So... I met a bunch of Ken's family a few days ago. The verdict? I'm still alive. They're very nice people and made me feel welcome.
Ken's family is more into Christmas than my family is, as can be expected. For example, opening presents with my family at my house Christmas Eve took 2 (maybe 3) minutes. Opening presents with Ken's family Christmas Day took all of 3 hours. It was good, though. It actually felt like Christmas.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Meetin' the Family
This Christmas will be a little different for me. I won't just be spending it with my immediate family. I'll also be spending it with my boyfriend and his family. (For those of you who don't know, I recently started dating Ken - aka "kenji".) I'm looking forward to it, but also wondering what disastrous event might occur.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
P.S. I Love You
It appears I have let the term "idiot" slip into my vocabulary recently. If I use this or another negative term, feel free to call me out on it.Last night I started reading the novel "P.S. I Love You." (Thanks, Miranda, for the tip!) It must have been July or August since the last time I read for fun (not including the newspaper or internet).
So far it's a nice read. Sad but cute and an easy read. No terms to recognize or ideas to understand! So if you already know how the book or the movie go, please don't tell me!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Winter Cleaning
Yesterday evening I wandered into my brother's room to occupy myself. While looking around I mentioned to my brother that he probably didn't need a lot of the junk he had accumulated. Amazingly, my brother agreed with me. So for the rest of the evening this is what we did:
1) I would pick something up.
2) I would give said something to my brother.
3) He would decide if he wanted to give it away, trash/recycle it, shred it, or keep it.
4) He would toss it into the correct pile.
We only followed this process for one corner of his room, but in doing so we got rid of a bunch of old college adverts. Every time we came across Indiana Wesleyan U. material, he would have to make it known that his Taylor U. is so much better. But we agreed on mocking all other colleges together.
It was fun to help him out. I was looking at his things, so I didn't get the inevitable depression that might have ensued if I was going through my own things. Here's some randomness we found:
Photo albums from 10 years ago of when my brother decided he was going to take a picture of everything he could. This mainly meant photos and photos of our guinea pig in its cage or me hiding behind a pillow, a door, a blanket... whatever I could find.
A drawing of his that caused my brother to laugh uncontrollably like an idiotic nerd and made me to laugh so hard that I started crying and had to sit down. (Disclaimer: My brother is not an idiot and outgrew most of his nerdiness in the last year or two.)
A bookmark which stated "Be good and read!" that I had made for him a few years ago when he had summer reading for an English class.
1) I would pick something up.
2) I would give said something to my brother.
3) He would decide if he wanted to give it away, trash/recycle it, shred it, or keep it.
4) He would toss it into the correct pile.
We only followed this process for one corner of his room, but in doing so we got rid of a bunch of old college adverts. Every time we came across Indiana Wesleyan U. material, he would have to make it known that his Taylor U. is so much better. But we agreed on mocking all other colleges together.
It was fun to help him out. I was looking at his things, so I didn't get the inevitable depression that might have ensued if I was going through my own things. Here's some randomness we found:
Photo albums from 10 years ago of when my brother decided he was going to take a picture of everything he could. This mainly meant photos and photos of our guinea pig in its cage or me hiding behind a pillow, a door, a blanket... whatever I could find.
A drawing of his that caused my brother to laugh uncontrollably like an idiotic nerd and made me to laugh so hard that I started crying and had to sit down. (Disclaimer: My brother is not an idiot and outgrew most of his nerdiness in the last year or two.)
A bookmark which stated "Be good and read!" that I had made for him a few years ago when he had summer reading for an English class.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
My Brother's Homecoming
I came home from work yesterday to find my brother in the driveway unpacking his car (the Saturn). It was a nice surprise.I had him "open" the birthday presents I got for him. It included four different flavors of egg nog. Now, of course, I had to have him take a sip of each so he could rate them. I joined him by sniffing each. We agreed on the hierarchy:
1) Gingerbread
2) Cinnamon
3) Pumpkin
4) Sugar cookie
Our house feels complete with my brother home. Each of us adds a certain dimension to family conversations, and with all of us present, we even each other out.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Why I'm Glad I'm Not Brian Williams
Brian Williams was recently asked a question. It's a very simple and straightforward question. It might take a little time for someone to come up with an answer he or she likes, but most people should give a viable answer. Brian Williams, however, must be difficult. Read on:
The question: Who Will Be Person of the Year in 2007?
