Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget but too small to be their own post.

Spouse was off work today for New Years so we went grocery shopping at 8:30 this morning. We're having friends over for dinner tomorrow and we needed to get a fresh (not frozen) turkey to roast today. We went to 4 different grocery stores and only 1 of them even had fresh turkeys. Spouse roasted the turkey and it smelled/looked amazing! Others are bringing food too. I made an orange/cranberry bundt cake.

Tonight we're going to a potluck dinner for New Year's Eve. I made sweet potato shuffle and corn casserole, my no-fail dishes. After the potluck we might meet up with some friends at a local watering hole, and we might stop in at another friend's casual New Year's eve party. There's certainly no shortage of options for us this New Years Eve!

My friend Bob sent me this, which gave me a chuckle. (Click to enlarge.)
My friend Jared sent me this:

and this...

Did you hear/read about Pat Robertson's idiotic claim that the recent heavy snow is God's punishment for Americans who were traveling to do something gay? How incredibly stupid is that?!?! Doesn't he realize that many hetero travelers were on their way to celebrate the baby Jesus' birthday with their families? How is that 'gay'? Its amazing to me that anyone even pays attention to that nutjob anymore.

I hope everyone has a FUN and SAFE New Years Eve!!

A most unpleasant task

The time had finally come so today I had to register at the unemployment office, a most unpleasant task.

Since I'd never been there before and wasn't sure exactly where it was, I entered the address from the website into mapquest before leaving the house. However, when I got to the street the addresses didn't match up. The bldg numbers were 5 digits and the one I was looking for was 3 digits. Since the numbers were getting smaller, I continued driving up the street. When I realized I was no longer in the same town, my suspicions were confirmed that the mapquest directions were sh*t. Fortunately I was able to reach a friend on the phone who gave me the correct directions. I arrived at the office at 10:30.

As if your spirits aren't low enough to begin with heading into the unemployment office, the office itself couldn't possibly be any more bleak. Large fluorescent light fixtures, dingy beige walls and asbestos tile floor, and hard plastic chairs appropriately sized for 9 year old girls placed too close together for anyone's comfort, the legs of which were latched together so they couldn't be moved. A sign on the door instructs visitors to take a number and complete the paperwork while you wait to be seen.

They were serving number 95 when I arrived, and my number was 55. When they reached 100 the numbers started over again, which meant there were 60 people in line ahead of me. Apparently the recent extension of unemployment benefits had resulted in a boatload of people coming into the office to apply for extensions. F*ck. Me. Hard.

Being the eternal optimist that I am, I told myself that there were 6 clerks working today and that the numbers would go by quickly. I was wrong. I waited 3 hours for my number to be called, despite the fact that several people apparently gave up and left. There were several times when numbers were called and no one got up to be served.

A private security guard milled around, occasionally chatting with the clerks and occasionally informed applicants that they were not allowed to stand. That's right, not allowed to stand! Several applicants were told by the security guard they would have to take a seat.

Some applicants brought their children with them, and at 1 point the children and some other non-related adults were apparently talking too loud for the comfort of 1 of the clerks who stood up and make a loud "Ssssssshhhhhhhh" sound at them.

I was completely appalled by the cavalier, lackadaisical attitude of 5 of the 6 clerks. Only 1 clerk processed the applicants quickly and efficiently. The other 5 would process and applicant, then get up and disappear for 10-15 minutes. 1 clerk did this, then returned to her desk, shuffled some papers around, put on hand lotion, walked over to the window and looked out, then returned to her desk and had a personal conversation complete with laughter with the clerk to her left. Another clerk would process 1 applicant, then slide over behind the cubicle partition (out of sight) for 10-15 minutes, then slide back over and take another applicant. It was as if they felt absolutely no urgency at all, despite the room full of applicants waiting hours for service. As if the 3 hour wait wasn't long enough, this terrible inefficiency made the wait excruciating.

