Day & Night

I took several pictures today and couldn't decide which to use. I narrowed it down to 2 but I can't choose out of them, so I'll tell you about both.

Tonight we hosted a board game night at the house, and so I spent the day getting a lot of cleaning done. Sunday is always my cleaning day anyway. Having been feeling pretty crummy this past week and trying not to get sick, I wasn't feeling like cleaning, so to get myself in the mood I started off by hanging the wall decals Mom got me for Christmas:

I like them. This is in the spare bedroom/computer room, and we've been spending a lot of time in there lately so I wanted to put some more of 'us' in that room. When I first bought my house my cousin moved into this room, and it's the only room we haven't repainted or done really anything with so I figured hanging pictures and cheerful things was a good route to go. I also hung a tie dye 'curtain', which does nothing to block the sun but it looks cute!

So then we had people over for board games. There ended up being 8 of us, which was probably the perfect size for something like that. We played Apples to Apples, Taboo, and Quelf. All are great games in a group setting, and good 'icebreaker' type games if not everyone knows each other. So I'll leave you with a picture from our game of Quelf. Andy drew a card that dictated he do ballet until the timer ran out:

Gifts that Keep on Givin’

Today Andy's boss gave me these. I was more excited about them than anyone should be about Velcro (TM) bells. I was instantly transported back to 3rd grade, when we would ring these bells in Music class while we sang silly Christmas songs.

Once the nostalgia faded, I realized how totally useless these are and now I'm left wondering what the hell to do with them. For now, they are hanging on the doorknob of my back door. Call it a low-budg security system, if you will...

The Eve of Christmas

Well, the holidays are officially here! Tonight we did dinner and the exchanging of gifts with my Dad's side of the family, out at my parents' house. It was a nice visit, and it's odd to have little ones on that side of the family, but it was odd in a good way I think. My cousin and his wife told everyone on their way out that they are expecting another one, so by next Christmas there will be at least one more addition. Pretty cool. My grandparents got my sister and I pearl earrings, which is probably about the second 'nice jewelry' I have. I should probably class it up some one of these days. When I was younger I had a few more things, but move after move I ended up with none of it.

Anyway, everyone left pretty early, and Andy & I were planning to spend the night and have Christmas morning over there, so once everyone else left we played The Game of Things with my family. For hours. It was a blast. Andy of course came up with the most absurd answers ever and you always knew which one was his but it was still good for a belly laugh.

This is my sister, making some saltwater for Andy to soak his toe (he has an ingrown toenail that has been pretty ugly, on and off), wearing an apron she made when she was approximately 5:

Our Little Helper

Christmas Vacation!

In North Kansas City, there's a Screenland theater that Andy & I love going to. They play a lot of independent and local movies, and also have fun things like 'Glee' & Chiefs watch parties (never been to either), and they show 'cult classics' on occasion. An example of this is they play The Big Lebowski on the last Friday of every month. I've been dying to make it to that, but haven't yet either. They serve booze, which is a wonderful bonus (Yes, when the day comes that I see 'The Dude' on-screen, I will be drinking a Caucasian), they have a bar food menu (fried green beans!) and they also have a row of red leather recliners, which totally rock:

]

Besides that there are some loveseats in the front and little living room set-ups in back. There is also a nifty robot guy who opens the curtain. As you can tell, it's pretty awesome.

Andy told me last week that they were showing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. He has a tradition of watching that on Christmas Day at some point, but last year we weren't able to. We didn't figure we'd be able to make it to the theater on Christmas either, but I checked the times anyway. As it turns out, they weren't even playing it on Christmas. The last day to see it was the Tuesday before. So we saw it on Monday.

And it was glorious.

(I also discovered that they sell the DVD of Blackhand Strawman [a movie about organized crime in KC], so I will be purchasing that next time I am there and have money.)

Cross Stitching Success

Finished!

I was able to get this finished in the nick of time - with Mom's party and all the other Christmas ends to be tied up, I was a bit worried I wouldn't make it! I stayed up late last night until I fell asleep working on it, and finished it this morning. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out, and am even toying with the idea of starting an Etsy shop. I would mostly start off cross-stitching song lyrics, but if people wanted specific phrases I could do those too. Then, if I ever get good at any other crafty things I could put them there too. What do you think?

I hope Andy likes it!!!

The Elusive Christmas House

There is this house, probably just over a mile from mine, and they have SO many Christmas decorations in their yard! Ordinarily, I think it looks gaudy and tacky, but they've somehow taken the high road. Rather than inflatable snow globes, and life-size nativity scenes, they just have a lot of lights - light trees, light snowflakes, and just lights - in a wonderful variety of colors. It's not like any other yard decorating I've ever seen.

I've been trying to get a good picture of it for like 3 weeks, every time we pass it on Tuesday & Thursday evenings, and this is what they always look like. Much like my tree, this house apparently doesn't like to be photographed. Before Christmas, I will make Andy stop and I will use my real camera and I will try my damnedest to properly capture it. It's awesome.

Things I Love, Vol. Five. Annie Lennox.

Ever since I was much younger, I've had an undying love for Ms. Annie Lennox.  Besides the fact that she is HUGE into charitable giving and extremely socially and politically aware, I admire the way she keeps to herself and is as private as a celebrity can be.  Her humility is inspiring, and I think most people should strive to be like her.  She is an amazing individual, and I haven't even said anything about how talented she is! I actually wrote several papers on her during my college career - my obsession with her might have bordered unhealthy for a while...

She went to school at the Royal Academy of Music and is a classically trained pianist and flautist.  Probably another reason I love her so is that she is a flute player - for some reason, even though I haven't played my flute in years, I always seem to be drawn toward people who play or played flute, even if I don't know they do/did!  Anyway, she joined band after band, most notably the Stocking Tops and The Tourists (first band with Dave Stewart) before she and Dave started Eurythmics and exploded into popularity.  She picked up a number of bizarre instruments, and constantly pushed the envelope with her androgynous haircut and clothing.

Something I find strange is that my favorite of her albums is probably Medusa, an album consisting solely of cover songs.  As someone who is typically morally opposed to covers, it's odd that when I discovered that album I completely fell in love, and it was what led me to really pursue all of her music.  I believe I have nearly everything she's ever recorded - one of my most prized possessions is a copy of The Tourists' Luminous Basement on vinyl.  Anyway if you aren't familiar with her work, you should definitely check out Medusa - covers of some really great and underappreciated songs.

I simply can't say enough wonderful things about Annie.  :)

Anyway...She's a Christmas baby, and so it seems appropriate that this year (~2 weeks ago) she has released a Christmas album, called A Christmas Cornucopia.  I want it.

Here is a video teaser:

O Christmas Tree

No matter how hard I try I can't get a good picture of the tree really....maybe it's because I'm using a cell phone, maybe it's because my tree is actually a ghost...who knows!

In any case, I tried to get this daylight shot of it. Now I just need a tree skirt! And some gifts to put underneath 'er!

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel

Christmas vomited on the cubicles

I guess I can't complain, at least they waited until the day after Thanksgiving.