There's nothing like an evening with Mary. And it took me until the 6th episode before I skipped the openning song, too. :) Also watched the special features on disc 4. Probably won't watch more then one or two tonight. Probably two. Finish off disc 1 and it ends with the classic "Snow Must Go On" with everyone stuck in election headquarters all night with no updates. I love that one.

I didn't tell you about my favorite Christmas present. I believe I've mentioned in the past that my brother plays piano quite well. Earlier this month, he had a friend record him, and he gave a CD of him playing to a bunch of people for Christmas. It sounds wonderful. Definitely something with a personal touch I will always treasure.

Also didn't mention seeing My Big Fat Greek Wedding with my family. Definitely a chick flick. :) Don't know if I might have enjoyed it more if not sitting next to my parents, but that probably didn't help either. Enjoyed it, just not the wonderful movie I thought it would be.

Just got back from seeing Treasure Planet. I don't know why everyone was so critical of it, I thought it was wonderful, from the look and feel to the story. Stayed pretty close to the book, or at least the Disney live action. If you get a chance, I'd say go see it.

Called home last night to get the Monday news. And it was all good. Escrow did indeed close on Grpop's place yesterday, so we beat the end of the year deadline. Also, the cardiologist said that Grandma's heart is till fairly strong, so he thinks she can have the knee replacement surgury and be ok. Now, to get the swelling down and get it scheduled.

And, only 5 days late, thought I'd close out the day with last week's Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Merry: Merry times? Hey, did you have a Merry Christmas? How did things turn out for you and yours after all the work and time you put in preparing for the big day?
As I already shared, Christmas was a mixed bag because of the emotions going on around us. We did have a good day at my uncle and aunts.

Twosome: Christmas: Christmas presents? Did you get what you wanted from Santa? ...or are you headed back to the stores with the rejects on 'Reverse Shopping Day'?

People stayed pretty close to my lists, so I'm happy. :)

Threesome: Everyone! Is everyone back to the normal routine today, like work and homemaking and such. ...or are you still entertaining? ...or maybe just taking a well deserved break from it all?
Well, obviously it wasn't on Thursday, or I would have posted this on time. :) Still a little off. Going back to work on Thursday will put my back on track.

And we're back. Actually, got back safely last night. Traffic was pretty bad coming back, but it still took me only 8 hours. The record has to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving where I spent 12 hours coming back. Which is why I always take the Monday after Thanksgiving off now.

I can definately tell these are stressful times in SR. Mom was flipping out about stuff in the house that wouldn't bother her otherwise. While we had a couple lay back and do little days, it wasn't a relaxing for me trip like last year.

Yet, at the same time, I realize why no one else can figure me out. I can't figure myself out. :) Saturday, I woke up and couldn't wait to leave. Was counting the hours most of the day. When I actually left, I was sad I was going. Explain that to me if you can.

Shaved my head for the New Year when I got home last night. Been blessed with a nice sunny day today, too. I'd forgotten already how wonderful a smooth head feels and how sensative the skin is to sun and breeze. It's truly a wonderful feeling.

Spent most of the day shopping and running errands. Been on a major shopping spree between the mall and the internet. Spent way too much money. But, I did get the oil changed in my car, even if it did take an hour at Wal-Mart. I figured no one would be around since most people have to work, but shows how wrong I can be. And remember how I was complaining about having too much Christmas music? I bought 5 more discs today. The Wow Christmas set (2 discs), Burl Ives best of Christmas, Al Hirt, and City on a Hill. Fortunately, they were all 40 % off. Speaking of which, Susansuth, it's not too late for you to keep your end of our non-bargain. (Not going to let you live that down. Ever. So you might as well buy Johnny Mathis and get it over with.)

Right now, I'm going to head home. One of my purchases today was the Mary Tyler Moore season 1 set, and it's very loudy calling my name.

See, I told you I'd check in at some point this week. Friday still counts, right? :)

Things have been going pretty well here. Tuesday was a little tense due to family politics and Wednesday was hard. We stopped by the cemetary nad left a pointetta on various family members graves. It was actually very nice. Then we went down to my uncle and aunt's for Christmas with extended family. Had a wonderful day with them.

Yesterday was really really wonderful. We got up late. I was the first one up, and I got to read for an hour and a half. Then, when the rest of the family got up, we just sat around and played games. We each won a game of Rummikub, then we played Canasta. Mike and I lost, then Mom and I won.

Unfortunately, Mom and Dad did wind up having to get dressed yesterday. There was yet another problem with selling Grpop's house. They wound up going out to get the taken care of. But everything seems to be back under controll and it looks like they'll have it sold by the New Year.

And I should probably get going. Mom needs the phone again. :) Hope everyone else is having as great a Christmas as I did/am.

Well, it must officially be Christmas. I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas on Friday. Followed by Muppet's Christmas Carol. Both wonderful holiday traditions.

The progressive dinner was a blast last night. Of course, at the last minute, I wound up driving, so I hadn't put any Christmas music in my car that everyone might appreciate. The kids were stuck with Point of Grace, but I enjoyed it. :) And, I got an unwanted gift from the white elephant exchange to bring next year. Plus someone brought the duck I recycled last year back this year, too. I love watching gifts go round and round. Of course, when the majority of the group in only there for two years, it makes it a little harder to keep gifts going and a little less appreciated.

Selfishly, I was very thankful I didn't have a cel phone last night. Marcus's car died on him again (don't think I posted, but it died last weekend, too.) He called for a ride home, but since I wasn't back yet, he called Dave. Dave gave him a ride, which left me time to pack. Looks like his car is toast, so if he and Dave can get the Duron's little red car running, he'll be using that temporarily. Same car they let me borrow after my accident last year.

On the Grandma front, one day she's doing great, the next she's not doing well at all. I really don't know what to expect or what's going on. But then again, the doctor's don't know either.

Sad goodbyes were said to Seth and Kiersten this morning. They leave next Sunday for Kentucky. I hate goodbyes!!!!!!

Think that about covers things here. Which means that I should post this and leave to finish packing and hit the road for my parent's. I'll try to check in once or twice over the next week, but in case I don't,

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am officially off work for the entire year! (Please don't point out it's only a couple more days.) Everyone else is gone. So, what am I still doing here? Why posting this so you can read it, of course. :) Had a very hectic morning trying to get the year end payroll stuff (W-2's, quarterly reports, etc.) done before we left. Of course, this is better then when we had to come in during our Christmas vacation to do them.

I'm leaving Sunday to head up to my parent's for a week. Kinda nice not to be leaving today. I've actually been home and come back (only a mile away, you know) and have laundry in the dryer right now. Anyway, I'm sticking around partly because tomorrow night is the annual jr. high progressive dinner. And I still need to get two Christmas gifts. Worst part? I have no clue what I'll be getting.

Not much else to report, so I'll get to my thoughts on the reality shows. Which I know you've been dieing to read.

Amazing Race - Flo and Zach? O man!!!!!! And how many times did Flo want to quit? I really wish they had. And you know Flo was bad when I don't even want Zach to get a little reward for putting up with her. I tell you, he deserves every penny he won. And I want to go on that slide thingy in Hawaii.

Survivor - Brian's arogance was really getting to me, but he was a much better choice then Clay. Clay was so sexist, the racist stuff doesn't surprise me. He did not deserve to win second. He should have left instead of Ted. Too bad they didn't get it together and get rid of Clay. Poor Jan just lost it at the end mentally. She admits her head wasn't in it by that point. And I loved Helen. Mad as can be, giving Brian a piece of her mind, yet still voting for him. Definitely the right move there.

I'll be back before I leave for home, so I'm not going to wish you a Merry Christmas. :)

Good morning. Being Thursday, it's time for the Thursday Threesome, brought to you by searching people who missed the Back Porch.

