Dreams of Sun and Sand

Did you ever have one of those dreams that you can’t forget about? I know that most people don’t remember their dreams at night or don’t even dream.  Every once in a while I can remember fragments of a dream that can leave me scratching my head.  Last week I had a dream and if I close my eyes I can still recall the way parts of it felt. 

::insert wavy dream transition sequence here::

The sun was shining in the cerulean sky. Gat and I had beach chairs slung over our pale white shoulders as we ambled to the shoreline. My friends, Maria and Clint were already set up where the breaking waves could tickle their toes. Maria had a twinkle in her eyes ad her curls bounced in the breeze as she offered me a brown bottle beer as we sat our chairs in the sand. Clint smiled like a salt and pepper Cheshire cat and told us to dig our toes in as his eyes crinkled in glee.  Maria winked and plugged her beer with her thumb as a huge wave crashed over us.  I could feel the grit of sand between my toes as I tried to anchor myself as the clear blue and white water swirled above me and tried to sweep me out to sea. 

::End dream sequence::

There was a second part to the dream, but that I am going to keep to myself.  The dream of sun and sand is a contrast to the ice and gray of winter that I am currently in. If I close my eyes I can still feel the sand between my toes and the way the water tried to tug and pull me away.  I am sure that if I were to consult a dream dictionary it would have some deep and possibly meaningful opinions on what my subconscious was trying to tell me. I am going to remember the way the sand felt between my toes as a wrap another scarf around me in an attempt to keep warm. 

Rocky Road Fudge

It is that time of the year that my house overflows with sweets. One of the favorite sweets my mom makes every year is Rocky Road Fudge.  It is an incredibly easy fudge to make. It literally involves three ingredients, peanut butter, chocolate chips and marshmallows.

I don't normally make the fudge, because my mother will bring it with her tray off Christmas Cookies however this year I have been looking at some dairy free dessert options and this came to mind.  My mother normally uses milk chocolate chips, but that obviously wouldn't work for dairy free. I decided to try doing the recipe with dark chocolate and was thrilled with the results.

Rocky Road Fudge

12 ounces of dark chocolate chips
4 Cups of Miniature Marshmallows
1 Cup of Chunky Peanut Butter

Instructions:
 In a large pot, melts the chocolate chips with the peanut butter over low heat. When the mix is melted and smooth, remove from the heat and add the marshmallows.  Stir until everything is well gleaned and pour into a a greased 9x13 pan and cool in the refrigerator.  When it is cool, cut into one inch squares.

Exploring the Caverns

Cold winter days are meant for exploring caves. Did you know it is a constant 52 degrees in a cave? Which means it is at least 20 degrees warmer in the cave then it is outside of the cave.  My dad came out for an early Christmas visit, and part of the fun of his visits is the amount of adventures and tourist things we get to go do. 

I love caves.   Indian Echo Caverns is local to me, and I decided that it was a necessary father -daughter bonding experience to visit this cave. The caverns are a fun place to visit and the tour is about 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. I enjoyed the caverns.  One of the unique things about this cavern is that it is still living and growing.   You get the pleasure of seeing formations as they are growing and marvel at have shiny they are with the calcite growth.

My dad has never done a cave tour before, so this was unique experience for him. During the walk down the seventy two steps, my dad joked that he was claustrophobic.  Considering I have done mine tours with him, I know this is not case, but I did chuckle at the couple of low hanging passage ways that caused him to duck.  I enjoyed the tour and even spent some quality time with their goats and feisty old turkey. 

If you are ever in the Hershey area, and looking for something to do other than the amusement park, I would recommend the caverns.  There is enough diversity there to keep the whole family entertained and is open all year long.  Then again, I also like caves, so my opinion may be a little bias. 

2016 Top 10 Gift Books

I love giving books as gifts, because they are easy to wrap and there is a book out there for everyone. They just don’t know it yet.  Here is a list of top 10 books that I have given as gifts. I am not going to repeat anything that I may have mentioned in my Sci Fi book Series list.    

