Lol. I love it when family is “much more socially acceptable than normal” Rare among my peeps, but it happens!
I had a nice, though long, visit with my sister and mom here. Lots of fun, including a late night “swim-rave” in the dome when mcson and gf were here. We discovered that my beefy Bluetooth speaker makes awesome sound inside the dome, and that my spinning LED lights on the terrace cast a “disco feel” in the dome at night.
Of course, lots of overtime seems required this week to make up for my previously unprecedented 4-days off for TG Hi ho. Glad to hear you all had nice, or survivable Thanksgivings!
Getting back to “normal” here - enjoyed FIVE days off at Thanksgiving. Lots of cooking and dish washing. Evidently I am the only person with the special skills required to unload or load a dishwasher. Will need to add it to my resume.
A couple of funny incidents: smoke alarm went off when cooking the roast (it starts out on high heat). H got locked in the master bedroom for a couple of hours when a doorknob from the 1930s decided to break. Luckily our building had a handyman on call. H’s parents called during this time (phone was not locked in with him) so I had to explain why their son was unable to come to the phone. The third incident: I was trying to find the gravy boat and H (after he was set free) explained it was at church. It was used in a ritual involving anointing with oil and never made it home.
Enjoyed the time with both kids and their significant others. Did some sight-seeing on Friday - finally saw S’s apartment!
Love the chard and red cabbage grocery list. H has terrible handwriting and I’ve come home with some interesting items before.
Pondering this, why would you say red cab. I guess there is such a thing as a white Cab. I just looked it up – released in 2002 for the first time but it is not especially common. [I see a Swiss/German Cabernet Blanc and a more recent White Cab which comes from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes without the skin and is “blush” but not “rose”]. Are they really serious wine folk who would know about a White Cab?
I’ve just ordered a case of California Chardonnays, Oregon Pinot Noirs and I think a California Meritage on Cyber Monday from my favorite wine negociant that will be shipped to our houseboat. So, I’m not exactly naive in the wine world.
ShawWife subleased a studio in Sausalito last year and will this year. The lessor told ShawWife she is going to give up the lease and wants to give her first choice because (not surprisingly) she is well-liked by the other artists in the building. Probably a good idea to take it over and sublet it when we are not there as it gives us the ability to stay for longer.
I’m helping ShawD negotiate the terms of her first full-time job. Based upon the advice she got from her professor, she is inclined to take the primary care job in Western Mass rather than the specialist position at the teaching hospital in NH. I have urged her to finish the interview process with the teaching hospital a) for the experience; and b) because she might love it. The teaching hospital just told her they would be sending a check for her mileage for the interview. The primary care job has a salary in the low end of acceptable (but it is in the country and does a fair bit of mentoring) but turns into a revenue share in Year 2 and share ownership in Year 3. But, they only offer $500 for Continuing Medical Education when the online sources say it costs $2500 to go to a national conference. They will raise a little but not fully. Their 401(k) isn’t contributory. ShawD should have no money worries as a) she has no debt; and b) we will get her a used car (like we did with ShawSon). But, I’m guessing the other offer will be a lot better.
@shawbridge – No, you’re correct; Northampton is Western MA. (IMO, Central MA is the Worcester area.) My hometown is 20 minutes north – Greenfield. Northampton is a pretty eclectic place with all the nearby colleges, lots of artsy types, etc. Overall it has a “younger vibe” than other nearby towns, which I’m sure your D would prefer. Housing may be a tad pricier than you’d think for that area, but obviously not like Boston.
^ I would love to see the stocking stuffer ideas , too. So far I only have running socks and lip balm for S and SIL’s stockings. SIL mentioned the movie tickets (from Costco) from his stocking last year so I will do that again. I saw a phone charger that is adaptable for use in multiple countries and am thinking of ordering for S.
H and D went to a football game in Green Bay with several of his family members this past weekend so I was home alone. Got some decorations up, picked up a few Christmas gifts and got a few other chores taken care of. I really love being home alone during the day, but the evenings seem lonely without H.
I have 2.5 days to use or lose this year even with taking off 3 to visit family and my carry over. I am having trouble scheduling them with a number of events/meetings at work and having to have someone (out of 4 of us in our group) in the office every day.