The processing of my claim took barely 2 minutes, as I had filled out the paperwork completely and legibly. The clerk just needed to ask me some questions (which could have been on the paperwork for me to fill out myself) and the process of calling in weekly was explained to me. Then as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over, the clerk notified me that I now needed to go to the office across the hallway to register with Employment & Training! F*ck. Me. Harder.

I filled out more repetitious paperwork and was then instructed to sit at 1 of the computers and follow the tutorial for entering my info into the system. This appeared to be so that employers could search the unemployment applicants and vice versa to fill vacancies. Once this was completed an hour later, I was instructed to wait for a counsellor to call my name. 10 minutes later I was escorted into the counsellor's office who confirmed my address, SSN, and asked if I wanted to stay in the same industry. I lied and said yes even though my intent is to become a realtor, but I want to collect unemployment while I'm in school and not earning money so I figured it really didn't matter. She gave me websites to use for job searching and signed off on my application, which took an additional 20 minutes.

I arrived at 10:30 am and left at 3:00 pm: 4 and 1/2 f*cking hours to register for unemployment benefits! Thank god I only have to do it once. I'd have to be severely medicated to go back there again.

Procrastination

I have the tendency to procrastinate when it comes to unpleasant tasks or things I just don't want to do. You'd think that dealing with the consequences of procrastinating a few times would cure me of the habit.

Take for instance the time I got a parking ticket for accidentally backing into a parking space with a sign that read "Front end parking only". (It was dark and I didn't see the sign indicating the unusual request.) When I found the ticket on the windshield I muttered something vulgar under my breath and shoved the ticket in my pocket. Later the ticket was pulled from my pocket and laid on the dresser, where it sat for a few weeks. I saw it every day and kept telling myself I needed to pay it, but didn't. When I finally went to pay the ticket I found that the fine had doubled because I had not paid it by the due date.

But in contrast, I've also found that sometimes procrastinating is good! I remember finding out that I had accidentally double-booked myself to be in 2 places the same weekend. I knew I needed to tell 1 or the other person that I could not make it after all, but I procrastinated. Then, a week before the double-booked weekend, 1 of the people told me they'd need to cancel our weekend together because he had to work on Sat unexpectedly. My procrastination allowed me to avoid the uncomfortable cancellation conversation, and prevented me from cancelling with the other friend, leaving me with nothing to do on that weekend.

So although most people have a negative opinion of procrastination, I am not so sure it is entirely deserved. Maybe its one of those things that just isn't black-and-white. Maybe instead of thinking that procrastination is always a bad thing, its more realistic to take each situation on a case-by-case basis. Obviously there are some things like paying bills that should always be done on time, while other things like social over-commitments could wait to see if they work themselves out.

Perhaps having a rule against procrastination isn't necessary. Or perhaps I'm simply justifying a bad habit. What do you think?

Blogiversary

Today is this blog's 6th anniversary, or blogiversary as I like to say. Believe it or not, I have been writing Tales of the Sissy for 6 years now. Its hard for me to believe!

I'd like to thank those of you who 'follow' this blog and those who stop by from time to time. It means a lot to me that you care to read and comment! Obviously what you read here is from my point of view, but I do my best to remain as factual as possible. Sometimes its even entertaining.

Weekend highlights

Spouse & I had a nice holiday weekend. Most of it went as planned, with one disappointing exception. Because of the east coast snow storm the Newlyweds had to change their flight and they were not able to meet us for dinner Sun evening. I was so looking forward to seeing them, catching up on what has been going on with them, and just being with them.

However, on the bright side one very nice surprise happened on Thurs. We had time for dinner at the Lebanese Taverna. The food there is wonderful and we hadn't been since before we moved here 4 years ago. There was no wait for a table when we arrived, something that's never happened to us there before, and we enjoyed a fantastic meal. We started with hummus and felafel, then Spouse had chicken Fatteh and his mom and I both had chicken Shawarma. We have no such restaurant near us so this was a real treat.

