RyRySays

Every year my immediate family goes to Delaware for Christmas Eve with the Hackmans (my dad's family) and then to Maryland for Christmas day with the Chapman's (mom's family). It's fun and crazy and Christmas. This year was different because it was the first time in my life that we weren't having Christmas Eve in my grandparents' house. My Pop-Pop had brain surgery around Thanksgiving and my grandma was stressed out enough. But it was hard to come to terms with the fact that this was the first time in 25 years where I would not be opening my stockings on Christmas morning in the Hackman living room. Last year we still had to wake up my grandma and wait until she was ready before we could open the presents. Pop-Pop burned the wrapping paper in the fire place and then we had pancakes.

This year we didn't have any family presents until today. Santa came on the 27th. It marked the beginning of the end which just made it sadder. My huge family who always showed tons of love is now in the middle of spats. Hopefully it's just growing pains and we'll move on, but it's still hard when people you love and only get to see once a year show up late and want to get out of there as soon as they can.

Well this wasn't supposed to turn out depressing so here's some fun things I did over the break. Watched A Christmas Story at least 3 times on TBS. That is the best Christmas movie ever. The writers should have won an Oscar. I use quotes from that movie all the time and every year it gets better. I normally wait all year to watch it and have put off buying it, but this year my brother bought me a copy. Oh yea, that's great.

We watched The Producers and The Family Stone. Ok, the people that do commercials should be slapped around. The Family Stone was a great movie, but it was freaking sad and the ads make it look like a comedy. I was crying and not in a haha way. It's annoying to go into a movie with totally different expectations like that. In Good Company was like that too. The previews made it look hilarious and it wasn't. There were some funny parts, but overall the movie was more of a drama than a comedy. Shape up preview makers.

Got matching pjs for all the top shelf girls. Mine are Curious George wearing a suit. Super fun. My cousin Sara made me an adorable picture frame. My uncle bought me an Orlando Bloom calendar. My brother wrapped my presents while I was watching him with the paper from a gift I had just opened. He also liked the swords I bought for him and his roommate from the dollar store. My sister liked the underwear I got her. My mom liked her toolbox and her angels. Layla liked her squeaky toys.

We spent a few days at my mom's sister's house this year instead of just Christmas day. She has a gorgeous house on the Chesapeake Bay with a little apartment next door that she calls the nest. That's where the girls stayed. Somehow Jeff always manages to get to sleep inside. My mom's sister is a trip and bought herself a Rolls last year named Sunshine. She found the cutest ornaments for everyone this year. Mine says, "Don't give me attitude".

My sister and I spent most of the time talking to our grandma. She's almost 84 and is adorable. She told us that she likes us since we listen to her and that her kids don't. It was kind of sad, but understandable. We don't listen to our mom either. She knew it was a generation gap thing and wasn't mad about it, but I think her feelings still get hurt by it.

She now collects animals/dolls that sing. It started with this. I bought her one a few years ago and she brought it everywhere with her. Seriously, she brought it with her to the hospital once. That was the same year my aunt and uncle bought her a Rolex. She liked my $15 cow better- suckers! Now she has about 20 different animals lined up around her house. When Holly and I dropped her off, she made us listen to about 10 of them. She has one bear that she calls "Chappy" (which is what she called my grandpa) who has a plaid golfer's hat one and sings, "So Happy Together" which is just too cute.

I haven't gotten out of pjs for the last 3 days and I don't want to go back to school. Maybe I will in 5 days, but I doubt it.

This study found that kids torture Barbies. Duh.

Between us, my sister and I probably had about 50 Barbies. My friends gave my sister all their old stuff, but we also had cars, houses, pets, a motorcycle, siblings, boyfriends, kids, and friends.

Of course girls destroy Barbies. I'm sure a lot of that is in the name of fashion. The first time you used a hair drier on her, you found out Barbie's hair melted. You tried to microwave her to give her a tan. My sister used to make her dolls "pop heads" (i.e. she popped the heads off and switched the bodies) before they went to the mall. I shaved one's head because she was punk rock. I dyed another one's hair to look like the bride of Frankenstein for Halloween. Her hair never went blonde again. All limbs were popped on and off based on how tight her clothes were. We had a Ken that was partly eaten by one of our dogs that we renamed "Shrapnel Ken".

The most destructive thing we did was when we blew up bride of Frankenstein's head with a bottle rocket. But come on, that was just awesome and needed to be done.

Is it sad that I only know of the top 50 songs from 2005? One of which is "Hollaback Girl"? I'm just hoping that the reason is because most of these songs actually suck (see "Hollaback Girl"). Some of the others I knew ("My Doorbell", "Golddigger" and "Since You've Been Gone") are good though. Oh well. Considering the fact that I basically no longer listen to the radio, as my drive is 10 minutes, and I normally listen to CDs, and that MTV no longer shows music (the Gaulent is back bitches!), I guess I should be happy that I at least know 7.

I was watching some special- probably on E! about girls that get naked for Playboy or something else. Vanessa Williams was a prime example, you know losing the crown and all. Bai Ling apparently also posed and got all offended that she was removed from Stars Wars III. She was supposedly cut before the naked pics, but she stills thinks that she was cut because of them. My issue is who the heck gives a crap? She shouldn't be anywhere near a camera. She's weird looking, and not a good actor. Why was she on But can they sing? She is NOT a celebrity. She's an annoyance. I know they can be one and then same, K-Fed I'm looking at you, but she's "famous" because she wears the stupidest, ugliest clothes and shows her cooch on the red carpet. I wish people would just ignore her existence.

The other thing is that I took Layla to get a hair cut today and they put bows in her hair which was the cutest thing ever. I still think it's weird when people put clothes on their dogs, but you have to admit she's adorable. I am so dressing her up as Minnie Mouse for Halloween.

Today I figured out one of the reasons why my vacuum sucks- based on it's lack to actually suck things off the carpet. Aside from the copious amount of dog hair I pulled from the filter, roughly the size of a Pomeranian, there was a toothbrush in the hose.

How a toothbrush got sucked up I have no idea. But it made it all the way down the hose to the base before creating a backup of hair and dog toy stuffing. I had to use needle-nosed pliers and various swears, but I managed to get it out of the pipe. Then my vacuum actually began to suck, in a good way, and I was finally able to have a clean dining room. I still need to get one of those nifty wind tunnels that gets up dog hair really well, but as I am living off loans, it'll be awhile before that happens. I'll just have to stay away from dental care products the next time I clean up.

My finals are over for the semester and I am now officially halfway done with law school. I have been slacking with the cleaning during school because there is always something going on. Not to mention that there was a queen boxspring on my dining room table and the mattress was in my downstairs shower until this morning.

I reorganized my guest room, including the closet, this afternoon. I also wrapped all my Christmas presents and did outside decorations. I know it's the 10th, but did you not read the first sentence? I had FINALS. I was proud that I put my tree up and random other decorations.

So now in the next week or so I am taking two rooms a day and reorganizing and then cleaning them. Or napping. Maybe a little of both.

But you can rest assured, that there will be more of this going on:

"When Bono starts telling the audience how messed up the world can be and how we should work together to make things better, I usually just zone out," Mullen said.

You are not the only ones. I admire Bono for wanting to help, I really do. But knock it off at the concerts etc. People are there to have fun and relax. Asking for a donation or something before the concert starts is one thing. Showing pictures of starving babies in the middle of "With or Without You" is another.

And yes, I realize that was a piece from The Onion. But my comments still stand.

According to this, I speak 55% Dixie. That sounds about right considering I was born in North Carolina, grew up in a mixture of Jersey and Connecticut and went back to Georgia for 10 years, then went to DC and ended up back in North Cackalacky. Not to mention that my Grandma is from Boston and is kinda proper and my Pop-pop grew up in Missourah. The weird part was that I canceled myself out I think. I would have 1 answer that was south, another that was Midwest, another that was New England and the last would be common to the US except the south/New England.

I pretty much pronounce words however I feel like it. For example I don't say "Milk" to rhyme with "Silk". It's more like "Melk" kinda like "felt" with a "k". I do the "I" to "e" with pillow and Crispix cereal too. Also, when I get sleepy, the southern comes out more, or I get a random New York accent. I also pick up the accents of the people to whom I am talking. I don't know why I do that, but I do.

If you found that quiz interesting, here are some more questions similar in nature:
1- What do you call the silver metal thing you put dirt in?
2- What is the thing attached to your house outside where water comes out?

I used to remember more of those, but they were from a linguistics class I took my sophomore year of college, so I, umm, don't.

Answers
1- Bucket = south; Pail = north
2- Spigot = south; Faucet = north

One more thing that annoys me. People who intentionally spell "y'all" like "ya'll". It's not an abbreviate for ya all, it's short for you all. Look at where the letters you're taking out are. It's "Y'all".

My cousin got me addicted to online scrabble, which is odd since neither of us spells very well. My sister tried to use "peexhuntilequbu" as a word today. I challenged the shit of it.

Without "UGA"! Yes, I agree that's a dumb saying, but I don't care because we're going back to ATL in January baby. West VA doesn't stand a chance. And for everyone else who loves Mark Richt, back off, he's mine.

Which brings me to another topic. I know Texas is good, but did they really have to win by 67 points to prove it? I thought it was kind of an asshole move. But I still want the longhorns to crush the trojans. Hate Pete Carroll.

Somehow, I just became old. I grew up in the generation which used the word "geek" as someone who really knew a subject- in a lovable dorky way. Thus "geeking out" meant you were really excited about something involving your subject or something dorky. Such as the people who buy Lord of the Rings stuff and went to the midnight showing of the movies.

Apparently the definition has now changed and it refers to someone who's high- normally on speed. I found this out by telling my sister that I was geeking out b/c someone linked to my blog. She told me never to say that again because it meant I was high.

My sister is only 6 years younger than me. How does she have a totally different language?

Lisa: "Mom said you can't wear your dress out"
Homer: "Ah nuts to that, I'm going to the movies"

Haven't bought that. SB is hilarious. I have seriously done the same thing before with materinity clothes. Except I added the, "what if it doesn't fit and you're fatter than a pregnant woman" thought.