My Top 10 Gift Books

1.        Furiously Happy- Jenny Lawson

2.       American Gods- Neil Gaimen 

3.       Anna Dressed in Blood- Kendel Blake

4.       Harold & the Purple Crayon- Crockett Johnson

5.       Animalia- Graham  Base

6.       Beauty: A Retelling- Robin McKinley

7.        Quizol-Alan Dean Foster

8.       Cooking for Geeks- Jeff Potter

9.       Pride, Prejudice & Zombies - Jane Austin and Seth Grahame  Smith

10.  Gil's All Fright Diner- A. Lee Martinez

I make no apologies for my list.  I like what I like and I like to share good reading material with others. Hopefully this helped supply some quick inspiration. 

Gift That Keeps On Giving

I have discovered that if I don’t force myself to write, then I won’t write. It is easier to talk myself out of writing than it is to string together a coherent thought.  I am going to go back to a blog post a day for a little bit to try and jump starts some good habits.  

I know I had mentioned in a previous blog a book gift idea list.  That is an incredibly hard thing to do. I have a love affair with books, and it is hard to pick a favorite one or two.  Instead I have broken it down into two lists.   One list is going to be a list of series to check out and which book to start with in that series and the other is going to be a list of ten books that I have most often gifted. I think between the two lists, that there is something for everyone. 

While composing this list, I realized that when I think of series, I mostly think of Science Fiction Fantasy. If you are not into Science Fiction or Fantasy this will hold no appeal to you and I recommend you to try back tomorrow on my most gifted books list. 

Book Series

1.        Dune- Frank Herbert- There is a total of 8 books in this classic Sci-Fi series.  I have probably watched every movie adaptation of this book, but I still have a love for the first book that set the entire stage. If you have someone just getting into Sci-Fi this is a great book to start with. 

2.       Small Gods- Terry Pratchett- There is a huge debate on where a person should start in the wonderful fantasy world of Discworld, and it could be a little daunting since there are 41 books within this series.  . Small Gods is the one that I started with and it opens the door to other characters without making you wish you had a back story. I look at it as the gateway book that ultimately lets you get a feel for the writers’ style and is massively entertaining. (In case you were wondering, a general search on the internet shows that Color of Magic is the book to start with, and I disagree.)

3.       Howl’s Moving Castle- Diane Wynne Jones- A fair number of people have seen the animated movie that was based off of the first book in this series. I have a great love for the movie (and almost anything Studio Ghibli) and a deep love for the book by the same name. Very rarely do I love a book and movie equally, but this is one of those rare times. There are a total of 3 books in this young adult series and each novel is a breath fresh air. 

4.       Summon the Keeper- Tanya Huff- I debated between two different series by Tanya Huff. I was debating between the Keeper Chronicles (3 books) and the Blood Books (6 books in total). I love both series and they are both radically different from each other. The Blood Books is a gritty vampire detective series and the Keeper Chronicles is a tongue in cheek sci-fi fairy tale romantic comedy. When it came down to it, I decided to go with the Keeper Chronicles, because I love the way that series makes me smile at the mental images it presents. 

5.        Darwin’s Radio- Greg Bear- There is only two books in this science fiction series, and it almost didn’t make this list. I put it on the lis///t because it isn’t light and fluffy. I read a lot of light and fluffy and find it relaxing, but this book is a far cry from my usual and if you like something a bit more serious and steeped in science then you will most likely love this book.  I like how this book made me think and is a good palate cleanse on some of the overly fluffy options out there. 

Apocalyptic Flat Tire

It is a wonderful night for a flat tire. I love the way it brings me perspective.  I don't think I ever understood windchill until the car tells me it is 44 degrees out and the wind has me seriously thinking it was 29 degrees out.   It is a cosmic requirement for me to have a flat tire when I am least appropriately dressed.  High heels, dress slacks, thin jacket and a shell top is the opposite of what a person should wear to change a tire.  

This experience has made me understand why in post apocalyptic films, the clothing looks like it was randomized out of yard sale rejects. It always bugged me that it seems like they don't even try to have anything that remotely goes together in those types of movies.   As the wind ripped through the thin jacket and shell I was wearing, I searched my car for any sort of additional clothing I could find.  Search results yielded a spring green tunic vest and a burnt orange crayon colored wrap.  They clashed horribly with the cheerful crocus colored shell and eggplant jacket, but I didn't really care.  Fashion could take a hike when you are cold. 

