Happy/Merry HalloThanksMas The MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I shopped a fair amount over the weekend. It was time to do some food shopping, get some supplies (one of the shelves where I keep toilet paper was only half full, the horror! :eek: ), and other stuff. So, I went to my favorite local foodstore chain for some stuff, to WallyWorld, to the maul, and a couple other stores. Ok, ACBG was doing some shopping stuff too, hence, the need to go several places. I got really confused as to what exactly is being celebrated here in the good ol’ US of A. I mean, there’s aisles of Hallowe’en candy and stuff, aisles of stuff for Thanksgiving and there’s Christmas decorations and stuff all over everywhere. We were in WallyWorld when I turned to ACBG and said “Happy/Merry HalloThanksMas.” I’m beginning to believe we think a whole lot more alike than I’d imagined cause he cracked up. He got what I was saying without me having to explain it and getting’ eyes rolled at me. A lady who was behind us when I said this also got it cause she got the giggles. She told me she couldn’t wait to get home and wish her husband a Happy/Merry HalloThanksMas. So, let me be the first to wish all you cool kids a Very Happy/Merry HalloThanksMas! My spell check is hating this term. It keeps giving me a red squiggly line under HalloThanksMas. Get over it spell check!

One of the things we went shopping for is coats for kids. See the local Council on Aging is sponsoring a coat drive for kids who are being raised by their grandparents. It seems that often times it’s hard on the grandparents to buy a decent coat and a lot of these kids don’t have a decent coat for when it gets cold here. And it does get cold here. Not for very long, mind you, but when it’s cold, it’s cold and the kiddies need coats. So, we went to one store in particular that had a big sale on coats. It wasn’t HalloThanksMas in that store, just Christmas. Waaaaaaaaaay to early! Anyways, what both of us had in mind was to buy a coat for a boy and a girl, since this was a coat sale and a good one too! We found a couple cute little girl coats (pink and purple) and a couple cool looking little boy coats (camouflage and this black/gray ninja (that’s what we named it) looking coat). Then we were looking at adult type coats. I don’t need one and neither does ACBG but we were looking anyway. I found a kinda nice coat and said that I was buying it cause it’s a good price and I got to thinking that some of these “kids” are like teenagers and would wear stuff this size. So ACBG did likewise. Then I thought about a teenaged girl and went to the wimmen’s coats, where we both found a couple nice coats. Know what? I’m not bragging that I go out and do good deeds. I’m just saying that stuff like having a nice coat for when it’s cold is something I have always taken for granted cause I’ve always had one. It’s sad to me to think that kids, both little and big, might not have a coat, or shoes, or decent clothes. Yesterday afternoon, I called my mother (She was actually home! Mom is somewhat of a social butterfly so one never knows.) and asked her if I had thanked her lately for making sure I (and the sibs) always had the things we needed. Mom and dad were good at that. Oh, she asked me what prompted this and I told her about coat buying and how it got to me thinking about there being kids without basic stuff like a coat. We talked for a bit (Mom’s leaving next Sunday for a cruise so I heard about the ordeal of packing) and hung up. I like to think that she felt a little better knowing that she did manage to get some of this stuff to sink in.

Wow, I started out with my confusion about what season it is and ended up goin’ on and on about coats. I’m leaving it though cause I think it needs to be said. Since we’re cool kids and all, it’s a given that we’re all nice dammit! So, here’s a MMP challenge… go do sump’n nice for somebody this week. It can be anything from a donation to a favorite charity to smiling at a neighbor. Just go do a nice thing.

HAPPY/MERRY HALLOTHANKSMAS

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Why, thank you! And a very merry/happy New HalloThanksMas (or are the New Year’s decorations out yet?)

October 12 is over, right? The Christmas season has been starting on the 13th for years. After all, we don’t even get Hallowe’en to stall the flood of toy and perfume ads for a couple weeks.