Onesome: Google's: Did the net help you find gifts this Christmas? ...not just buying things over the net, but actually finding gifts for people.
Nope. Bought one gift over the internet, but I already had the address. Other then that, I've gone into stores and bought exactly what I set out to buy. No internet involved.

Twosome: Christmas: Got your two front teeth? What is your "wish gift" this Christmas? No, not the one you're hoping to get, but the one you'd love to wish for!
My own house of condo. Definately tired of renting.

Threesome: Cache: Hiding the gifts again? Where are your favorite spots? Shh... Don't tell us the one they haven't found yet! Maybe you'd be better off telling us of "great hiding places from the past"...
All my gifts are sitting in a pile on the floor of the living room. Of course, no one I'm buying gifts for will be visiting my apartment in the next week. :)

And, so Susansuth doesn't feel guilty about stealing this from me, I'll steal two quizes from her.


What Jewel song are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Don't know that song at all. Was hoping to get "You were meant for Me" (love that song) or "Hands."


Which Alanis Morissette song are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

One I know here. Ironically, it wasn't my first choice. But somehow, I don't even think my first choice was an option.

I'm not lieing today, that's for sure. Today has been perfectly sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. It's also been bitterly cold and windy. Just no pleasing some of us, is there?

Remember how I was complaining that I had too much I was going to try to read before the end of the week? Well, I got the short books I wanted read finished last night, and I'm already a third of the way through Two for the Dough. And I was hoping to be half way done with it before I went home on Sunday. :) And, in related news, I'll be writing my 125th review this year at Amazon once I finish this post.

You think I would have learned. I mean, honestly, anyone else remember all those paniced posts back in July? But have I reconciled the accounts this fiscal year? Of course not. Started in on that today and got as far as the first account. Major problems that will take me the better part of tomorrow to fix. So much for getting things reconciled before I left for Christmas. And for staying out of trouble at work. I've got to start letting my internet life laps some (see previous paragraph and post.) and start actually working during work hours. If nothing else, maybe I can scan this pile of documents I have in stacks around my office and make it look better.

And on that note, I'm going to avoid my advice and spend my last 15 minutes of work polishing that review. Have a great night everyone.

Today's rant is brought to you by closed minded idiots. And I'm not talking about me. You've been warned.

I've seen a couple rants this week about Christmas from Anna and Lisa. I've left comments on their blogs that sum up my feelings, but that's not the can or worms I want to open up today.

We've been having another heated debate over at the Amazon discussion board. One person started a discussion of Al Gore's announcement that he wouldn't be running in two years and asked for speculation. My "friend" mh29255 decided to get involved. Now, he's the guy from that evolution debate several weeks ago who thinks I'm an idiot because I don't believe in evolution. Well, he jumps in and starts making all kinds of inflammatory statements. After several posts about the 2000 election, he posts this:

Bush did well in rural (redneck) areas, Gore did well in urban (intellectual) areas of the nation.

May not seem like much, but when you read it in context, he's calling everyone who voted for Bush stupid. Thanks, buddy. Needed that. But this quote quite a few posts later has to take the cake:

Also, who is more likely to be intolerant of other's people's beliefs or a racist: someone who is college educated or a gun-toting, rural fundamentalist?

That sounds pretty intolerant and stereotypical to me. Yet he (or she) obviously thinks he knows everything and is right about everything. Watching this guy is amazing. And if you try to call him on it, he ignores any points you've made and tells you you're wrong and stupid for believing what you believe. Now, personally, I hold onto my beliefs pretty strongly. And if you disagree with me, you're wrong. :) But I always try to discuss them in a calm manner without insulting the other person.

Frankly, I've been noticing something. Liberals are cutting Bush no slack. He can do nothing right. Conservatives think he's basically doing a good job. Yet, with Clinton, it was the other way around. Seems we're flip flopping all the time, and no one is taking the energy to try to see what these people are really doing. I think that scares me more then anything else.

BTW, on Gore not running again. I turned on C-Span when I was home at lunch yesterday. (It's channel 3 for me). There was some woman calling in in tears because Gore had decided not to run in 2004. All I could think was, "Please. There are plenty of other people waiting to run. Was he really THAT special?"

