Have You Started Yet?

Have you begun your holiday who-ha, what-not, doo-dads and or shopping yet?

Just wondering if anyone has set up their tree or put up any lights or anything yet?

Have you dug out the ornaments, hung a wreath on your door, or put out any lawn ornaments?

Do you own a santa hat? yes, I do, and I often wear it but not until it gets a little closer to x-mas. (gotta say I look pretty darn good in it too [img]wink.gif[/img] )

Have you made a list and checked it twice?

Have you been naughty or nice?

Have you written a letter to santa or gone to see him?

Have you gone by yourself to see santa or did you take your kids? [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]

Just wondering if anyone had gotten started on their holiday stuff yet.

Since I've taken on the Zoroastrian religion, I partake in none of these activities. I'm sick of having your Christian faith crammed down my throat.

Most of the presents are bought, many are wrapped and the mantle and bookcase in the living room are decorated.

The Big Sexy made an exception for gae due to her strong believes about the Christmas Holiday. He bought trav and her a gift certificate to The Northside Exit.

I've done a little shopping and some light to moderate who-ha-ing [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Still have some to go. I get off easy, I really dont have many to buy for.

Gotta get over to my mom's to set up the tree for her.

Havent hit the main who-ha, what-not and doo dads yet although I have sneaked a peak at some.

Still a lot of time to do so. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Come to think of it, no-one at work has said anything to me about a "secret santa" or gift exchange thing which is good since I wont do it anywho.
I try to avoid things like that, it causes more animosity than good as far as I'm concerned.

The Northside Exit? Is that what we're calling the Ludlow Viaduct now?

Quote:

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Originally posted by gae:
The Northside Exit? Is that what we're calling the Ludlow Viaduct now?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You go to visit Nasir, don't you? Haven't you ever looked at the business on the opposite corner? The one that's been there for a couple years now? Hello?

You have completely spoiled my Christmas spirit of goodwill toward all men. The Holiday Season is ruined.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 01, 2005 08:29 AM: Message edited by: The Big Sexy ]</font>

I'm giving you all the same thing I gave you last year.
Another year of my profound nonsense on this board LOL! [img]wink.gif[/img]


Happy H [img]cool.gif[/img] H [img]cool.gif[/img] !


[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

The Big Sexy was not aware The Northside Exit was defunct. He supposes your gift certficates are now worthless.

About that corner. The owner of the building has put a "no trespassing" order with the CPD, so there is to be no loitering at that building. The po-lice have the right to run anyone off as the landlord has instructed.

AS you probably know, that corner has seen some suspicious activity.

(Note: Thanks for the email. The Big Sexy responded. He should also point out that he didn't just play flag football, he came up with the idea, organized it, held a draft, created a rules committee who crafted an 8 page document, had a fully attired official (albeit for soccer), reserved a field, and most remarkably - got 16 people, a ref and a cheerleader to agree on a specific time and date three months in advance and have every last one of them not only show up, but show up on time. Not to mention there was immediate post game talk of a rematch. He even got all 8 players on his team to show up for a Saturday morning practice! Damn, The Big Sexy is good!)

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 01, 2005 01:29 PM: Message edited by: The Big Sexy ]</font>

That snow blowing around kind of adds to the haoliday thang.

Kinda funny, I dont know that area of town at all, so I'm trying to get a mental picture of what you two are talking about.

So far I see Gae and Trav driving by a vacant building with reason pulling on the locked doors of it tries to get in LOL [img]wink.gif[/img]


With no wife, no girlfriend and no kids I really do get off easy when it comes to holiday gift buying.

Got you PM gae, but cant reply until you empty your PM box.

As for your message, yes I did know that [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]

Ah, dear Big Sexy... do you mean the defunct business or the place on the south west corner to Nasir's fine establishment? You know the one I mean -- hand lettered signs advertising "hooooodeyies" and the like.

If you are talking about the defunct business, trav and I went by Tuesday night on our way to Bacalls and I opined that obviously having The Big Sexy bitch works.

BTW, check your email. You'll get a smile from it and I will simply say that it's obvious that my work is done.

The 'Droid procured two holiday* presents yesterday, the earliest on record for this curmudgeon. I thunk up another one today**. I'm done for another few weeks...

*not in Sears
** NY Times Sunday subscription for my formerly staunch Republican mother turning raging Democrat.

