I agree that the parade isn't what it used to be. Of course, I have to watch Santa arrive at Macy's because one year his pants fell down when he got out of the sleigh. It's not often you get mooned by Santa.
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I gave my mom a little faux Charlie Brown Christmas tree last year. It's not only a great Christmas symbol, but it also has considerable family significance, stemming from a series of half-jokes about the puniest Christmas tree we ever had, which also happened to coincide with the most gut-wrenching emotional challenges we've ever faced at Christmas time. My brother and I put that tree up on a cinder block and actually wired branches back onto the bottom of it after trimming to make it appear a bit taller and fuller, and we collectively wished each other a "Merry Christmas, dammit." We now remember it as a pretty special Christmas, characterized by defiant joy in the face of heartache. As a result, the Charlie Brown tree was quite well received last year, and it's now part of Mom's year-round decor.
I have been listening to Christmas music on the radio already. There is one station that started playing only Christmas music from now until the holiday --last week! I've sneaked a couple of listens although the boys make me change when they are in the car, except for the 4-year old. He doesn't mind it.
December 21st is a big day in our house, it's diagnosis day, we've decided to turn it into a celebration from now on. By the way, Ymo and billy, you're invited to the Winter Solstice Dessert Open House Party at Chez Bostondevil on Saturday, December 20th, 7:30pm until the last scotch drinker decides to head home. Anybody else in the Boston area on December 20th? Let me know.
And of course, December 20th is party time around here, it's the first anniversary of the LTE. I'm hoping celebrations will breakout all over DBRLand.
Another good place to celebrate on 12/20 would be the Cameronlands in Jersey, when the Devils take on perennial A-10 powerhouse Xavier.
As for the Christmas discussions, I vote that Christmas officially starts the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, or the first day of the first week of Advent, for those following the Christian calendar. Your choice - I'm fine either way, but you have to wait until after Thanksgiving weekend.
Regarding radio stations that play Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I have heard rumors that they will get infected with the same kind of catastrophic mechanical failure that happens to TVs that play Jim Carrey's version of the Grinch.
I got my kitties a gift to celebrate 1 year together. They chewed on the box and were unimpressed.
I'll be grading.:mad:
But it looks like the family will be heading to NC a couple of days afterwards.
If puppy is not house-trained (likely), I'll be staying at home.
Cheers,
Lavabe
You don't really need to stay home with a not-fully-housebroken puppy (unless that's a really convenient excuse to avoid in-laws). It's really not too hard to travel with a little one like that. Just as you would at home, just take her out more often than seems natural or necessary. And get a package of those puppy pads.
Will you be crate training little Van Gorp? That would also be really helpful. You'll be surprised how much she'll learn in just a few weeks, and with a bit of diligence, you can travel with her just fine.
My nephew has been accepted at the main campus of Penn State - Engineering. He no longer has to practice "Do you want fries with that?", which his family was making him do in front of a mirror since he wasn't working on his college applications very diligently. What a relief.
Hopefully, he will continue to apply to the other schools he is considering.
I was going to post some smartaleck comment that JB Duke was not an engineer, but in fact a businessman. In trying to find something to back up my statement, I googled JB Duke and stumbled on this very interesting article in which Mr. Duke addresses the economy of the late 1800's/early 1900's and the then current presidential election (I didn't see a year corresponding with the article, and don't know my history well enough to pin down a year). Change a few names and it almost reads as something written today.
Did not mean to turn this into a PPB discussion, but found it interesting and wanted to share with my friends.
Wonder what Mr. Duke would say if he knew of this board with his family name on it celebrating a sport at a school named after his family.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...659C946396D6CF
A few other amusing tidbits, the correspondent (I love that the author kept referring to themself throughout the article as "the correspondent") initially approached Mr. and Mrs. Duke to inquire about specifics as regards the dress Mrs. Duke wore to meet their majesties.