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Monday, December 29, 2008

Party's over

Well, I have successfully frittered away my 5-day weekend. It seems like only yesterday I was still deep in pre-holiday stressing and now it's all over but the dead tree removal.

Having Christmas Eve day off really saved my heiny. I still had a few gifts to buy so I headed out to the mall early. WTH?!?! So did everyone and their cousin. It took me 10 minutes just to nab a parking place. I heard on the news that people were shopping late this year which really irritates me. That is MY time! All you organized people are supposed to be well out of my way by December 24th! You cannot just randomly decide to take over our procrastinators' shopping time.

I had everything purchased and wrapped by noon. Yay me! Can I just say that one good thing about this recession is that Christmas seemed much simpler this year. There wasn't all that crazy buy-a-gift-for-your-dog's-pedicurist mentality. I mean, I'm all about the spirit of giving but I just don't need another bag of candied fruit slices. Especially when there are people out there who don't even have breakfast.

The afternoon was set aside for lefse making. For those of you whose last name doesn't end in -son, lefse is basically a Norwegian potato tortilla. You butter it up, sprinkle it with sugar, roll it like you're gonna smoke it and yum! It's good but it's also a lot of work and goes better with a helper. Omega agreed to do the cooking if I rolled it out. This lasted all of three very browned pieces... because she was paying more attention to texting her friends than watching her work. I got a little um... testy and soon it was just me doing everything since Alpha was off snowboarding with some totally hunky guy and Homer was... oh, just STARTING his shopping. Anyway, it turned out quite well.

We had lasagna for dinner on Christmas Eve and then we opened out presents! This is the way both Homer and I grew up and still seems to be the norm back in the 'Otas but it is NOT the way of You-tah. People here couldn't be more shocked by our actions if we pantsed Santa in the food court but it's worked for generations of Jane-people, which are easily identified in a crowd by their lack of Christmas morning eye bags. We get to sleep in because all that's left for Christmas morning is stocking stuffers and noon church. We used to do midnight mass, which is actually at 11pm, but who can stay up THAT late any more?

Christmas Day we had our traditional ham and potato dumplings... and lefse... and a little squash for color. This totally defies the family green bean casserole custom but my mother ruined that for me by using canned green beans. I can't even talk about it without throwing up a little.

And, well, that pretty much sums up our Christmas... except for the laundry. Did anyone else do laundry on Christmas Day? I just couldn't help myself. It's that Siren washer... she calls to me.

I spent the rest of the weekend doing odds and ends and rearranging the family room for the new BIG tv that Santa brought. We just need to hang it on the wall... when Homer gets the mount... right after the second coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A p.s. on the morning dog pee story: I never realize how freaky I sound until I expose some little habit of mine to all of blogdom, and once again feel the need to explain myself. You don't even have to pretend you care. This is about my needs.

Pepperann doesn't wake me up to go out. My Sweet Pepper not only stays in bed as long as I do, but she does her best to defend me from the moocherous cats that try to wake me with paw slaps to the nose and insistent mah-rowing that means it is time for morning kibbles. True,
sometimes her 'defense' is more rousting than the cats, but her intentions are good.

Back when PA was new to our home, I used to take her out first thing in the morning and I would tell her to pee and then wait for her to perform. This serves two purposes: one is that it's
very helpful to have a dog trained to pee on command if you are traveling for instance and two, I then know that she is drained and has not fallen victim to some distraction like a blade of grass or say... the air. It only takes a minute and then we return to the kitchen and put the feedbags on.

A year to the day, after PepperAnn moved in, I got distracted by Alpha's birthday breakfast and I FORGOT to take PA out. She peed right next to Alpha's bed. That was her first accident in almost year so I blame only myself for breaking our routine. I should also mention that she does have a dog door and she takes care of all the rest of her daily business ALL by herself, when she doesn't have visions of breakfast clouding her focus. She also takes care of herself when I am
not around, which is good because she would probably shatter her bladder waiting for anyone else in this family to arise.And now you know the sunrise story.

Uh, no, I didn't think to take my camera with me... but I did happen to know, for once, right where it was. Sometimes that happens.

    21 comments:

    Diane said...

    "Right after the second coming." I love how you save the best for last!

    Miss Thystle said...

    Does anyone in your house notice when the pet's water dishes are empty? MINE EITHER. WTF is up with that?

    Aren't you SUPER EXCITED that it's year end and then it's the most magical time of the year in accounting land? I'm sharpening my pencils and filling the ten key with paper and ink as I type this, I'm THAT excited!

    Cindy said...

    Yes Jane I did laundry Christmas morning...also killed another vacuum cleaner..(#6 if anyone is counting.)Those potato things sound really good.
    I'm glad you had a good Christmas..Now it's on to The New Year!

    Unknown said...

