Twitter Machine Tuesday

Something I only partially touched on in my Christmas decorations post from yesterday is what I deem as an acceptable Christmas season.

I don't celebrate anything about Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over.  I find it disrespectful to the pilgrims when we immediately jump from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations.  We shouldn't immediately go from the Monster Mash or Werewolf Bar Mitzfah to Christmas music.  Granted the Charlie Brown Halloween and Christmas specials are much better known than the Thanksgiving special, but the Thanksgiving special still exists all the same.

Normally I'd say that Christmas doesn't really start until December 1, but I've softened on this stance over the years.  I'm willing to make that small concession.  So now that Christmas season is in full swing, we can enjoy all the things that go along with it.

-You'll notice that I never say "holidays". It's Christmas damnit. You can say I'm intolerant. I just celebrate Christmas and say "Merry Christmas" #politicalcorrectnessbedamned
-If someone actually says "Happy Holidays" to me, I will tell them "Merry Christmas" in return.
-I do want to write a song to appeal to other markets. I'll call it "Last Hanukkah" in honor of Wham!
-You'll notice the picture of the Christmas Angry Bird. I'm officially addicted. It's like crack only with more pig deaths.
-And of course Pentatonix won The Sing Off. #calledit
-I've written Pentatonix so many times on my iPhone that it is autocorrecting every pent word to it.
-The next time I'm in Washington DC, I'm going to visit the Pentatonix #seewhatimean
-The only opinion of Tim Tebow is a strong one whether strong hate or strong love
-See also: New York Yankees, Duke basketball and the Dallas Cowboys
-The only way to describe my feeling of the NBA lockout settling is complete and total apathy
-The owners and players could have had an agreement months ago, but their egos prevented it
-Still haven't heard any of them apologize to the fans #entitledpricks
-My entire family finally moved into the iPhone world. I can't believe it took them so long.
-I know that every parent thinks it, but my daughters are the most beautiful girls in the world #FACT
-Saying FACT forcefully at the end of a statement is the best way to win an argument
-Erin has actually gone online to search out solutions for Angry Birds. I just shoot birds repeatedly until it works.
-I'm amazed at how many people there are that don't know about Pandora.
-Apparently Grace kept saying DADA while holding the Sexiest Man Alive issue. #kindacreepy #thinkshighlyofme
-Still haven't seen a movie in the theatre since Toy Story 3. No clue when this streak will be broken.
-We have however taken in quite a few Netflix Instant Queue movies
-Watched Red State the other day. Kevin Smith needs to stick to comedy.
-I want to take iSamJackson and put it to Songify to make the best time waster app ever
-Nevermind came out 20 years ago...and I still don't care for it or any Nirvana. #overrated
-Ten also came out 20 years ago, and it is still a better album by a better band #pearljam #seriouslynirvanaisoverrated
-I feel like every person I know saw The Muppets this weekend, and every one of them loved it.
-Saw a commercial the other day for a Napoleon Dynamite cartoon. Loved the movie but #ugh #seriously?
-Erin has this stuffed cow that moos. Grace can't get enough of it. Smiles every single time. #adorable
-Woke this morning with Ana trying to crawl onto my head. Best. Wake-up call. Ever.

That's all for this week.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Christmas Light of My Life

I don't think that I've broached the topic of Christmas yet in this space.  This is where loyal readers say 'Of course you haven't because you've only been writing this blog since like March, so when would you write about Christmas?  Idiot'.

First of all, no need to be so harsh.  I could have written about Christmas in June or July, but that would go against everything I stand for when it comes to celebrating holidays.  I'm well aware that Christmas is something new to discuss in my neck of the blog woods.  But I have a feeling that it should figure prominently in everything I write over the next few weeks.

This year we officially kicked off the Christmas season about as early as we ever have.  I blame (or credit, depending on my mood) my lovely wife for her unbridaled enthusiasm for all things Christmas.

She spent Saturday while I was at work putting up some decorations in the house.  She put the garland on the chimney.  She hung a wreath on the front door.  She put up star-shaped twinkling lights outside of our front window.  I'm surprised she didn't throw the tree up while she was at it.  I applaud the restraint that she somewhat showed there although I think she only did it out of fear of the girls pulling it down.