On Fri my dear friend Kathryn met me at Spouse's sister's house where the family and some friends had gathered for a casual meal and to celebrate Spouse's mother's birthday. We had a lovely catch-up session along with a lot of laughs!

Sun was the day it snowed. Apparently the storm was very hard to predict so the DC area was bracing for the possibility of 6-12 inches of snow, which would absolutely shut down the entire area. Spouse's mother was beside herself, and talked about it all day. (Her OCD appears to be advancing with her age.) However, we only got flurries in the DC area, while our home got several inches followed by gusty winds.

On Mon when we got home I shoveled both driveways and the front porch, then relaxed with Spouse and caught up on my email. Later that evening we braved the elements and drove to Steven & Thad's for dinner. It seemed to take forever to get there because we got stuck behind 2 plows and got stopped due to a fender bender. They had lots of Christmas dinner left-overs so we were happy to enjoy a tasty meal with our friends and not have to cook.

Merry Christmas

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Here's a little sexy Santa eye candy.

President Obama signed into law the bill repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) on Wed. This will eliminate the discriminatory discharge of gay and lesbian service members. It will likely take a full year to implement the new law.

My friend Jared sent me this crazy photo.

I don't know WHAT this is, but it looks like a statue in a shopping mall of a man wearing a Santa hat taking a dump. CRAZY!!

Generous Jared also sent me this, which cracked me up!

And this one, which I'm not sure I really 'get', but made me laugh anyway.

Check out this new Christmas song about Delaware! We may be small, but we're proud. Thanks to my friend Bob for sending me this.

My friend Kathryn sent me this funny video with a new twist on ventriloquism. You'll love it.

Here's some more sexy Santa eye candy.

Its Christmas eve so I'd like to share with you my favorite Christmas song of all time. Take a minute to check this out: Merry Christmas, Darling by The Carpenters.

Home for the holidays

We're leaving this morning to spend Christmas (plus a few days) with our family and several friends in northern VA. Here's our tentative itinerary:

• Thurs: Arrive by noon, lunch with Spouse's mom, grocery store, visiting, dinner, meet several friends for karaoke at Freddie's Beach Bar.
• Fri: Visit, meet our friends Kerry & Hugh, George, Kelly, and Lisa for lunch, relax with Spouse's mom in the afternoon, then celebrate her birthday and Christmas Eve with the family and our friend Kathryn at Spouse's sister's house.
• Sat: Christmas breakfast with Spouse's mom in the morning, then an early Christmas dinner with the family at Spouse's sister's house.
• Sun: Free time in the morning, then an afternoon get together with our friends Ron & James and Mike & Clark, then dinner at the Taco House with the Newlyweds.
• Mon: Pack up and head back to Delaware.

With 4 full days, we should have ample time to spend with both family and friends. Although Spouse's mom keeps the heat turned up WAY too high for our comfort, we've scheduled lots of outings and time away from the house to cool down. We're bringing long sleeves and sweaters for the outings and shorts and t-shirts when we're at her house.

Here's hoping that your holiday is warm (but not hot) and joyous!

More holiday yummies

Yesterday I made an eggnog cake. It was super easy and very good.

Start with a boxed white cake mix and prepare it according to the instructions on the box but with 2 exceptions: use whole eggs instead of egg whites, and substitute eggnog for the water. Bake it in a Bundt pan if you have one, and drizzle with a glaze made of confectioners sugar and warm water. That's it - its that simple!

Some people (like Spouse) aren't crazy about the thick texture or intense flavor of drinking a glass of eggnog. That's why this cake is so great. You get a less intense flavor of eggnog with the texture of cake. Even Spouse said he liked it a lot.

Give it a try and let me know how you and your family/friends like it!

My 1st time being paid for it

I really do appreciate the diversity that exists among my friends. I don't want all of my friends to think, act, or look like me. I enjoy the other viewpoints and experiences from those who are different from me.

