Merry Christmas

Well, it's been a most interesting X-mas day for me today. My family is actually celebrating tomorrow, so I spent the better part of the day watching my new South Park Season 2 DVD (bought with the lovely giftcard Nads gave me) and posting on a new local forum that my brother told me about.

I got onto a thread there that was talking about whether or not a local news station's on air holiday greeting, to be aired throughout the holiday season should state "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas". The lead anchor man was telling his Sunday School class about it and said that he had told producers that he would not participate in a "Happy Holidays" ad...only a "Merry Christmas" ad.

So, I got to thinking about it. I posted a long winded reply on that thread that I'll try to condense here.

If the ad were made to run, specifically on Christmas...then fine...say Merry Christmas. But if, as was the case here, it was being made to run throughout the holiday season...there is nothing wrong or disrespectful to those of Christian faith to change the wording to Happy Holidays.

I even suggested that instead of a Happy Holidays they do an ad that incorporated several of the religious holidays that are celebrated this time of year, from Christmas to Hanukkah to Ramadan.

I know that we all think that our religious views (or lack of religious views) are the correct way. We have to feel that way to some extent or we have no real faith. But, does that mean that we cannot respect the beliefs of others? Beliefs that are most times as real and a dearly held as ours.

Kelley OGle, the newscaster mentioned earlier views himself as a journalist...however, he's no exactly being objective in this. He seems to want to say that anyone else's feelings are irrelevant in this matter because he believes that Christmas is the "true" holiday. Forget about the thousands of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others out there in our city. He wants to make a statement...he wants to be true to his beliefs.

But, don't you think he could find a way to be true to his beliefs that at least showed some level or respect for those of other beliefs?

I would hope so...

Anyway...I hope, whatever you're celebrating this holiday season that you were able to celebrate with family in the presence of love and grace and that this entire season be blessed for you.

I'm off for move DVD time now...see you cats later...

The Cost of Adultery

Here's a fun Chirstmas time tale for you...

There once was a 40-ish woman who worked as a waitress. This woman would tell anyone who would listen about how she had a boyfriend she had been seeing behind her husband's back for the last 4 years and he husband had absolutely no idea.

So, the day before Chirstmas Eve, the woman's seventeen year old son finds out about the boyfriend. He confronts his mother and a huge fight ensues, with the son promising to tell his father everything he knows.

So, this woman, is understandably upset about this situation that is entirely her own fault. So, she starts drinking. She drinks so much that she gets drunk

At 5:00, the woman is due at work...so she drives to the restaurant where she works and goes into the restaurant. While she clocks in and chooses her section she tells the incredibly hot young host that she is a little drunk. Then hot young host didn't need her to tell him that...he could smell the vodka on her breath when she walked in the door.

The Hot Young Host informs the manager on duty that one of the waitstaff is drunk.

Then, the woman's parents come for dinner and want to sit in her section. They become her only table for the night. As she struggles to serve her parents while sauced off her ass, the manager on duty confers with the general manager and the decision is made to fire the woman.

So, now, the day before christmas, she is without a job, her husband knows she been cuckholding him for years...and the Hot Young Host doesn't feel then slightest bit guilty for telling on her for being drunk.

After all, if she hadn't been a total WHORE and cheated on her husband, none of it would have happened...

...this story could of course be entirely fictional...but it's not...

So...the moral? DON'T FUCKING CHEAT!!! And don't fuck with married people. If you are unhappy with your relationship as it is either fix it or move on. DON'T CHEAT!!!

You'll just end up like the bottleblonde drunk waitress.

That's all I have to say about that!

Christmas is Coming...

Yesterday I went out and completed my Christmas shopping. I purchased a few gifts for various nieces and nephews and then took care of me.

I bought two pairs of shoes, a new pair of slacks, a new dress shirt, and various other little things I felt I needed.

While I was at Best Buy I ran into my high school drama teacher, Ms. Morgan. She's a vice-principal now in another district. I probably haven't seen her in four years. The first thing she said when she saw me was, "Oh my God, you're an adult."

Yes, yes I am. I'm older now than she was when she was my teacher.

