O Tannenbaum

I've spent some time thinking about the holidays here lately and have found that I've been sharing my Christmas tree stories with folks too. So, I thought I would share them with you here. I'm not good with years and am not so sure that they are being told in order, but I hope you get a laugh out of them anyway.

 The first instance I remember is one year we heard a noise coming from the tree and when we started checking it out, at first, the noise stopped, which was good since we didn't see anything. But as my mom kept looking through the branches she saw a bug of the beetle persuasion. As she kept looking, it turned out she found the rest of the beetles immediate and extended family members. She immediately picked up the tree, lights and decorations still intact, and threw it out the front door. I'm pretty sure there was a Christmas tree shaped patch of burned grass in the back yard after that incident.

The next occurrence was a time when we didn't even have the money to purchase a tree and our uncle bought one for us. After he set it up we got the decorations and lights out of the attic and the decorating fun started. After it was decorated, my mom and sister were in the kitchen while I was in the living room watching TV. Some time passed and I smelled something then noticed the smoke coming from the tree. Now remember, I was little when this took place. So I called to the kitchen telling my mom the tree was smoking. She and my sister hurriedly made their way to the living room to see the tree. The next thing I know my mom is telling my sister to open the front door and mom has the tree, decorations, lights and stand and was going out the front door. That tree definitely left a Christmas tree shaped patch of burned grass in the yard.

Another incidence was the year that we had a great big and full tree that my mom had spent hours decorating with white lights and her glass ornaments that she absolutely loved. Flashback: It had taken a while to get the tree to be straight in the stand. It had fallen a few times before it was decorated so we were a little weary of it, but it had stood on its own for a while so we thought all should have been good. Unfortunately we were wrong. Flash forward: I'm sitting on the floor in the living room, watching TV, when I hear my mom yell at me to move. As I quickly moved out of the way, I heard the sound of shattering glass against the wooden entry way. The tree had fallen and the majority of my mom's ornaments were now broken. As she walked into the living room, she opened the back door, then proceeded to the tree. She picked it up, carried it to the back door and threw it onto the lawn. I don't remember this one ending up in flames. J

Now on to some more colorful accounts.

One year my mom sent my sister and me with my stepdad to go get a tree while she got all of the lights and decorations out from the storage closet under the stairs. When we arrived at the tree lot the first thing we noticed were the flocked trees. As we were looking at all of the wonderfully flocked white trees, we noticed something peculiar off to the side. It was a flocked tree, but it wasn't white. It was hot pink! Yea! Somehow we talked him into buying the tree and we were so excited on our way home. It wasn't until we got home that we realized mom was going to be unhappy with our choice. When we brought the tree in the house and it was set-up in its stand we called for mom to come downstairs. As she came down the second flight first glance at her revealed a smile, but if you allowed your eyes to linger, you were able to see the transformation from excitement, to confusion to shock and eventually to annoyance and possibly anger. I believe her response to the tree was, "What is that?" to which we answered in unison, "Our Christmas tree!" with a smile on our faces. She was not happy at all to the point that she actually pondered going to buy a second tree and setting it up in the dining room.

I remember many mumblings about white trash from her that year, as well as the next year when she sent us again to buy a tree with the stipulation that it could not be flocked pink or any other "loud" color. So off we went to the lot with our instructions. While we were looking at the nice green trees, we noticed they had flocked trees of many colors. There was white, of course, a pink one similar to the one we had the year before, yellow, orange, an avocado green and a light powder blue. We asked if we could get the avocado green one and after moments of hesitation we were told "No. It's really not worth the argument that would follow when we get home." As we went around and continued to look at trees we came back to the blue one and gave our best pitch. It would be wonderful with lots of bright white lights and silver ornaments on it. Mom would love it once it was decorated, really she would! But when we got it home, she really, really wasn't. Even after it was decorated, she still wasn't amused, not at all.