Thankfully my flat tire was in the parking lot of my work and one of my coworkers stuck around until my husband showed up. Between the two of us, we had the spare tire out, the car jacked up and we were getting ready to take lug nuts off by the time my husband pulled in. (Jamie is awesome, and we had that accomplished in maybe 10 minutes.) Despite my husband saying that we did the hard part of getting the jack set up, he did the truly hard part of getting the lug nuts off. I think removing the lug nuts is the hardest part of getting the tire off and he did it like a pro. He is a hero.  Jamie is a heroine. I am that weird person that cracks terrible jokes when faced with adversity and doesn't lose their cool. (Also wind chill is bull shit.) 

Thank you Jon and Jamie for not letting me become a weird pre-apocalyptic desert wanderer with bad fashion sense!

Hello Zip Ties

Somedays my brain wakes up and clicks way too fast in the morning and Jon just looked at me as if I am possessed by aliens.  This was one of those mornings. When I woke up this morning, I asked my husband if we had any zip ties.  There were several seconds of silence before he said no and asked me why I needed zip ties.  I quickly explained that I saw this brilliant idea on Pinterest that involved zip ties and DVDs.  Sometimes brilliant ideas are met with a groan and "it is too early in the morning for this" sigh.

I was then told that I was not allowed to zip tie any of the DVDs. That if I did that, I would be a jerk.  I am not allowed to be a jerk.  Part of me really wants to be a jerk to my brother and zip tie weave a lovely pattern on the DVD I bought him. I huge part of me wants to do that. (Last year he opened his DVD's early!!)   That sort of love and torture is what makes the holidays fun. I am sure that booby trapped presents is a sign of love and affection in some culture some where.  If not it could be, given enough time. My brother still laughs and grimaces over the wrench set I got him when we were teenagers. (It was individually wrapped and then laced into a beautiful snowflake shape that took him forty five minutes to open.  It was magical and wonderful and very annoying all in one moment.) (Dont think I am just picking on him, that same year he used a roll and half of packaging tape on my gift.)

My husband is doing his best to make sure I am not a a jerk and refuses to entertain this idea of zip ties.  Even if the idea behind it makes me gleefully happy.   Even though I am not permitted to utilize them at this point; I have been encouraging others at work to utilize that power and festivity of zip ties as alternatives to ribbon, for that extra special person. It seems like there is at least one person in every family, where that little bit effort goes a long way.

Turkey Bundles

It has been four days since Thanksgiving and I have consumed a Thanksgiving burrito every day. (I am not ashamed, just stating fact.)  It is time to do something with the leftover turkey that does not involve wrapping it in a tortilla.  It is time to make the old family favorite, Turkey Bundles. 

Old Family Favorite 

Turkey Bundles or sometimes Chicken Bundles is one of the staples of my childhood. It was probably one of the first recipes I ever learned and it is one of those recipes that I could probably make blind folded with a spork if my survival depended on it. It is one of those recipes that my mother would trot out for company, because it was easy to make yet unique.   I am not sure where the original recipe came from, and I know that I have seen several variations in Taste of Home, but this is my recipe that I use.  It has been slightly modified to the current household tastes and if you check back with me in ten years, I am sure that there will be even more changes. 

Turkey Bundles

2 Cups- Cooked chunked Turkey

1 ½ Cream Cheese of 8oz Package (total of 12 ounces) Room Temperature

Handful of rough chopped spinach (about 1/3 cup)

½ Cup Mushrooms (They are optional. My husband hates mushrooms, but I love them.)

¼ diced hot peppers or green chili peppers

¼ cup shredded carrots

Salt and pepper

¼ diced onions

1 tablespoon diced garlic

2 tubes of Instant crescent rolls

Bread crumbs

Melted butter or olive oil

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a small sauté pan, cook the carrots, onions, peppers and garlic in a little bit of oil or butter until soft. Once soft, remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl mix turkey, cream cheese, mushrooms, and spinach until well blended, then add the cooked carrot mix.  I do the cooked part second because it can make the cream cheese a little melty and hard to handle.  Add salt and pepper to taste. (If you are my husband, this is where you add a dollop of hot sauce.) 

Open the tube of crescent rolls and break them apart.  They should be little triangles. You will want to stretch the triangles a little bit and until it is almost double its size.  Take two heaping tablespoons of the turkey and cream cheese mix and put it in the center of the triangle. Use the corners of the triangle to wrap it. It should look like a bundle or a diaper.  Normally this recipe is going to make about a dozen bundles depending on how much your fill the bundle.  When all the bundles are assembled, brush the top with olive oil or butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.   The bundles get baked on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes to Self

Sometimes I leave notes to myself.  It is supposed to help me remember things. Mostly I think my  past self is confusing my future self or I should be a little more specific when I leave myself a note.

