Saturday 9: We Need a Little Christmas

Saturday 9: We Need a Little Christmas (2006)

Unfamiliar with this week’s tune? Hear it here.

1) At the beginning of this recording, Daffy says he hopes all his friends remember his size, style and favorite color. What piece of clothing would you like to add to your wardrobe? There’s not really much I need, except maybe a couple pairs of jeans.

2) His friends are late for Daffy’s holiday soiree. Think about the last get together you attended. Were you early, late or right on time? We went to a friend’s house this evening and got there about when we said we would.

3) It hasn’t a snowed a single flurry where Daffy is. Have you had to shovel yet? We had one day when we probably should’ve done something to the driveway, but my winter gear like gloves and boots is all still kind of scattered randomly around the house from moving in.

4) Daffy sings that he’s looking forward to fruitcake. How about you? Are you a fruitcake fan? Never tried it.

5) Daffy is an American Black Duck. Their usual diet doesn’t generally include fruitcake. These ducks more commonly dine on seeds, foliage and bugs. What was your most recent meal?  Homemade sushi and pad thai, followed by milkshakes, at a friend’s house.

6) The only Christmas card Sam has received so far this year is from her insurance agent. She never sees her agent socially. In fact, she doesn’t think she’s seen him at all in 2018. Have you received many cards this year? If so, were they from people you feel close to? I’ve gotten three, I think, all from relatives.

7) When do you start holiday shopping: Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving/Black Friday, Halloween? After Thanksgiving. Black Friday would technically count, but I don’t bother with it.

8) Sam was recently driven crazy by kids running through store aisles wearing elf hats with bells. Do you have any apparel that makes noise? I don’t think so.

9) This time of year is big for charitable fundraising. Here’s your chance to plug a cause or organization that’s near and dear to you. We adopted a cat from our local Humane Society in the fall, and one of the things I’d like to do is either give them a nice monetary donation or put together a big basket of things they need like towels, food, and toys and deliver it to them. In the meantime, though, donate to your local animal shelter–Humane Society or otherwise–whether it’s money or checking in to see when items they could use. Or even better, adopt a pet to give them a loving home and free up space in the shelter for other animals needing homes. And if you can’t, some shelters offer programs where you can sponsor an animal, which is what I planned to do last year and never got around to it. But I guess actually adopting an animal is a fair trade.

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Friday 5: This Spud’s for You

1. What’s your favorite dish in which potatoes are a supporting ingredient (and not the star)? My first two answers were potato salad and Taco Bell’s potato tacos, in case you’re wondering how easily I could think of potatoes as “a supporting ingredient.” And then I thought of gnocchi, and then pierogis. So…I give up.
2. What is your favorite type of french fry? Crinkle-cut fries are pretty cool. In general, I like a thick fry, especially if it’s practically just potato wedges.
3. How did you last use a potato in your cooking? I haven’t made anything with potatoes in a while, other than instant mashed potatoes. My husband did attempt my grandma’s potato salad over the summer, though.
4. What’s your favorite potato chip? I’ve really been enjoying restaurants that make their own chips, because I like the crunch and the thicker chip that you get as opposed to store-bought. But when it comes to said store-bought chips, barbecue is my favorite. My favorite brand is probably Miss Vickie’s, I think because they’re kind of similar to restaurant chips.
5. What’s a word you pronounce differently from the way most people around you pronounce it? My friends and I used to intentionally mispronounce words as I joke, and then I started doing it with my husband, so if any of us forget we’re in front of normal people, you’ll hear all sorts of bizarre word choices. I can’t think of anything I pronounce differently just, like, in normal conversation, though.

As always, from Friday 5.

Friday 5: Off Kilter

1. What actor or actress would you like to see in a film genre he or she has never attempted? It’s tough to say because I’m so behind on new stuff that I have a hard time pinpointing certain people. And on top of that, I’m the type, strangely, who has a hard time picturing it when someone is cast outside of their usual genres.
2. When did you recently see something beautiful in an unexpected place? It’s not that unexpected, but the snow in our backyard. I commented when we bought the house, especially since we bought it at the end of winter when things were still dead but not really snowy, that I bet looked it beautiful in the snow, and it does. It’s more that sometimes, you take the beauty in your backyard for granted.
3. In what way is someone you really admire flawed? I’m gonna throw in two–one personal, one famous, and the personal one has the delightful bonus of a trait I share. It’s my mother. She can be stubborn, and sometimes, if she’s convinced she’s right, she won’t back down, even if she’s wrong. She doesn’t always apologize or admit to mistakes. And…I do all of that, too, to varying degrees. Let me tell you, arguing with someone with the exact same arguing style as you is a great time. The famous example is Amanda Palmer. I love her, and I do think that she means well and that a lot of the criticism she gets is from a misunderstanding of something she’s said, nitpicking, and a small dose of her haters not wanting to acknowledge the ways that she does try to remedy things when she messes up. This might not necessarily be quite accurate now, but for a time, she seemed to not quite get some legit concerns with certain things.
4. In what situation did you recently find yourself utterly out of your element? A little bit when we were helping my best friend’s boyfriend move on Sunday. I lift weights and I’m definitely stronger than I used to be, but I just can’t grab and carry large boxes full of stuff. A couple of times, I was able to carry something down the stairs, only to see my husband heading back up to get more, and I’d pass off my box to him because getting it the whole way to the car was gonna be a struggle. And at a certain point, when the boxes were all packed up and furniture was left, I was basically sitting there while the boys hauled the rest.
5. What implement do you use in a manner unintended by its designer? I’ll use almost anything as a foot rest. And then our bed is one of the ones with drawers at the bottom, which is great for our small bedroom, and so the mattress sits kind of on slats above the drawers. The design creates a little ledge around the bed, and I basically use it as a nightstand–it’s where I put my glasses, phone, and anything in my hair like clips or pins when I go to bed. As a result, I have on more than one occasion lifted up the mattress to find hair ties and bobby pins scattered everywhere.