The next year mom went and picked out the tree herself. To think about it, she did from then on. Guess she had trust issues after that! J

There there's Christmas with our dad. He always had the same fake tree with a funky mustard yellow tree skirt. The cool thing was the trains under the tree. He had a train he bough when he was a kid It was a big train. the cars were probably 2.5 to 3" tall and the engine would blow steam that smelled vaguely of wood. It was always laid out with the larges circle around the tree. My sister had a train that was a little smaller than dad's and it was laid out to where it circled the tree just inside of his train. It could really move! Then there was mine. It was little. The cars were about an inch tall and if you got it going to fast it would jump the track!

Now, our dad wasn't the biggest fan of Christmas and I don't think he enjoyed the whole tree bit, which was solidified the year he thought it would be great to have a Charlie Brown tree. He went to the back yard, retrieved a limp broken limb from one of his pine trees and set it up in the living room. There he put on a couple of stray icicles from the decoration box and found a broken ornament to accessorize as well. I wish I had a picture of that!

Those are my Christmas tree stories. I hope you got a smile and maybe even a laugh. I know Halloween hasn't even come and I'm talking about trees, but you wouldn't know that by the look of the stores. Santa is apparently already on his way!

On My Mind

There are only a few things in life that truly bother me to my core and one of them is to see people, namely children, go without food, a basic need.


According to the USDA in 2008, 14.6% percent of households (17.1 million households/49.1 million Americans) were food insecure and 4.1 percent of all U.S. households (4.8 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.


I am passionate when it comes to giving to charities such as Feeding America and helping locally when able. I am proud that the company for which I work has partnered with Feeding America and has become the first of their donors to supply over 100-million pounds of food in a single year and has been named their 2010 Donor of the Year. They have also have a $2 billion commitment to fight hunger underway. It is exciting to know that one of my passions is able to be pursued through work resources.

I bring this up now, because this morning Ray and I volunteered for a while at the Hancock County Food Pantry. It is a small building with cement floors, 7 stand-up freezers/refrigerators, sparse shelving and a two door loading dock. They had moved everything out of the building so that they were able to clean and paint the floor this weekend and Monday was the day to finish cleaning, move everything back in and restock the shelves. While it was not the most fun thing I have ever done on a Monday, it was rewarding to hear folks clamor over how nice it was to have help stocking shelves, filling bins, wiping down fridges, and cleaning a restroom (Since I cleaned their public restroom, Ray has been tasked to clean our apartment by himself. Fair is fair! J)


All of that to say, try it sometime. Find your local food bank, walk in and ask how you can help them. I have never been to one where I have been turned away. Assistance is always welcome. Put together a food drive at your church or workplace.


Just remember, these folks are trying to meet a basic necessity: food for all.

General Geekery

I admit that I am geeky. I'm okay with that and Ray actually loves that part of me. He tells folks that I am the geek of the family. Funny man. I like computers, all kinds of blogs, pictures, my own and others, reading all types of literature and comics, watching the National Geographic, History and Military channels, playing with and reading and talking about new tech, as well as all things in between. I have a soft spot for ankle biter dogs and most cats. I can't stand disorganization, but can't keep my house tidy…hmmm…I blame that on Ray.

So, I thought I'd share some of the sites I visit regularly so you are able to better understand the geeky side of Priscilla.

Ready? No? Well, it's too late. You can't turn back now!

Gizmodo: Gizmodo was kicked off in 2002. It's a blog about gadgets and tech, new and old, and everything a geek would want to read or complain about. It's my first stop when I get online…every time. New posts are up all throughout the day. Also, you will find much humor and debate in the comments for the article. Sometimes they're even better than the articles!

TmoNews: I am a loyal T-Mobile customer. They may not have the best phones, but the customer service is top notch. TmoNews covers all things T-Moblie: new plans, policies, phones on all platforms, coverage expansions and all the rumors you can stand! Obviously this site caters to the needs of a niche, but the folks running this blog run a few other sites you might be interested in: phonedog (information on all upcoming phones for all carriers), DroidDog (all Android all the time), BBerryDog (the BlackBerry channel), and Today's iPhone (everything iPhone).

Neatorama/NeatoGeek: All things neat and/or odd and all things geek, respectively.

EPBOT: Per the bloggers own description, "Geekery, Girliness, & General Goofing Off". She has an interesting sense of humor that appeals to me and has made me literally laugh out loud. She's a great story teller, designer and finder of all things geeky and girly.

