Yesterday we decorated the church for Christmas.  My brother, one of my sisters, two of my friends, my high school art teacher, and I were assigned to carry the huge, heavy, ceramic manger scene from the basement to the front steps of the church, where we were to set it up.  We were all pretty afraid of breaking them, but we successfully got all of them up, except baby Jesus because we were going to wait until Christmas to put him out.

After that we were told to get the huge fake Christmas tree that takes three hours to put together and set it up in the Fellowship Hall.  We all groaned and joked that we could just stick the branches in randomly so it was an abstract tree.  The tree was in a few different bags that were all packed in a box.  My brother pulled all the bags out while my art teacher held the box.  He got a few out and handed them to my sister and friends and they went upstairs with them.  Then my brother tripped over something and collided with a rickety wooden cradle upon which Baby Jesus was sitting.

Yeah, you can guess where it went from there.  I dove and tried to catch Baby Jesus, but didn’t get there in time and he slid across the cradle and crashed onto the floor, sending pieces flying out the door.  All three of us just looked at each other, unsure of what to do.  Then my brother just said ‘Oh, shit’.

Then the guy who bought the ceramic manger scene came downstairs and my art teacher goes ‘I think we have a problem’.  He looks at the pieces and says ‘Oh, it’s no big deal’.  We were kind of surprised since it had cost so much.  Then he explained that that Jesus wasn’t the one that went with the expensive set.  That Jesus was in a box surrounded by packing peanuts.  Apparently the Baby Jesus that my brother broke was one that one of the old pastors got for free in NYC.

After that we went to assemble the tree.  The directions were lost so we had to make an abstract tree.

Not a day after I was lamenting the fact that nothing blog-worthy was going on, did something blog-worthy happen.

My family has never been known for the ability to go off on vacation without a hitch.  It’s always quite the production.  The last minute need to buy a bathing suit, the hotel ‘loosing’ our reservation, the car breaking down, etc.  Camping is a whole nother category in itself.  This vacation could not escape the wrath of our ‘luck’.

Benny has been going to the same kennel ever since we adopted him.  He likes it there as much as he can for it being a kennel and we’re happy with it.  The staff are really nice, they feed the dogs their own food, it’s sort of in the country, and to top it off, they have the best hours.  Open every day, for at least a few hours.  Sundays, when they’re only open until noon, have caused a few problems, but we’ve gotten used to it.

We got a bit of a late start on Saturday, arriving at the kennel at 12:30.  None of us thought much of this as we walked to the door since their Saturday hours are until four.  Well, they used to be until four, as we found out when I opened the door and it was locked.  Apparently they changed their hours in June and are now only open until noon.

We walked back to the car and tried to figure out what to do.  Eventually it was decided that my dad would stay home another day with Benny while the rest of us drove to the resort.  Thank goodness for those Sunday hours.  It worked out fine in the end, but my dad still had to miss out on a day of vacation.

So, this one will go on the vacation hall of fame.  I believe it fits in nicely above the time the van’s transmission broke while we were camping and below the time all of our luggage fell off the top of the van as we were driving down the highway.  But hey, we had the best weather we’ve ever had!  It only rained a little bit on Saturday night and a little bit today, just before we left.

I realize that I haven’t updated this blog in over a week.  Not only that, but my past five or so blogs have been about Harry Potter.  Why?  Because nothing that exciting has happened.  Nothing blog-worthy has come about in my life.  But, I feel the need to update despite the lack of excitement in my life, so I figured I’ll update everyone on the non-Harry Potter related stuff in my life.

Benny.  What can I say about Benny?  He’s as crazy as usual.  Just yesterday he cornered a fly in the house and ate it.  He looked psychotic as he did so and it was something I really wish I’d captured on video.  Besides that, he’s been his usual loving, adorable, hungry self.  I’m going to miss him once I go back to school.

School.  I managed to get an A- in the French class I took, although the lovely college has yet to put the grade online, which means I can’t get a transcript sent to my regular college.  Nor have they replied to my emails.  I would really like to get this worked out before I go back in August.  For my last year.  Wow, that’s scary, last year of college.

Nothing very thrilling.  I spend my days online, at work, reading, or knitting.  However, I cannot say that I am bored (except when I’m at work).  The summer is a time to laze around and be a bum, something I do not get to do during the school year.  And that brings me to the next topic.  Vacation!  I’m leaving for vacation tomorrow.  We’re going to a resort.  Everyone’s excited.  Well, everyone except Benny.  He has to go to the kennel.  Four Internet-free days of lounging around by the lake, boating, and eating until I explode.  Sounds good to me!

Four years ago today, on Friday the 13th, we brought Benny home.  He was two years old then and now he is six.  I can’t believe it.  Time has flown by.  The past four years have been so chaotic and fun with him.  I’ll try and take some new pictures when I go home, but for now, here are some from Christmas break.

Happy 6th Birthday, Benny!!!

Yesterday at church, during the children’s sermon.
Pastor-  What do you think of when you hear the word Easter?

Children-  Eggs, bunnies, candy, toys.

Pastor-  What is Easter really about?

Little Girl-  A really fast bunny goes and gives everyone eggs!