And, a quick weather report. Partly cloudy all day. The promised second wave of rain never materialized. Considering all the flooding and beginning of mud slides, that's probably a good thing.

Today, I am a liar.

You see, IT'S RAINING OUTSIDE!!!! It's down to a little sprinkle now, but it was pouring at lunch time. Man, I've missed a good winter rain storm. And, rain always makes it feel like Christmas to me. It's been several years since we got a good rainstorm during December down here. Very happy camper.

I was hardly home all weekend. Friday night, I had the career group party. Fun. Saturday, I got up, cut my hair (it's so easy to tackle it yourself when you just buzz it off.), called the fam, then headed over to Magic Mountain. There's a reason that I don't remember them advertising like Disneyland does on Christmas decorations. There wasn't a thing. I heard some Christmas music playing a couple times.... I waited an hour and a half for the new rollercoaster. "X" is something else! They strap you in, then turn your seats around so they control which direction you face. For example, directly at the ground on the first drop. And I'll have to ride it a couple more times to figure out for sure which directions you go when on the track.

Saturday night was Stephen and Natalie's party. That was lots of fun as well. Some people I only see a few times a year, and it was great to catch up with them. Played Cranium. Not too fond of that game, but a good time was had by all.

Sunday, I went over to Kiersten and Seth's after church. We barely got through all the material we wanted to, but I know have a tape of the songs I don't know that are in our new song sheets. Which is a good things since they leave in 13 days. :( They were late leaving for the Christmas program redue in Palmdale, however. Fortunately, I didn't have to go. They dropped the youth group activity afterward, so I stayed behind and watched TV.

I guess I'm the only one who watched that Nancy Drew movie last night. If it hadn't been called Nancy Drew, it would have been great. As it was, it didn't seem to present a story like the books would have, which is what was claimed. Still, it was fun. And, being followed by an incredible Alias certainly didn't hurt my opinion of it at all.

Is it 5 yet????? This day has dragged on forever. Part of it is because some of my co-workers took today off or left at noon. And part of it is that I did nothing today. (Bad Mark!)

And I've done it again. I'm setting too high reading standards for myself. I have two small books I want to get through by mid way next week. With everything else going on, that's doing nothing but adding stress to my life. When your "relaxation" becomes stressful, you need a new life.

I've got two parties this weekend. One is for the career group from Placerita. The other is Donald's sister and bro-in-law's annual party. And Donald will be down for it. Both should be fun.

And I'll probably head over to Six Flags for a couple hours tomorrow. Haven't been all year, and my annual pass is set to expire in 19 days.

We seem to be getting very bad reception on the VCR upstairs. Can't figure out why, but this is a crisis. That's where I record Alias every week!

Speaking of which, I haven't been doing enough to plug the show. It's down in the ratings from last year. Which is funny, since I people who have started watching this season. One of which just borrowed all my season 1 tapes to use while recovering from getting his wisdom teeth out today.

Last night, I had Matt and Jeremiah over for some more Bab 5 fun. Watched Signs and Portents, the title episode for season 1. They loved it, execpt that there seems to be a scratch on my new DVD's in the middle of that episode. Need to figure out how to replace it.

And finally, some reality ramblings.
Amazing Race - No! I've been rooting for Drew and Derek since the start. So sorry to see them go. Definately rooting for Ken and Gerrard since I've enjoyed watching them. They're having fun along the way. And Flo needs to zip her lip NOW! Actually, I'd like to see Flo and Ian team up so I could root Terri and Zach on for putting up with their partners this long.
Survivor - Even though Ted has that cool shaved head, I wasn't sorry to see him go. I'm rooting for Helen and Jan over there. I'd be happy with Brian. Basically, anyone but Clay. Brian sure thinks he's in charge. But when you get too sure of things, you start loosing.

You know, it's been awhile since I earned that random ramblings thing. Definately too care of that today.

And only 25 more minutes until I'm out of here!