Cake Wrecks: This is written by the same lady from EPBOT, plus her husband every once in a while. It's a blog entirely about cakes that have been mucked up in one way or another by professionals. It's well written and witty. On Sundays you get Sunday Sweets, a reprieve from the disastrous cakes and get a eyeful of what cakes are supposed to look like.

LikeCOOL: This features gadgets and other items new, old, retro, conceptual and odd. It'll also like you up to places to buy and/or read more about these items and the folks who made them.

FAIL Blog: If it's a failure, it's here. Sometimes off color, but always entertaining. A constant reminder of how thick we can really be as a species. This is just one of many funny websites hosted by the CHEEZburger Network.

Very Demotivational: Also hosted by the CHEEZburger Network, but most definitely stands out from the rest. Someone takes a picture or sign and makes it into a poster resembling the motivational posters you have in your office, except with a less inspiring message. Definitely my kind of humor.

Message With A Bottle: This random guy quit his job to be a stay home dad and free lance writer. He noticed he was utilizing post-its for reminders for his work and decided to start making observations about things concerning his son and post them. It sounds lame, but the guy's got a great sense of humor to which I believe most can relate. We've all thought the majority of the things he posts.

Well, if you didn't have anything to do, now you have plans. Make your way through these and I hope you find at least one that peaks your interest. If nothing else, then you know a bit more about my personality, good or bad.

Do you have any sites/blogs you visit regularly? Go ahead and share them. I'm sure I can squeeze a few more in! J

WWII & Alaska?

Really? Why didn't I learn about this in school? Or was it taught and I slept through it? It couldn't have been our top notch history books? Maybe I was sick that week? I did have the chickenpox twice. Or maybe it was taught the last week of my senior year. When I hadn't missed a single day the last semester I decided that I could use a few days off and didn't attend. Hmm, let's not rehash that week. 

Getting back on task, why is it that just yesterday I learned that part of World War II was fought on American soil, and not Hawaii? I mean, we all know about Pearl Harbor, but what about Alaska?

Ray was flipping through the channels when he paused on the History Channel. The title of the show was "bloody battles" or something to that effect. As he changed the channel I heard someone say WWII and Alaska in the same sentence. I looked at him and asked if I had heard it right and he shrugged and turned it back. They were indeed talking about the Aleutian Islands, which are part of Alaska.

It turns out that on June 3, 1942 a small force of Japanese bombers attacked Dutch Harbor, thus the beginning of the Aleutian Island Campaign. Kiska was invaded on June 6^th and Attu on June 7^th.

Right: Buildings burning after the first enemy attack on Dutch Harbor, June 3 1942                                                                   

Left: Anchorage Daily Times June 3, 1942

Due to weather, geography and location restraints, it wasn't until May 11^th 1943 that a counterattack, code-named COTTAGE, began. 

Hauling Supplies in Attu

Castner's Cutthroats, or the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon, was part of the over 34,000 Allied troops fighting the Japanese, The platoon was made up of men who were familiar to the rough Alaskan terrain and weather. They were responsible for reconnaissance missions and served as guides for the Army. There were also 5,300 who were part of the 1^st Special Service Force, or the Devil's Brigade. This was a joint US-Canadian commando unit originally designed to fight in winter conditions. 

Troops fighting the snow and ice in Attua

The official end date of the occupation was July 28^th 1943 and the official end of the campaign was August 24^th, 1943. This was the United States first theater-wide victory in WWII. There were just over 1,600 American and Canadian lives lost during this battle.

Again, with the loss of life on US soil,and not in Hawaii, I sincerely wonder why this is news to me. Maybe I really was asleep.

*More pictures can be found at the below sites:
Wikimedia
Attu WWII Photos

Arbitrary Bits and Pieces About Joe

No, I'm not talking about Joe down the street, across town, the inn keeper or the latest guy to get arrested.

I'm talking about coffee.

There are so many names for it these days: Joe, java, black gold, morning mud, battery acid, bean juice, brew, and my favorite, wait for it, wakey juice. Love it!

It is believed that the craze started with goats. That's right, goats. Ethiopian shepherds noticed their goats were frisky after eating coffee berries. Mmm, berries. While there isn't a lot out there to support this theory, it's a good bedtime story, right? 

