Just a thought....
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

I think it might be Christmas

I say "it might be" because, if you look around here, there are very few signs of Christmas. So few people have decorated.



And we got two Christmas cards... one more than last year *laugh* Henrique sent us a lovely card with a freshly-taken photo inside. Wonderful! We keep nagging them for photos. The American cousins sent a fancy gilt-laden card with something written inside that is going to need an interpreter. Oh and we got a postcard from Tat from her Lithuanian jaunt. That means that if Christmas stuff is headed our way, we may well get it in time for St Patrick's Day. I hope folk get our cards before then!

And this from Jurgis... I'd seen it before, but it's worth a chuckle.

Christmas Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the centre of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labour Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. (What?? Avoid fruitcake?? *cries*)

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

And now for something truly silly...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3310363/Singing-goat-tops-Xmas-carol-chart.html

So... there's my randomness for the day. My student cancelled. Actually, no, she didn't cancel. I called to confirm, only to find that she was travelling. Nice of her to tell me. I'm not in the least disappointed though, as our temperature is 32ºC (90ºF or thereabouts) and thunder-stormy. My little world has become a sauna... just for a change. Not nice bus weather.

15 comments:

  1. You'll have 3 cards soon I hope! I haven't even put the tree up. Carlin went home sick, and he's usually the one who makes me do it. I got away with it this year haha.

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  2. those are hilarious! Love number 3! Mash potats will never be the same again!

    Enjoy your bus free day!

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  3. They are funny, though I would appreciate them more if I had not been doing this more or less last night, and am now paying...And would you believe my potluck contrubition included carrot sticks? OOP.

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  4. I love them!!
    Number three reminded me of home. We did that all the time (and not only with Christmas)... my dad was the master of mashed potatoe volcano's. And my mom's gravy was beyond words. LOL

    Yikes, it's hot over there. Do you want some of our snow? We have more than enough ... we have plenty to spare! ;)

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  5. Hilarious! The eating tips and the photo.
    Merry Christmas to you and the family. Hope it's about to be the best year ever for you.
    Stay cool as you can. ~hugs

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  6. Those are nice gates!
    :) Things are starting to feel Christmassy here too.

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  7. LOL!! Lovin that list. I could be an eggnogaholic if they had it available year round! I've not mailed out cards this year. I seem to take every other year off. :p i'll have to get your address by next year so i can send ya'll one. Hehe. Beautiful picture-i do love those gates and the christmassy lodge on top.

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  8. MWAH Season's Greetings!

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  9. Downtown seems like Christmas... but here in the suburbs too much snow, everything is covered. Just a few houses here and there lit up... very pretty though.
    We are very close to record snowfall for Dec. 28" plus on the ground.

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  10. LOL @ the Christmas advice.

    The mail's running slow here, due to the snow. I ordered a gift for Christmas. It took 11 days to get from Inverness to us - that's a distance that takes us an hour in the car normally!

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  11. I can live with that advice. LOL seems just too silly reading and watching "Healthy Eating Tips For The Holidays" Once a year...Christmas it's what we eat between these celebrations that add up :)
    Merry Christmas to you

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  12. Ok, so now I'll know that every Christmas I've been doing almost everything according to these tips. Sigh, this year won't be any different - too much too delicious food and all at once.
    On weather conditions: as I've skipped jogging for two days, yesterday was a MUST do some jogging day. So get this: some -10 C temperature and some half knee deep snow for a jogging ground. it sure did break some sweat in no time ;)
    A parcel of snow for you to get some relieve?

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  13. send me some nice weather..

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  14. No tree here, Kat. Get your tree up! You have a kidlet to keep happy (and cats lol) We'll check mail again tomorrow.

    Heather, I love, love, love mashed potato.... with gravy! *schlurp*

    Ien, trust you to take carrot sticks. Thing is, carrot salad is a staple at our Christmas dinners, so I'd have eaten the carrot sticks.

    Riete, I've never seen a mashed potato volcano lol Got pictures? Making a good gravy is indeed an art. I'll take all the snow you can spare!

    Merry Christmas to you too, Jules : ) Stay cool?? It's possible? Hugs back!

    Katey, when none of your house shows, the only effort that can be seen is the gates, so they put a lot of effort into the gates (sometimes).

    Kimmy, *laughing at the eggnogacholic* I had eggnog once... long, long ago and don't really remember it. My own attempts at eggnog failed dismally and I don't think this hot climate is good for drinking raw boozy egg anyway lol

    Jaime, Happiest greetings to you too! And wishes for the smoothest-ever move!

    Bert, I think snow and Christmas decorations make a really pretty combination : )

    Michelle... so it's not just our mail that is slow? I hope your Christmas is warm and truly special, my friend!

    Cheryl, I totally agree. There's a whole year to diet (aside from Easter with those delicious cakes and chocolate eggs *laugh*), so why push it now?

    Asta, I'd love to know what you eat for Christmas up there. I know there are some interesting traditions. Is it true that you don't talk to your dog on Christmas eve? Or something like that... it sounds crazy! I'd love some of that snow!

    Tori, I would, if we had any. It's hot, grey, muggy and very, very wet here.

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  15. Ha ha! Not so sure about not talking to the dog on Christmas eve, but there is this olden believe coming from agricultural Lithuanian past, that on Christmas eve animals can talk. So if you hear animal talk, and hear that you were a bad master, that would not be a pleasant thing, would it? But I've never heard them talk, so...
    When my grandparents were still alive, we used to go for Christmas to their place in country side. And there was this custom to put some hay under table cloth on Christmas eve both for fertility and prosperity of the upcoming year, and for a rather simple yet charming charm. Every one seating around the table would pull a string of hay and the one who'd end with the longest one was supposed to be the one to live long, prosper, and be healthy for the whole next year. I do not talk about some charms for young unmarried girls, which could've helped them to find out if they were going to marry soon, etc. ;) Sigh, unfortunately, not so easy to apply all these charms if you live in a city.
    Anyway, the strongest tradition we always keep with is the one that there should be 12 different dishes on Christmas Eve's table (no meat, egg, or milk based ones on that day). This always is quite a challenging for me, as I'm definitely not a fish and sea food person.

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