Several years ago, while reflecting on the previous night's big holiday open house we'd thrown, I said to Spouse that I wanted a drag queen friend to round out my circle of friends. That seemed to be the only category I could think of that was missing at our party the night before.

Fast forward several years to the summer of 2010. One Thurs night I agreed to accompany some friends to the Blue Moon bar/night club for cocktails and karaoke, hosted by the local celebrity Mona Lotts. It was a lot of fun and Mona was especially kind to me after she heard me sing. I continued going there for karaoke most Thursdays and became 'friends' with Mona on facebook. But it wasn't until early Nov when the tourists were all gone that we really became friends. There were about 6 of us at karaoke 1 night and Mona joked that it would be her and me singing to the tables and chairs. We talked about our lives, jobs, partners, etc. and I truly found her to be an interesting person. Before I realized it, I had a drag queen friend!

Then 2 weeks ago I sent Mona a message suggesting that she and I sing a duet of "Baby Its Cold Outside" at karaoke, now that it was appropriate to sing Christmas music. To my surprise she wrote back and said that she and Tim (1 of the club owners) had just been talking about that exact same thing! So that week Mona and I did our duet which turned out nicely. At the end of karaoke Mona and Tim asked me if I was willing to perform the duet with Mona in the club's big Christmas Show the following week.

Of course I said yes. All week long I practiced the song at home, we sang it together at karaoke on Thurs night, and then practiced it with a little choreography on Fri afternoon to get ready for the show Fri night. As I was about to leave the rehearsal Fri afternoon, Tim asked if I would do him a favor. I said sure and asked what it was. He wanted me to don a Santa Claus costume and join Mona and the other performers on stage for the show's finale. I laughed and said okay.

When I arrived at the dressing room Mona and the other drag performers had finished their make-up but were still wiggling into their girdles, styling their wigs, rethinking their jewelry, and putting on their glamorous gowns. Although I'd watched RuPaul's Drag Race on TV, I'd never witnessed this firsthand. Mona introduced me to everyone and asked Miranda to show me the Santa costume. When everyone was dressed we went over the performance schedule and my queues.

I watched the 1st several numbers from out in the audience, then slipped out the back and met Mona in the dressing room. We got our mics and then positioned ourselves to go onstage. I was wearing black dress pants and a red sweater. Mona was wearing a green antique satin 2-piece skirt/blouse set. We were introduced, our music started, we took our places on stage and sang our duet. The audience was very appreciative and generous with their applause.

Back in the dressing room Mona changed her hair and outfit for her next number while I struggled to get all 12 pieces of the Santa costume on over my clothes. There was plenty of room in the costume, it just wasn't easy to bend over once I'd put on the big padded belly to get the rest of the pieces on, but I did. I stood next to the stage entrance so I could hear what was going on inside. Then, dressed in full-on Santa 'drag', I joined Mona on stage and waved to the audience as 'snow' fell from the artificial snow machine, catching the lights and looking amazingly real. It was pretty spectacular!

Back in the dressing room I got out of my Santa drag and talked to the girls as they removed their false eyelashes and fingernails, girdles and make-up. I was truly amazed at the transformations as each 'lady' became a man again. Each breathed a sincere sigh of relief when they 'untucked'. Tim came in bearing envelopes for everyone, containing their payment for performing in the big Christmas show, including me. Although I'd sung in public many times before, it was my 1st time being paid for it (and dressing up as Santa too, I guess). I also received an invitation to Tim's holiday party which I am very excited to attend. I'm hoping to get Spouse to come with me.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the duet or of me in the Santa drag, so you'll just have to imagine it from my wordy description above.

It was REALLY a fun experience to be involved in the big Christmas show, both singing with Mona and dressing as Santa Claus. Its also been a lot of fun to get to know Mona and Tim better and to think of them as friends. I wonder what else is in store for me?

