Jan 14, 2009
Guys, I cannot even deal with how cute this is. The closer on the story is a little schlechy, but COME ON a dog and an elephant who are FRIENDS! You cannot make this stuff up.
The video below I stole from Taylor's blog, but it's just too weird. Needed to share.
I will post my resolutions soon, really I will...
Jan 2, 2009
Jan 1, 2009
An Eventful Couple of Weeks
Well, 2008 decided to go out with a bang for me. Since a blog is a place to start a conversation (even with comments, blogs are naturally one-sided), I'm going to give you the run-down on what happened and what remains...
Dec. 22: Dinner party at our house. Gift exchange, too much champagne, good times had by all. Great to see such good friends before leaving for Huntsville.
Dec. 23: World's worst hangover, haircut, chiropractor, packing and driving to Huntsville.
Dec. 24: Christmas shopping with Dad, Christmas with the McCutchans. Really not that weird without Dad, oddly enough. Elaine, my aunt with whom I have nothing in common, was very low-key this year. Refrained from saying anything to raise my blood pressure (like the time a few years ago when she told me that it was stupid to study history because it already happened...).
Dec. 25: Christmas morning with the fam at Mom's, great family time, good gifts and the treat of brunch with Grandaddy Charles. GC did let us know that he's planning to live to 104, since his oldest sister was that age when she passed; he's 95. Again, I kick myself for not being related to him by blood. No Stone family Christmas at Grandaddy's this year, as my cousin Michelle was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Dec. 26: Chill. No shopping even. Excellent dinner with Mom, Mammaw, Pappaw, Sara and her boyfriend Tadi. Delicious food followed by Mexican Train.
Dec. 27: Head to Atlanta with Mom. See the Tut exhibit, do some great shopping.
Dec. 28: Visit Michelle in the hospital, see the Georgia Aquarium. Drive back just in time to miss the Stone family Christmas, that I had not been told was happening.
Dec. 29: Sandy, one of my parents' dogs, gets very ill, spend most of the day watching her.
Dec. 30: More time watching Sandy, lunch with Mammaw and Mom at Taziki's (hooray!), drive back to Nashville and begin the plumbing fiasco. Find out that our homeowner may not be able to afford to fix the problem, as in the house may get foreclosed on can't afford it. Cannot use toilets or showers.
Dec. 31: Visit houses that we may be moving into this weekend, should the plumbing situation worsen. Birthday lunch for Jen at J. Alexander's. Prep for NYE party at our house, after much debate over whether it's a good idea to have a party when you have to go to the neighbor's house to pee. Amy Harlan comes into town, friends arrive, 2009 rung in watching Eddie Izzard.
Exciting times...Next post, New Year's Resolutions. Boring, but helpful for me...
Dec 15, 2008
Christmas
This is a recent Twitter from Merlin Mann:
"If I were Jesus, I'd make a rule that nativities had to use live ducks. Because ducks hate costumes, and Christmas should be hard but funny."
Christmas is always an interesting time of year for me because my family is not majority Christian. We don't really celebrate the "reason for the season," and it's easy for me to get caught up in the tradition and gift-giving. I think that both of these things can be positive, but they are not inherently so. However, I love getting to spend time with my family and the people who understand me best, in many ways.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and a host of other excellent actors. There is a wistful, nostalgic tone to the film that I have appreciated since I was a teenager. (I feel a little emo saying that...) Christmas is hard in our family, and it will only be harder this year with trying to figure out our "new normal." I'm a little apprehensive to be honest, but that's nothing new.
In past years, I've been tempted to make myself an advent wreath to remind me of why I celebrate Christmas: the birth of Christ. Not my family or tradition or gifts. The birth of my Lord and Savior. I'm a little late, but I might make one anyway. What are your Christmas traditions?