As always, from Friday 5.

Friday 5: The Game’s Afoot

1. Where’s a nice place to take a walk? There’s one little fitness trail here in town that’s only about a mile looped and it’s really close to the interstate, but they somehow managed to make it feel like a nice, leisurely outdoorsy stroll for most of it. There’s a little pond and a ton of trees once you’re down away from the start of it. There’s also a bigger park closer to my job’s main office that has a paved trail that runs a long a creek.
2. What do your everyday shoes look like nowadays? I work from home, so lately, it’s been rainbow fuzzy socks. When I do leave the house, this time of year, it’s boots. Lately, I’ve been wearing a new grey pair, but there’s a black pair I bought at the same time from the same company that I’d like to dig out.
3. What separates a good pedicure from a bad one? I couldn’t tell you because I have a thing about nails. Like, someone losing a fingernail or torture scenes with people’s nails being ripped off really, really bug me, and I don’t like the idea of someone messing with my nails. So I refuse to have someone touch my hands or feet, although I’m sure I could use a good pedicure.
4. When did you last go for a hike? It’s probably been a little while. While we have been to the mountains somewhat recently, we didn’t really hike. Over the summer, maybe?
5. What’s a good song with the word “walk” in its title? You can’t go wrong with “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash, but the first one that popped into my head was “Walk Away” by Dropkick Murphys. I haven’t listened to it in ages, but it’s the first song of theirs I ever heard and still one of my favorites. Honorable mention: “Walking in Memphis,” especially Cher’s version and its use in one of the best X-Files episodes of all time.

As always, from Friday 5.

Friday 5: Ice Is Forming on the Tips of My Wings

I love this title so much.

1. How do you feel about passengers riding in front of you reclining their seats? On one hand, I’m kind of small and can deal with people doing it, but on the other hand, unless you need the room or or just reclining a tiny, tiny bit, I do think it’s rude to without asking first.
2. What single aspect of airplane flight do you dislike the most? All the waiting. Standing in line through security, sitting waiting to board, sitting waiting for the plane to take off.
3. What was your longest flight on an airplane? Only a few hours–I’ve never traveled far enough (yet) to have some long flight under my belt.
4. What’s your favorite way to pass the time on a long flight? If I have Internet access, even if I have to pay for it, I’m gonna get it. I also read or watch something. Once on a short flight in high school, I did homework. I mean, really, as much as I’m able, I just do what I’d do if I were chilling out at home.
5. What are the best and worst things you’ve eaten on a plane or in an airport? Nothing stands out either way. I’ve typically just eaten either fast food or eaten in some chain in an airport, so there’s been nothing that impressed or disgusted, fortunately.

As always, from Friday 5.

We had a very rare weekend with absolutely no set plans. Normally, that would be when we’d go to a movie, but we couldn’t agree on one–Paul initially agreed to go see the Suspiria remake, then changed his mind, then decided he’d go after all, then changed his mind again. But with recycling piling up and no pickup for it here, we were determined to at the very least grab dinner in Pittsburgh and drop off the recycling, and then I had the bright idea to check out the aviary.

It was a short trip, as the place isn’t very big, but they had a lot of neat and super pretty birds. It made for a nice, affordable, chill date. And then we figured we’d try something new for lunch, and I have a mental list of restaurants in the city I want to go to. At last, we tackled one with NOLA on the Square, a New Orleans-inspired place. The food was really good but a bit pricey for what it is, but I am glad we went.

On our walk from the car to the restaurant, I spotted a sign for macarons, and of course, I can’t resist those–I haven’t had any since the ones I bought for our wedding last year. So I loaded up a box of 20 of those, mostly one of each flavor. I think macarons might be my favorite cookie, and if we’re ever back in that part of the city, and we usually aren’t there. Bummer.

We’ve also been wanting to go to a brunch by Dom and Tina’s Black Market Catering, but the timing keeps on not working out–I think twice in a row now it’s been right in the middle of my appointment for my hair dye. But with them doing lunch at a brewery in Mt. Lebanon, we had a decent compromise. Guaranteed good food at a brewery we’ve never been to? Sure. We both ended up really liking it. I had some local cider, which is like my thing now, and Paul downed a couple of their beers. It’s one we’ll have to keep an eye on, especially when we know Dom and Tina are gonna be there to feed us.

Of course, I had to make a pit stop at the mall for Lush bath bombs. I mean, when you’re in town…

Friday 5: Excuses

1. What was your excuse the last time you had to miss a social gathering? We missed a fall party for a wedding.
2. What was your excuse the last time you arrived late to something? I mean, at this point, it’s just who I am as a person, but when I can blame something else, it’s usually traffic or my husband. When I worked in an office and not from home, it was just straight up I couldn’t get myself out of bed on time, and I was consistently a couple minutes late every day. For the record, I now clock in precisely on time.
3. What was someone else’s excuse for recently inconveniencing you? I’m not sure that anyone has, honestly. Not recently enough to remember, clearly.
4. What’s a true explanation you wish you could have given (but didn’t) when you unintentionally inconvenienced someone else? I can’t think of one of these, either, but my husband and I have joked about doing the, “Sorry we’re late, Bob had diarrhea” line from Bob’s Burgers.
5. What’s something you wish you could be excused from right now? I’d say work, but I took the day off to use up my vacation days I have left before I lose them at the end of the year.

From Friday 5.