Weekend highlights

This past weekend we went to Philadelphia with Steven & Thad to see some of the famous Christmas sights. (All photos may be clicked to enlarge them.)

We left at 9am and arrived in Philly at about 11am. Our first stop was Macy's, located in the old Wanamaker's bldg. We watched the famous Christmas light show (narrated by Julie Andrews) which was really cute.

Immediately afterward we listened to Christmas songs played on the world's largest working organ. Not that I'm a huge organ music fan, but I think Christmas songs sounds wonderful on an organ. Then we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant called Viet Nam, an old favorite of Thad.

Next we stopped at Termini Brothers Italian Bakery (one of mine and Spouse's favorites) inside the Reading Terminal Market for a little something sweet. Spouse had a chocolate chip cookie and 2 biscotti while I had a dark chocolate disc filled with macadamia nuts.

Then we headed back to Macy's to walk threw the Charles Dickens Village. There was a huge line for it and it turned out to be kinda lame. (I would recommend the Christmas light show and the organ music, but not the Dickens village.) Then we left Macy's and went inside Kenneth Cole for Spouse and inside LaCoste for Thad. We also walked through some bldgs to see the Christmas trees. I found this one to be gorgeous.

Afterward we stopped in at the Christmas Village, a collection of open air stalls selling Christmas ornaments and decor, hats, gloves, scarfs, and gifts. Spouse got 3 cashmere scarfs for $20.

Then we went to the Comcast headquarters lobby for the huge, impressive 3-D Christmas video display on the lobby wall. We arrived 20 minutes early. Here's Spouse, Thad, and me waiting for the show to start.

The 3-D show was so life-like!

It was really cool!

After being on our feet all day we finally checked into our hotel and relaxed a bit. (Steve got us gorgeous rooms at the Hyatt at Penn's Landing for $70.) Although it wasn't in the most convenient location, it was really nice, and our room was on the 17th floor and had a lovely view of the river and Ben Franklin bridge. Spouse & I watched the Christmas boat parade from our room.

Then the 4 of us met up with our friends Joe P and Allen for dinner at Maggianos.

We decided to order from the Classic Family Style menu and the 6 of us shared caesar salad, chopped salad, spinach and artichoke dip, stuffed mushrooms, chicken parmesan, lasagna, pork medallions, veal and mushroom ravioli, peppermint ice cream cake, and tiramisu. OMG!! Needless to say we all left there stuffed.

After dinner we went on a self-guided driving tour of the over-the-top Christmas decorations in South Philly, where Spouse's family is from. That was really fun!

Sun morning we had breakfast at South Street Diner, then did a little shopping at Ikea and then stopped in at Kindy's (over-priced) Christmas decor store before heading back to DE.

We had a great time with our buddies in Philly!

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget but too small to be their own post.

Yesterday it snowed. We got about 2 inches which accumilated quickly since it had been so cold recently. The snow was beautiful and it gave me an opportunity to discover that the traction control on the Mercedes works!

Ever wonder what books writers choose to read? Here are 80 authors' selection of their favorite GLBT books of 2010.

Spouse is still doing well on Weight Watchers. However, his weigh-in and meetin were cancelled last night due to the slippery roads so he doesn't know how much weight he lost this week.

Spouse was excited when he found these new Special K crackers in the grocery store. They were lower calorie (etc.) than the reduced fat Triscuits and Wheat Thins. However, his excitement was short-lived when he opened the box and found the crackers were the size of postage stamps!

My friend Susan sent me this hilarious video which shows how the nativity story would occur if it happened in current times. You gotta love this!

Holiday yummies

Yesterday I did some baking.

First I made sweet potato shuffle. This is a real favorite with our family. We have it at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. I made it yesterday to take to a potluck last night. Everyone loved it. Here's how to make it:

Mash two 40 ounce cans of sweet potatoes (I use Bruce's) in a large bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 2/3 stick butter, 1 cup half-n-half (or milk), 4 beaten eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 tsp cinnamon. Mix thoroughly using an electric hand mixer. Spread into a greased rectangular baking dish.