It got me thinking again about age. My "baby" sister is 23 and has a baby of her own.

My big sister is nearing 35.

My parents are in their sixties.

And it's been a decade since high school.

I realize that I'm by no means "old", but I don't feel like I should be this close to thirty. I feel like I've barely been aout of college a year, when it's actually been closer to five years since I graduated.

I feel like I just started at DHS, but I've actuallty been here since September, 17th, 2001.

Some days I think about my niece and nephew who are in the latter half of elementary school and I'm incredibly envious of them. All they have to worry about is their homework and and making sure they don't piss off their mother. They don't have to worry about paying bills, making sure their insurance coverage is sufficient. They don't worry about whether they're contributing enough to their 401K and retirement accounts.

I no longer want the responsibility that comes with age.

I really want to be a kid again...

I should've stayed in bed today...

I knew that when I woke up at about 4:00 convinced it was Saturday morning. You know those moments before true wakefulness when you're able to convince yourself that it's the weekend when in reality it's a Monday or Tuesday. When I have those moments it's usually best that I just go back to bed and stay there for the day.

This morning started at 6:15 when my alarm woke me, this time with the full knowledge that it was a Tuesday and I had to go to work. I slowly got up and showered and dressed, and was out the door on time, about 7:25. I walked out of the house, though, to see my car covered in a thick layer of frost. I unlocked the door and wrenched it open (when there's frost, the seal on my door will freeze solid which requires me to run my key around the full length of the seal to break the ice.

I finally got in and reached behind the driver's seat for my ice scraper (The floor behind the driver's side is more practical than the glove compartment as I don't have to get in the car in order to get at it).

My ice scraper was lying in a frozen pool of blue. Apparently the odd flowery odor in my car since yesterday afternoon was caused by my friend Bridget "accidentally" knocking open a full container of fabric softener onto the floor of my car during our run for lunch yesterday.

I dug out the scraper and rushed back into the house to rinse the Downy off of it and grab a towel to soak up the nauseatingly sweet fabric softener.

Once my car was finally clear of frost (now 7:45...I have to be at work at 8:00 and have a 30 minute commute to go on a good day), I turned on my radio and started to back out.

To be called by my mother who had locked her keys in her RUNNING car while she scraped ice. She needed me to drive across town to my dad's school and pick up his set of keys to her car and then drive back, unlock her car and then proceed to work.

So off I went...Trying unsuccessfully to get through to my father's classroom, hoping he could leave his TA's in the room and just meet me out in the school drive with the keys. I finally just spilled the whole story to a secretary and begged her to send the message down on paper rather than continue trying to get through on the phone.

As I neared the intersection of Western and NW 150th (the closest intersection to the school) I was less that happy to learn that 150th is now closed for a quarter mile west of Western. This meant driving another mile south to Memorial Rd, west another mile to Penn Ave and then another mile back north to 150th...then the half mile east back to the school. Mixed among that additional 3 1/2 miles were 9! stoplights.

I finally managed to get through all of that and head back to the house with the spare key...unlocked my mother's car and sped to work (of course stopping for a 44-oz iced tea- hey, I couldn't deprive myself of it).

I arrived at work after a much shorter than usual commute (rush hour traffic having cleared for the most part) just after 9:00.

That's when I learned we had a training at 10:00 that I hadn't put on my schedule and had scheduled four appointments over...and the day went downhill from there.

The one bright spot was a trip to Target at lunch...where I procured The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Special Edition for a mere $22. Quite the bargain! I've enjoyed the first half of the movie now. I stopped watching to pen this entry and then to watch Judging Amy and 9:00...then I'll watch the second half...saving the commentaries and extras for some quiet Saturday night...

If tomorrow isn't better than today...I may get that vacation I've been wanting. Unfortunately, I'll be spending that vacation in Griffin Memorial! (for you non-locals, Griffin is the big loony bin here in the OKC area.)

Ta

The Un-Security Guard

So, after one of my crazed co-workers showed up two days in a row with a shotgun in his car, our Area Office decided that our pleas for a security guard has some merit. So, they contracted with a private Rent-A-Cop agency to provide us a CLEET certified armed guard.