After all if I am going to leave myself a note that says, "Juggling flaming bags of dog shit. Even if you don't catch on fire, you are still covered in shit. " I should probably follow it up with something specific are at least accredit the quote to someone. Nope. My past self just thought that I would know what I was doing.

Another note just says, "P&P flipped". I have no idea if that was supposed to be writing prompt or perhaps a gift idea. My past self doesn't seem to be very wordy, except with grocery lists.  That note is going to just sit there until I can figure out what I was trying to tell myself.

Even the grocery lists tend to be a little off.  They start of with normal stuff and then slowly turn into something almost sinister:

Milk
Spinach
Eggs
Cheese
Lunch meat
Sliced cheese
Tortillas
Cat food
Duck tape
Lighter
Black bags
Gloves

The beginning of the list looks like I am going to make breaks fast or lunch burritos and then it looks like I am going to dispose of a body.  My past self sure knew how to multi task and make things awkward for the future self.  I guess if I want to change it, I should probably leave myself a detailed note, so I don't keep leaving book titles, abbreviations and weird lists to myself, because that s what a normal person would do.

Please Dinosaur Land, Please!

Old Faithful

I love to travel. One of the things that I like to do when I travel is pick up post cards.  They are often times a light weight memento of somewhere cool I have been to and are normally much prettier than any picture I can take.  I have friends and family that I write to on an occasional basis and I enjoy sending out the post cards to share with them in the adventure.

Extinct Exhibit

I know I wrote not too long ago about Dinosaur Land, but it is on my mind again.  The reason for this is mostly due to me finding my postcards from there.  I hadn’t realized at the time that Dinosaur Land has not changed their post cards since 1969. While the postcards have a certain amount of rustic charm, they don’t give an accurate portrayal of Dinosaur Land. The trees have grown and I pretty sure that the Plateosaurus is no longer there.  Times have changed, and I think you should change your post cards. 

  I am not great photographer, but I beg you, Dinosaur Land, let me update your post cards.  I think there is a lot of unexplored potential and I am willing to do my photographic best to make you a memorable postcard with a lot less spelling errors.  I loved Dinosaur Land so much that I bought a tee-shirt and defiled currency to make a memento.  (I smashed a penny, for those that are wondering.) 

I know it is a hard to make the change and that you are probably really comfortable and possibly sentimental with the old post cards, but here are a couple of ideas that I have for new post cards.  I think they are pretty awesome. 

I am willing to scale the shark for a better shot

Just think how awesome it would be if I was trying.

Everybody loves tacos. 

If you need any advertising help, I have zero experience, but lots of enthusiasm and could probably give you some avenues to explore.  Here’s a hint of what goes on in my brain:  I think that Dinosaur Land would be an awesome wedding location and would give a bride and groom some unique memories. 

9 Board Games to Check Out

The day after Thanksgiving means lots of things to lots of people. For some people they are trying to recover from the turkey coma or trying to catch up on their NaNoWriMo word count, others get jazzed up about Black Friday Sales Shopping.  Black Friday for me means Game Day.  I am not a shopper. That is why they make the internet.  I am a board gamer. 

About a dozen years back or so it was established that the day after Thanksgiving was Game Day or BFGD.  Friends pop in throughout the day to roll some dice, count some cards or have mini war games with lovingly painted miniatures.  It is probably one of my favorite days of the year.   There are so many games to play and hardly ever enough time to do more than a dozen. 

I am fond of lists, and hinted in a previous post on a Games List. I am a person on my word.  Below are 9 games worth checking out. I like a wide variety of games, and tried to touch upon several game types.   

1.       Dungeon Run

• This is a tile based exploration game that ends in betrayal. You are exploring a dungeon with your trusty friends, and whoever finds the treasure first is corrupted. Your trusty team needs to kill the traitor before they can exit the dungeon and destroy the world.  
• Every time I say Dungeon Run, all I can think of is Finn and Jake.  This isn’t related to that but just a weird tangent and lots of fun to sing Finn’s dungeon crawl song. 