Now for the topping: Mix 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts), 1/2 cup self-rising flour, and 1/2 stick of very soft butter with a fork. Spread on top of the sweet potato mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Stick a knife in the middle. If it comes out clean, its done.

Once I had the sweet potato shuffle in the oven I started on the no-bake cookies. These may have a name but I don't know it. I got the recipe from my friend Thad who got it from his mother's recipe box. The recipe was simply titled "Vi's cookies". If you know the name of these, let me know.

In a medium saucepan, mix 2 cups sugar, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/2 cup half-n-half (or milk), 1 cup softened butter over a medium heat until the all ingredients are dissolved. Remove pan from heat and stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter until dissolved.

In a mixing bowl mix together 3 cups quick oats and 2 cups coconut. Gradually pour liquid mixture into dry mixture while stirring. Be sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Spoon mixture (or use a mellon baller) onto parchment paper covered cookie sheets. Place in the refrigerator until cookies are firm.

Let me know if you try these recipes and if you like them!

Burlesque

My friend Deb invited me to see "Burlesque" with her so we went yesterday. She'd seen it before but wanted to see it again. I wanted to see it and although Spouse was unable to go with us, he said I should go anyway, and that he'd catch it via Netflix.

Although I'm not a huge Cher or Christina Aguilera fan, I did like the film. It was fun and entertaining, which is what I often go to the movies for. The costumes, hair and make-up are great, and I enjoyed the burlesque-style dance numbers more than I thought I would.

As you've probably heard/read, Cher only sings 2 songs while Christina sings what feels like dozens. But you've got to give Christina credit - the girl can belt and the musical aspect of the film is great. Almost like a modern day "Cabaret".

I found Christina's acting to be better than I had expected, but still with room for improvement. Especially the scene in the apartment where she and Jack are finally starting to warm up to each other. The giggling and 'I'm so innocent' looks didn't work for me. And for the record, I think Aguilera looks much better with golden blond hair color she has in most of the film...

over the platinum blond 'Marilyn Monroe' she usually wears outside the film.
Cher, on the other hand, didn't appear to be acting at all. She seemed to just be Cher, the owner of a burlesque club in LA. That part's real, right? But what appeared to be NOT real was Cher's mouth. I'm not sure if she's doing collagen injections or botox or what, but her mouth just didn't look right. Several times I found myself distracted by her mouth. See for yourself. Cher's old mouth...

Cher's new mouth...

Stanley Tucci is a fine actor, and was as handsome and sexy as ever playing Cher's best pal and costume repairman.

He plays a gay character in this film, which I felt he did expertly. Sometime straight actors playing gay roles overdo it in an attempt to be realistic. But Tucci walked the fine line of being authentic in a role that is not his authentic self.

Honorable mention also goes to Alan Cumming for his brief but humorous role as an employee at the burlesque theatre.

The film was enjoyable and entertaining, but the devil is in the details. It didn't seem logical that Aguilera's character Ally was so street-wise when she arrived in LA. The film leads us to believe that she was just a simple waitress in a dive bar in Iowa, yet somehow she immediately saw through the smooth talking Marcus. It seemed to me that a real waitress from Iowa would have been far more likely to have been taken in by the suave businessman. And what business owner just keeps balling up and throwing away the multiple notices of pending foreclosure of their club? A real club owner would not have waited until the 11th hour to decide to do something, especially in LA. But no film is perfect and this one had fewer plot faux pas then most.

If you think you'll like "Burlesque", go see it. You'll probably like it more. If you think you'll hate "Burlesque", go see it anyway. I bet you'll hate it less than you imagined.

