Have a very Merry BACON-Y Christmas!!!

In looking around on line this year I keep coming across a strange theme. Bacon! Lots and lots of things that should NOT be bacon-related, but somehow are anyway. Its so weird. I mean, I like bacon. But still, this kind of freaks me out.

Bacon Band-aids?



Bacon Chapstick?



Bacon Soap??? Seriously? Who wants to smell like bacon? Wouldn't that attract large packs of dogs?



Bacon gum....yuck!


Bacon Wallet??? I really don't get this one at all.


Yet another fashion accessory, the classy and sophisticated bacon watch!



Delicious bacon candies....kind of makes me feel a bit queasy.


And while I didn't get a picture of it, I also found bacon stationary where the envelopes were bacon flavored. So odd.

How do YOU do Christmas?

How do YOU do Christmas?
Here is a holiday meme regarding family traditions "borrowed" from my friend, Em, at
Notes from My Corner.

1. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial. We used to only use real trees when the kids were little. We had a family outing to go pick out the tree every year. It was a whole lot of fun. I really miss the smell of a live tree, too. That part I don't miss is having to water the thing constantly, and dealing with dropping needles all over the place. Ornaments hang better on studier artificial branches, too. Well, they would if cats weren't climbing in it.

2. Do you like decorating the tree?
Yes, actually. This is the first year that I did the lights and that part was harder than I thought. But I didn't mind it so much. The ornaments though....that is my favorite part. A cup of hot chocolate, some Christmas music and pulling out all of our old favorite ornaments, remembering where we bought this one or that one. Once again, its not nearly as much fun without the kids around. But they started to opt out of doing the tree when they were in high school, so I am used to doing it alone. My husband does NOT like anything about it, and really makes himself scarce until its all done. LOL.


3. When do you put up the tree?
Either the weekend following Thanksgiving. Or, if we are out of town then the weekend after that. If its not up by the 5th or so then I start to get unhappy, but that rarely happens

4. When do you take the tree down?
I have this superstitious notion that its bad luck for the coming year to take it down before the Epiphany on Jan. 6th. January 7th is the earliest I would take it down.


5. Do you like eggnog?
I like the idea of eggnog. I get excited when I first see it in the stores around the holidays. But then I buy a small carton and it always leaves me disappointed. I do like homemade eggnog with LOTS of brandy though.

6. Ever broken a present right after opening it?
If I have then I have forgotten it completely. I really don't think so.

7 . Hardest person to buy for?
My husband. He buys everything that he wants all during the year leaving us nothing to surprise him with. My son is a close second though. He is something of a minimalist, and doesn't want any kind of clutter in his home. According to his wife, Hannia, he sometimes even considers useful items that are still necessary clutter and gets rid of them. Haha

8. Easiest person to buy for? My daughter-in-law Hannia. She thoughtfully keeps an ongoing Amazon wish list that makes gift giving so simple!!! My daughter runs a close second, because although she doesn't keep a wish list online, she can generally think of some things she would like to have if you give her enough time to contemplate it. Maybe its just that girls are easier to buy gifts for. :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
We do. A small ceramic one. My husband and I are spiritual people, but not overly religious. Our holiday is mostly secular.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. My husband and I try to find funny, somewhat irreverent cards every year. We believe in the gift of laughter.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A box of peanut brittle. From a customer. It had a small pebble in the product and it broke an expensive crown on my tooth. I contacted the company and they paid to have it replaced, so at least there was a little Christmas miracle to go along with the sucky gift. LOL.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
It's a toss up between "It's a Wonderful Life", and the original "Miracle on 34th St." I love them all, though, even the animated ones. We used to get so excited as kids when Rudolph (claymation version) came on because it meant Christmas was finally near.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually after Thanksgiving, but not on Black Friday. I always vow to start early in the year, like some really organized people do. But nobody has a clue what they want at that time. How do these people do it? Do they just buy stuff that they want to give regardless of the other person's wish list? How do you know that somebody won't just go ahead and buy a duplicate of your gift before Christmas finally rolls around? In theory, the early all-year shopping sounds great. In reality it just wouldn't cut it as far as I am concerned.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so. I may have given something away that I didn't want or use, but not as a wrapped gift. More of a, "Hey, do you want this thing right here? Cuz I am not going to use it."

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
I can't narrow it down to just one thing. Maybe the cookies. Or the fudge....I am pretty sure it will be something sweet. As a kid the only time of the year that we got to eat Hershey's kisses was at Christmas time (my Mom was pretty strict about junk food and soda). My sister and I called them "silver bells". They taste like Christmas to me still.

16. Have you ever actually eaten fruit cake?
Yes, and I know it makes me weird, but I don't hate it. Its not my favorite thing, and I don't crave it or seek it out, but its not awful to me either.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
I just love Christmas music period. I love the religious standards (a strong voice singing O Holy Night can give me goosebumps), I love the children's favorites, and I also love jazz piano Christmas tunes. I can't single out a favorite. My favorite Christmas song memory is of my kids singing "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" by the tree when they were really little. Stephen's line of "as he shouted out with BLEE" still makes me smile even now. I can't hear that song without chuckling about all that BLEE. It makes me positively bleeful. LOL.


