than seeing sickness work its way through your children and knowing that you're next and there's just nothing you can do about it. But we lived through it, obviously. And Rock and I were locked in a fight for about a week or so and there were days, I swear, in which I didn't know who I liked less, him or me. And I wanted to change my life, my job, my friends, my family, I wanted to tear it all down with a wreaking ball. And I felt so envious of people around me. They were doing so much more than I was! They were going on trips! They were going back to school! And then. I read blogs. And Hot said, I don't know how other people do more than just work and come home and collapse. And Kalisa wrote a post about feeling unsatisfied and about appreciating the life she had. And I started to breathe a little easier. Because it wasn't just me. I wasn't going crazy, my life didn't suck. I hadn't screwed it all up and should scrap it all and start over. (No, I really didn't believe that one, either. But it kinda felt that way a time or two.) But somehow, it started to ease up. Hearing that other people felt the same way from time to time helped. And I don't know what it was and why I felt so unsatisfied. Or why it passed. But I'm so very grateful that it did. Focusing on my life and the things that were going right helped. Because there is a lot going right. Things at work are going well. Of course I can't tell you much, but I've had a few little successes and little successes are always very buoying. I've had a couple days off, too, which always help me get a little more perspective. And this weekend, I'm heading to Charlotte to get together with a couple girls I've been friends with since college, so that will be a good relaxing weekend. I've lost a little more weight, and I'm very nearly down to the next clothing size and that is making me feel great. I have some small goals on that front and I'm hitting them this time instead of just watching the time go by and wishing I was doing something. It makes me feel more in control of my life, and that's a big step.
Yesterday was my birthday and those of you who know me know that I am like a little kid about my birthday; I love it. I had a great weekend. One of my closest friends took me to the movies and we saw The Informant, which was awesome. I finally got The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Here's the whole story on that. I had told Supergirl how much I liked that series and how excited I was about the new book and she didn't get the part about how it wasn't coming out here until next spring, so she REALLY wanted to get me that for my birthday. Well, Rock told me about that so when I found out that it could be ordered from Amazon.uk, we decided to make that happen. So then, of course, I ordered it, but then had to wait until my birthday to "get it" from her. Anyway, I spent about half the day yesterday reading it, have read the first four chapters and I already think it is fantastic.
So, life, crazy old roller coaster that it is, is on a upswing right now. One of my dearest friends just had a baby (two days before my birthday!), and things just keep getting better and better.
Yesterday was my birthday and those of you who know me know that I am like a little kid about my birthday; I love it. I had a great weekend. One of my closest friends took me to the movies and we saw The Informant, which was awesome. I finally got The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Here's the whole story on that. I had told Supergirl how much I liked that series and how excited I was about the new book and she didn't get the part about how it wasn't coming out here until next spring, so she REALLY wanted to get me that for my birthday. Well, Rock told me about that so when I found out that it could be ordered from Amazon.uk, we decided to make that happen. So then, of course, I ordered it, but then had to wait until my birthday to "get it" from her. Anyway, I spent about half the day yesterday reading it, have read the first four chapters and I already think it is fantastic.
So, life, crazy old roller coaster that it is, is on a upswing right now. One of my dearest friends just had a baby (two days before my birthday!), and things just keep getting better and better.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Adventures in Shopping
Last Thursday morning, I checked my email and received a invitation to check out Sephora Favorites at Sephora.com. I don't know if these are new or on sale or why they were being brought to my attention, but I clicked on them and on a whim, bought a couple. They're boxed sets of little samples of different types of products (don't worry - I took pictures to help explain). I bought the moisturizer set - it had hope in a jar by philosophy, best skintentions by bliss, one by korres, and several others; a lipstick set; and a pink lipgloss set for Supergirl to play with. Initially, I was worried that the samples would be really tiny - like those little bitty ones they give out in the store. I don't know why I worried about that, but I did. Probably because they were fairly high dollar products for really reasonable prices - all of the boxes were less than $40. I had never shopped on Sephora.com before, but had bought stuff in the store a time or two and liked the atmosphere. My order qualified for free shipping, which as you know always applies to the slowest method of shipping, but I figured, hey, get it to me whenever, Sephora. As I said, I placed the order Thursday morning. Well, it was sitting on my back porch when I got home Friday night. And I live in BFE, North Carlina. Well played, Sephora.com. Well played, indeed. And the boxed sets turned out to be cool as hell. Some of the samples are practically full-sized products! Here is the moisturizer box:
The lipstick box:
And the samples inside it. Several of those are nearly full-size! Score!
As you can tell, I am now a full-fledged Sephora fan.
In the "the Internet is a fabulous place" and "the good you do comes back to you" files, remember when I wanted to send care packages to everyone with copies of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in them? Well, Alice was one of the people who took me up on my offer. When she posted a picture of the small care package I sent her, one of her friends, Malnurtured Snay, commented that it was a good book, that the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, was available in hardcover, and that the third book in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which won't be published here until next spring, had just that day become available in the UK and he had ordered it from Amazon.uk. SO! I hopped my happy little fingers on over to Amazon.uk and ordered myself a copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Including shipping, which I was worried was going to be expensive, it was about the same price as walking into a bookstore and buying it brand new in hard cover at full price. And it will arrive next week, just before my birthday! Happy birthday to me, from me.
I also stopped at Wa!-Mart over the weekend and bought tampons and the second Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood book, which, as I observed to Rock, go together in a sick kind of way.
What about you? Any retail therapy lately?
And the samples inside: I started with the Korres moisturizer on the far left, because it is scented with rosewater and it smells divine. I've been using it since Friday night and so far I love it.
The lipstick box:
And the samples inside it. Several of those are nearly full-size! Score!
As you can tell, I am now a full-fledged Sephora fan.
In the "the Internet is a fabulous place" and "the good you do comes back to you" files, remember when I wanted to send care packages to everyone with copies of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in them? Well, Alice was one of the people who took me up on my offer. When she posted a picture of the small care package I sent her, one of her friends, Malnurtured Snay, commented that it was a good book, that the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, was available in hardcover, and that the third book in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which won't be published here until next spring, had just that day become available in the UK and he had ordered it from Amazon.uk. SO! I hopped my happy little fingers on over to Amazon.uk and ordered myself a copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Including shipping, which I was worried was going to be expensive, it was about the same price as walking into a bookstore and buying it brand new in hard cover at full price. And it will arrive next week, just before my birthday! Happy birthday to me, from me.
I also stopped at Wa!-Mart over the weekend and bought tampons and the second Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood book, which, as I observed to Rock, go together in a sick kind of way.
What about you? Any retail therapy lately?
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