Mr. Williams's answer: "My nominee for 2007 Person of the Year is a woman--a woman with a history of abuse, a woman who has never run for elective office, someone we all know, someone who makes her presence known on a daily basis in all our lives and, for my money, is better than any male alternative. That woman is Mother Earth. I think the environment is the compelling issue of our time."
Okay, so who can tell me what Mr. Williams did wrong? Think really hard. Do you think he should have chosen a person instead of a planet? Almost any person who has been mentioned on the news could do. It would be debatable, but it would be an answer that fits the question. I have to give it to him for starting to fool us at the beginning of his answer. It was very creative and humorous; but in the end, he showed himself to be the idiot environmentalist that he is.
I am not saying that if you are an environmentalist you are automatically an idiot. I won't agree with you, but I'm sure I can respect your opinion to some degree. But to stoop so low as to pretend the earth is a person is ridiculous.
Maybe Brian Williams could have used an example answer to help him create his own. Here's what Aretha Franklin's answer was:
"There are a number of people who truly deserve this award. However, Bill Cosby is my selection because of his work and involvement in the crisis in the African-American community. Bill's objectives are to alleviate some of the problems and issues facing the community today. He truly represents a universality and global brotherhood, and in his heart and soul, he cares deeply about people."
Wow. First off, she mentioned a living person. Good start. Then notice how she actually listed very compelling reasons why the mentioned person should be 2007's person of the year. I now have a deeper respect for the lady who asked for it back in the day.
The question: Who Will Be Person of the Year in 2007?
Mr. Williams's answer: "My nominee for 2007 Person of the Year is a woman--a woman with a history of abuse, a woman who has never run for elective office, someone we all know, someone who makes her presence known on a daily basis in all our lives and, for my money, is better than any male alternative. That woman is Mother Earth. I think the environment is the compelling issue of our time."
Okay, so who can tell me what Mr. Williams did wrong? Think really hard. Do you think he should have chosen a person instead of a planet? Almost any person who has been mentioned on the news could do. It would be debatable, but it would be an answer that fits the question. I have to give it to him for starting to fool us at the beginning of his answer. It was very creative and humorous; but in the end, he showed himself to be the idiot environmentalist that he is.
I am not saying that if you are an environmentalist you are automatically an idiot. I won't agree with you, but I'm sure I can respect your opinion to some degree. But to stoop so low as to pretend the earth is a person is ridiculous.
Maybe Brian Williams could have used an example answer to help him create his own. Here's what Aretha Franklin's answer was:
"There are a number of people who truly deserve this award. However, Bill Cosby is my selection because of his work and involvement in the crisis in the African-American community. Bill's objectives are to alleviate some of the problems and issues facing the community today. He truly represents a universality and global brotherhood, and in his heart and soul, he cares deeply about people."
Wow. First off, she mentioned a living person. Good start. Then notice how she actually listed very compelling reasons why the mentioned person should be 2007's person of the year. I now have a deeper respect for the lady who asked for it back in the day.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Semester's End
I just checked my final grade for my Advanced Tax Topics class...
Aah! It's not an amazing grade, but it is better than I expected. I figured I did better on the final than on the mid-term, but I did a lot better. One semester down, ??? more to go.
My brother's 20th birthday is Friday, and on that day, he'll be coming home for Christmas break. My mom told my dad and me last night that she would like us to eat out to celebrate the occasion. Upon hearing this, I thought something like, "Eat out? Hmm. What is that? Isn't that, like, weird? Don't we have food here at the house?"
My family and I practically never eat out anymore. Unless we are traveling to Florida to see family, in Florida, or Florida family happens to be up visiting us. Other than that, it's like, what's the point?
And my mom is actually telling us that we need to get him presents. I'm okay with this, but the idea that we have to is new to me.
My brother's an egg nog fan. Should I load up every available corner of the fridge with this drink? Or should I buy him a bunch of his favorite candies? The suspense! The indecision!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Annoyances
Why is it the things that get under my skin the most are the small things my family does? If some other person was nasty to me, it would probably bother me less than if one of my family members did "that" again. How silly is that?
