Oh, that we could always see such commercials through the year.
I haven't posted in a while because I've actually been celebrating the holidays somewhat this year. Right now I'm sitting here sipping hot chocolate in my pajamas, so let's catch up a bit. Last weekend was our annual company dinner. The managers treated all of us to dinner at a swanky Italian restaurant. It was crowded and we had to park about a mile away, but it was still fun. I had Shirley Temples and pepperoni pizza, tried a tiny bite of calamari for the first time (blegh), and Sara and I split a slice of chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert. She said later that my manager J--- looks just like Jane Adams and coworker R----- looks like the evil leader of the carjacking ring in Adventures in Baby-Sitting. Upon reflection, I kinda have to agree!
After that, I took Sara out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant for her birthday. I don't really like Chinese food, but I found chicken tenders, sugar rolls, and a few other things to eat. After that, I attended a Hanukkah party at the home of some temple members. I'm still amazed that I actually went. I'm not very good in social situations and it was held during the few precious hours a week when I can still see The Golden Girls, so I'd seriously considered just staying home. But I'll do almost anything for latkes! They were delicious, and I actually had a pretty good time at the party. I was amazed by how many young Jews my age were there. Coming from such an old, small temple, I guess I'm still not used it.
Last night was the big latke dinner at my temple, which I really enjoyed. I look forward to Hanukkah all year just for the latkes. This year, the wait wasn't quite so bad because I got some at the Jewish Food Festival and in " Jew York City," but I still kept going back for more last night. They also served some really delicious macaroni & cheese. We all played dreidel and bingo while we ate, and I saw some really amazing menorahs, including this one that belonged to the Gold----- family and this one. A popular topic of conversation for the night was the recent pulling of The Interview, and whether Sony hacked themselves and blamed it on North Korea as one big publicity stunt.
I finally finished up my Christmas shopping a few days ago. It was all done online this year. I actually wandered into a Walgreen's one evening to buy something for Mom, but I just couldn't deal with it. The annoying, overplayed Christmas songs. The thought of standing in line to buy anything after standing up at work all day. The exhausted, dead-eyed retail workers. The meaningless, impersonal gifts. There was nothing there that I couldn't remember buying for Mom a million times before, either for Christmas or her birthday or Mother's Day. Socks, body wash, chocolate-covered cherries (how is she not sick of those yet?), etc. I walked out without buying anything, grumbling about how hard she was to shop for. (It also kinda bugs me that she always goes overboard on getting gifts for us. We're adults. We don't still need damn stocking stuffers.) Later, it occurred to me that maybe I'm just bad at shopping. If someone really wants to get the same stuff over and over, why not give it to them? I mean, Mom always gave Grandma the same thing (a nightgown, every single year), so why not adopt that tradition? Finally, I just ordered her a few things from Ten Thousand Villages, bought Sara and Adam each one thing that they wanted, and was done with it.
I brought a big batch of bacon & eggs to the Hanukkah party and a smaller batch to Star Trek Club this week. I'll probably make some more tomorrow to bring to work, and I'm thinking about taking some to the animal shelter, too. I've been trying to find a few ways to give back this year, so I donated to the library food drive (they were hosting a program of rescinding your overdue fines in return for a food donation), donated one of my plarn purses to be sold at an auction for an Israeli charity (I didn't attend the auction myself because I didn't want to know how little it likely sold for), and passed the profit I made from a big order of plarn purses onto the cash-strapped temple in my hometown.
We finally saw this old commercial on TV last weekend, and Sara was so excited. She'd been watching for it. This, the M&Ms meet Santa, and the Hershey Kisses "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" are the oldest holiday commercials I can remember. We see them every year.
Only FIVE DAYS MORE until Christmas is over and I can finally hear real music on the radio again!!!
After that, I took Sara out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant for her birthday. I don't really like Chinese food, but I found chicken tenders, sugar rolls, and a few other things to eat. After that, I attended a Hanukkah party at the home of some temple members. I'm still amazed that I actually went. I'm not very good in social situations and it was held during the few precious hours a week when I can still see The Golden Girls, so I'd seriously considered just staying home. But I'll do almost anything for latkes! They were delicious, and I actually had a pretty good time at the party. I was amazed by how many young Jews my age were there. Coming from such an old, small temple, I guess I'm still not used it.
Last night was the big latke dinner at my temple, which I really enjoyed. I look forward to Hanukkah all year just for the latkes. This year, the wait wasn't quite so bad because I got some at the Jewish Food Festival and in " Jew York City," but I still kept going back for more last night. They also served some really delicious macaroni & cheese. We all played dreidel and bingo while we ate, and I saw some really amazing menorahs, including this one that belonged to the Gold----- family and this one. A popular topic of conversation for the night was the recent pulling of The Interview, and whether Sony hacked themselves and blamed it on North Korea as one big publicity stunt.
I finally finished up my Christmas shopping a few days ago. It was all done online this year. I actually wandered into a Walgreen's one evening to buy something for Mom, but I just couldn't deal with it. The annoying, overplayed Christmas songs. The thought of standing in line to buy anything after standing up at work all day. The exhausted, dead-eyed retail workers. The meaningless, impersonal gifts. There was nothing there that I couldn't remember buying for Mom a million times before, either for Christmas or her birthday or Mother's Day. Socks, body wash, chocolate-covered cherries (how is she not sick of those yet?), etc. I walked out without buying anything, grumbling about how hard she was to shop for. (It also kinda bugs me that she always goes overboard on getting gifts for us. We're adults. We don't still need damn stocking stuffers.) Later, it occurred to me that maybe I'm just bad at shopping. If someone really wants to get the same stuff over and over, why not give it to them? I mean, Mom always gave Grandma the same thing (a nightgown, every single year), so why not adopt that tradition? Finally, I just ordered her a few things from Ten Thousand Villages, bought Sara and Adam each one thing that they wanted, and was done with it.
I brought a big batch of bacon & eggs to the Hanukkah party and a smaller batch to Star Trek Club this week. I'll probably make some more tomorrow to bring to work, and I'm thinking about taking some to the animal shelter, too. I've been trying to find a few ways to give back this year, so I donated to the library food drive (they were hosting a program of rescinding your overdue fines in return for a food donation), donated one of my plarn purses to be sold at an auction for an Israeli charity (I didn't attend the auction myself because I didn't want to know how little it likely sold for), and passed the profit I made from a big order of plarn purses onto the cash-strapped temple in my hometown.
We finally saw this old commercial on TV last weekend, and Sara was so excited. She'd been watching for it. This, the M&Ms meet Santa, and the Hershey Kisses "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" are the oldest holiday commercials I can remember. We see them every year.
Click to view
Only FIVE DAYS MORE until Christmas is over and I can finally hear real music on the radio again!!!