2.       Exploding Kittens

• This is a card game of chance and strategy. There are two versions of the game. A family friendly one and a definitely not family friendly one.  They are played the same way.  It is kind of like a game of war and go fish all rolled into one, but with kittens.  Nice quick game for those that don’t have a lot of time.  
• If you like the Oatmeal’s humor, I would highly recommend using the non-family friendly deck.  
  

3.       Dixit

• If you like strategy games, then this game might not be for you.  This game is a guessing game, where you have to deduct a person’s card based of their description in among everyone else’s cards that were put down based off that same description.  It is all about speculation.  The art in this game is beautiful and it is a lot of fun to play. 

4.       Smash Up

• This is a strategy card game that is a lot of fun and has several expansion packs to it. You are all trying to conquer different locations that are worth different points. You reach the set point value first through conquering, you win.  Simple, easy, and can quickly ruin friendships.  
• I don’t pay this game that often, because my husband says I have cheat moves.  I don’t. I am just friends with robots and aliens and they do my bidding. 

5.       Roll For It

• This is a dice and strategy game that I am actually good at.  Mostly because you are not expecting me to roll a D6 to try and heal you.  It isn’t going to happen. The dice hate me, which is clearly evident when I played Shadows of Brimstone.  Anyway, this game is about matching dice to cards that have values and when you get to a certain number you will.  Easy, quick fun that is good family fun. 

6.       Shadows of Brimstone

• If you are looking for an epic adventure game that can go on in several hour long sessions with a posse of friends, this game is for you.  There are lots of toggles and jimmies that go with the game and it is a miniature painters dream.   It is a lot of fun, and has strategy, dice, cards and group coordination involved.  
• Don’t leave me in charge of the dice. I won’t heal you, and will probably give you a cursed item or lose a weapon or change your son into a pig. 

7.       Ticket to Ride

• This game is a strategy game where you are a railroad baron trying to get your track down before else gets their track down.  It is an easy to pick up family friendly game that will have you gnashing your teeth as you try to complete your routes. 

8.       Pandemic

• This is a group survival game that I have yet to survive. I have been told it can be done, but have yet to see it. The came combines strategy with chance and is a lot of fun to play. 
• Ken- It’s your fault we get yellow fever every time and die.  I am not holding a grudge, just stating fact. Yellow Fever!!!

9.       Battle of the Electric Vikings

• If you like word games, you will love this game. The purpose of this game is to make heavy metal song titles based off of randomly drawn tiles. It is a little like scrabble, that you have to connect to tiles together, but no spelling is necessary, just your best growly throaty metal voice. 

Grave Robbers from Outer Space is not on the list, because my husband informed me that it is out of print, but they have a Version 3 that is available. I haven’t checked it out, so I don’t know if they changed anything.  Happy Black Friday Game Day!  

Thank You 2nd Grade!

Dib helping me write back!

Letter writing is a lost art.  My friend, Faye was teaching her second grade class about how the postal system works and wanted to give them hands on experience.  She needed someone for them to write to and that someone  would write back to them.  I do a lot of letter writing and agreed to  write back to her class. I really had no idea what to say to a bunch of second graders I have never met, but I figured I could come up with something.

My favorite colors are green and blue

It was an unexpected joy to read their letters.  Curiosity of a child is unique and wonderful.   I received questions on the well being of my cats, and queries on color preferences.  Inquiries on how many friends I have and if I have any other friends than Faye, made me chuckle. I was told about their favorite foods and the ones that they don't like.  (I had no idea there was a kid out there that didn't like mashed potatoes.)  They were very direct in their questions and wanted to know about things that were important to them. (Which seemed to be: pets, food, and favorite color.) My fears of wondering what to write back to them about were unfounded. In fact I could have filled several pages with trying to answer all of their questions. There is always something to say.

I like video games too!

I can only hope that they enjoy receiving letters back as much as I enjoyed receiving them.  I think there is something special about receiving a letter in the mail. It is a future gift sent from the past self. You never know what the future will hold. If anything, this letter writing exercise certainly helped me gain perspective that there is aways something to say and to never stop asking questions.

Thank you 2nd Graders for making me smile!

Reds and Blues

They says at Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest drinking night of the year. Mostly because old friends and relatives are in from out of town, and you can get in some socializing before the turkey coma hits. I don't think you could pay me to enter into a bar tonight. I am not sure which version of me would leave the bar.

