The Incoming Holidays MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

What clues you in that the holiday season is about to rear its ugly head?

Is it the stores putting up their Christmas decorations the day after Halloween?

Let me tell you or our families sinister wakeup call.

First, some background: Momma Vorlon is a spry 77 earth years old. She still has all her marbles, but she makes a Luddite look high tech. When she moved to the old folk’s ranch in the butt-end of nowhere, she mourned the loss of hearing her favorite music on the radio.

Now let me put this in prospective—she can get confused by light switches.

I have to drive over there to get the messages off her answering machine.

Now to cure her music issue, we got her a satellite radio for Mothers day. Once it was set up on her favorite station, she was pleased as punch. She had her house filled with her era’s music, and all was right with the world.

Until I got the phone call.

Her voice on the other end of the line sounded a tad exasperated. “The radio only has crazy music on it, AND IT WONT CHANGE.”

Ok, I thought, this sounds like a good one. I gathered up my resident troubleshooter, 15 year old Vorlon Jr. We set off on the 30 mile trek to the Old Folks Oasis.

Upon arrival we were met in the driveway. “Still doing it” we were informed.

We entered the house to discover that XM had made a slight programming change.

Instead of Frank Sinatra, we were getting a revised version of ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ modified to ‘Don’t Worry, Be Kosher’.
Yes, Hanukkah music.

I thought Vorlon Jr. was going to hurl he was laughing so hard.

And the reason she could not change the station?

Seems she had started decorating, and had draped Christmas garland over the eye for the remote.

At least I had two messages to remove from the answering machine………

2

Yay!! I’m first!

The closer it gets to my birthday which was yesterday and my son’s birthday which is the 14th tells us Christmas is close and we decorate on my son’s birthday.

A cool fact is that you mentioned Frank Sinatra and he and I share a birthday! 12/12 Well, I still use it but I guess he doesn’t really much anymore now does he?
My son was born on Nostradameus’ birthday.

Glad to hear the the music issue was a quick/easy fix. I used to work in a call center for Sirius/XM answering questions and getting people set up.

3

G’morning all - up and caffeinating and brekkied with apple cinnamon oatmeal & banana. i’ve got new Christmas earrings with skiing penguins!

Thanks for the OP, Vorlon (I don’t know what your MMP nickname is, sorry!); for me, holiday music signals the beginning of the Christmas season. And I’ll sing em out loud too, without even realizing it. :eek: I think I probably annoy my co-workers more at holiday time than any other time of year!

I’m taking a couple of toys to put under the tree at work today - they’ll go to Toys for Tots. Tomorrow I’ll take in some non-perishable food items for the food box. It’s easy to forget that there are others who have way less than I do; hopefully I’ll remember more this year.

Hope everyone has a good day today!

4

Great story, Alien. Thanks for getting us started off.

I tend to ignore the signs of oncoming holidays, so there are generally decorations up downtown before I actually admit that the holidays might be getting near. :smiley:

Gotta get some work done…

Happy Monday, all!

GT

5

Monday. Feh.
**
TV** - if where you live, they wait until after Hallowe’en to put up the Christmas displays, you’re lucky. Around here, they start shortly after Labor Day. In fact, I remember one August while I was still in college (in the '70s) - I was “back-to-school” shopping and was flabbergasted by the fake tree full of ornaments at the Hallmark Store.

Holiday music is fine - in small doses - once December is firmly established. But when I hear it on the radio 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, I get irritated; by the first week of December, I start to scream. Decorations go up to early and stay up too long. When I was younger, the house we could see from the kitchen window had a nice evergreen tree in their front yard. It was about 6 feet high when we moved in. Every year, that family would drape it full of lights; until it got to 10 feet high. Then, they’d leave the lights on the tree year round, but only plug them in, adding extension cords as needed, for the holidays.

Happy Week Beginning, all.

6

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. It did not get as cold as expected. Matter of fact it’s 33 Amurrkin outside, one degree above freezin’. That explains why I didn’t see frost on the mailbox when I went out to get the paper.

Alien great OP! I know the dreaded season is here when the folks two doors up put up their mass of inflatable stuff in their front yahd. Then I start hopin’ Santa brings me a dart gun. :smiley: Seriously, Thanksgivin’ mornin’ they’re out in full force with the inflatable stuff, wreaths (is that spelled right?) and lights. I assume somebody is inside cookin’ up a turkey and stuff but I don’t know. By TDay night they’re all inflated and lit up outside. Oh and just before Turkey Day I start noticin’ the music in stores. This irks me. It’s Advent people not Christmas! But whachoo gonna do, right?

