Christmas in Florida

I’m back home from my trip to Florida. It really was a nice & fun time. I spent about a day with my parents, then my sister, NE and my favorite dog on the planet, D, arrived. D was so excited to see me that it made all the travel and delays worth it.

D has been trained VERY well. So before I could run out of the car and hug her, she had to sit and be good and wait to be allowed to come to me. And then it was mass chaos. Hugs, kisses, a doggie trampling. Oh, so much fun. D is a lover, not a fighter.

We went inside and I snuck D away to put her nice, new Christmas collar on her… it’s in the picture below, with the bell… along with her Christmas scarf and one of her toys (the red & white thing) that I tossed on her and she didn’t try to remove…

She looks very happy, doesn’t she??? At this point in my trip, my sister and NE had gone to visit the In-Laws and left D with my parents and I. When this happens, D gets very depressed. You’d think she was abandoned, lol. It’s really hilarious. She lays down with her head on the ground and gives you these big “poor dog” eyes. Fortunately, we can usually get her going by playing catch with her tennis ball (in the house, no less). She is such a sweetie.

I then gave D her other present from me. One of those random Petsmart stuffed toys. I gave her one last year and she demolished it in hours. This one took a little longer. She first chews it and finds one of the squeeky toys. Then she rips that area apart, removes the stuffing (doesn’t eat it, she pulls it out, turns to the side and spits it out. amazing) and removes the squeeky toy. She usually continues until it is just a shell of fabric. This year, it ended up (before I left) with stuffing in the head and feet, and nearly split into two pieces, held together by a strip of fabric about one inch by 1/4 inch. But this is it at its original attack…

Many thanks to my sister for helping to make this trip better. Have I mentioned that she is absolutely adorable pregnant? She is. She tried on a dress today for her friend’s wedding, and she looked gorgeous. I can’t wait till there is not only D, but this baby to be excited for me to come and visit. That will be AWESOME.

I will probably have more to say about my trip, but right now, all I have is my thank you to my adorable sister, and my immediate love of D in these pics because I’ll forget if I don’t post them now

Procrastination

I should be doing other things right now… actually this whole evening I had other things I should be doing… Like getting ready to fly to Florida. Packing, cleaning my fancy shoes for Christmas dinner and all kinds of other stuff. What am I doing? Surfing the interwebz.

And for what? Oh, new music. Well, it definitely isn’t new… Last Saturday at My Living Room we were entertained by some 50’s and 60’s “Golden Oldies.” Music I actually enjoy. We have a new jukebox, one of those psycho machines where you can download things from the internet via the jukebox. One of these days, Asshat will regret his choice. I guarantee it. Heck, he would have if he had been there Saturday.

So tonite, I checked out some old music and found a song I haven’t heard in a while…. a song that my mom used to have on 45RPM vinyl. I remember popping this tiny thing into the record player when I was little.

I’m actually excited for my trip tomorrow. I love seeing my parents. They really are stellar people. And within 24 hours of my arrival, my sister, NE and my favorite dog will be in the house. I can’t wait.

I still have one or two things to buy for my sister & NE, as well as my parents’ gift. I managed to convince my mom that I need to take the car on Wednesday morning for a few trips. And she agreed (first time ever now that they are living in Florida). Wow.

After I’m done buying things for mom & dad, my mom and I are going shopping for the dog and cat, C & D. We are buying C just treats, because D eats his toys. Not fair. My boy C rocks and he should have the best toys ever. So to make up for it, I’m buying D one of these:

~or~

NE might want to kill me, but D is such a cool dog, she’ll totally wear it for like 10 minutes. I’ll post pics if I can get ‘em.

We’re also getting my super dog this doggy dental toy… I dunno, my sister said she needs it…

And, same as last year, I’m getting D one of these. I’m going to go with red this year, if I can. She literally will have the squeeker removed in less than 8 hours. The stuffing removed within 16 hours and the rest of it torn apart, oh, by Christmas Night. I know it’s a small gift that gets torn to hell, but she has so much fun, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

And that will make my Christmas Merry.

My Christmas Rant

When I was growing up, we spent every holiday in Canada – Toronto or Montreal. There wasn’t a Christmas spent in Pittsburgh until I was in high school. The same was true for Thanksgiving, Easter and every other extra long weekend in the school year.

The holidays have been strange for me for many years. I actually recall having Chinese food for Thanksgiving in Niagara Falls. I remember spending Christmas Eve in a hotel, somewhere between Erie and Buffalo because we were snowed in. And Christmas Eve for us wasn’t always on the actual Christmas Eve. Sometimes it was a week early before we left for Canada. With only my parents, sister and I in the US, it was kind of hard to have that big family holiday that most of you know.

And now? Now Christmas has become a big pain in the ass. I don’t decorate. My apartment is just too small. But I have more decorations than you would believe. And Christmas now means I either spend it alone in my apartment, or I pack up and take a whilrwind trip to Florida… a trip that is so annoying in many ways, including the fact that I have to share it with the Evil In-Laws and their BS.

I’ve come to hate this time of year because it means I have to shop. With all the crowds. I avoid shopping like I would avoid the plague. But Christmas doesn’t leave you much choice.  And with the exception of the guy I dated last year*, I never, ever know what to buy anyone. Lately I can’t even get hints on what they want. This means I either claim & pay for something my mom has already bought for the person… or they get gift cards or subscriptions. What says Merry Christmas better than subscriptions to Men’s Health and Consumer Reports?

Oh, and then there’s the music. They force feed us this stuff starting long before Thanksgiving… With the expectation that it will make us happy, or “merry’ if you will… yet all it does is annoy 90% of us.

Yet amid all this BS, there is one, solitary song that brings a smile to my face and a bounce to my step. One song that I will voluntarily listen to. The song my sister and I HAVE to hear on Christmas Day.

Why? Because it isn’t the 3 millionth arrangement of Silent Night. That’s why.

* Said gentleman happened to mention that he wanted a garden gnome for his apartment. So guess what? He ended up with this little guy. And he loved it. He was kinda expensive, but OMG is he cute. He’s currently on said boy’s desk wearing a blue Winter Classic Pens hat. Win!