All of my plans for Christmas fell thru so I'm sitting home alone waiting for the turkey to cook. Dh and dd went off to spend the day with dh's extended family...an excrutiating event for me. Mom and Dad bailed on me this morning. Yesterday they said they were coming but then it started to rain so....
I baked two different batches of cookies for them and I'm sitting here listening to morose Christmas music and knocking them back one after another. So not what I had planned.

Thought I'd sneak in a coffee before my world is set askew. Dd gets home from school soon and it will be utter chaos here. It's not exactly quiet...the little rooster wants back in the house so bad. He and his brother keep crowing at each other. I had the gray rooster out for a bit. Long enough to clean his house and load him back in. Both feet are shot now and he tips over on his nose when he tries to stand. I don't know what to do with him. I'm going to see if the gang will let the black rooster shack up with them tonight. There really isn't room for both of them in the box now. He'll probably be scared but he'll get over it. I have a feeling I'll have to gurk his brother anyway. The quality of life for a paralyzed chicken probably isn't that great.

Not much else going on. Went to the annual Christmas White Elephant Soiree yesterday. ACK! No booze to be had. Of course, it was only noon. It really wasn't any fun. Dd didn't want to have anything to do with her cousins. I imagine they are still trying to get her to do things. Little bastards. FIL wasn't speaking to anyone. I made a point of walking up to him and speaking pleasantly even though I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. Dh ignored him. It was so bad that FIL only hit the chow line once because we were sitting right next to it and dh was facing it. At least that's my take on it. FIL has NEVER stopped at one plate before now. All in all it was very uncomfortable. The white elephant gifts this year were crappy. They get cheaper and cheaper every year and now that the little kids are involved we can't "steal" gifts because the kids cry. Granddad "stole" a bag of candy that Matt opened and he started crying so Ann gave it back. Plus, the kids take so long that it really drags it out. My choice turned out to be a bottle of wine and I got to keep it. I thought it was one of the better gifts out there. At least it has a cork.
We gave a set of his and her's dress watches...with diamonds on the face. We've had them for ages and will never use them so we thought we'd class up the game. Scott and Missy brought something from their stash of wedding gifts. Scott proclaimed that they had a closet full of the stuff. You could tell Missy was embarrassed. She finally said that the things just weren't their style. Way to go there...every person in the room had gone to their wedding and given them a gift. Some people have no class whatsoever. She still won't speak to me unless I speak first. I guess I'm beneath her since her family is so fabulously wealthy.

Well, school's out. *sigh* Blessed calm, I'll see you tomorrow...

Some things go really well together. Some don't. Dh can eat a combo of anything. It doesn't matter to him. He'll eat spaghetti with a side of oatmeal. He doesn't care. For me, though, there has to be some semblance of aesthetics...visually as well as good taste. For instance, who is the genius behind peanut butter on celery? Dh could live off of it. It's totally illogical to me and not the least bit appetizing. However, he finds my habit of applesauce on french fries disgusting. That's nothing I just dreamed up on my own. People have been eating potato latkes with applesauce for ages.
Here in the south (aka Virginia) I've seen tons of people putting salt on their apples. All I can say is WTF? But those same people think that the Northern habit of eating sharp cheddar with a hot slice of apple pie is bizarre.
Back when I was still in highschool I was employed as the cook for a tiny tiny restaurant on highway 58. It was simply called THE Restaurant. The cook who trained me put bacon grease in everything. Her husband would come in everyday guzzling a mountain dew with peanuts in it. Twentysix years later and I still can't wrap my head around that one.
Mint flavoured ice cream is another one I don't get. Dh loves it. It tastes like toothpaste to me and mint toothpaste makes me gag. How in hell he can sit there and shovel down a heaping bowlful of that swill is beyond me. Meanwhile, common condiments give him the heebie-jeebies. Mayo is his cryptonite...or whatever was superman's achilles heel. I think I could even get him to puke just by talking about it. That will be an experiment for another time.

Just thought I'd list the schools I went to for future reference.