Saturday we celebrated The Nephew’s birthday (I know, I know, I owe y’all pictures). Color me purple :confused:: why does a 1 year old need two separate parties, the second of them including only two people who weren’t at the first? I don’t have any need to eat too-heavy store-bought photo-printed cake! Specially since SiL’s cakes are out of this world and she was off work the whole week :dubious:

Mom had tried to derail that party, not sure how much of it was conscious. You see, she insists in being the central contact point for the whole family, but she is unable to remember any agendas other than her own. So, when she spoke with The Proud Daddy and he said the party was on Sunday, she said “oh, ok!” She told Lilbro and Lilbro smirked and reminded her that we were both going on a day trip with a bunch of other people and that got booked three weeks ago. When she told me, my response was the same as Lilbro’s: I am not changing my plans. So, she tells Lilbro, and he asks has she told Middlebro (aka The Proud Daddy) and no, so he calls Middlebro. Middlebro called me at 11pm (yawn) to tell me it was being moved to Saturday… oh, yawn d’s nice, d’nk you, scuse me yawn

She also made an appointment with Dad’s sister for me… next Saturday. When I’m going on a day trip that’s been appointed since September :stuck_out_tongue: So I extracted Auntie’s phone numbers from Mom (Mom was saying I didn’t need them, since Auntie had asked for mine) and will be calling Auntie to reappoint.

Yesterday’s trip was to La Selva del Itoiz (the Itoiz River Forest, the “River” doesn’t get mentioned in the Spanish name). It’s very pretty and we all ended very tired. Kind of looks like the forest where the Company gets separated in the LoTR movies.

Got a meeting. Y’all have fun.

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JOdooooo…

La Selva del Irati, which is close to Itoiz… I need more caffeine!

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Good OP, Swamp-B, and good to know that you’re back! I went to Wal-Marche last week, and almost all of the Hallowe’en stuff was gone, and they were in the midst of putting out the Christmas stuff. Since I am trying to insert a little organization into my life, my goal this year is to finally have the majority of the Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving, in order to have the leisure to enjoy the season with my family and friends. I’ll let you know how that goes. (please notice the sarcazm)

Last week was Remodel Hell, and it doesn’t look as though the week just beginning is going to be any better. Last week Jeff and the skiffman kicked me out while they ripped down the ceiling, hung sheetrock, taped, mudded and sanded. Am I irritated that I have mud slung up the trunk of one of my trees, or that it got on some clean laundry, including The Son’s new kahkis and one of my brand new dresses? Ummm, yeah, but it won’t do to piss off the guy before he is finished with the job, so I am biting my tongue.

My flooring arrived Friday at SeaLand, and will be delivered in the morning (Monday). About that I am ecstatic, because it means that the end is near and life may return to normal. Today was slap some primer on the walls, followed by the paint. After studying many paint chips I settled on a light mauve for the walls and ceiling, with a shade deeper mauve for the interior of the bookshelves and a couple of other small areas for contrast. Well…the deeper mauve looks more like raspberry sorbet than mauve, and I just don’t know, plus it makes me wonder about the other two colors, plus the pinkish color I chose to delineate the kitchen from the living area where the two meet. I want warm tones, but I don’t know…maybe I will feel better about it in the morning.

Other than that I have just been busy with daily stuff. Not being home for a couple of days threw my schedual off, and I am just beginning to get back on track. I still have 2/3 of my bulbs left to plant, and we have been getting frosty at night, so I had better hurry. After a long, cold, wet summer it almost seems like too much effort to drag myself out into the garden, but I know that I will be out there brushing away the snow in March, looking for the first signs of growth, and it will have been worth the effort then.

I will try to get back in here during the week, no promises though. It would be grand if this last bit just fell together and was over, but in my experience that never happens during any construction project. I won’t be holding my breath.

Well, it’s after 1:30 am, and skiffman just hollered at me, he wants to know if I am gonna go to bed. I need to, but I also need some time to wind down. I suppose I could go watch some t.v. and snuggle, it sure is nice to have him home this year!

Toodles, Cool Kids, have a wunnnnerfull Monday! bubbles…bubbles…bubbles…

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Happy/Merry HalloThankMas! And happy MMP too! Wonderful OP, Swampy, and thanks for reminding us about kids (little and big) who need coats for colder weather. And about the grandparents who are raising their grandchildren–can’t even imagine how hard that must be, especially when many are on small and fixed incomes. So a great big GOOD on you and ACBG for donating those coats.

Nava, hope your nephew enjoyed his birthday - did he stick his finger in the cake?! Kaiwik, hope the continuing renovations go okay this week, and glad that your skiffman is there with you.

Didn’t do much over the weekend here although I did make a batch of beef stew in my crock pot last night. Turned out very tasty too–and I used fresh carrots and potatoes instead of the frozen stew veggies that I sometimes toss in there. I also added a dollop of sherry, which may have contributed to the good taste this time. LOL

Happy Monday morning, y’all.

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kai just think how jakely jake your home is gonna be when it’s all done. In the meantime, I suggest bourbon.

tarr beef stew, yummmmmmm!!! I have some frozen right now. It’s gettin’ coolish here, so one night this week there shall be beef stew for supper. Beef stew, good!