It is a weird day. Maybe part of it is the anticipation of a major eating holiday and hanging out with family I love, and the other part is because it is my brothers birthday. He would have been 33 if he wasn't such an idiot. I can already hear Gat chastising me inside my head, saying I shouldn't speak ill of the dead.  History is written by the survivors and is hardly ever pretty.

The dueling emotions along with the other flotsam and jetsam in my head, leaves me feeling like a Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

For the longest time I thought they had said "the greens and reds" not "the mean reds". I think it still works, it just makes me wonder what the green would be in terms of feelings.  It might be today.  It might be a little bit of yellow and a little bit of blue with a red undertone.  I don't know. I just think I understand why it is a drinking holiday tonight, and I am sure that people have their own reason for raising a glass.  Sometimes conjuring up ghosts is about remember the good times.  Me,  I am going to enjoy my cup of tea and watch more Adventure Time.  Reds and greens be dammed.

12 Gifts of a Questionable Genius

It is that time of the year when people are thinking of giving gifts. I love giving gifts. It is fun to share some of my favorite things with people that I like and hope that they will like them too.  I have a coworker that often picks my brain for ideas on what to get people, because I am “in tune” with the “nerd crowd”.  I am mostly positive that she means it as a compliment.  (Mostly)  I think it is just that I have a weird sense of humor, and I only buy stuff that amuses me.  

My go to for gifts is almost always books, because I love books. I love the weight of them. I love the smell of them. I love their stack-ability and their easy wrap-ability. Not to mention, I love getting engrossed in a story and being able to share that with other people. I am pretty sure there is some type of book for everyone.  They just don’t know it yet. 

I am not going to turn this into a list of books to buy people, because despite the wonderful wrap-ability and stack-ability of books, I do like to mix it up and think outside of the box for gifts. Instead I am going to list 12 non-book idea’s to consider. (Spoiler- 12 book idea’s will be posted in a future post.)

1.        Geodes-

Crack them yourself variety. (Fun hands on project that is okay to beat with a hammer.  I would include the hammer, but only if the other person really likes you. ) 

2.       Tie-Dye Kit

 (There can never be enough tie- dye! What else can you look like your murdered a clown, without actually murdering a clown.) 

3.       Funky Socks

 (Everyone needs socks even, if they don’t’ want to admit it.)

4.       Grave Robbers from Outer Space 

(This might be one of my favorite games & it is a great stocking stuffer! I  might have to do a top 12 games list.  There are lots of awesome games out there!)

5.       Mushroom Growing Kit 

(Even people that can’t grow things can do this. I did it and it was awesome!)

6.       Road Trip First Aid Kit 

(I know this sounds boring, but there is always that one person that prefers utilitarian gifts and you don’t ever realize you need a first aid kit until it is too late.)

7.      Throwing Stars

(Embrace your inner ninja. Do it! I feel like this sells itself and doesn't really need talked up on how awesome and unexpected it is to receive a throwing star.)

8.       Head Lamp 

(Another one of the practical gifts, but come on, everyone can use a hands free flash light. Think about how the horror movie industry would crumble and fail if people didn't have flashlights to drop in the dark.  If it is attached to your head, you can't drop it unless you lose your head!  Total win.)

9.       Thumb Drives

(Easy, useful and can be found in a wide variety of styles to meet every ones needs.  I probably lose as many thumb drives as I actually use.)

10.      Cat Bus Plush 

(I have been educated by my nieces that everyone loves stuffed animals. I think this one is awesome, but if you aren't into anime at all, then perhaps the Three Toed Sloth plush is a good second choice.)

11.      French Press 

(Probably one of the most adult recommends I have, but it is useful.  It doesn't matter if you are a coffee or a tea drinker or if you are just looking to infuse something. French presses are pretty awesome.)

12.      Chia Pet 

(Nobody ever expects to get a chia pet. That is what makes them fun.)

 It was hard not to put my genius ideas that I am implementing this year down in the list, but I am sure some people will recognize some of these awesome gifts from past years.  I think that the trick to gift giving is to get them something that you would also like to receive, because it shows that you care.

Dysfunctional is the New Functional

It is the Monday before Thanksgiving. The wind is whipping around the houses and makings a howling whistling sound that would feel more at home in horror movies. It has me thinking about family and stress.  I would like to call it holiday stress, because this sort of stress only comes around the holidays.  Like many  people out there, I come from a dysfunctional family. I am not saying they are bad people.  They aren't.