Pastor-  Actually, Easter really doesn’t have anything to do with bunnies.  What’s Easter really about?

Little Girl-  Eggs!

For as long as I can remember, it has been a tradition of my family to have bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches on Christmas Eve.  I actually don’t like bacon, so I just put cheese on mine.  But everyone else eats them.

The other day, my mom decided she would make latkes (potato pancakes) for Hanukkah.  We usually have them for dinner one night during Hanukkah.  Her original plan was to have them last night, but that didn’t work out.  I was working until 5 (and I was going to buy the potatoes and onions to make the latkes) and my bro had to be somewhere at 6.  So, the timing didn’t work.

Then we came up with the idea to have them tonight, on Christmas Eve, along with the BLT sandwiches.  It’s a rather funny combination of foods.  Bacon is definitely not kosher.  So, we’re having Jewish food along with bacon.  Maybe it’ll become a new tradition.  It would certainly fit our mix of religions.

Mother Nature blessed us with about six inches of snow last Friday.  It started snowing in the late morning, although my siblings did have a snow day.  They got an anticipatory snow day.  I thought it was a good idea.  My mom went grocery shopping and was hoping to get back home before the snow started.  That didn’t happen and she got stuck on a hill on the way home.

The roads were horrible.  The plows couldn’t keep up with it and they didn’t plow around my house until late in the day.  I was supposed to work at 1pm.  I called and told them I’d be late due to the crappy roads, but they told me just to not bother coming in at all.  So I got a snow day, too!

Then we got another few inches yesterday.  I hope this is a sign of what the winter will bring.  I want more snow like this!  I could do without the -20 wind chill factor, though.

Here are some pics I took on Friday.  They’re not that great because I was holding Benny’s leash at the same time, but they do show how snowy it was.

This is the bottom of our driveway and the street.  There was over a foot at the bottom of the driveway.

And here’s a video of Benny because videos capture his love of snow so much better than pics do.  He was dragging me all over the yard.

All right, that didn’t work.  I’ll just give you the link.

Benny in the Blizzard

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah.  We lit the menorah and my mom gave us each a bag of Hanukkah gelt and $1.

Today at work one of the customers who went through my line wished me a Happy Hanukkah, which was cool.  I didn’t know him so I doubt he knew that I celebrate Hanukkah, but I thought it was nice.  Most people just say ‘Happy Holidays’ or occasionally, ‘Merry Christmas.’  So, whether you celebrate it or not, Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Last week’s ice storm blessed my siblings with an early release on Thursday and a snow day on Friday.  I was thoroughly disappointed that the storm brought us a mere 2 or 3 inches of snow, when forecasters originally called for a foot.  Instead we got a quarter inch of ice followed by a pathetic two inches of snow.  So much for the first big snow storm of the year.

On Saturday, we decided to go get our Christmas tree.  We always go chop down our own.  Half the fun is picking it out and chopping it down and bringing it home.  I was quite excited because there was actual snow on the ground this year.  Usually we get the tree in the rain or mud.

However, we did not think about the fact that the ice had not yet melted.  The ground was an ice rink.  The trees were covered as well.  We could not find a single tree that was not coated in a thick layer of ice.  Eventually, we found a satisfactory tree and chopped it down.  The thing was extremely heavy due to the amount of ice on it.

When we got home, we realized that if we put it in the house right away, it would melt all over the floor.  So we set it up in the garage with a tiny space heater to try and melt the ice.

Unfortunately, the heater did not do much to decrease the ice on the tree.  After a few hours, my dad just decided to bring it inside.  The trunk was frozen solid and he had to use a hair dryer to warm it up in order to put it in the stand.  He set it up and it wasn’t until it was inside that we realized exactly how much ice was left on the branches.   We also realized that it was quite crooked.   Of course, the ice immediately started melting into the carpet, which brought back fond memories of The Fish Tank Saga.

The carpet was quickly becoming saturated in water, which made my parents very glad they hadn’t replaced it along with the upstairs carpet over the summer.  They also worried if this would cause them to have to replace the carpet after Christmas.

My sister and I began to pull ice off of the tree while my bro used the shop vac to suck the water out of the carpet.  We also vacuumed the actual tree, which was hysterical.   We spent about an hour doing that and it helped.  We pulled a bucket and a half of ice off of the tree, which was most of the ice.

After that, the tree was still wet so we could put the lights on and decorate it.  My dad decided to let it sit in the kitchen all night to dry and completely thaw out, while the family room carpet dried.

After all that work, we were able to decorate it Sunday night.  It’s smaller than most of the trees we get, so it’s quite crammed with ornaments and we had a lot leftover, which we put on a fake tree in the basement.   Here’s the formerly frozen tree in all its decorated glory.  It’s still not straight, either.

Notice the lack of ornaments on the lower branches.  That’s because of our resident Mischief Maker.

It has been snowing since the wee hours of the morning.  As of now, we have 3 or 4 inches!  It’s the first big snow of the season.  We’ve had an inch or so here and there since the beginning of November, but nothing big.

It’s incredibly windy, too.  Good day to stay inside and surf the web, er, study…  I just hope we have snow next Saturday when we get our Christmas tree!  It’s a whole lot more fun to get a tree in the snow than in the mud.