Cheery & Bright

We I decorated the tree last weekend. To be fair (because once in awhile everyone should try something different), he did put the tree up and string the lights. But I put up the ornaments and EVERYONE knows that is the most important part.

Right?

Let me explain while you pretend to care about our new holiday tradition. When I moved here, I had zero Christmas things. Zilch. I was sadder than someone who makes it to the final round of The Price Is Right and then loses because they overbid by like, two dollars. So sad. All day.

So I went out and bought a tree. And color-themed ornaments. Blue, white, and silver. So pretty. If I couldn't have my old ornaments full of memories, then I would buy pretty new ones.

Then I got to CA., where I would be spending Christmas with the Jer-to-the-miah. The dude had NO tree. He had no ornaments. So there was a discussion and voila! A tree and ornaments, at my disposal. So for now, we have TWO trees. Dos. Deux. Like that, y'all.

This post documents the tree that lived its first Christmas in Sacramento. 

New ornaments bought at 75% off after last Christmas.

More new ones, making their debut. By the way, I hope that at some point I will be able to integrate my old family ornaments with the new ones.

Tree! It looks prettier at night...and from a regular view.

One of my favorites...

Some more new ones.

Glitter balls. Heeeheeee.

So there is tree number one.

Anyone else have a tree that they want to share? Any color themes you love?

Gleeks.

Let me start by saying that I've been wanting to watch Glee on Netflix for awhile now. So I moved the first disc to the top of our queue (much to CLH's dismay). Oh.My.Gosh. I couldn't stop watching, people.

I'm a Gleek.

But here's my favorite part. If you've been in a hole like me you haven't seen the show, here's the clip:

Season 1, episode 4.



I couldn't find one that shows it, but it goes on to show Kurt (who is tiny & gay & not so popular, but completely wonderful) winning the game by kicking the ball (after dancing to Beyonce) into the goal (endzone? what's it called?) with his tough manly man dad watching. Then his dad is screaming "That's my boy! That's my son!" and I start crying.

P.S. I sing this song to Jeremiah regularly, just so everyone knows.

P.P.S. Any other Gleeks out there? 

Bus Duty.

Hi.

I thought that I would give you a moment in my life type of experience. Because unless you teach at an elementary school, you don't know. Even high school teachers...no. "You don't know me!" (That is one of Jeremiah's favorite lines from his customers when he did the phones at work.) And I'm sure that you have exciting work stories to share, too. If you'd like to leave a comment and share, I'm all for it.

Seriously. You know I am all for sharing.

Yesterday I had bus duty after school. Picture two teachers trying to line up about two hundred kids and walk them to the buses.

Yeah. So. Much. Fun.

Except yesterday? No. Freakin'. Buses.

For HALF AN HOUR. Do I get paid overtime for this?

So while the other teacher has an impromptu parent teacher conference, I am dealing with the kids. Here are some of the going-ons that I experienced yesterday. These are one hundred percent REAL conversations. For realsies. They occurred between the dancing and singing. I find it important to keep things light-hearted.

Student - Camp was fun, but...
Emily- But what?
S- Then I threw up s'mores.
E- Yeah, not so fun, huh?
S- no...

S- Hey teacher!!
E- Hey student!!
S- Teacher, my name isn't student!
E- Well, student, my name isn't teacher.
S- My name is (says name)
E- What are you doing (says name)?
S- Nothing.
E- Yes you are. Can you please STOP unbuttoning my shirt?
S- Why?
E- Because I'd like to keep my shirt on today.
S- (pouts)
E- (buttons shirt back up)

S- Is he the new student?
E- Was he here yesterday?
S- No.
E - Then he's the new student.

S- If I have to walk ALL the way to that bus...
E- You're gonna what?
S- I'm going to be pissed off.
E- (rant. straight up rant. for several minutes. )

Happy Friday, everyone. Enjoy your weekend. If you have a funny work story, please share.

Bathing Suit Underwear

In college, I went to school with a girl that completed the last of her winter finals with a bathing suit under her clothes.