My mother would a give a stranger the shirt off her back to help. My grandfather is kind to strangers and will talk to anyone. My grandmother feeds stray  cats.  I have a dozen aunts and uncles that I mostly only see through Facebook that are involved in the community, being positive role models and are being productive members of society.  They are not bad people, but just like the wind, they are a force to be reckoned with.

The one thing that all my family members have in common is that we all have strong personalities. These personalities don't always mesh well with each other.  So, if you are thinking of having that I am having one those Hallmark moment normal Rockwell like holidays, where all the family meets up at Grandma's house and gorge ourselves on ham and biscuits and pie. It isn't going to happen. Those expectations can cause a person to be stressed or depressed. I try to be neither.  It is easy to stress myself out trying to make it a cookie cutter moment and be everything that is in the script for Miracle on 34th Street, or I can be depressed that my family aren't members of the Get Along Gang and the only reasons we might be in the same room with each other would require a corpse.  It is so easy to swing between the two strong emotions. I know that there are other families like mine out there.  Dysfunctional is the new functional.

I am going to attempt the third option between stressed and depressed, and it is acceptance. I am not going to try to change them or me. I am going to accept that they are good people and that most of the time I am good people. I am going to have patience.  I am going to accept what I can not change. That is not saying I am going to bend over backwards  and I am not going to ignore difficulties, but more like take a breathe and think about what I want and what is important and go from there.

I am going to call this my Plan B.  Accept what you can not change and move on. Dysfunctional is the new functional.

Snuggle Kitty

Somedays are just made for cuddling with kitties and drinking hot tea.  This might be one of those days.  The weather is less than stellar. The wind is full of anger as it spits flurries at anyone that steps outside. Everyday can't be perfect blue sky's and warm weather, because if it was, I wouldn't be able to appreciate snugly kitties. 

Faceless Angel

When my friend, Barbie was thanking her bridesmaids, she had given each of them a lovely Willow Tree Angel Figurine. She had put a lot of thought in to each of the girls and found a figurine that made her think of them as an individual.  I know this, because I got one of those figurines.  I had received an angel that was holding a lovely green tea pot.  I am a huge tea drinker, even if I am not much of an angel.  It was a lovely thoughtful gift, and I was happy to be there for her through the entire wedding process. 

I want to state right now, that I did like the figurine, because of the sentiment behind it, but on a whole the Willow Tree figures kind of creep me out, because they don't have faces.  It is kind of like that Dr. Who episode where they lose their faces in the television. (Season 2 Episode 7 David Tennant for those that Whovians out there.)  Or even the Faceless Old Woman that secretly lives in your home.  (Yes, I listen to NightVale. It has ruined me in all the best ways.) 

It was an accident, but I didn't want to throw the figurine away. There was a moment with the vacuum where I was being lazy and trying to unkink the cord by shaking it out. That was a bad idea. The cord flicked onto the display case and knocked the figurine down to the ground. Gravity did what it does when presented with an opportunity and knocked the teapot, hands and head right off. I put the hands and teapot away to a safe place and set the head where her hands where to remind me to fix it.  I really need to write down where my safe places are, because I have no idea where I put the hands and teapot.  

I almost want to say that I would lose my head if it wasn't attached, but that was the only thing that I didn't lose. Out of a household vote, and because I refuse to get rid of the faceless angel, because I the sentiment, the head got glued back on. I don't know if the term "head in her hands" applies, but I now have a quirky figurine that reminds me of the unique relationship with a dear friend.  I can certainly say that cleaning is the reason why I can't have nice things. 

“Did you know there's a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home? It's true. She's there now. She's always there, just out of your sight. Always just out of your sight.— Cecil

Name that Movie

I was on the phone with my niece, Hannah the other night and we were reminiscing  about last Christmas.  With us mostly talking about how annoying I can be, but how much fun it is anyway. It is really hard to disguise a DVD. You can put it inside of a box, to disguise the shape, but that is pretty much it unless you want to expend a lot of time and effort. Last year when I sent the gifts down, there were a couple of DVD's mixed in.

