December meme: Days 25-30
25 - No one asked anything today, so I will tell you how I know Santa Claus is real:
- Once, a lot of years ago (I think over 15 because I don't think I was married yet), the hubby (or hubby-to-be) and I were walking around in one of the local malls. We were on the second floor and I looked across the floor to the other side of this big open area that overlooked the first floor. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over there was Santa and all the kids in line to get their picture with him. I said to the hubby "Look, there's Santa", and Santa LOOKED at me. Like, there was no way he could hear me, but he KNEW I was there and talking about him, and he looked. So I waved and waved and he waved back and it was awesome.
My kids ask me how it could be Santa (because they don't believe in Santa Claus, because they are ridiculous), because everyone knows there's no Santa, and even if there was, they're all fake Santas at the mall. And I explain to them that the real Santa comes to a mall somewhere in America and sits there for a day and sees all the kids and looks for people who really believe in him. And that day, Santa was there, and he saw me and he knew I believed. (the next day I was at the mall again for something, and the Santa that was there was DIFFERENT. So don't try to tell me that wasn't the real Santa).
Another story from when I was a kid - my sister and I were upstairs getting all dressed up for Christmas. My mom always got or made us matching(ish) dresses/outfits, so we were getting into those outfits. My dad was downstairs and suddenly the doorbell rang. We didn't think anything of it except my dad opened the door and HE WAS TALKING TO SANTA. My sister and I rushed to the bannister but we couldn't see over it, so we hurried down the stairs, but by the time we got there, there was a PILE of presents at the door and Santa was gone. We rushed over to open the door and we could hear bells and him saying "Ho ho ho", only it was getting farther and farther away.
So Santa is real. Because my dad talked to him.
26 - No one asked anything today either, so I will talk about the cartoons of my childhood and The Muppets
- I love cartoons from before my time and from when I was a kid. Things like "Scooby Doo" (the REAL one with the REAL voices and WITHOUT Scrappy Doo) and "Wacky Races" and all of Looney Tunes and just stuff that was fun and had those multiple levels of jokes and innuendo that make them watchable now as an adult. The things that you look back on and wonder how they got away with what they did - violence and smoking and crossdressing. It was AMAZING.
I grew up with cartoons and The Muppets was, like, the crowning achievement of my time. Sesame Street debuted the year I was born, and thus we were fated to always be linked. I wanted to be a journalist because of Kermit the Frog. He will always be my forever frog. Though Grover and he are probably tied for my everlasting affection. (Elmo is a cheap Grover knock-off and annoying and I hate him and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK IS GOVER, OKAY? IT IS NEVER ELMO AND WILL NEVER BE ELMO.)
For turps33: Disneyland
- I love Disneyland. A lot of people, when they talk about one of my good qualities or what they like about me, will mention my enthusiasm for things. Disneyland is like the manifestation of that. I love the rides and the cast members and the people dressed up as characters (shut up, they're actually the characters, don't try to pretend otherwise). I love the atmosphere of joy that permeates the place. I love cake and ice creams in the shape of Mickey's head. I love riding Space Mountain again and again. I love riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night when the fireworks are going off. I love the songs and the movies and how everyone is a kid when they walk through the gates. I love that it's about imagination and belief in the same way that Santa Claus is. I love that all Disneyland asks is that you leave adulthood at the door and stare at everything through the eyes of a child when imagination and discovery meant you could believe in anything.
28 - No one asked anything today either, so I will tell you about nicknames
- I was always superjealous of people who had nicknames. Neither my first or middle name lent itself to a nickname (Laurie is not a nickname for Laura because it is LONGER) and I get very upset over why Jack is a nickname for John BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. I had a nickname when I was in junior high that was related to my maiden name (which was my last name at the time, obvs), and my dad called me "Sis" or "Sam", but I never had a REAL nickname. I made sure, when I named my kids, that they could have nicknames, because I didn't want them to suffer the same as I did. /drama
At work one of the girls calls me "Lola", which is how she used to say "Laura" when she was younger, so I find that to be cool. Feel free to call me that (though I may not answer)
29 - Another day of no asking, so I will talk about what I got for Christmas:
- I got a new fancy coat since the other one that I got last year is now too too big. I got a t-shirt and Disney villain cupcake necklaces. I got a new ipod and a gift certificate for a year's membership to the Seattle International Film Festival/society. I got a USB record player. I got Disney villain make up. It was a very awesome Christmas for us, and I hope if you celebrate it was for you too. And if you don't, I hope you had an awesome day.
For anonymous_sibyl - birthdays:
- I love birthdays. Or I did. I spend a lot of time doing things for other people, so I kind of look at my birthday as a day other people do things for me. Or think about me. However, the year of my 40th birthday I threw what was supposed to be a big party. It was Clue themed and it was going to be amazing. Except hardly anyone came. I was super grateful to the people who did, but I had invited pretty much everyone I knew and bought tons of food, and it just...wasn't.
The year after that was even worse because only one local person remembered, which made everyone else forgetting/not caring even worse. The year after that my work was really amazing, so I didn't hate birthdays quite as much. I still love them (even did through all that), but I don't expect as much anymore, and I don't look forward to it the way I did.
Wow. That's a downer.