Jumper & D2 are actually way ahead of schedule this year. They have procured several presents for the youngsters in both families and have even discussed procuring gifts for each other.

Generally Jumper waits until Dec 20th or so before deciding to go shopping. Jumper thinks christmas is a colossal waste of time, money, and energy with all spiritual meaning subservient to the megamalls and the next great toy.

Merry fucking Xmas!

For once, I agree with Jumper. [img]frown.gif[/img]

Jumper,

Sometimes I wonder why people let the religion of commercialism take over their spirit. All you have to do is feel what?s in your heart and stay away from the malls.

Except for ourselves we are almost finished with buying and/or making all our gifts. Here is a short list of some of the things we are giving this year:

10-month-old grandson gets 30? x 18? x 18? wooden toy box with rope handles and his name on top. Box was stained dark walnut and then wiped down with stain remover to get a medium dark antique color. His name was added to the top and then the box was given two coats of high gloss polyurethane.
Toy box Kit $39.95 from The Hobby Lobby
Stencils $3.95 from The Hobby Lobby
Stain and polyurethane left over from refinishing our stairs.
Actual cost $43.90 plus tax and about four hours of my time making something with my hands and thinking about my grandson. Estimated cost from The Bombay Company at the mall $95.00.

Daughter is getting (still in progress) a sun catcher. This consists of two 3? x 3? and one 4? x 4? glass ornament hanging from a short 12? curtain rod. Tomorrow afternoon the ornaments are being constructed of two pieces of glass, one beveled and one flat with pressed flowers sandwiched between diagonally to turn the square into a diamond shape. The edges of the glass pieces will be covered with ?? copper tape and will be soldered together with a small fishing swivel at the top point. Thin copper wire will attach the ornaments to a short 12? x ?? curtain rod in a staggered pattern. The curtain rod is the type with a hole at each end that slips onto small ?U? brackets. The rod is mounted at the top of a window and the ornaments hang down spinning in the wind and reflecting colored light because the beveled edge creates a prism effect.
Glass $8.00 from the stained glass shop on Cheviot Road.
Copper tape $5.00 from the stained glass shop on Cheviot Road.
Curtain rod $1.29 from Home Depot.
Solder, swivels and copper wire from our basement.
Flowers from our garden dried and pressed by GAE this past summer.
Actual cost $14.95 plus tax and about 6 hours of our time. Estimated cost from a gift shop at the mall $65.00

Co-worker who covered for me while I was out of work for my neck surgery gets a four-ounce jar of Bahama Bob?s Jerk Spice rub and a pint jar of Mango Salsa. Spice jar has little label GAE made from clip art that has my recipe for Grilled Jerked Pork Loin. Salsa jar has tag GAE made from bright yellow card stock.
Jerk Spice estimate $2.00 from Jungle Jims
Mango Salsa estimate $1.00 from Jungle Jims
These are estimated costs because I made 12 jars of the spice rub and GAE ?canned? six jars of the salsa back in august when she also made the strawberry jam and habanera jelly we are also giving.

Our friend gets an 18? tall by 6? wide pressed leaf picture. This is a pressed and dried Boston fern leaf mounted vertically on pale yellow card stock about 3? from the bottom and angled about 30 degrees bottom left to right and a cluster of three small pressed and dried purple leaves from our ornamental plum tree mounted in the lower right corner.
Frame $.50 from E-bay (GAE got a box of 75 used frames for $35.00).
Spray paint to repaint frame $3.00 from Home Depot.
Glass $4.00 from the glass shop.
Card Stock $.25 from Kroger.
Leaves from our tree and fern pressed by GAE last month.
Total cost $7.75 and I have an almost full can of black spray paint left.

This same friend is also getting the Jerk spice and salsa gift and soup in a jar.

Soup in a jar is made from spotted pinto beans, pink beans, small dark red kidney beans, pasta Bow Ties and spices. Layer ? cup of each bean (in this case, pink, then spotted then red) in a quart jar then put ? cup pastas in plastic bag and spice mixture in another and place in jar. Attach tag with instructions.
Quart jar $1.00 from the Dollar store.
Beans, pasta and spices $1.00 from Jungle Jims.
Total cost $2.00

And before you say it, there are some hidden costs. Air compressor and nail gun $175.00 at Home Depot four years ago. Temperature controlled soldering iron $49.95 from the Hobby Lobby yesterday, but will be used for our new hobby. Next year most everyone on our list will be getting some type of stained glass item. We will be starting on them right after New Years.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 04, 2005 02:11 AM: Message edited by: travelinman ]</font>

Trav forgot a few things, but did pretty well. Last year we spent too much time and too much money buying things that people didn't need and maybe didn't even want.