Hannah thought that since she knew it was a DVD and it had her name on it, she should be able to open it.  I disagreed at the time and still do,  but after listening to a teenagers  insistent and somewhat repetitive reasoning I was willing to give a little, even if it was for my own piece of mind.   I would let her open the gift wrapped DVD if she could guess what it was. Just like with any guessing game there needed to be clues.

This is where I get to be annoying. I limited it to two clues and she could use the internet (because, let's face it, she was going to do it anyway), but they were not going to be easy clues. I can still remember the way she rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh and then demanded the clues, sure that she would get it right away.

First Clue:  The letter "F" is in the title somewhere

Second Clue:  Bill Murray

I was feeling pretty brilliant. Go look up Bill Murray movies that have the letter "F' somewhere in the title.  His IMBD list is as long as Santa's Naughty list.  I was only partially crushed, but not surprised she didn't know who Bill Murray was, after all she didn't know what X Files was either, but now she does.  The amount of guessing and begging for another clue was like a symphony of angels to my ears.  If she wanted to open that DVD before Christmas, she had to earn it.  Getting it right away, did not happen, and she had to wait until Christmas to open it.

Now we roll around to this year, and spoiler alert, there is another DVD in the stack.  I think I might offer the same game to her.  Hannah, if you can guess the DVD, you can open it.

First Clue: The letter "M" is in the title somewhere

Second Clue: The writer is related to comics.

I know these aren't awesome clues, mostly because the internet exists, but if Hannah can guess the movie, I'll let her open it.  Welcome to the new Christmas tradition. Good luck!

For those that are wondering what she got last year, it was The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Secret Agents for Santa

I think my cats might be secret agents for Santa. Or at least that is the thought that came to when I was in the shower and Iggins sat there and watched me the entire time, despite his fear of being hit with a drop of water.

Holiday music is slowly amping up on radio stations, store stations and doctors waiting rooms. Whether you are pro holiday music creep or anti holiday music creep it is going to creep its way into you brain anyway.  Which is how the line, "He knows when you are sleeping, He knows when your awake," popped into my brain when I could see Iggins watching me.

Cats would be the perfect secret agents for Santa, because my cats definitely know when I am sleeping, and know when I am awake.  In fact Dib will grumble and meow just outside of the bedroom door, if I am just lazing in bed.  There is no pretending to be asleep to the cat unless you are the cat.

However, if they were the ones to decide who was being bad or good in the house, I think it would be skewed.  The number of times I have told Dib not to do something (don't jump behind the TV, get off the table, that isn't edible) are too many to count. I am sure in his brain I am being the bad human, because I won't let him do the thing he want to do, which if the was an  agent for Santa, would it reflect badly on me.  On the bright side, if the cats were secret agents for Santa, I am pretty sure I can sway their opinion with some canned cat food.

Read or Die

Manga R.O.D.

There is a fine line between a manga and anime. You may like one and not the other.  I have watched a good bit of anime in my life, but the number of manga novels I have consumed I can count on one hand. In the depths of my to be read pile was volume one of R.O.D. Also known as Read Or Die. 

Years ago, I had watched the anime by the same name and had enjoyed it. This manga is the inspiration for the anime, which is what made me want to read it. There is something fun about having a protagonist called The Paper  or Agent Paper that loves books. I think it speaks to me.  It is like if I had a super power, it would be something that I would pick. 

Anime R.O.D

R.O.D. is a fun read. The beginning of the story is a little weak, but I think it only seems that way to me since I am comparing the book to the show I know you aren't supposed to do that, but it is hard to separate the two, when the show is why you wanted to read the book in the first place. Anything can seem slow when you are trying to build anticipation.  I didn't dislike the manga and it was only volume one, but it didn't really inspire me to see what happens next.  

The insanity of it! 

There were some things that I had really enjoyed that gave me pause to chuckle, such as having a book as a literary weapon, and that reading it will drive a person insane.  A little Lovecraft nod, but something that amused me. There are a few other literary nods in between that pages that kept me entertained.  This is certainly not a serious read. 

I will have to check my book stack to see if I picked up more than just volume one and see if it gets better.  The story (so far) made me want to go an reread all my favorite books and immerse myself in a good story with a hot cup of tea and forget about the world for a little bit. I don't think think that was what the manga was trying to convey, or maybe it was. There is a certain amount of love and adventure that can be gained when you are reading for pleasure, and this volume reminded me of that.