    Well, we did laundry on Boxing Day.. almost as good as Christmas day..LOL We had a dog like PA.. you had to go out with her first thing, then it was much more "self reliant".. Glad you don't sound as though you still want to kill Homer.. he must have done pretty good with his shopping.. Tell us what you got!!

    Tracie said...

    My family - by which I mean my birth family, not the family I married - has always had lasagne AND opened presents on Christmas Eve. Atleast we did until my stupid brother messed it all up, but that's another story!

    Tracie said...

    Oh, and yes I did do laundry on , Christmas Eve,Christmas Day, and the day after that and so on & so forth.

    Anonymous said...

    I pantsed Santa in the food court one year. It's surprising how many people notice that kind of thing. Most of the time they walk around in a bovine daze, oblivious to all around them.

    I know exactly what you mean about morning routine...pee, coffee, smoke. I can not alter the first three steps of my day without disastrous results. I tried it once, and ended up at work naked from the waist down.

    I did have on a shirt and tie, so I wasn't completely embarrassed.

    Anonymous said...

    Your blog always makes me laugh! And, sorry, maybe it's at your expense?? Hope you are feeling better in the whole ear dealie... My dog has that morning routine as well... yeah, funny how she only gets excited when I wake up...'cause I make sure she's taken care of! Hope you have a Happy New Year!

    ShanaM said...

    I did laundry on Christmas Eve but not Christmas Day!! I tried hard not to!!

    t i m said...

    Do laundry?

    I've people that do that for me. :)

    PS: sorry about the small-ish font, I'll make it a bit bigger.

    Noanie said...

    Your Christmas sounds delightful - yea for you getting a big screen TV! Now tell the truth - won't you be installing the bracket so it gets done correctly?
    Peace

    Angie Ledbetter said...

    Jane, them lefty tortillas sound really awesome! We do the Christmas thing on the Eve too...church at 4:00 then a big fat Italian buffet. On the big day, it's sleep in and then head on out to Waffle House for brunch. Ah!

    Yep on the clothes washing. What's up with that?

    And, because I'm generous like dat, I'll clue you in on the late shopping -- never go anywhere near the mall. I get all my stuff done by going to restaurant drive thru windows, at the hardware store (something for everyone there!), and little out of the way places like that. Try it. :) Happy 09 to you and yours!

    Anonymous said...

    Looks like some sort of chicken concoction tonight with garlic, olives and God only knows what else!

    I just visited my neighbor. There is carpet everywhere, including on the walls!! But they swear they are almost finished!!! Uh Oh!!!

    You never fail to crack me up and make me....Ooops!! be right back!!!! Made it!! Better!

    I hope you all have a Happy New Year! 2009 has got to be better, right? RIGHT??

    I remember the Lefse from last year! And yeah, canned green beans don't cut it!! I gagged a little too!!

    As for your P A story, I let mt dogs outside every morning and they 'do their thing', except for our Dachshund, Baxter. He waddles in, eats and then pees 6" from the doggy door!! What's with that!! I need to put 'Dog Whisperer' on speed dial!!

    Catch ya later, my fellow bean counter!!!

    Kelly said...

    Lasagna on Christmas Eve? I need to borrow that tradition. We had chili this year, but my son won't eat that...he'll scarf down lasagna though.

    Kat said...

    OMG! OMG! OMG! You and my hubby's family! Did you people NEVER listen to THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS?????

    Shall I quote "stockings stuffed by the chimney with care...all nestled in our beds, WAITING on SANTA to appear" or some shit like that...

    Santa comes while you are SLEEPING on Christmas EVE, and you WAKE UP to find stockings stuffed and wonderful presents. Your poor, poor deprived children! I sit here flabbergasted, totally flabbergasted!

    No I did not do laundry on Christmas Day, I actually didn't do crap with the exception of feeling like crap, but Santa was good to us ALL when we WOKE UP CHRISTMAS morning! GAH!

    Shupe said...

    my house I do half and half. OPen ALL the gifts at my mothers on xmas eve- and then then one here- and the rest in the morning-

    everyone does their thing-
    What counts are the memories! You make them- and I applaud you love!

    Shauna said...

    Hope you had a Merry Christmas! ♥ Hugs :) Shauna

    Sultan said...

    God I want Lefse now! How hard is it to make?

    Anonymous said...

    Your Christmas sounds lovely Jane, and so is that sunrise.
    Had to laugh at Omega getting caught up in the texting. That happens on a daily basis around here. Ask Nik to do the dishes and an hour later they are still there and she's standing at the sink texting someone or other. I give her "the look" and that usually does the trick. Or used to anyway.
    If I don't get back by - May you and yours have a wonderful New Year with tons of love and laughter. With you there - that's a given.
    Deb

    Femin Susan said...

    Hi......
    Your blog is really interesting... Keep posting.... Wishing you " A Happy New Year''

    Anonymous said...

    Shouldn't there be an "I" inbetween the P and the A? Please don't hate me! g