Ok, I need some more caffiene and some brekkies. Then I must purtify for work. I get to go hang out at a senior center for a while today and meet with folks about their Medicare Part D stuff. Plus two home visits, I think. Tonight I have Vestry meetin’ at the church house. I live an excitatin’ life!

Happy Monday Y’all!

7

Up, caffeinated, off to irk.

8

What??? It’s Xmas time again? OG dammit! :smiley:

Hi, y’all! 39 degrees Murkin here this morning. Tomorrow is predicted to be even worse. I am currently rummaging for the “No Snow” signs.

9

Great OP!

I start noticing Christmas is coming when this one radio station starts playing Christmas music 24-7 on the day after Thanksgiving. I have to take it off my programmed buttons until after Christmas. I’ve been doing Christmas cards, and Mr Rebo strung some lights outside in our oak tree. It looks awesome!

It was 34 chilly degrees this morning! Brr… It will warm up again though, and it’s sunny.

I finished my self-review and submitted it, so that’s done. Whew!

I bought me a gym bag and a combination lock. :slight_smile: Today I have my free session with the fitness trainer. I’m gonna get healthy even if it kills me… :wink:

Have a great day, Mumpers!

10

Well, there’s about an inch of “sunny and 33” on the ground, with more coming.

:mad:

11

I’m just glad that this year, someone picked the Christmas Classics station at work rather than the Christmas Pop channel that plays all the worst pop versions of holiday songs. I’ve vowed mutiny if it’s changed. I can get a stepladder to reach the Muzak in the back, I think people forget that.

The wind is howling around up here. It’s 16 American and the snow that started to melt yesterday has refrozen and brought an inch more of its friends with it. It’s nice. :slight_smile:

swampy, when I lived in Pirateville, some people down the street from my house put up a giant inflatable snowman that dwarfed their trailer every year. He was dubbed Frostyzilla and his arrival was of great note.

12

My dad used to pitch the mouse behind the computer, because ‘he thought it looked messy out in front’. I mean pitch. Hurl backwards behind the computer, with force.

Speaking of my dad, what the heck and I getting for my parents for Christmas? Need answer fast!

13

A new mouse?

14

The OP’s mother reminds me of my ex’s parents. Whenever they left the house, they’d unplug and hide their answering machine, for fear that someone would break into the house and steal it.

15

Howdy Y’all! Sneakin’ in a post from da cave whilst I munch down a sammich cause I’s hongry! Soon I will be leavin’ for the large and in charge town of Dawson, Jawja! Dawson has a funky lookin’ courthouse. Mayhaps I shall find a pitcher of it to share.

I have decided dindin shall be beast stew cause I have some frozen. I shall thaw and heat it cause I’m nice like that. The meatloaf will be for tomorrow when I am less pressed for time. It’s so great to have sump’n in the freezer to yank out and heat up. Go Me!

That matches the desk decor so he doesn’t have to pitch it! We’re nuttin’ if not helpful LiLi. :smiley:

Spaz ain’t if a comfort to know that just when you do not believe Christmas decor can get any tackier, somebody manages to hit a new low!

ETA: gotti I know somebody (I should say knew since she’s gone on to her eternal reward) who would take the receiver from her phone with her when she left the house in case of a break in so that nobody could make long distance calls on her phone. People be strange!

ETA Again: The Terrell County (Dawson, Jawja) courthouse. Funky ain’t it!

16

Good idea. A new invisible mouse.

17

Just had to stop by and say… Separated at birth? :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Last call for Christmas Cards for Doper Kids 2010.

19

I usually get the Santa suits out of storage around Thanksgiving. I’m the “go to” for several charities and the emergency call-in for a couple mall operations. I am not a horribly Christmas person (I prefer Easter) but various places checking the status and shape of my beard is a sure sign of the holidays.

Minor vent highjack ----- I’m sitting at home waiting for my primary doctor to call. The one gout medicine she has me on isn’t doing as much (allopurinal at 100mg a day) as we would like and this weekend I find out the colchicine that has always been good for me for flare-ups was never FDA approved. How the frik does that happen? There is an “approved substitute” but it has some issues/side effects and ------------- here I sit waiting for a call and hoping I don’t have a flare before we get this all straight. She’s a damn good doctor and has been great for me - but sometimes you almost need to break down and do a full appointment just to get basic answers and that just fries my tukas to no end.

20

StickyBuns maybe one courthouse is the other courthouse’s evil twin! :smiley: The Terrell County Courthouse has those minarety lookin’ things on it but I like the overall look of the Van Wert County Courthouse better. I think old courthouses are jake.

Ruble here’s hopin’ you get your gout med figured out. I’ve never had gout but I know it’s painful and we don’t want you in pain. We don’t want your tukas fried either. Turkeys, not tukases are for fryin’.

On that note I think I’ll start defrostin’ beast stew.