Stoopid lyrics

Here's another installment of my blog feature 'Stoopid lyrics'. Remember, a song's appearance here does NOT mean that I think the song is stupid or that I don't like the song. Often I do like the songs, but find their lyrics just don't make sense.

Judge for yourself!

Pour Some Sugar On Me
performed by Def Leppard

Normally I would copy the lyrics and past them here for you, but I've noticed that Blogger no longer permits me to paste any text into posts (a HUGE turn-off). So I'll have to just provide you with a link to the lyrics for you to view on your own.

Weekend highlights

We had a leisurely Sat morning. I made a cake in the shape of a Christmas tree, then decorated it to look like a Christmas tree, to take to our friends George & Steve's tree trimming party.
I used a chocolate cake mix and added orange extract, orange zest, and triple sec. The icing was a cream cheese base to which I added orange extract and orange zest. Spouse really loves the combination of chocolate and orange. Oddly, I couldn't find my rectangular cake transporter. I checked every closet and cabinet, to no avail. So Spouse & I went to a nearby kitchen store to buy another, but decided to pass on the $30. one they had. Next we went to Walmart, thinking we'd find a less expensive one there, but found only round ones! So I bought a $1.50 aluminum foil turkey roasting pan and turned it upside down over the take to transport it. Hopefully we'll find the rectangular cake transporter one day. I think we probably left it at someone's house.

We had a lovely time at the tree trimming party, chatting with friends, snacking, and admiring the 2 trees. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store. Later that evening we met up with Steven & Thad, 1 of the Bobs, and Jack and his friend John at the Frogg Pond for their customer appreciation party. (This is the place where we've played team trivia games and tournaments.) We enjoyed a free buffet dinner, talked, and listened to a couple play music and sing. There were door prizes given out throughout the night but we didn't stay to the end. We had a good time.

Sun morning Spouse & I had a few friends over for brunch. (Spouse chose the brunch over a party for my birthday.) We had french toast, a french toast casserole, egg casseroles, bacon, sausage, a fruit salad, coffee and juice. It was really nice and our friends stayed for 3 hours. When they left we cleaned up and Spouse took a nap while I stumbled upon a marathon of a show called "It Only Hurts When I Laugh". I don't know why, but I get positively giddy watching video clips of people hurting themselves! Seriously, I watched 3 hours of this show and was literally laughing out loud.

Then Thad called and invited us to meet them at the Long Neck Diner for dinner. I had a yummy cheesesteak with fries. Afterward we went to their house and helped them decorate their tree. When we returned home we watched "Ice Blues" and then went to bed. We did a lot this weekend but didn't feel like we were on a schedule.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of items too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Big Ella & I participated in 3 local Christmas parades and received trophies for our participation. Here is the trophy from the Milton Christmas parade.

I'm thinking about using some of the leftover wood from the addition to make a shelf in the garage to display Big Ella's trophies and plaques.

Today I cleaned the entire house again. Man, do I miss having a housekeeper! But after 4 hours the house is clean and tidy. We're having company on Sun, and we'll be gone alot tomorrow so I decided to tackle the housecleaning today.

I got this from my friend Jared, who always supplies me with funny stuff.
I got this from my good friend Kathryn, and it made me laugh out loud!
Spouse went for his weigh in last night and lost 1 lb. Considering all the food-related holidays and events this time of year, I'm proud that he's still losing weight and not gaining. His total weight loss now is 72 lbs. He says "none of my clothes fit anymore".

I got my hair cut yesterday. I told the guy to cut it 'pretty short' because I like how low-maintenance short hair is, and because the last time I got my hair cut really short, I received lots of compliments on it.And truth be told, shorter hair also takes a few years off most people, and since I had a birthday this week, I thought I could stand to lose a few years.

My friend Wendy sent me the following photo, which I found to be sweet. An abandoned dog took shelter in a nativity scene with the baby Jesus.

How funny is it that the dog is a German 'Shepherd'. (Giggles)