Back to fact...A coffee tree can grow up to 30', but this makes it difficult to collect the berries. Over the years, the trees have been cultivated to grow around 10'. Still a bit high for us short folks.

In 1675 King Charles II issued a proclamation closing coffee houses in England "because in such houses, and by the meeting of disaffected persons in them, divers false, malicious, and scandalous reports were devised and spread abroad, to the defamation of his majesty's government, and the disturbance of the quiet and the peace in the realm." Whoa! That's pretty serious. Fortunately the closings didn't last long. I bet there were some people out there with a bad case of the shakes during the closings!


Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist living in Chicago first invented instant coffee in 1901. George Washington, not our President, but rather a man from Belgium, living in Guatemala (Got all of that?), is credited with developing his own instant coffee and successfully commercially marketing it around 1910.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity, behind oil. You here that big oil? Stop pinching my wallet!

Latte art is the practice of making designs in the milk/foam topping (microfoam) of an espresso. There are different levels of snobbery concerning latte art. Purists insist the design must be created by the simple movements of the pouring vessel (free pouring), while others accept that the art may be created utilizing a stirring stick (etching). 


I think someone may have misunderstood my intentions when I placed my order for my beverage. I want to drink, guzzle, sip, knock back, devour, or otherwise consume it in its entirety. I have zero interest in showing it off to my friends, family and/or neighbors. Oh and if I'm paying more than $4 for the brew, it better be yummy or I'm coming back for you and your little dog too!

During WWII our GIs ordered espresso with water so they could dilute the flavor. This became known as the Americano preparation. I refuse to type disparaging remarks about those who serve our country, so all I'm going to say is…Really?!? Fine. Okay. I gotcha. Wait, really?!?

With all that said, there are many ways to prepare java. My favorite preparation is the macchiato.

How do you like your joe? (Tall, dark and handsome is not an option.)

Memories

As another birthday has come and gone I have spent some time thinking about the past and thought I'd share a few stories with you.

Growing up we had a square coffee table in our living room between the couch and the TV. The top was some type of ceramic tiles in an off white color surrounded by dark wood. It had four legs which connected the top platform to the bottom wooden platform of the table, which rested on the floor. My sister, Farrah, and I would squeeze under there together to where one could only see our feet sticking out. We would laugh and fight and have a great time while in this very small, confined space. No one ever really knew what we were really doing under there until one day my mom decided to lay under there with me. Farrah and I had made our own "weather map" on the bottom of the table. We had drawn, to the best of our ability, the US and had cold fronts, snow, tornadoes and hurricanes all over the place in crayon! You can just imagine the look on her face when she saw what we had done to her table! She actually took it well. It was one of the many times she would say, "Just don't tell your father." Somehow or another he found out and didn't take it well. My mom was, and actually still is, the master of keeping our dad calm and with the program, even after 25 or so years of being divorced. You should have seen him on my wedding day. I heard it was touch and go there for a while! I do wish we had pictures of our weather map. It would be interesting to see if our forecasts came true. Who knows, maybe we could have given Al Gore a run for his money!

Our stepfather, Johnny, had a number of issues which caused home to not be pleasant, but he had his moments where the person he could be would shine through. He was the master of making fun appear out of nothing, which was important because we didn't have anything! We had a plastic red bat and white ball that you could buy for $3. Our bases were "borrowed" from local construction sites. You know the round blinking lights on top of the orange barrels? Well they make wonderful bases for nighttime baseball! We would always give our mom a hard time because she would usually end up popping a blood vessel in her hand and we'd have to quit. In her defense, her hand would swell and she would have an awful bruise for a while, but we were kids and had no mercy for our fun being ruined!