All of her underwear was dirty.

And as all (most? some?) college students can tell you, why pay money to do laundry when you can wait and do it at home? I know that there were times when it was slim pickins in my "closet" but I just wore whatever because I didn't want to pay to do laundry as I would be going home soon. Sometimes I could go three weeks. Sometimes longer.

I owned a LOT of undies, yo. Just for that purpose.

But I never wore my bathing suit to finals. Never.

Why the post about undies, bathing suits, and finals?

I am currently writing a beast of a final research paper (which may or may not have induced tears and pouting on more than one occasion).

It has been two weeks without clean laundry.

Slim.Pickins, people. Slim pickins, for sure.

The bathing suits are on call. I'll just leave it at that.

p.s. I am not at all apologetic if that was too much information. You should have stopped when you read "Bathing Suit Underwear".

Dessert? Fruit Salad?

I tried a new cranberry/fruit salad recipe. It started out like this:
Side Dish: One year I made cranberry sauce FROM SCRATCH. No shit. What was I thinking? And then I went outside, grabbed some palm fronds, and fashioned myself a skirt. Just kidding. It was a brief, dark period in my life where I thought change was good and I thought I was a cooking goddess. Anyway, cranberry sauce from scratch? Totally not worth the time and I didn't care for the consistency. After that Thanksgiving I ran into Ocean Spray at the grocery store and I was all, "hello, sailor" and now we are on-again. I will never cheat on the Spray again.



Then like this before I froze it: (Nommy, right?)
It actually called for cupcake liners instead of a mold, but I kind of think the cupcake liners are wasteful. Plus, I only had one paper liner and the rest are plastic ones which I only use for s'mergencies.
Then like this:
So Good. And Creamy. And Delicious.

It was so simple and extremely yummy, so I imagine I'll be making it again sometime. It was almost like getting to eat dessert with dinner. It was THAT good. I mean, I'll make it after I finish making my own clogs out of cactus ribs.

p.s. The recipe was inspired by my Aunt Cronchie, but it is not actually her recipe, as I don't own cherries or apricots. And hers called for...cherries and apricots (duh). So I went scrounging and found this instead. So Auntie, you are my inspiration for frozen fruit salads! Yeah, baby!!!

Incognito

Spike came to the door with this feather stuck to his honker. Apparently he was disguised with a mustache as a...grumpy old guy.



Oh, wait. He is a grumpy old guy.


Or, sort of like a wolf in disguise.

Or, sort of like a sleazy European (I love Europe, for sure, but there is sleaze to be found on every continent.)


p.s. I reached a point where I was laughing and couldn't hold the camera still and he got to the point where he was all, "hey asshole, let me in". This shot is from before either of those things happened.

p.p.s. I've now included a handy little envelope thing in the bottom of every post. That way if you think, wow this girl is an idiot fun, you can email it to your friends. Or family. Share the love. 

Emily's Holiday Wish List

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

My holiday wish is that everyone be happy and healthy. And full. Good food is a must.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

Here in AZ we have cocoa and open presents. In MI we would open presents and have a yummy breakfast. Always about the food, I tell 'ya!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

I'd love to do some more traveling. I want to go to Italy. And Ireland. And Hawaii. And Greece...Anyone up for a trip?!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

Well, food always helps, for sure. We also play a lot of games and watch holiday movies and listen to holiday music.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

Every. Game.Imaginable...Scrabble, Payday, Clue, SolarQuest, Hugger Mugger, Tabboo, Scattergories, Solitaire, Trivial Pursuit, Rummikub, etc.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

I still collect meaningful ornaments. Each one has a story or memory attached. That way when I break out the Christmas stuff, I can think about exciting trips, family, and good times.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?

Christmas away from home? Probably somewhere COLD, as being in PHX we do not see the snow. Not so much. Big surprise, right? Maybe a nice trip to Alaska. Or Canada. Or even Colorado.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

For sure I would like just about any of the games listed under "puzzles and cards", some fun "skins" for the controllers, and maybe the Mario game (old school).