Speaking of getting cooler, one of the signs of cold weather coming just happened. The folks that handle our heat and air want to schedule a heater maintenance check up. I just got off the phone with 'em. Ain’t my problem but I was the only one around to answer the phone, so I took the message to hand over to the one who must deal with it. I like those kinds of messages, the ones for somebody else to deal with. :smiley:

I’m working on policy and procedure stuff this week. This means folks will hide from me. Nobody wants to deal with p & p, AKA The Evil, bwaahaahaahaahaa!!!

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Like we would have known the difference.

I got another Jeopardy! book this weekend. The GF and her eldest daughter went to the library book sale. She picked up a bunch of home improvement stuff (remind me to call roofers to set up appointments to get estimates), and saw a book written by one of the guys from the '90s (or maybe it was the '80s, but I’m pretty sure he was on in the '90s) who was a five-time champ (maybe he’s a Doper?).

Where the hell was I?

Oh yeah, I remember. After she got back, we went to the jeweller to drop off her ring to get it resized. The ring is a size 7, and she need a 5-1/2. Or maybe it needs to be 5-3/4. I left the receipt at home, so I can’t check right now. All I do know is that they are only charging us $20. Which seemed pretty cheap to me.

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Mmm… stew. I have stew in my freezer. Maybe I’ll thaw some to tak to work.
Happy/MerryHalloThankMas, everyone!
I’m awake, will eat breakfast, do laundry, then scoot home and get ready for work. On the way to work, I will debate getting pants, and stop in to try them on, even though it’s a place I used to work, and I instinctively avoid places I used to work.

Time for food.

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morning all
swampy, you and ACBG did a good thing. Karma points to both of you for going above and beyond ('round here, for coat drives and the like, many folks just give one item and walk away saying “My work here is done!” and pat themselves on the back) Sometimes, when I cannot afford to give, I offer to help drive folks around to deliver (that way I don’t have to lift either)
just a little reminder to those who have designs on it - next monday is mine!

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Good on you, Swampy, for buying kiddy coats.

I’m :mad: this morning. The VunderCar has a slow leak in the radiator system, so every few months I have to put in coolant. Did that this weekend proactively. Started out for work this morning, and the car overheated. :confused: :dubious: Probably gunk in the system plugging up the works. I pulled over and stopped a few minutes, while I heard these strange gurgling sounds emanate from under the hood. As I sat there stranded with no cell service, I heard a sound like a big wet fart, and the gurgling stopped, which reinforces my theory of gunk plugging up the flow. I chanced it by starting the car, and the temperature fell back to normal. I babied it all the way back home without incident, and drove the Family Truckster instead.

Oh, and I Killed Da Wabbit heading back. Call me Elmer Fudd.

I’ll take the VunderCar to the Fire Station tonight to see how it behaves. It’s short enough of a drive that I won’t be stranded, but long enough to see how the engine temperature reacts.

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VBob here’s an emergency cooling method that has worked for me in the past. When the temp rises high enough to become a concern, roll down all the windows and put your heat on maximum, and max fan speed too. That usually buys enough time to get the vehicle someplace.

God give me strength today. Apparently Mandy the MArtian went paintballin’ with Roundboy over the weekend. They have spent more time chattering about the event than it took to actually do it.

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Happy/Merry HalloThankMas!

The kidcoat shopping is way cool, good karma points on you, whether you seek them or not. I always make a point of getting the local biker group a pile of toys for the Toys for Tots. Gives me that warm feeling like I’m doing something, even if it’s just a little.

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Merry/Happy New HalloThanksMas! That’s nothing compare to Dollar Tree, though. we put out Christmas stuff in July. :dubious: Isn’t wonderful that you can buy a novelty pool toy, a pack of pencils for BTS, a ten pack of Baby Ruth for Trick or Treaters, and a Christmas wreath at the same time? :dubious: [sup]10[/sup]’

swampy, I call it ThanksChristween, but I like yours better.

bobbio, the old VW had that, nothing like trying to figure out when your motor is going to go BOOM!

kai, sorry about Remodel Hell, I bet Martha never had to put up with it. Of course, you’re not likely to spend time in the Big House.

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doggio ThanksChristWeen was one of the combos ACBG and I thought of after I said HalloThanksMas. We also came up with HalloThanksChrist and HalloChristGiving but decided on HalloThanksMas. BTW, we’ve both been saying it a lot. I called my sister to wish her a Happy/Merry HalloThanksMas and she asked me if I was forgetting my meds again. She loves me. She really does. She thinks I’m nuts, but she loves me.

