Dreaming of the White's Christmas...

Christmas time has come and gone... and I don't know weather to be sad it's over or happy I survived...

To start off, the Winter Solstice was the week of Christmas and a friend of mine told me that on the day of the Winter Solstice you can stand an egg on it's end because of the magnetic pull of the Earth was aligned or something like that.

Of course I had to experiment...

And it works! It weebled and it wobbled and... it actually fell down really easily. Point it it worked...
The next day, nothing. The same egg just flopped onto it's side, I tried about six eggs just made sure it wan't a fluke. Alas it's true just on the Solstice...

So as we prepared for Christmas, we made our house look like a Seasonal Concepts(do those still exist?) store threw up on it. Which is to say it looks awesome!

We have an artificial tree because I have terrible allergies, our tree is an all white one with primarily red and silver ornaments. Some people have said it looks like it belongs in a Target add... you be the judge.

Maybe it does look like a Target add, but that's fine because Target is awesome.

So the Thursday before Christmas I went to Kroger with Harper while Meg cleaned. Good GOD.

So in Rome the Kroger shopping center is set up like this...

K /Hibbits//a road//TJ Maxx/ Ross/Barnes and Noble/Peir 1/Michaels/ a few small stores...

r

o                the Kroger parking lot ends about

g                            *here

e                 I had to park                              *here

r

As I dodged cars and fought to get the last shopping cart I breathed a sign of relief because it couldn't be any worse inside the store...WRONG.

I raced to get the last Smithfield ham...it said Smithfield ham on my list so no other ham would do. After eating said ham, it was worth cart blocking the three families and turning the disabled womans scooter the other way to get it. I also got the last one of these items; cream cheese, apple cider, and fresh cranberries. Megan made a ham, a turkey, dressing, chocolate cream cheese bars and mashed sweet potatoes. My mom made biscuits and green been bundles, and Megan's mom made squash casserole and potato salad. 

We had seven people eating all of said food. All of it was excellent... and now we don't have to buy any food this week.

On her third Christmas Harper finally started getting in on the fun. She now has more toys than some stores, and learned new words like rip, tear, and dadadadada  PLEASE! She had a great time, and everyone else did watching her too. 

This is her wearing one of her presents.

Cute huh?

There are pink leggings and pink and orange light up shoes under that... so pretty much awesome outfit.

So Christmas was awesome, and I hope yours was also!

On another note my dad got me a couple of steaks, this is my lunch today thanks to him.

I know your jealous...but try not to drool. No one likes a sticky keyboard!

In case your wondering yes those are perfectly charred edges, and yes the center is a perfect medium rare pink.

Merry Christmas, and have a happy new year...and don't judge my hat...

Stuck Between Stations...

Today cleaning up our apartment I was listening to a jazz record by an extremely talented guitar player named Wes Montgomery. You probably have no idea who he is unless you are into jazz or just love guitar music.

I first heard his music in 2004 when I was working part time at an antique store called Antiques on the Square, If you are ever in Marietta it's a great place to see. Jim the owner/manager/sales staff was starting to expand the sale of vinyl records and needed some help getting all the albums cataloged and priced.

At the time I was going into my Junior year in high school and had really just discovered a rabid fascination with music I was listening to everything I could get my hands on and learning all I could about the artists I liked. The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, the Velvet Underground, Lynyrd Skynyrd and so many more. I played in a punk rock band I think we were called 10 Gun Consortium, it's hard to tell for sure because I played with some incarceration of that band for about six years and we changed our name about 30 times.

At the antiques store Jim and his wife Melissa always kept music on usually jazz, blues, pop and rock that didn't offend anyone that may wonder into the store, these days they have one of the most extensive record catalogues in north Atlanta so there is no telling what you may hear them playing.

As I was going through all these albums Id come across artists I'd never heard of like Stanley Jordan, Herb Alpert, Boston, Suzie Quatro, and Lightning Hopins. If it was something I hadn't heard we would listen to it, and more often than not I would like it. When I ran across something that I liked that Jim thought was lame he never said, "wow that is terrible, why would you listen to that?", or any of the typical responses, he would always say something like, "that's not really my thing but I understand why you like it".

Through the years working there during summer vacation and Christmas break I would sit near the stereo and expand my knowledge, correct my misconceptions, and talk about music.

I am forever indebted to Jim and Melissa for many reasons, one is they let me keep a lot of records, mostly albums without covers they couldn't sell or that were badly damaged, another is they showed me how awesome the Beatles are. At the time I was working there I had only heard the songs my mom liked, "Obla di, Obla da" and "Yellow Submarine" the sort of happy tunes that made them famous and I was listening to Motorhead, Soundgarden, Megadeth the sort of bands that want to "Shake your Blood" not the kind that "Wanna Hold Your Hand". They let me hear songs like "Happyness is a Warm Gun" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that appealed to my sick, twisted teenage mind.

It's a pleasure to listen to these songs today and remember the first time I heard them, the way I felt and how they have made their impact in my life in their own way. here's a link to a Wes Montgomery tune, I hope all of you enjoy it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOm17yw__6U

Peace on Earth and good will to Jedi...

Christmas time is here!

Our apartment looks like a Hallmark threw up on it, and the stockings are hung by the television with care. If we try to install a fireplace we'll probably violate our rent agreement... not to mention we'd have a lynch mob around here in about six seconds.

My stocking has Yoda on it, because nothing says Christmas like a 900 year old alien midget that speaks with a Ms.Piggy voice.

Last Saturday Harper turned two, she speaks in sentences, uses a potty, and usually sleeps through the night. Two years ago that was inconceivable, she was so small. A little 5 pound 11 ounce string bean of a baby that had to sleep in her car seat because the bassinet was cavernous to her. She was born with dark blue eyes that  were more alert at two hours old than many adults, and though they are green brown now they haven't lost any of their alert intensity.

Last week she came with my dad and I when I got a haircut, after it was finished I walked over to her and she looked at me with the most shocked and puzzled look  and said, "Dada! What you do?". It was incredibly entertaining.

It is in the 30's today and has snowed on and off for the past two days, my metal hip is barking it's good thing Christmas cheer is overly evident this year. Everyone I talk to seems full of a quiet determination to spread a little bit of cheer, and that is always a very good thing.

So maybe this year we can find a little peace on Earth... or maybe just a little bit of peace within ourselves and have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, and if you celebrate a holiday that I didn't mention (Kwanzaa, Diwali, Festivus) insert appropriate holiday greeting.