On Sunday we did some heavy duty yard work in our front yard which was loooooong overdue considering all the off days I spent NOT doing yard work.  There were leaves to blow and rake, bushes to trim, lawns to mow and gutters to clean.

Since we were already out there and had the ladder out, my wife suggested hanging the Christmas lights.  Sure.  What the heck.  So we untangled the strands we used on our trees before we went artificial (I know I'm like Scrooge and Hitler had a baby), and we strung those around the garages and along our gutter line.

It was nice to finally see our house lit up for the first time.

We didn't have lights the first year we moved in since we moved in right around Christmas and were more concerned with boxes and furniture than trees and twinkly lights.  Last year we had these two other little distractions to worry about and with which to concern ourselves.  So for the first time since moving in to our "new" house, we have decorations and lights up on the outside of our house.  We're even the second house on the block to get into the Christmas spirit.

We took Grace outside to look at the lights for the first time.  Ana missed out because she was sleepy and fussy.  The look in Grace's eyes is the reminder that every holiday is better with kids.  You could just see it all over her face.  She was simultaneously in a state of joy and wonder.  She didn't know how or why her house was all lit up, but it didn't stop her from loving it.  And to see the huge smile come across her face made my heart melt.

It made me love Christmas even more.

Poops-giving

**WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS DETAILS ABOUT MY CHILDREN POOPING.  WHAT ELSE IS NEW?**

Thanksgiving can be a pretty stressful day.

You have too many people all in one house.  There are always too many people in the kitchen.  You eat way too much.  Those of us with kids have to load up the car with kids, toys, extra diapers, extra clothes, pack and plays, milk, bottles, cups and anything else we may need for a couple of hours away from that house.  It can be emotionally draining.

The day itself wasn't actually too stressful.  It was nice spending time with family and going to multiple houses with the girls.  Grace and Ana tore up some turkey and mashed potatoes.  They didn't sleep enough which led to some tears in the afternoon hours, but even that wasn't so bad.

After a long day away from our house, we got home and were pretty drained.  We still wanted to stick to our routine and give baths and bottles before bed time, so we drew the bath and got started.

Grace had been gassy which I'm going to assume was a result of too much turkey consumption, so I just laughed it off when she made a few bubbles in the tub.  That was until I saw that it wasn't just a normal fart.  She had pooped in the tub, and I was horrified.  I was in there by myself with the girls, so I lifted Grace out of the tub and called for Erin.  She came in and saw what happened, so she immediately lifted up Ana and moved her to the master bathtub.  We wiped Grace off and took her in there too.

We figured we would move them to our tub to do the rest of bath time in there.  It was a good plan in theory, but our kids are more into chaos theory.

Ana decided that she could one-up Grace.  As she stood there, she let it rip.  Now each girl had pooped in a different tub within a 3 minute stretch.  I yelled out to Erin again who was cleaning the other tub.  She didn't understand why I was yelling for her.  As she came into the bedroom all she could say was "Really kid?" and put Ana in our shower.  She grabbed Grace just as she was trying to grab what her sister had made and put her in the shower too.

Erin ended up turning bath time into shower time.  She showered with them and cleaned them both while in the shower.

After a long day with family and too much food and football and parades, all we could do was collapse on the couch, have a drink and laugh about it.  We certainly won't forget this Thanksgiving.

Things I'm Thankful For

Every Thanksgiving, I try to look back on the previous year and think about the things that I'm thankful for.  I think it's a good practice to run an inventory on what really matters to you.  It helps me refocus on the things that are really important to me and make sure my priorities are in the right place.

-I'm thankful for my wife.  She puts up with all my shit and all the shit that comes with being with me and still continues to love me.  That means something.

-I'm thankful for my parents.  They are supportive and loving.  They love my kids and will help me at the drop of a hat.

-I'm thankful for Erin's family.  They love us and help us.  Her mom would do anything for our kids and her dad would do the same.

-I'm thankful for this forum.  I created the forum, so I guess I'm kind of thankful for myself but whatever.  But it's great to have a place to vent and express myself.