When you said phone charger I immediately thought of this one re stocking stuffers…but doubt its globally function (just future functional ) http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1dbd/
This year I think I’m going to skip stocking stuffers because mcson will not be here for stockings. I spent a highly generous amount on a next generation synthesizer instead so I’m not being scroogish or anything. I’m also starting to feel there’s just “too much stuff” in our lives so am beginning to favor consumables, experiences, or bigger-ticket utility in terms of what I buy.
Had a nice TG with my mom and sister down but worked late every single night last week to catch up. Holiday season seems to be flying in terms of pace
My D left yesterday after spending an extra here week after TG. Had a hard time getting out due to snow in Chicago, but after an over 6 hour delay her plane finally departed. She’ll be back the 23rd for Xmas.
Have not put up the tree yet (kept meaning to do it while D was here) and I’m leaving in a few hours for a business trip so maybe I’ll get to it this upcoming weekend!
We all compose “wish lists” and D was commenting on her younger brother’s list, which includes new underwear. She remembered when getting new underwear for Xmas was the worst gift possible.
I usually do golf balls, lip balm, gum, gift cards and one unique or fun item in the stockings. Last year I got them the pocket monkey tool. They loved it! I have also done head lamps that were fun and used for night dog walking and running. I got SIL 1 a bluetooth grilling thermometer and some regional BBQ rubs for a regular gift. He will love that. SIL 2 is tough. All he wants is athletic wear.
cq…we always give underwear and it is family gag gift!
And here I sit on my laptop, trying desperately to do as much shopping as possible online. I’ve got 4 things in my “basket” at Amazon, 2 of which are for H. The problem is our Amazon account is connected to an email address we share, so when I place the order, he may see the confirmation email before I get to it. I think I’ll wait until tomorrow morning – I’m always up at least 2 hours before him.
I’ve also gotten a few things from The Grommet. D wants a new pea coat, and picked it out from LL Bean. No surprise there – but I did order it while they were having a 20% off sale. As usual for the last couple of years, S is very difficult. If asked, he’ll say he wants “nothing.” Plus he’s leaving on the 17th for Thailand. (Have I mentioned this? Couldn’t come home for Christmas, but he’s headed back to the other side of the date line on leave, after just returning to the US from over there. Crazy kid!)
Went to the Boston Pops Holiday Concert last night. So excellent!!
CBB–same issue here. H tried to surprise me with tickets to a Jazz concert on our Feb. anniversary but I saw the
email confirmation. He would have to change the mail address on the account to have me not see it.
I do think Amazon could solve this problem–I have thought about writing them.
Neither H nor I nor D surprise each other due to the emails they send.
Just does not seem like rocket science to me…
Just took a pate de verrde class. I am fried after 4 hours of any class. The first day was 8 hours–we started our
personal projects at hour 6. Nope I am so done. How much better if we had come back the next day with a
plan for this project. Anyway, learned bunches and had a good enough time. I realize that I have never had an
8 hour attention span. I have always been miserable at conferences. Used to take my Christmas Cards and list (even in July) and do them there. I am such a bad student!
My Amazon order is due to arrive today. I’m pretty sure I got to all the emails before H saw them. I had wanted to surprise H with tickets to the James Taylor concert at Fenway Park in August for my main gift to him. But, since surprises don’t usually work so well with him, I asked first. He was all over the idea, so we did get tickets – just no surprises involved. So, I thought we were done with gifts, but then he had the idea that we need a Sonos Sound Bar for the TV here, and that be could be our gift to each other. For the sake of marital peace I agreed, but I really don’t care that much about it. What he’s really in a tizzy about is D (and her fiancé) won’t be with us for Christmas, and D has been doing the shopping for my stocking since she was 16. I’m having a good laugh over this …
That’s funny, @CBBBlinker – at first I thought he was going to be in a tizzy because of missing her, but the sctocking issue made me laugh.
Okay, I’m surprised that so many people share email accounts. There’s nothing in mine that I’d mind if Mr. Arabrab saw, but it just never occurred to me to share an account with him.
We don’t share email accounts either. My sister was just telling me about her neighbors (married couple) who share an account. The issue with them is that she doesn’t know which one has written the email to her as the person who has written the email doesn’t sign their name!
I’m done with my Christmas shopping. Bought most stuff online. My sister and both kids will be here so still need to decorate. The outside lights are up but need to get going with decorating some inside.
I have never shared an email address, but H check the credit card statements every day. He doesn’t care if I buy anything, he is just looking for fraudulent charges. This is a good habit, but makes it hard to surprise him.
Rare among my peeps, but it happens!