Kindergarten: Bethlehem Township Grade School (West Portal, NJ Lived in Hampton)
First: BTGS
Second: Must have started the beginning of the school year at BTGS.
Second: Harrison Valley Elementary School (Harrison Valley, PA Lived at the Graves house.) Started late.
Third: HVES (Lived in Ulysses, PA at the Tarbox farm.)
Fourth: HVES First part of year.
Fourth: Back to West Portal, NJ. Lived in house next to BTGS. Was bussed to different township school.
Fifth: Back to BTGS (NJ) for first part of school.
Fifth: Back to HVES (PA) for rest of school year. Ran away from home with Buddy Rhinehart on the last day of school because Mom & Dad told me we were moving again.
Sixth: Stuarts Draft Middle School. (Stuarts Draft, VA Lived on the dairy farm in Staunton, VA) Started school late.
Sixth: Last 6 weeks of school spent at Warren Hills Middle School, Washington, NJ.
Seventh: Riverhead Middle School Greenville, VA Back to the dairy. Started late.
Eighth: Riverhead High School, Greenville, VA
Ninth: Riverheads HS for the first part IIRC
Ninth: Kennard Dale High School, Fawn Grove, PA Lived in Stewartstown, PA
Tenth: KDHS first 6 weeks of school.
Tenth: Tunstall High School, Dry Fork, VA (Lived in Axton, VA)
Eleventh: THS
Twelfth: THS Graduated 1981. (Not since Kindergarten and 1st did I spend two whole years in one school.)

No wonder I have social issues. For a long time I couldn't remember where I was for most of 6th grade. I always thought I spent the last part of 5th at Stuarts Draft Middle School but I remember having Gus K. as my teacher in 5th in PA and also running away. So, it must have been 6th grade. But, why would we leave the dairy farm? I know Mom & Dad were off to Florida looking for property and that's why I was going to school in Jersey. That was a nightmare. Then we came back to the dairy farm and I started school on the hill. I was always getting beat up by those two boys and the teachers would let them. The teachers would always put us together for group projects and I'd get my assed kicked every time. That's about the same time that my brother went off the deep end and started trying to kill me at every opportunity. Those were some tough years.

Ahhh, the breakfast of champions. The coffee is Gevalia Costa Rican Peaberry or something like that. It's a light coffee and I now understand what they mean when they say it has "fruity" undertones. It's tasty but not robust enough for me. If I want wimpy coffee I'll go to Starbucks which always makes my stomach do a slow greasy roll about a half hour after drinking it.

Well, it's December 1st. Time to get all festive and shit. Dh put the lights on the tree. I got the antique ornaments out of the attic. Well, maybe not antique but they are at least 40 years old. I'll probably lose a few this year. Nibble was climbing in the tree the other night. This is his first Christmas with us. Should be interesting. Shopping for him will be easy...he likes brown paper bags and toilet paper tubes. Dh snuck another gift under the tree last night. I'm clueless as to what to get him. Maybe something manly from Lowes. I believe dd is covered. I bought some fleece yesterday to make her a robe and some flannel to make jammies. She wants a pink blanket for her bed, too. I may have to run back to Hancocks to pick something up while it's on sale. I need to go to the Tractor Supply Co. to pick up one of the horse collections. She's been eyeballing my Breyers models and we can't have that. Some of those molds were discontinued. I've had those horses for 30 years at least. It's amazing that they never got broken in all the countless moves that we made. (Note: I remember where I was for 6th grade now. It had to have been Stuarts Draft Middle School. I started 5th at BTGS in NJ. I ended 5th at Harrison Valley ES in PA. I started school late at Stuarts Draft Middle School in VA. I don't know how late or why but I broke my wrist the first day of school. The gym teacher called me a yankee bitch. I ended 6th grade at Warren Hills in NJ. That only lasted 6 weeks.

Damn, gotta go. Dh called and wants me to pick up gymboree stock for the ggo. I've slipped into 3rd place after having held 1st all year.