-I'm thankful that I have a job.  I know that this economy has been tough all over for a lot of people, so I have to appreciate that I'm employed in a job I enjoy.  And I hope I keep improving and enjoying it.

-I'm thankful for my friends (the real kind).  There are people that aren't my family that I know would take a bullet for me or would take care of my children or help Erin if something happened to me.  A person is lucky to have people like that in his or her life, and I have more than I deserve.

-I'm also thankful for my virtual friends.  Thankful for all the people that take the time to read my blog.  Thankful for the other bloggers out there that I read on a daily basis and inspire me.  Thankful for the people that give me blog love.  I've said many times that I write it for me and my wife, so I have to be thankful that my audience reaches beyond that.

-Lastly I'm thankful for Grace and Ana.  They make every aspect of my life better and more enjoyable.  I live for them and strive to be a better man because of them.  I appreciate every morning spent with them and every night of putting them to bed.  And I love everything in between.  Their smiles and laughs and the sparkle in their eyes make this life so much more worth living.  Their lives are the greatest gift I've ever received.  I never want them to think that I don't appreciate how much richer and more complete they've made my life.  I plan on reminding them every Thanksgiving.

Anything that you're thankful for this year?

Twitter Machine Tuesday

There is something about the holidays.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.  It truly is a wonderful combination that really should be prepared more often.  Why is it that we don't prepare these types of meals all year round?  I can almost always go for turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.  It's one of those meals that I cannot get enough of, and I ask why we don't have it more every time Thanksgiving rolls around.

The other reason to love the holidays is that people finally accept pie into their homes instead of blindly eating cake.  It is when food preferences actually make sense.

-The most prevalent recipe for the holidays: disaster
-Ana and Grace are now sword fighting with plastic hangers from my closet. I should break it up, but it's too damn funny.
-I can't say this enough: Pentatonix is a freaking lock to win The Sing Off
-Pumpkin pie is great and all. I won't turn it down. But mixed berry or pecan is tough to beat.
-I've eaten well for the last months (brought my weight down by 18lbs), but I'm going to rage on food this week.
-Does it bother anyone else that J.Lo's "performance" at the AMAs was just a FIAT ad?
-I know I'm normally cynical, but I am very excited about The Muppet Movie.
-Another great result of the holiday season: Pumpkin everything. Breads, muffins, cookies, pies, etc.
-So NFL and NBA lock out, and MLB throws a labor agreement together with no issues? #learnedfromtheirmistakes
-I hate David Stern. I hate the NBA owners. I hate the players. Great PR guys.
-When was the last time that the games on Thanksgiving have been worth watching?
-So Chuck Norris and Van Damme are going to be in The Expendables 2 a.k.a. best fucking idea ever
-Young Adult looks like it could be a very funny movie. And it has Charlize Theron #bonus
-We have a "No Christmas unitl after Thanksgiving" rule in our house. Lights going up this weekend. #obviously
-When it comes to Twilight I'm Team Stay Home And Watch Something Better
-Why the hell is Jenny McCarthy using Match.com? Remember your roots #singledout #mtv
-I logged some time with Hey Dude the other day. Jesus that show was terrible.
-The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the last movie. That could be interesting.
-And apparently there is an Ender's Game movie in the works. When did this happen?
-New Arrested Development on Netflix makes my heart smile.
-I love Christmas music, but God help you if you play it before I've had my Thanksgiving dinner.
-Guinness Black Lager is phenomenal. I hope they make it a permanent fixture. I'll buy enough to help that happen.
-The girls are now drinking whole cow's milk. I'm tempted to try it with my cereal instead of my normal 1%.
-Grace beat Ana in the first steps department. She took two steps without holding the couch.
-Erin says it doesn't count because she had no idea she did it, but I call BS on that.
-Grace: Born first. Walked first. Ana: Talked first. It's good to split the firsts.
-I also can't wait for the leftover turkey sandwiches and turkey soup. Leftovers rule.

That's all this week.  I'll be wearing some loose pants on Thursday and hoping that my family isn't all stressed out.