Five Things

I've been tagged by KT at Fluffy Puffy Puppy and now I have to do this:

If you have been tagged, please follow these rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, let us begin.

1). I realized yesterday that I can't recall ever doing homework at home during high school. Surely I must have done at least some, but I don't remember -- don't remember ever sitting at my desk or on the floor with my lap desk, working on anything for school. I think I did it all during my free study periods or during other people's scenes in drama classes or over at my friend Katherine's house. It's almost like my house was too comfy to concentrate on doing my homework. I mean, I'm sure I must have written the occasional paper there or something, but I don't know. I had easy classes all through high school, though, so that would account for a lot of it.

2). I have a half-finished novel that I wrote. I keep pushing back the finish date goal. Now it's by my 40th birthday. First it was by my 30th, then my 35th. My sister hates this about me. I once let her read the beginnings of a novel I started writing back in college that I scrapped sometime in my mid-twenties, and she's been angry with me ever since for never finishing it and leaving her hanging. (Stace -- here's what I know: it was to have a happy ending, but first the main character was going to lose someone else close to her and then she would come of age by traveling around the world on her own. Because isn't that how we all come of age?)

3). Since it's getting near Christmas, I'll share this: my favorite Christmas movies are all the uber-schlocky ones they show on ABC Family and the Hallmark channel all the month of December. It is entirely possible to watch only Christmas movies for an entire weekend, even if you stay up all night. My all-time fave was always The Night They Saved Christmas, starring former Charlie's Angel Jaclyn Smith as the mom. My new faves are Snow, in which Tom Cavanagh plays the son of Santa Claus, and Ashley Williams (sister of Kimberly Williams-Paisley, of Father of the Bride and marriage to Brad Paisley fame) as his love interest. The only really bad part of this movie is right at the very end, where Tom and Ashley ride off in the sleigh and the effects are just terrible. I also watched one called Sons of Mistletoe yesterday, with the guy who played the fiance in Father of the Bride; he plays this guy who runs a small boys home which Roma Downey as the cold NYC businesswoman is planning to sell and thus shut down; of course he and the boys from the home melt her cold steely heart, and all ends happily because... it is a Christmas movie.

I also love Prancer. Classic, classic, classic.

The one Christmas movie I absolutely loathe? A Christmas Story. Everyone I know loves this stupid movie, and I just don't get it. Never have, never will. Hate that Peter Billingsley kid, hate the movie. Seriously, just an ad for this movie makes me cranky. Talk about overhyped -- this movie is in the dictionary next to the word.

4). I hate the great outdoors. I think this is probably the weirdest thing about me. I mean, what kind of human being hates the outdoors? And not just the great outdoors, like the mountains or whatever -- I just hate being outside in general. There are a couple of reasons for this -- first of all, I'm allergic to about 90% of whatever's out there. So generally, I go outside, and 10 minutes later I'm miserable, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, etc. etc. And also, being sent outside was punishment for reading too much and being too solitary when I was a child, so it still feels vaguely like punishment now. So I just resent and resist it. I think because of this, I am more appreciative of the times when I am truly able to enjoy a day outdoors.

5). I was in a sorority in college and I loved every minute of it. Make of that what you will.


So, I tag Melissa, Doreen, Trent, Rob, and Heather. I am far too lazy to engage in the lengthy process which would allow me to link to any of their blogs, but they will read this and they will list their five things.

Christmas Wish Lists

Okey dokey, here are the Christmas wishes for our family "Secret Santas" ...

Dawn:
Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel -- the eau de cologne type about $50.
Or half of a year wine of the month??????

Tom:
-A really warm pair of winter gloves -- black,size L or XL depending on make. He has seen them in Cabela's catalog -- they are called Cabela's Gore-Tex Thinsulate Men's gloves. Probably size L. $29.95 list price. I'm sure the sports stores have similar gloves.
-Also the new Celine DION cd (Taking Chances).

Stacey:

I want a set of soft pastels. Here's a specific link since no one would even know what they are otherwise - if you scroll way down to the bottom, the ones I want are the Set of 60 - Half-Sticks for $44.99 (2nd up from the bottom):

http://www.dickblick.com/zz200/26a/

If that's too geeky, I could also use a cute hat/gloves to go with my black wool coat, or a half-zip pullover fleece to wear hiking and stuff.

Nate:
Nate wants a hat and shoes like these ones at LL Bean. Size 12 and the brown color for the shoes. The hat doesn't have to be this specific one - he just wants one of these baseball hats with the fold down ear flap - they also have them at Eddie Bauer and outdoorsy stores.

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?page=warm-up-baseball-hat&categoryId=51696&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&parentCategory=502808&cat4=502781&shop_method=pp&feat=502808-tn

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?page=comfort-mocs&categoryId=33394&parentCategory=502766&cat4=502761&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&feat=502761-sub2

Shannon:
the Ugly Betty Season 1 DVD set.

Rob:
Our Big Dumb World book by the Onion, and an iTunes gift card.

Lianne:
Linens and Things gift card.

Sam:
Barnes and Noble gift card.

*************

Daniel is "probably" going to receive a Nintendo DS from Santa Claus and he would like games for that -- little kid and educational games. Older games labeled for Game Boy are also compatible with the Nintendo DS. He is also a huge fan of the Borders or Barnes and Noble gift card and loves nothing more than being able to go the bookstore and buy his own books with his own "credit card."

Aspen could use some warm clothes for the mountains -- especially a hat and mittens. She could also use a warm coat/snowsuit. She's got lots of toys, but books or bath toys would be nice. She's pretty easy to please.

Happy Shopping, everyone!