There is one baseball story that sticks in my mind vividly. We were playing during the day and Johnny was pitching to us. It was my turn up to bat. I had always been a bit timid of the ball because I didn't want to get hit. I had seen my sister and cousin pinged by balls when they played and saw that it wasn't pleasant. He had been trying to work with me to stay "in the box" when pitched to and this time I was convinced I wasn't going anywhere. He pitched the ball to me, I stayed still, timing my swing, then BAM! I made contact. I instantly had a smile on my face. I hit the ball right on and it was going to fly. I knew I was going to make it at least to 3^rd base, if not home the moment the ball left the bat. Then I heard the noise. It was a dry thud. I looked across the "field" and there was Johnny with his hands up to his face. The ball had hit him. Wait, now he's down on one knee. I've really hurt him. Oh crap! Everyone ran to him and I ran in the house to hide. I just KNEW I was going to be in trouble. He came and found me after he had ice on his eye to let me know it was okay and that he would be fine, but it was really bad. His eye was swollen shut and had already started turning colors. I felt horrible. To this day, my family still laughs at the fact that I ran.

Keeping with the topic of black eyes, I have a story about Farrah. Johnny had taken us to a field to ride our go kart one day while mom was at work. It had rained the night before so everything was nice and muddy and we were looking to have a great time! Farrah had been riding the go kart for a while and it was my turn. She thought she was going to be cool and speed toward us then cut the wheel to skid out and throw mud on us. Well, it didn't quite turn out the way she planned. When she cut the wheel, the go kart kept sliding forward, toward us and the truck. We jumped out of the way and she slid into the tailgate. It turned out that the she hit her head on the tailgate and had an instant black eye and most likely a headache. It was officially time to go home. That afternoon when mom came home Farrah was laid out on one couch and I was sitting very quietly on the other. When she greeted me I burst into tears. She asked me what the matter was and I just looked toward Farrah. When she saw what had happened she lost it on Johnny. Now, while I am sorry my sister was hurt, I'm convinced the crying was for Johnny. My mom lit into him like the 4^th of July. It was BAD! Farrah and I laugh about it now, but we both know he knew it wasn't going to be good when mom got home that day. Oh, and we never did go back to that lot to ride the go kart. It's still my turn!


That's all I have to share for now. I'll think of some more to share later.


Maybe some of you have stories you want to share of your childhood or of times we spent together?

Snickerdoodle

When I was 18 my college roommate brought home a puppy for me. We named her Snickerdoodle, but called her Snickers for short. She was the cutest little dog and turned out to be a mess! When we would leave for class we would put her with her bed in the kitchen and confine her there via a baby gate. When we would come home she would sometimes have dislodged the gate and have gotten out. Eventually we had to buy a second gate and double stack them on top of each other because she would actually scale it and greet us at the front door when we returned home.

When she would get out she would leave us smelly surprises, on the carpet of course, as well as make us aware that there were items in the apartment which were too low to the ground. Those items would include, but not be limited to our laundry, tissues, and hangers just to name a few.

She had a wonderful little personality. She always seemed happy and energetic, but was always up for a nap. She loved people, but wasn't much for other animals. When Ray and I moved to Florida we took her to this great dog park in West Palm. It had three different parks: one for large dogs, one for medium dogs and one for ankle biters like Snickers. While there she would run around and sniff everything. When the other dogs would come around, she would stop what she was doing and look at them for a second then turn away and wander off. She noticed all the owners were on the benches under the trees and made her way to them. They loved on her and she ate it up. When the other dogs would come to the people, Snickers would wander off again only to return for the attention when the other pooches had dispersed.

She loved to ride in the car and put her head out the window, she made sport of stealing food off your plate, but as a mix of beagle and daschund, she had a habit of running off. The last time she ran off she was hit by a car and did not survive. It's been almost 2 years and as odd as some may find it, it was very difficult time. I actually called my boss and got scheduled off work the next day. It still bothers me that I could have done something different that day and she could be curled up asleep next to me right now.

It's interesting how our pets become more than just a dog or cat. They are our companions who greet us when we return home from school, work or a day of shopping. They are not judgmental and seem to, unlike our peers, love us no matter what. They are completely reliant on us for sustenance and care and have unwittingly placed their trust in us for their livelihood.


All of this to say that Ray and I have recently started talking about getting a pet. I know I want a cat, but I think a pooch would be good too. We keep coming back to beagles and found that we really like the under 13's. We've talked about a few of the different terriers too, but some of them are a bit too purse sized and I'm not sure Ray will be allowed to keep his man card if we were to get one!
Any pooch suggestions? Any stories to share?