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Never when the kids were little. How would Santa have found us?? We have attempted to several times since the kids have grown up, and more often than not it just doesn't work out. We did have a fantastic family Christmas cruise in 2005. But we have decided it was just meant for us to be home for the holidays. Traveling then is stressful anyway.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Are you serious? Of course!!! Our cat that Bruce found around Christmas time was named "Vixen" for a reason.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Animated Santa. Its tradition.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
We always have done both. When the children were young, they opened 1 gift from us on Christmas Eve, and then Santa loaded the tree down with more gifts during the night to be opened first thing Christmas morning. We still occasionally do the 1 gift on Christmas Eve thing just because...

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
The Grinches who can't find any joy in the holiday.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I love shaped glass ornaments. Santas, snowmen, or any Christmas figure. I like the sparkle of the glass. Our tree is a hodge podge of favorites and we don't decorate it with a certain color or theme in mind. As far as other decorating goes I strongly prefer true reds and brilliant greens. I am not a fan of purple or pink or burgundy or whatever as far as Christmas goes. I like it to be traditional.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner?
Hard one. My kids always want a roasted turkey with all the trimmings, and I am fine with that. I never turn down a delicious turkey and stuffing dinner. Growing up, though, we usually did a roast beef. And that was good, too.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
World Peace. And maybe Elton John's newest CD.

Ongoing

The kitchen is still ongoing. I have a stove now, at least, but still no kitchen sink or dishwasher. The countertops that were supposed to be installed yesterday morning (we will be there between 8 and 12 he said....yeah right), did not get done until after 7pm last night. Bruce took the day off for this and he waited and called and waited and called until I completely lost my cool and called them myself. And I was NOT nice. I was promised someone would be here within the hour. It was after 4 before the guy finally showed. I was literally on my way to go sit in their shop until they got my damned countertops in my house when Bruce called to say the guy just pulled up. Lucky for them. I was not in a happy mood.

So needless to say, the sink installation and plumbing that Bruce planned to do yesterday afternoon AFTER the countertops did not happen. He managed to get the sink in tonight (sitting there unhooked to any water or drain but it looks nice, haha), but its almost 9:30 pm now and the plumbing is just going to have to wait until tomorrow. Work is insane this time of year, we get home so extremely late, and its all a matter of doing a little bit here and a little bit there as time allows. Actually though, the plumbing and a bit more of the molding around the walls and it will be essentially done. I still want curtains, but that might not happen until after Christmas. Time is running out, I still need to shop and decorate and figure out what kind of food and goodies we want to feast on. Whew....remind me to NOT start a major project during this time of the year again.

Anyway, there may not be Christmas cards this year. I love you all, and I love doing my cards but we haven't even had a chance to pick some out yet. If I get decorations on the tree it will be amazing. Oh well. Its all going to work out. And since Dad asked, the countertops do look good. I am happy with how it turned out even if it took way longer than expected. Here is a little snippet of the color. Its called crystal flint, predominantly gray with white and black specks. Its busy enough to not show spots (you know, like coffee drips and stuff), and yet neutral enough to be able to use any other colors in the decor that you might want to. I will post some pictures of the finished room whenever the actual finishing might happen to occur.
LOL.

And its Monday again.....

How does Monday always get here so quickly? But anyway....Itty Bitty kitty came through her surgery just fine. She has been a little more quiet than usual this weekend, but is perking up more and more each day. Vixen did have a mild urinary tract infection and we got her to the vet for an antibiotic shot, mainly because that works for 2 weeks and getting medicine in this cat is virtually impossible. Hopefully things are all healthy and happy in Kitty Land for a while.

I put the lights on the tree this weekend. It seemed like a good time when kitty was not quite up to racing up and down the limbs. Bruce usually does the lights, but he was busy in the kitchen getting things prepped and ready for the new counter tops. One thing I realized: Its harder than it looks. It took longer than I thought. But I think I did a pretty good job of it. Bruce says that I have inherited the job from now on because its something he just never enjoys. I did run out and buy a new tree topper. We usually use an animated Santa and I love him. I decided he was too precious to risk on the tree while we still have young cats who climb it. So....a new, temporary tree topper was found. The choices are really limited out there. This is just a large red bow with LED lights. Its cute. Its not Santa but its ok. There are still no decorations. I am waiting to see how the cats do with the lights and maybe in a few days I will finish it up.

So the kitchen counter tops will be installed tomorrow. I can't wait. We have been living without a kitchen sink since Saturday...using paper plates, washing off the absolutely necessary things in the bathroom sink. The dishwasher is unhooked and as of this afternoon, the stove will be unhooked as well. Its been a bit, um, rustic. I guess I will run by and pick up some take out for dinner this evening. Bruce decided to do the removal of the counter tops himself to save some of the charges. The installation crew should be able to set up the new ones pretty quickly as everything is ready to go. I am looking forward to having a fully functional kitchen again......