This year we've had a lot of fun putting things together for people. Maybe they don't need them and don't want them, but we've saved ourselves the stress of obligatory buying and that's a great present.

Maybe you should just celebrate "Festivus" [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]

Or maybe create your own holiday that involves some weird traditions and so forth. [img]wink.gif[/img]

[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] : [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 05, 2005 09:28 AM: Message edited by: cincygreg ]</font>

Quote:

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Originally posted by The Big Sexy:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sometimes I wonder why people let the religion of commercialism take over their spirit. All you have to do is feel what?s in your heart and stay away from the malls.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Excuse me for thinking that sounds like an excellent reason for Wal Mart and Sears to call them "Holiday Sales" as opposed to "Christmas" Sales."</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I disagree. It?s the marketing and PC culture that has given birth to Holiday sales and the Holiday tree that is driving people out of the malls and big stores.

While there will always be the lemmings that follow the marketing hype, more and more people are finding that instead of feeling joyful and happy during Christmas all the feel is stress and a desire to just get the damn thing over with. People are starting to understand that even if you?re not Christian, Christmas is a time for joy and being with family and friends, time for feasting and putting on a few extra pounds, time to let your anger go and accept and show tolerance, time to reflect and enjoy the feeling of giving to those you care about. Christmas is not a time for homogenizing society nor is it the time for buying the biggest, fastest or latest high dollar item some marketing plan tells you that your kid, wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend just can?t live without.

It?s a part of human nature to want and enjoy the Christmas sprit regardless of your faith or belief.

Quote:

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Originally posted by The Big Sexy:
IN response to your craft laden post, what the hell are you a friggin' Martha Stewart?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No I?m not Martha Stuart, if I were I would live in Connecticut and be missing part of my anatomy.

gae, North-Side exit is indeed open, so your gift certificates are still redeemable. Today I saw a sign in their window advertising "hoody longsleve whittie" for only $5.00.

I'm sure supplies are limited.

IN response to your craft laden post, what the hell are you a friggin' Martha Stewart?

Quote:

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Sometimes I wonder why people let the religion of commercialism take over their spirit. All you have to do is feel what?s in your heart and stay away from the malls.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Excuse me for thinking that sounds like an excellent reason for Wal Mart and Sears to call them "Holiday Sales" as opposed to "Christmas" Sales."

I've gotten a lot of mine done allready, which is really early for me.

I actually have made it through two shopping trips without buying myself anything LOL!

Now that's a major first [img]wink.gif[/img]

[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

I have done my best to get ready for the Winter Solstice, but woad is hard to find this time of year. It is slap out at the local Super Walmart.

I do have my cube decorated with red and green garland and tiny twinkly lights. I sametimed my co-worker and told him that my garland smelled horrible and he told me not to be sniffing it. Good advice in so many, many ways.

Dont do much in the way of decorations at my place, but I do help set the tree up at my mom's.

Still havent gotten into the heavy duty who-ha-ing yet but there is planety of time for that [img]wink.gif[/img]

I have a question. How hard is it....really.....to put a shoe you try on back in it's box.

D2 and I were shopping for shoes last night at Kohls and in the shoe department, boxes and boxes of shoes were laying on the floor open. Single shoes, missing their mates, were scattered about. I mean really. How freaking hard is it, when you try on a shoe, to put said shoe back in its box and put said box back where you found it. To me, it speaks volumes about your <s>in</s>breeding and class. Stop fucking your sister Jethro.

Hence, we have the reason that the people at the counter should check (as should you) that the two shoes in the box are....

Both the same size
Not both left footed or right footed
The same brand
Not one human shoe and one horseshoe (rare, but it does happen [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]
That there arent shoes for their kids stuffed inside the adult shoes.
That there isnt one womans shoe and one mens shoe.
That there are any shoes at all in the box
That you didnt just put your own shoes that you wore in intoi a box so you could buy them again (since you really really like them [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img] )

Truthfully, I've seen that before too jumper. It really makes you wonder how difficult it is to figure out how to put a shoe back in a box.

Maybe they should have one of those pegboards with the different shapes and different size blocks up front.
If you can handle that, you can go try on some shoes [img]wink.gif[/img]