Christmas - 2009

Well, sort of. Due to the snowstorm situation, we ended up getting the family together on New Year's Day - 2010. My sister-in-law, Tamsen, brought her 2 children down from The Cities a couple of day's ago and had already gone back - so it was the parents and my sister Sheila and family (minus Moriah due to a work conflict) who were here just for the day.

Tamsen stopped at my place on the way home from mom's place, and it was the first time she'd been there so I would have liked to have had it in better order than it was. Alas, one of my children must have thought it was too much work to bend over and pick up the straw the last time they used the vacuum hose, so there is now a big clog of crap inside the hose that I'm still trying to figure out how to remove. (The vacuum was made by whatever company made the original Electrolux - Aerus? - and has a power attachment on the hose. There's a hard, bent plastic piece upon which the power nozzle attaches - which prevents me from ramming the whole hose down the length of a broom handle to break the debris jam loose. Of course, that's way more detail than you need to know about any of this... but I could use some ideas. Or a really tiny dog - tied by a long and sturdy string to a bouncy ball just slightly smaller than the width of a vacuum hose - that I could place on one side of the hose and call him through from the other.)

So, since the house was in the usual state of disarray, I brought her outside and gave her a verbal description (as it was all under snow) of what I've been doing with the patio and landscaping. You can probably relate to how this worked as the only pictures of it have been on Sheila's blog, and those are already a couple years old.

Oh, I checked for any plants that were coming up. None so far. Only a few months... :)

Back to the topic but still on the patio subject... Mom got me an over sized toad statue thing that I've been wanting. We'd seen it at one of the local nurseries last summer so she knew it amused me. Alas, my paths and solar lights and shorter fairy statues and the other two toads are all under snow, so it'll be hanging out with Dangit (the cat) and me inside the house for the time being.

The statue thing was made by 'Toad Hollow', which probably has a website in case you want your own "pissy toad" (my name for it) to greet your garden guests.


The plan originally was to go to Sheila's for Christmas - but then the region was dumped on by one to two feet of snow and apparently snow plow crews prefer to not work on major holidays... or for a few days after... so we stayed home.

I had done no decorating so there wasn't much of a Christmas theme to the house, but we made it work. I invited the mechanic (the guy that deboned the deer David shot) to join us as the weather had also wrecked his Christmas plans.

We deep fried a bunch of stuff. And had a beer.

No beer for the kids as they are too young - and didn't want any... which is good because I only had 3 left - and who wants to share on Christmas, of all days! :)

On Christmas Day one of the kids' friends came over. He was still here on the 29th so I was starting to think I might need to Google a recipe for "figgy pudding" as it appeared he might actually not go until he got some. :)

I did, however, make them a pork roast and threw a pig heart in with it which I had them try before I told them what it was. I've been wanting to do this with the beef tongue but haven't had the opportunity yet. (This has worked with bear meat, elk, alligator jerky, etc. I'm surprised they never ask what it is until it's already in their mouths. I should find a rat and marinade it in squished cicada pulp.)

Satan sent her douchebag boyfriend to pick up the kids on Wednesday so they weren't here for the family gathering today. That in itself was annoying, but even more so as I kind of hoped to hit him up for a valid driver's license and proof of insurance as I'm thinking he might not have either as he also has no job. (She got him alcohol for his present. Her current husband, also still unemployed to my knowledge, is an alcoholic. I once again find myself struggling to understand her logic.)

She has a thing for losers. This does NOT help my self-esteem. :)

And then Douchebag picked them up early enough where the kids were gone before I got up, and I had put 3 packs of ribs in the Crock-pot and had no kids there to eat them. So the first kid that stopped by asking for them was invited in and he and I had barbecued ribs - and later when the mechanic mentioned he was taking his break and was off to find a place that was still open, I told him to swing by my place and grab the Crock-pot. And I still have some left!


But now it's 2010 and I should think happy 2010 thoughts and whip up some resolutions.

The cat and I haven't whipped any up yet.

I've had good luck with setting a few goals but haven't really worked the resolution angle.

I hope his is to eat less, shit less, and to stop pressing his cold, wet nose into my eye sockets when I'm trying to sleep.

And if he could stop using my testicles as stepping stones every time he walks across the couch, that would be okay, too.


Happy New Year!