Which is totally not to make you think I don't totally 100% mean it when I wish anonymous_sibyl and indigo419 happy happy birthdays on the 30th. <333
- Once, a lot of years ago (I think over 15 because I don't think I was married yet), the hubby (or hubby-to-be) and I were walking around in one of the local malls. We were on the second floor and I looked across the floor to the other side of this big open area that overlooked the first floor. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over there was Santa and all the kids in line to get their picture with him. I said to the hubby "Look, there's Santa", and Santa LOOKED at me. Like, there was no way he could hear me, but he KNEW I was there and talking about him, and he looked. So I waved and waved and he waved back and it was awesome.
My kids ask me how it could be Santa (because they don't believe in Santa Claus, because they are ridiculous), because everyone knows there's no Santa, and even if there was, they're all fake Santas at the mall. And I explain to them that the real Santa comes to a mall somewhere in America and sits there for a day and sees all the kids and looks for people who really believe in him. And that day, Santa was there, and he saw me and he knew I believed. (the next day I was at the mall again for something, and the Santa that was there was DIFFERENT. So don't try to tell me that wasn't the real Santa).
Another story from when I was a kid - my sister and I were upstairs getting all dressed up for Christmas. My mom always got or made us matching(ish) dresses/outfits, so we were getting into those outfits. My dad was downstairs and suddenly the doorbell rang. We didn't think anything of it except my dad opened the door and HE WAS TALKING TO SANTA. My sister and I rushed to the bannister but we couldn't see over it, so we hurried down the stairs, but by the time we got there, there was a PILE of presents at the door and Santa was gone. We rushed over to open the door and we could hear bells and him saying "Ho ho ho", only it was getting farther and farther away.
So Santa is real. Because my dad talked to him.
26 - No one asked anything today either, so I will talk about the cartoons of my childhood and The Muppets
- I love cartoons from before my time and from when I was a kid. Things like "Scooby Doo" (the REAL one with the REAL voices and WITHOUT Scrappy Doo) and "Wacky Races" and all of Looney Tunes and just stuff that was fun and had those multiple levels of jokes and innuendo that make them watchable now as an adult. The things that you look back on and wonder how they got away with what they did - violence and smoking and crossdressing. It was AMAZING.
I grew up with cartoons and The Muppets was, like, the crowning achievement of my time. Sesame Street debuted the year I was born, and thus we were fated to always be linked. I wanted to be a journalist because of Kermit the Frog. He will always be my forever frog. Though Grover and he are probably tied for my everlasting affection. (Elmo is a cheap Grover knock-off and annoying and I hate him and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK IS GOVER, OKAY? IT IS NEVER ELMO AND WILL NEVER BE ELMO.)
For turps33: Disneyland
- I love Disneyland. A lot of people, when they talk about one of my good qualities or what they like about me, will mention my enthusiasm for things. Disneyland is like the manifestation of that. I love the rides and the cast members and the people dressed up as characters (shut up, they're actually the characters, don't try to pretend otherwise). I love the atmosphere of joy that permeates the place. I love cake and ice creams in the shape of Mickey's head. I love riding Space Mountain again and again. I love riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night when the fireworks are going off. I love the songs and the movies and how everyone is a kid when they walk through the gates. I love that it's about imagination and belief in the same way that Santa Claus is. I love that all Disneyland asks is that you leave adulthood at the door and stare at everything through the eyes of a child when imagination and discovery meant you could believe in anything.
28 - No one asked anything today either, so I will tell you about nicknames
- I was always superjealous of people who had nicknames. Neither my first or middle name lent itself to a nickname (Laurie is not a nickname for Laura because it is LONGER) and I get very upset over why Jack is a nickname for John BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. I had a nickname when I was in junior high that was related to my maiden name (which was my last name at the time, obvs), and my dad called me "Sis" or "Sam", but I never had a REAL nickname. I made sure, when I named my kids, that they could have nicknames, because I didn't want them to suffer the same as I did. /drama
At work one of the girls calls me "Lola", which is how she used to say "Laura" when she was younger, so I find that to be cool. Feel free to call me that (though I may not answer)
29 - Another day of no asking, so I will talk about what I got for Christmas:
- I got a new fancy coat since the other one that I got last year is now too too big. I got a t-shirt and Disney villain cupcake necklaces. I got a new ipod and a gift certificate for a year's membership to the Seattle International Film Festival/society. I got a USB record player. I got Disney villain make up. It was a very awesome Christmas for us, and I hope if you celebrate it was for you too. And if you don't, I hope you had an awesome day.
For anonymous_sibyl - birthdays:
- I love birthdays. Or I did. I spend a lot of time doing things for other people, so I kind of look at my birthday as a day other people do things for me. Or think about me. However, the year of my 40th birthday I threw what was supposed to be a big party. It was Clue themed and it was going to be amazing. Except hardly anyone came. I was super grateful to the people who did, but I had invited pretty much everyone I knew and bought tons of food, and it just...wasn't.
The year after that was even worse because only one local person remembered, which made everyone else forgetting/not caring even worse. The year after that my work was really amazing, so I didn't hate birthdays quite as much. I still love them (even did through all that), but I don't expect as much anymore, and I don't look forward to it the way I did.
Wow. That's a downer.
Which is totally not to make you think I don't totally 100% mean it when I wish anonymous_sibyl and indigo419 happy happy birthdays on the 30th. <333