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So tired. Not dead, but will read later. :slight_smile:

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Drae thanks for the update on your undeadness. Wait, if you’re undead… then you are a… :eek: Run! Drae will eat our brrrrraaaaaiiiiinnnnnnsssss!

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:dubious: I thought VWs were air-cooled…
Assuming by VW, you mean a Beetle.

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Canada’s a little different when it comes to HaloThanksMas. To begin with Thanksgiving occurs before Halloween for us, so properly it would be referred to as Thankalomas, or Thankaloweemas, or Thalowmas, or Hassenpfeffer or something. Furthermore however Thanksgiving is not regarded north of the border as something to decorate for – at least, not to any degree beyond a token cardboard turkey with unfolding crate-paper plumage. Unless you’re a US expat, but even then you’d probably be hard-pressed to find a wide and varied assortment of Thanksgiving paraphenalia. At least, that’s been my Ontarian experience.

Our Christmas season too doesn’t properly start until the day after Halloween. Although some of the larger chain department stores have already put out a good assortment of their Christmas paraphenalia, things won’t get into full swing, nor will the malls be properly decked until the 1st. I already have my Christmas lights up, however – I’ve never been one to celebrate Halloween to any degree, except when I was a kid, and that was celebrated like every other kid: Getting dressed up in cheesy creature costumes and begging for a bag full of tooth decay. Christmas, however, gets celebrated good and proper in my household. Except for the tree. The tree presents some rather troublesome obstacles:

  1. We’re apartment dwellers and thus are limited in the size of tree. Our ceilings are still high enough however to erect a respectable one.

  2. We have cats. Four, to be precise. This in itself is a subset of its own issues:

2a) Left to their own devices, and absent a Horn o’ Plenty that dispenses fish, cats will seek out and eat their second favourite holiday treat: tinsel. I love tinsel. As a decoration, that is, not a side dish. Cats should under no circumstances be allowed to eat tinsel. Aside from being a shameful pile of empty calories that isn’t even very good as roughage, it’s bad, possibly even fatal, to their intestines. Heck, it would probably be harmful to my intestines, but that’s an experiment for later. So how do I put tinsel on the tree without making it look like a kitty garnish?

2b) I like ornaments. In particular I love real blown glass ornaments. Nothing compares to the shiny perfection of lovely coloured glass orbs reflecting the twinkling lights and glittery tinsel and garlands. To a cat though, these ornaments are just shiny rodents dangling tantilizingly before them, bobbing and swaying in mockery of their impotent hunting skills. Cats, as everyone knows, do not suffer lightly the tauntings of objects animate or otherwise, and all such matters must be dealt with swiftly and harshly to serve as object lessons to everything else in the room that might have had similar notions. Real glass Christmas ornaments are therefore in serious danger of becoming real glass shards strewn about the carpet. We must therefore settle for the less pretty but more structurally sound plastic ornaments and other such things less likely to fall from the occasional paw swat, or to cause damage when they do.

2c) When you get right down to it, trees are just monkey bars for cats.

We’re going to have to figure out some way to erect a combination of defenses and barriers that are both cat-proof and are not prone to being painfully stepped on. Perhaps we shall form a task force – the Department of Homestead Security – and meditate upon this.

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HalloThanksMas to one and all!

I hate to see the Christmas candy this early. I undestand that it would just be warehoused somewhere instead of being in the aisles - but my stomach does a “yuck!” when I think about 3 month old chocolate for sale.

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Merry HalloThanksMas to all, and a Happy ThanksChristYear! Great OP swampy, and I think that you deserve to brag a little bit for your alltruism. Far too often I take those sorts of things for granted and never turn my mind to those who can’t, good on you!

I missed last weeks MMP because I was completely swamped for the first half of the week and then later in the week every time I looked at the MPSIMS front page and saw hom many pages of MMP goodness I had sitting there unread it was so daunting that I would put it off. Needless to say I paid the price for that procrastination, throughout the week I actually feel myself getting less and less cool. I guess its all about who you associate with.

My weekend was awesome. It started out hanging out with a group of friends on campus (somethings I have not done enough of in the past). Saturday saw a return to my favorite local bookstores (where the owner is beginning to recognize me… as is his family) but this time I did not go by myself but with three females from my writing club, one of whom I admit to being significantly interested in. I have a feeling that the interest was somewhat mutual since she fairly blatantly told me to ask her out. So we are going to dinner this Tuesday (woo hoo!).