Scrooge

Let me just say up front that I do not condone what G did, but it is blog-worthy, so here you go.

There is a very persistent local newspaper that we used to subscribe to, years ago.  The past couple of years, every two weeks or so, a telemarketer will call our house trying to get us to subscribe again.  The thing is, they always call at like 9:00 at night - even on weekends!  G always tells them no, always asks them to take us off their call list, and they always promise that they will, that this is the last call from them.

Well, Scrooge has had it.  The other night the phone rang at 9:00 and G goes - HA!  WATCH THIS!  All I could do was hold my breath and try to prepare for the coming wrath.  This was what I heard:

"No, we're not interested.  And you know what?  Look in your notes - see how many times we've told you we're not interested?"

"See how many times I've asked to be taken off your call list?"

"Nope!  That's what the last guy said and I don't believe you, so guess what!  If you want to chat, let's chat!"

"You know what totally sucks?  It's 9:00 at night and you're at work and I'm not.  I'm chilling and watching tv.  That really sucks for you."

"And you know what else?  If you don't stop calling me?  The next time I see one of your paper racks?  I'm going to PEE IN IT."

At this point he had cracked himself up so much that he just hung up.  I told him he either crushed that poor soul on the other end of the line, or he gave her a story that she'll regale her family with over Christmas dinner.

Either way, I don't think they'll be calling us again.

Merry Frakkin Christmas.

Seasonal Thoughts

A few random thoughts:

*My Gama loves to do those word search puzzles.  You know the ones; a jumble of letters and you circle the hidden word once you find it.  I ordered her several as a Christmas present, and get this;  they asked if I wanted new or used.  Um, what would be the purpose of getting one with all the words already found?

*This is such a busy time of year, even for us stodgy introverts.  Even adding a couple of holiday parties and a handful of gifts to buy to our schedules seems to have pushed us over the edge somehow.  I'm trying to enjoy this and not get stressed by it.  Thank God that I have people in my life to buy presents for; that I can afford to buy them; that there's meaningful hustle & bustle during this holiday season.  Thank God for the decorations, for the lights, for the friends, for the celebrations.  I wish this season were longer and then everything wouldn't be so condensed into such an unreasonably short timeframe. Of course, if it were longer, we would just cram more crap into it.  So, I'm trying to take a deep breath and - while I'm not exactly enjoying every moment - at least savor every moment.  Even if it's chaotic.

*If you are not intimately familiar with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Gingerbread Lattes at Starbucks, I suggest you stop reading this and go try them (both) immediately.  I don't even drink that much coffee - as the caffeine would send me into the stratosphere - but I've found myself coming up with every excuse in the world to "just run by Starbucks real quick" in the middle of errands.

Holiday Reading

Every year I read "Skipping Christmas" around this time.  It's a lighthearted satire on America's commercial culture, and what would happen if today's average family decided to skip it altogether.  Skip the trimmings, the gifts, the parties, the pressure...

A few years ago they made a movie based on this book, called something like "Christmas with the Cranks" starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.  I haven't watched it because it looks too trite to do the book justice.  If you have seen it but haven't read the book, I suggest you block all memory of it from your mind and read this immediately.  Take a break from the holiday hustle to chuckle a bit over some hot cider or in my case, yet another bottle of water.

TGIF, people!

Such is life

The good news is that I went to the doc today and good ole kidney stone hasn't moved.

The good news is that all my tests came back normal, and according to the doc I'm doing "everything right."

The good news is that I don't have to see him for another 6 months and he loaded me up with painkillers to take with me - wherever I go - just in case.

The good news is that I'm drinking enough water, and I'm also drinking fresh-squeezed, extremely potent lemonade daily (thanks to G).  The water combined with huge amounts of citric acid are effective in preventing stones.

So I guess I'm safe when it comes to the kidney stone - but I'll probably die from either hyper hydration or a stomach ulcer.

Such is life.

Shady

We're back from our Thanksgiving in the South.  Plenty exhausted and totally not ready to head into a full workweek.  Most of you know that I'm not much of a shopper, but when we go to my family's for TG, my Mom and I usually do Black Friday together.  But we do it my way, which is so not getting up at o-dark-thirty to wrestle DVD's from rednecks at The Wal Mart.  It's more along the lines of "sleeping in" till about 6:00, having a leisurely breakfast, and perusing a couple of stores.

When we rolled back home to watch my dear college football team get slaughtered in their last game of the season, Gama goes, "How was the Black Market?"

Wha????

Model Mondays: Messy Workbench, and Farewell until 2012

With the holidays coming up, my model building time will be sparse until the end of the year, so this will be the last Model Mondays post for 2011.

In light of this, I thought I would share a few pictures of my workbench--actually, one end of the dining room table.  Yes, the same dining room table that you've seen in other posts on this blog.  I used to work at an old computer desk in the basement, but since the basement flooded over the summer, things down there have been in a state of...flux.  Let's just say it isn't possible for me to work down there at present, so my better half allowed me to set up shop on the table.

Looks pretty chaotic, huh?  The model in the middle of the paper plate is a battleship from my Dystopian Wars fleet--it's about 1/3 done.  If you look closely, you can see a few other projects that are (slowly) nearing completion, and which should be featured in a Model Mondays post in the new year.

I hope you've enjoyed the first round of pictures of my completed models; I hope to have some new stuff finished soon!