The Twisted Gypsy

Mmm….cream cheese mints. These things are a belly ache wrapped in a delicious, melt in your mouth kind of form. Yesterday began the all sugar and ‘dip’ diet.

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Well, we made the annual sugar cookies from heaven. Jamie came over to help and of course you know that the hijinx started there. Let’s just say that many of the cookies ended up with names on them. No, not names of family and friends who will be gathering here, rather names of ‘famous’ people in the Salina community. Of course I must protect their identity and can’t tell you who here, but it has been strange to explain.

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We had a holiday gathering last night. I am happy to report that we still have it in us to party until 3 in the morning at our parent’s house. Some things may truly never change.

Elf.

This pretty much sums up Jason Hammond- Beer in one hand, sippy cup in the the other.

Santa showed up.

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It has been probably five or six years ago, but Nathan, Scott Haden and I improv’d this little ditty that has since become a holiday classic. Picture this: the three of us are gathering around N8’s computer at 4 in the morning Christmas Eve after rocking around the Christmas tree all night. My mother had just woken up to tell us that we must at least be functional in a few hours to celebrate the holiday. We do not take heed. Instead, we begin to mess around with Garage Band. It had just come out…and we believed it to be rad. Yes, rad. So here you have it, folks.
“Magic Powers.” The first Garage Band recording in a time before…

listen here

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We just launched the new Lovewell website. Go check it out. Honestly, the biggest upgrade is that we finally got all the content together and we now have a killer on line application system. It is about time.
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Does anyone out there watch Kathy Lee Gifford on whatever horrible morning show she is on? Well, I watched her today during my run and it seriously made my stomach flop. She reminded me of all of the mean, insecure girls in high school. She actually put her co-host down in order to make herself look good. What? Also, she broke into spontaneous song twice. Boo. Boo to Kathy Lee Gifford.
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The locks on my car were frozen solid this morning. It took a whole bottle (small) of de-icer, a hair dyer, a lighter, my dad and hour to get them unfrozen.
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Today marks the beginning of the holiday festivities. School is out. Friends are jumping on planes. Let the ride begin!
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Well, I recently returned to Kansas after months and months away and just coming from the great Chi-town turkey extravaganza of 2008. We all invaded Lance and Al’s 2 bedroom apartment and had one of the best Thanksgivings yet. There were 10 people, a cat, a twenty one pound turkey, one million beers, a squirrel (or 10) and a big fat raccoon.

Here are the previously ‘lost’ photos from the weeks festivities…

Sal is having her breakfast and I walk in and am totally amused by the well placed liquor bottles that she is dining near by. Nothing says good morning like a stiff shot.

Mmm…Lance Gilchrist’s grilled pizzeria. Go there.

Al and I are crammed in the ‘way back.’

The ladies were not amused when we pointed out that they were sitting underneath the ‘priority senior seating’ sign.

“I said the bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word.”

My metropolitan mother.

This is Sal captured to a T. I don’t know why I love this picture, but I do. And, Sal? If you hate it, I will take it down=)

Why, yes, that is Curious George slapping the Sears Tower.

The “Poo Crew.”

The turkey came out of the oven and looked like a weird pig to me….

…so I did what anyone would do- I gave him a smoke.

Jamie whipping cream.

Jamie covering the kitchen in whipping cream.

No words necessary.

There was too much food to fit in the fridge, so we used the very cold porch. This is where things went arwy.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we thought it would be a good idea for everyone to have a little workout on the elliptical. Ryan did it with a beer in his hand, which only seemed appropriate.

This chair disintegrated beneath Lance, sending him flying to the floor in a Three Stooges kind of way. If you have ever been to Lance and Al’s house, you know this is not an uncommon occurrence. I think Sam and Crazy Dave almost died from ‘chair explosion’ once.

Meanwhile, back on the porch…

A fat, fatty squirrel has discovered Al’s delicious pie and has a Thanksgiving ho down in the whipping cream (that Jamie previously spattered all over the kitchen.) We go out there and see little squirrely footprints all over the cooler, all over the porch, all down the steps, all the way down to the back yard. I hope this squirrel was not diabetic, because he may have had some serious issues after that romp.

Whipped squirrel prints.

There is more to come on the Chi-town-capades. Later. Tomorrow, perhaps.

Giant projects and the Christmas season have eaten me whole.

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I lost all my photos from Thanksgiving, Chicago escapades, parties, and a great wedding that we attended. Ugh. It had me depressed about blogging. Anyway, after some help from some friends far away (thanks Nina!) I figured out how to get all the photos back! Yeah! I will pick them up tomorrow, then, I can blog again in happiness.
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The Marine Corps League of Salina is a huge contributor to “Toys for Tots.” I am going to bank on the fact that you can figure out what that program does. Anyway, tonight, I went with my parents to meet some very old family friends who help to organize this program in Salina and needed people to be ’shoppers.’ When we arrived at the store, there were probably 15 or 20 other people there, a lot of them wearing their shiny, red Marine Corps coats. Cute. I wasn’t sure what to expect. They hand us this paper that is a article on what kids today like to play with and then they simply say “Go shop.” I look at Velta (my Grandma Agnes’ best friend) and ask her if I need to know anything else? She says “keep each item to $15.00 and fill up your cart as many times as you can.” WHAT!?!? A shopping spree with only one limit? Yippee! We all proceed to go NUTS in this store. My mom and I decide to be smart about our ‘gift’ choices and head to the art isle and proceed to fill up our carts with of markers, art kits, jewelry making kits, telescopes, walkie talkies, books, clay models, Mr. potato heads, cooking sets…the list goes on and on. I fill up one cart and take it up to the cash register and go through- one hundred and seventy-five dollars. “Go again!” So I get another cart and fill it up again, and then again, and then again and then one more time. Five carts! It was so cool. All these people out shopping for these kids that will now have a wonderful Christmas because of some very incredibly giving people that donate their time and energy to make this happen. Needless to say, tonight I felt the ‘cheese’ of the season…
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Yesterday, after getting back from a 4 mile run, I walk in the door to my smiling father. I can tell he wants something. “Yeees?” He looks at me, smiles again and says “Umm…I may have told my friends that you will come play doubles tennis with us.” HAHA! Let me set this straight. My dad and I used to play tennis with each other quite often…WHEN I WAS SIXTEEN! I know I have played with him since, but for sure not in the past 5 or 6 years. Anyway, he was being so cute about it, I could not refuse him. So, I go. I am not going to lie, I was ruuuuusty. After a while I got into the swing of things and didn’t totally embarrass myself. The problem is that my dad is good. He is really good. So I was a little apprehensive about messing up his game. So no, we didn’t win, but we won SOME. 2 hours later, we go home. I was a little tired, but not bad. Then I ate. Then I worked for a while…sitting. Then I tried to get up. That is where it all went south. Holy frijoles! Did someone beat me with a baseball bat when I wasn’t looking? The answer must be ‘yes.’
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