life as a dog…

The right way (simple decorations):

The right way (with more lights):

The WRONG way (beyond stupid):

Yup…it’s Christmas all over again. The title is in reference to the song. The only version that always sticks in my mind is the Muppets version from their John Denver special (I really wish that was out on DVD). Really, it’s the only thing I ever liked of Miss Piggy.

I’m in the middle of all my Christmas planning and executing. I got all my cards out. I found some pretty cool ones. Black Christmas cards! I have always tried to send out cards that are not ordinary. But I got off track the last couple of years. I suppose the biggest reason is that the Museum Company no longer has a store at Tyson’s. This year, I got my cards at Papyrus. And back to usual form, I got two different styles. One is black, the other silver/white. Neither is on the Papyrus website. But holy moly…check this one out – Click Me. Looks just like my Manx.

With the cards done, it’s time to focus on the presents. L and I differ on one thing – I love doing the surprise thing. Her…not so much. I know she’s dying to know what I got her. But I’m not telling! I’ve broken it into three different items. The first she actually does know (to keep her from buying it herself). That’s the “Useful” present. The second is a cross between “useful” and “romantic” (or as the word seems to be known now – “romantical.”). And the last one is just “romantical.” I think she’ll like them all. I love seeing the look on someone’s face once they’ve unwrapped the box.

We’re going to do Christmas on Sunday. I’m driving out to Indy, she’s sticking around here (I’d rather she come along, but I understand why she’s not – there’s a certain Whippet that will be recuperating from being fixed). Sunday is going to be a busy day. Lots to do. In the morning, it’s a nice breakfast of eggs and gingerbread pancakes (maybe some turkey bacon). Then after lunch, it’s time to head to Silver Spring – the AFI Silver Theater has their Christmas series going, and what is playing this weekend? Muppet Christmas Carol! Such a classic movie. After that, it’s time for dinner. I’ve made reservations at Filomena in Georgetown. I’ve never been, L has. It must be good because she likes it and has mentioned it many times (and is even willing to attack the Georgetown mess of traffic for it). Side note – I see it also has been rated the top Italian restaurant in DC two years running. Once dinner is finished, it’s back to open presents! (Yeah, I know…she’s going to be dying not being able to open anything up beforehand – especially since it will be right there in her apartment that day).

I wish I had room for a Christmas tree in my place. But the ceiling is too low. I’m one of those who prefers an artifical tree. Not neccessarily because it’s artificial, but because that’s why I grew up with, and the tree I grew up with is still around. My parents still have it – it is spoken for…by me! I have no idea of it’s exact age, but it must be getting close to 40 years old.

I like Christmas season. Always have.

I get emails every once in a while from tvshowsondvd.com. They have finally sent some good news (well…sorta good, sorta bad). Supposedly in April, my highest want is FINALLY coming to DVD. WKRP in Cincinnati will finally drop. That’s the good news. The bad – they still haven’t licensed all the original music. Apparently Fox has been working on it – and it making sure the replacement music fits where the old music was. (I’m not sure how they will replace “Tiny Dancer” from the Russian defector episode.) But hey…something is better than nothing.

After what must have been years of saying I was going to get one, I finally bought a slow cooker last month. I love the thing. 10-20 minutes of preparing, and a nice big meal in the evening. Maybe the best part is the aroma wafting around the house all day. The anticipation and knowledge of a good hot meal is coming is quite nice. Sunday has become slow cooker day. Cook it all day, then take it down to L’s place. The first recipe was a sirloin roast (with sirloin steak, not sirloin roast). The second was a cubed steak meal, and today’s was chicken and dumplings. The sirloin was by far the best. The chicken was good, too. We’ll have many more recipes to try out.

While it was cooking today, we headed down to Eastern Market. We went a couple weeks ago when the weather was perfect (70s and sunny). I made the mistake of not taking my camera that time. Today, I did. That was really the whole point of going down today for me – get pictures. I got a few. I was surprised that I didn’t get vendors telling me not to, or asking me for payment. I did get one asking for payment. I showed him the picture and said, “it didn’t turn out…too dark.” Part of me really wanted to say, “I’m not paying you a dime for a picture…you’re not in it.”

We got back to the nice smell of chicken and dumplings. Yum. It’s nice to not have to worry about someone saying, “I don’t like meat…it must be vegetables only.” While L and I may differ on some tastes, I know that either of us is at least willing to try. Heck, a few weeks ago I even tried Thai. It was ok. Not really my preference…but I tried it. I still have to try Indian. I know she wants that. I know pretty much anything I like, she either has had, or will try it – pork notwithstanding. But only one item not on her list…that’s pretty good. She’s cool.

I’ll have some pictures up soon, I hope (it’s been way too long).

Just finished two days of work hell. On Tuesday, we drove down to DC to setup equipment for Wednesday. Not a horrid day. Wednesday, I got up at 5:00AM to get to the shoot by 7:00AM (had to pick up a co-worker). Got to the shoot. All day and booooooring. We finished that up at 5:00PM and headed out to our next job – New York City. Leaving DC at 5:00PM is NOT fun. We got to our hotel (in Newark, not NYC…blech) at about 11:00PM. On Thursday, we got up at 5:00AM to get to the job site at 7:00AM. Got there at about 7:15AM. The actual shoot was scheduled from 12:00PM to 2:00PM. It didn’t end until 2:30PM. We packed up and left New York City at about 4:00PM. Yeah, NOT a good time to leave Manhattan. Got back to DC and went to the office to pack for today’s shoot. Got home about 11:00PM. Two 18 hour days, with a LOT of travelling. Talk about wiped out.

HOWEVER, the shoot in New York did have one benefit. It was at Rockefeller Center. In the Rainbow Room. That’s on the 65th floor…the top. Nothing above it. Here was the reward: