12/5/2007
December?! WTH? - An Update
I can’t believe it’s December already! I mean 2007 is just days from being over - and I was just settling into it. I mean, it took me the first six weeks to stop writing 2006. My mother tried to warn me about how time changes as you get older, but I didn’t listen then. As with a lot of things, she was right. I mean, The Oldest is 12! Freakin’ TWELVE YEARS OLD! How did that happen? I mean, I blinked - and he’s already on the verge of being a teenager! EEK! There were so many things I had wanted to do this year that just didn’t get accomplished. I suppose they will just have to carry over into next year. *sigh*
I haven’t posted in a while, I know. Things have been bonkers here…the kind of bonkers that interferes with my posting. I was sick for a while; there was Thanksgiving; and then all the prep necessary for our property management inspection (ah, the joys of renting). The good thing is that we, once again, passed with flying colors. ^_^ After a couple of conversations with people from the mgmt co I get the impression that a lot of renters are a pain in the butt. Actually, my aunt and her husband have rental properties, and she’s said pretty much the same thing. They don’t make payments, they don’t report problems, they let things get damaged without calling or at least repairing them. *shakes head* I just don’t get it.
Sorry to get sidetracked. Where was I? Oh, yeah. So Christmas is fast approaching - as is my birthday *UHEM* - and I don’t have my shopping finished. I did get a kick-ass deal on wrapping paper, though. It was a Buy 1 - Get 2 Free special. WOOT! I plan to finish nearly all of it this week. Some of it will have to wait until next payday, but even that’s the 14th, so over that weekend, I should be able to have it all done! BWAHAHAHA! No 11th hour shopping for me!
Which brings me to another issue: my own list. I have such a hard time making a list. You may find that hard to believe, but I do. A lot of the things I really want aren’t tangible items, although some of the stepping stones to getting them might require money or other costs, like time. For instance, I would LOVE for my best girlfriend to be here for my birthday. Having her here costs nothing, the plane ticket does. You get the idea. Still, AJ and the boys need a list, so I will try to come up with some things for my list, and I’d better get to it soon because AJ wants to get his shopping finished the week too.
How about you? Are you finished? Half-way? A fourth of the way? Have you even started?
My niece’s birthday is today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGEL! I don’t think she reads my blog - but just in case. 
My nephew-in-law has a birthday this month, too. Brad is very nice, and the nice thing is although Hanukkah is what he celebrates with part of his family, he also celebrates Christmas - so he’s not offended if you get him a Christmas present. Very cool.
And speaking of birthdays…. A lot of people seem surprised when they hear my birthday is December 23rd. I don’t know why - someone somewhere has a birthday on every single day of the year - even December 25th. But they’re surprised - and I nearly always get the comment “That must stink/suck. I bet a lot of people just combine your birthday and Christmas into one gift, huh?” Actually … no. My mom was an awesome mom, and she made sure that everyone understood that it wasn’t my fault that I was born two days before a major holiday. Thus, my birthday is *my* birthday, and Christmas is Christmas. On rare occasions, someone in my family would get me a combo gift, HOWEVER, the cost of that gift was what they would have spent on my birthday and Christmas combined. AJ made huge bonus points early on by making the same observation and treating my birthday separate from Christmas. 
The biggest downside to having a Christmas Holiday Birthday is that all my friends were always away visiting relatives or had relatives visiting them, so I could never have a party ON my birthday with just my friends. My mom made up for that some by letting me have pool parties in the summer when people would be around. The second downside was that in elementary school we celebrated ALL the birthdays that would happen over the break, not just mine. One year, there was only one other person, that was the closest I ever got to having my own day to celebrate at school.
Our Wii’s been having some issues. We’re supposed to send it in for repair. I hope it comes back soon - I’m having Wii-thdrawals! LOLOLOLOL! (wipes tear away) I crack me up! I just posted that on Twitter, too.
The house is all decorated for Christmas. John is usually the first one up - so the lights are already on when I come downstairs. We scaled back on the ornaments and garland this year. It looks very nice. We also have one of those “Days Til Christmas” things with the blocks with numbers on them so you can change the number of days - you know - until Christmas. The boys having exactly started fighting over it yet, but as it gets closer, that might change. John is the first one up and basically thinks he should change it right after he turns on the lights. Phillip wants to take turns; one day he does it, the next day John. *rolls eyes* Like you can convince a very excited Six-Year Old that taking turns regarding anything Christmas is a good idea. We’ll see what happens.
I have a ton of lemons to harvest. I should check the rules regarding shipping via UPS. Maybe I could send some to those of you who live without a lemon tree or bush.
This post is getting rather long. Maybe I should put in one of the “Read More Here” tags or something. The last time I did - it broke something. Second time’s a charm? We’ll see. So there you have it:
I’m still alive.
I was sick, now I’m better.
Time is moving too fast.
Christmas decorating is finished.
Christmas shopping isn’t.
We passed our inspection.
Angel’s birthday is today.
My nephew-in-law is nice.
Wii.
Lemons.
Now it’s your turn. What’s been going on with all of you?
sparta at 1:53 pm
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Make some lemonade. I’d suggest making a simple syrup (2:1 ratio of sugar to water, bring to a boil until the sugar is dissolved, then kill the heat and cool) and infusing it with the zest of a lemon or two, then using that to sweeten/flavour a mixture of lemon juice and water. I’m not sure of the ratio of juice to water, because I haven’t actually done this myself. I’d kill for some fresh lemons right now just so I could try this.
Ah, found a basic recipe:
Lemonade Concentrate
2c granulated sugar
4c water
2c fresh lemon juice (about 12 lemons’ worth)
1. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a simmer and cook for three minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. Pour the sugar syrup into a 2 quart container and stir in the lemon juice. Refrigerate, covered, until cold. It will keep for two weeks refrigerated or several months in a tightly sealed container.
3. To serve by the glass or the pitcher, combine equal parts lemonade concentrate with water, sparkling water or club soda.
If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
CommentbySir Not Appearing in this Blog — 12/7/2007 @ 1:02 am