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Christmas Poll Results
If you had to go without one thing this Christmas season, what would you choose? (By choosing one thing, you must have everything else listed... choose wisely.)
Christmas tree & decorations 1 (12%)Presents (giving & getting) 2 (25%)
Family (Please, no one choose this.) 1 (12%)
---I should have known better than to give this as an option. :)
Holiday dishes & sweets 2 (25%)
Entertainment (tv specials & holiday movies) 2 (25%)
It looks like a few of you agreed, but we were all over the answers. I'm glad my readership is a diverse bunch. I'll try not to talk about Christmas too much more, at least in the commercial sense.
Holiday dishes & sweets 2 (25%)
Entertainment (tv specials & holiday movies) 2 (25%)
It looks like a few of you agreed, but we were all over the answers. I'm glad my readership is a diverse bunch. I'll try not to talk about Christmas too much more, at least in the commercial sense.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Hickspeak Revisited with Snow
Okay, my friends... Remember when I was poking fun at my dad's side of the family for how they pronounce some words as if they might be hicks? Well, I might be a hick, too.
Yesterday evening my Advanced Tax Topics group gave a presentation on illegal trust schemes. Whenever I was supposed to say "illegal" I ended up saying "eellegal!"
Maybe I should just give up and let my hick side envelop me, much like how Peter Parker gave in to his dark side in Spider-Man 3.
On my drive home there was enough unplowed snow that I needed to significantly lower my driving speed, but it was worth it... pretty snow! I love it when you can see the individual flakes softly falling from the sky against the backdrop of the night.
In honor of the first decent snowfall of the pre-winter season, here is Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and some other person singing "Snow" from "White Christmas."
Yesterday evening my Advanced Tax Topics group gave a presentation on illegal trust schemes. Whenever I was supposed to say "illegal" I ended up saying "eellegal!"
Maybe I should just give up and let my hick side envelop me, much like how Peter Parker gave in to his dark side in Spider-Man 3.
On my drive home there was enough unplowed snow that I needed to significantly lower my driving speed, but it was worth it... pretty snow! I love it when you can see the individual flakes softly falling from the sky against the backdrop of the night.
In honor of the first decent snowfall of the pre-winter season, here is Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and some other person singing "Snow" from "White Christmas."
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Breathe In Breathe Out
Okay, I like Mat Kearney's music. And this song, being his newest, is my favorite of his. The video's not bad, but I have one main complaint... his shirt. It seems effeminate. Does anyone else agree or am I alone on this?
Monday, December 3, 2007
Christmas Hoopla
Last week someone asked me a question that I had never been asked before. And "Do you go to Grace?" was not it. The question? Drum roll please...
"Are you Jewish?"
A client and I were making small talk and we came to the topic of what we are and aren't doing for Christmas. I mentioned that my family doesn't do much, which brought on the aforementioned question. I smiled and responded with something like, "No, we're Christian. We just don't do much."
When my brother and I were younger and we had family in the area, Christmas was a bit of a production... Christmas tree all decked out, presents waiting under said tree, stockings stuffed the night before, loads of expectation, going to my grandparents' home, etc., etc.
Now it's basically Thanksgiving repeated, except we eat ham instead of turkey and we have a couple of decorations sprinkled throughout the house. And I guess we do give each other some presents, but they're very practical and/or inexpensive. That's how it goes.
I get the impression that most holiday gatherings (or non-gatherings) tend to be like this unless there are children involved. Then that's when the hoopla shows up.
"Are you Jewish?"
A client and I were making small talk and we came to the topic of what we are and aren't doing for Christmas. I mentioned that my family doesn't do much, which brought on the aforementioned question. I smiled and responded with something like, "No, we're Christian. We just don't do much."
When my brother and I were younger and we had family in the area, Christmas was a bit of a production... Christmas tree all decked out, presents waiting under said tree, stockings stuffed the night before, loads of expectation, going to my grandparents' home, etc., etc.
Now it's basically Thanksgiving repeated, except we eat ham instead of turkey and we have a couple of decorations sprinkled throughout the house. And I guess we do give each other some presents, but they're very practical and/or inexpensive. That's how it goes.
I get the impression that most holiday gatherings (or non-gatherings) tend to be like this unless there are children involved. Then that's when the hoopla shows up.
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