Update: Say what you will of Bush, but he does care. Plus the WSJ had an article some time back that I saved, and I saved it so it could not be forgotten as he leaves office and the Obamessaiah moves in. (PDF file below) Don’t get me wrong, he’s done a lot of stuff that I could not and cannot agree with, but the general treatment of him has been pretty damn poor.
wsj-treatment-of-bush-has-been-a-disgrace
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Here’s Zoe… six months old and full of pee, vinegar, bad habits, and a ginormous big heart. (All pics will grow if you click them.)
Me and dog. It has taken a lot of work to protect my Mr. Incredible secret identity, hence the black bar.
Yes, it’s a 4×4 Jeep. Yes, I could have driven to work. But why, when you can telecommute? Actually, a huge amount of time was wasted trying to get dug out.
Physically, I paid for that. Paid and paid and paid. Am still paying. My neck is out. What else is new, right? Damn it smarts tho!
Ah, another one of Zoe…
Now… what to get Dad or the Husband for Christmas?
Hint: Get him something that you already have the money budgeted and/or set aside already. Just plunking down the credit card for a spendy toy is not doing him favors, it’s just aging him prematurely. No wonder we die first. We want to.
- Tools. Give him an envelope with cash in it marked “For Tools Only”.
- Games (proof that this is necessary is shown here)
- Toys that blur the line between “dad’s” and “the kids”
- If you can’t give him a teenager to mow the lawn in time for this upcoming spring, AND can afford it, this is pretty sweet. (look for the robotic lawn mower)
- A universal remote. Like this sports-car of a remote. Ooooh, sexy!
- Don’t take this one personally, but he doesn’t always want to listen to y’all babbling, the dog grunting as it craps on the floor, wife’s girlfriends griping about their husbands, the telephone, or the kids fighting. Noise canceling headphones.
- Gift certificates! Know a place he loves and get him a gift certificate. Most dads/husbands/boyfriends/guys do not really talk about what they have been wanting. They just don’t natter on like females!
- This might actually be useful…
- Trust me. We want one.
Ways to kill your dad faster with useless or really annoying gifts. We’re talking a critical fail or fumble. No saving throw.
- A deed to an acre of the Pacific Ocean.
- Michael Bolton CD’s. Any of them.
- Extra-small condoms.
- Calendars with cats. Unless he likes them.
- One of these. Definitely an insult with a bow.
- Likewise…
Zoe is growing up fast LK! I hope you and your fambly have a wonderful Christmas!
You, too, Enas. Spending time w/ the parents? Going to build a snowman? Trebuchet Christmas treats around the ‘hood?
We’re going to stay warm and toasty inside, and I’m going to get my one-time-per-year treat of braunschweiger. Oooooh I can’t wait!
Girlhead asked for a special Christmas day meal – my blackened catfish and cornbread. How can I refuse an almost-six-years-old offspring?
The boy eats trash, so he wouldn’t care if it was old stew or Slim Jims (shudder).
Cruel Wife gets Brie.
Zoe gets Snausages and a corndog.
Yup, I’ll be over there soon for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner – the wonderful “Spotted Ham”. I made beans and cornbread just the other day and I added diced jalapenos to the cornbread mixture. It’s pretty good! Alas I couldn’t find a good ham bone to go with the beans and I used smoked ham shanks instead. They were ok, but not as good as I’ve made before.
Take care – and I hope your neck feels better soon!
Enas… considering I have a boy (next best thing to a live animal in the house that is nondomesticated) the term “spotted ham” conjures up images of spoiled food left behind the bed and snacked upon later… what is spotted ham, exactly?
Smoked ham hocks are the next best thing to Manna (which I suspect tastes like chicken, truth be told).
Neck feels better. I moved “just so” and everything from the shoulderblades to the base of my skull zippered, which seems to have been the problem *whew*!
BTW – how is Fallout?
Oh a spotted ham is what I guess is more commonly referred to as a spiced ham. The ham is covered with spots of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg and then we stick a bunch of cloves into it. It’s sooooooo delicious! This year’s ham was particularly good.
Fallout – ya know for some reason my interest in video games just dropped off to nothing. I haven’t hardly played anything in weeks.
Ah, spotted ham sounds ever so much more tasty now.
I suddenly realized last night in Fallout that there is a level cap (20 levels) where you stop gaining experience. So my scooby-snack for encounters and actions went away, and now I’m losing interest pretty quickly.
I imagine there are ways to manually remove perks, experience, levels, and skills to balance it out a bit because there is SO much more to the game that hasn’t been explored yet.