Day one with security was nice. The man was a former cop, early sixties, and BIG. He certainly made me feel safe.

However, on day two of security, we got our permanent guard. Apparently the big guy only works the first day to scope out the place and decide who would be best for our office. Our permanent guard looks to be a few day shy of 75. Built like the lovable Barney Fife he hardly makes me feel safe.

Add to this that most days he can be found sitting on the table in front of the vending machines as if pondering his snack options. The problem with this is that our vending machines are in a room midway between the public and secure parts of our office. The only other thing in the room is the elevator.

If this security guard is staring at the Chili-Cheese Fritos and Snickers bars, he is most certainly not looking out for trouble...wherever else it might be.

I'm pretty sure the snacks will not go postal.

Christmas Music

Ah...the holiday season is in full swing. And the time has finally come for me to enjoy all of the old holiday classics. There's 98.9 FM here in Oklahoma City that has altered its format from adult contemporary music to All Christmas Until Christmas. There's the Christmas music channel on my digital cable that I also here when I'm at the restaurant...all of the songs and all of their different versions...

...and then there's my favorite Christmas Carol. The one I hear myself humming the most. And anyone in the OKC television market will immediately recognize it.

It goes a little something like this:

Jewelry is the gift to give, cause it's the gift that lives and lives,
So give the gift you know can't fail from B.C. Clark's Anniversary sale.
Most sales are after Christmas,
But Clark's is just before,
Most everything is marked way down,
Saving's you can't ignore
At Oklahoma's oldest Jeweler
Since 1892,
So give the gift you know can't fail
from B.C. Clark's Annivesary Sale...

This little jingle is all over the tv and radio this time of year...and it's been the same for decades...It's amazing how little things like that stick in your head.

When I was in high school, the BC Clark's people would do commercials of holiday shoppers singing the jingle for the camera (they may still do this, but I don't recall seeing them recently). My friends and I would go to Penn Square Mall every Saturday in November hoping to get caught by one of the film crews. I never did make it into the commercials, but I tried for three years in a row.

So, my favorite christmas carol is, in fact, an advertising jingle (actually my favorite is Away in a Manger...but that's not nearly as funny as a tv commercial).

Happy Holidays, everyone...

Reality TV Conspiracy

I am not a big fan of Reality TV. I have (proudly) never watched an episode of Survivor. The Bachelor? What's that?

But this season, I have been pulled into the Apprentice. I like it. It's good drama, it's good TV.

But there is another type of reality program out there. It comes in many forms. This type of reality program is called "Shows that try to make Underling cry."

For example: I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday nights. Initially, I thought the concept was cool. It was like While You Were Out on crack...a whole house renovated in 7 days? How cool is that!?!

And the show was doing something nice for people who needed it. ABC and Sears were doing a good deed. Giving back...

And then they started trying to outdo themselves every week. Every family situation just grows more and more pitiful every week. They find new diseases to feature, new disabilities (a favorite this season seems to be autism...they've had at least two autistic children featured.)

Also, I hate Ty Pennington. I hated him on Trading Spaces, and I hate him now. But he keeps giving the big brothers and big sisters of cute disabled children college scholarships. Not to mention the inclusion of various stars who lend their support. (Randy Travis visits the farmers, Marlee Matlin visits the deaf family...)

So, that show has become a total train wreck for me. I don't want to watch, but I simply must. And I cry like a five year old girl every week.

But last night I was forced to draw a line in the sand. As I sat there watching ABC's Wife Swap and actually felt a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as the white trash teenage girl came to realize how much she loved her mother's 350 pound common-law husband...I had to say no.

I immediately changed the channel.

Stop it reality TV. Stop trying as hard as you can to emotionally manipulate me. I'm done giving you my tears.

Welcome

Hello, Sports Fans! Welcome to the new lair. I rew tired of Xanga and it's bullshit and decided I needed a REAL blog. So here it is. Nadine (formerly known on my blog as Vi)helped me get things set up and taught me a few html tricks I needed to know.

I'll be posting here from now on and I'll slowly archive my old Xanga posts to this site.

So, this is the new blog. I'll be back later with an actual post, but wanted to say hello and welcome to all.