HANFAN

SAT, JAN 7

Cincinnati at Houston

Detroit at New Orleans (as much as I want the Lions to win, I don't think they can pull this one off)

SUN, JAN 8

Atlanta at NY Giants

Pittsburgh at Denver

I LOVE those boots! And I like monkeygirl's suggestions, you have to post pics once you find an outfit to wear with them.

p.s. If Cerina doesn't wear an 8.5, I do.

I just came in here to say, "LIONS!!!! YEAH!!!"

That is all.

I just ordered one of these with my Christmas $. It's a Stormy Kromer, made of wool and Gore-tex lined. I've been wanting one for a long time and I just found it half off at Cabela's.

My grandma did much better this year, got a couple of shirts that I'll actually wear and a suet bird feeder. Thanks Grandma!

I also got a cute 31 purse, more chocolates, and my dad made me an awesome leather journal. I'll have to get pictures, he does amazing leatherwork. It has Celtic knotwork, my name, and some runes on it. Pretty cool. I also got a bunch of dvds this year - PotC: On Stranger Tides, and Joe and my parents both got me the three Mummy movies with Brendan Frasier. It was really funny. Joe never buys me things off of my Christmas list, but he did this year. And my parents don't usually buy from my list, but they did this year.

The boys got more clothes and a few new toys. I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but Joe and I got them some Thomas engines, Cars cars, little camp chairs, a sled (still waiting for snow), jammies, slippers, and cute little bathrobes, Cars 2, and the Polar Express dvds. And special from daddy were notebooks and lots of stickers and little toy cowboy pistols.

Man everyone's dinners sound amazing! I ate so much this weekend, it's not even funny. The beef my brother-in-law made today was amazing. It was a cut I'd never heard of, tri-tip, or something similar, but it was very similar to prime rib. Except it was charcoal grilled. So good.

I think I should start my weight loss/exercise resolution a little early. Then again, I may just wait until the Christmas cookies are all gone.

So what has/is/did everyone making/made to put on the table for the holidays?

We had Christmas with my in-laws this evening, we traditionally to a bunch of appetizers. I ended up making crab dip, deviled eggs, and brought a bunch of imported cheeses and crackers. We had wings, cocktail shrimp, and a bunch of other little things there too. I ate too much.

Tomorrow we get together with my extended family. We've always had Christmas brunch, with egg casserole, ham, cinnamon rolls, etc. Later in the day we make these bacon-wrapped water chestnuts in some kind of sauce, that are like crack. Seriously, I can't stop eating them ALL day long. They're so good. Beside bringing juice, I made a yummy cranberry/orange relish and tried a new recipe that I think turned out pretty good, we'll see how well it goes over tomorrow. http://www.recipe.com/coffee-tea-cakes/ Coffee tea cakes. I mean, you can't get much better than getting your caffeine in bread form.

Monday, we're finally having Christmas with my immediate family. My sister and two of her kids have some severe food allergies, so we have to be pretty selective about the food menu. I'm bringing more of the cranberry/orange relish and making the green bean casserole, because if someone doesn't my brother would be very sad. lol.

Oh and tonight, I made myself a nice, little hot toddy. I have a cold with a nasty cough. A little hot water, a generous amount of Crown, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a bit o' honey. Mmm.... and I'm feeling much better now.

Had Christmas with the in-law this evening. The boys got Cars jammies, Thomas jammies, Thomas slippers, Cars shirts, shirt/pants outfit, special sticker books from Daddy, and Grandma made them Cars quilts.

I got two gift cards to Barne's & Noble, $30 cash, a book light, tea, a sweet tea mug, St.Paddy's day socks , and my mother-in-law tatted everyone in the family little Christmas angels. They're really cool.

I'm going on a serious book/music buying spree soon.

The hubby gave me a 4-pack of Bailey's minis last night. Now it's a three-pack.

I found the bestest stocking stuffer evah, for Joe last night! I wasn't going to buy anything more, but I couldn't help myself. Actually that seems to be par for the course this year, I've gone overboard, but have had lots of fun doing so. Anywho, it's a little three-pack sampler of Glenfiddich Scotch. There's a 12, 15, and 18 year blend in it. He's gonna love it.

I can't wait for the boys to wake up Christmas morning and open their presents either. I stayed away from toys, we have limited space at home and I know they'll be getting toys from other people. I got them Thomas jammies and slippers, cute little bathrobes, Cars2 and Polar Express dvds, a sled, and got them each a little camping chair. Joe will be getting them something special just from Daddy as well. I think I'm more excited about Christmas because of the boys. They're stockings have a Cars cars and Thomas engines in them.

I'm pretty satisfied with everything that I bought people this year, but I did awesome on Joe again. I bought him a pair of Stormy Kromer wool pants. The company is based in da U.P. of Michigan and everything is made in the US. I also found him a couple of classic hunting books, that he'll love. They're not easy to come by, so I had to do some searching.

Chalce, I lLOVE you little tree! You made that? It's really cool!

Icy, that picture cracks me up.

I'll have to load the pics of my tree.

I figured that I was going to stick with 31. Nobody would believe 21, and everybody stays 29. 31 is totally believable.

Joe taught the boys to rub their hands together while laughing. He's still trying to get them to laugh "maniacally" though.

Actually!! (omgIknowthis) 2012 signifies the end of the largest of the Mayan time "cycles". Know how we measure everything in seconds? And there's 60 seconds to a minute and 60 minutes to an hour and 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and so on through millenia and whatnot? Well, 2012 is the end of their "millenia". So to speak. So it's not that the calendar ends, it's that now it starts over. I learned this at the museum a few weeks ago. Granted, it's probably their largest time unit because they couldn't find a bigger rock...

 

I seem to remember hearing that the end of their other cycles were marked with cataclysms and TERRIBLE THINGS, and whatnot, too, so people desperately want this to be GRIM and DIRE.

 

I wonder if there will be zombies involved?

 

Are you saying you're only 20?

 

You're ****ing with me.

 

I'm having a 21st birthday celebration in June.

I'll start stocking up on shotguns shells for the zombie apocolypse.

Turning 30 wasn't traumatic for me at all. Next year I'm going to be 35, that is really starting to bother me.

As for gifts, well, my Mamaw is dirt poor and bought all of her gifts at Dollar General. We keep telling her not to buy us stuff, not just for the benefit of her pocketbook, but because she mostly buys little trinkets that no one can use and clothing that doesn't fit....from Dollar General.

This sounds a lot like my grandma. She buys stuff throughout the year on clearance, and then before Christmas she wraps stuff and slaps a name on it. I think it was last year that I got girl's underwear. I gave them to my 9 year old niece. I remember as an early teen, my great-grandma who had Alzheimer's, would give me old bottles of half-gone, horrible Avon perfumes that she had gotten at garage sales. lol.

We've got three Christmases in a row lined up for the weekend. Christmas Eve with the in-laws is at my brother-in-law's new house. They moved last Saturday, it's their first house and his wife is so excited about having Christmas there. It's a small laid-back affair and we stuff ourselves with appetizers throughout the afternoon and evening.

Christmas Day will be spent with my extended family for the traditional Christmas brunch. Should be fun. My sister is spending Christmas day with her in-laws, so I think the boys will be the only kids there. They'll be spoiled to pieces. We'll be heading to my aunt's after the morning church service.

Day after Christmas is going to be with my folks and my sister's family. Lots of kids at this one, so it'll be crazy, yet fun. I'm just hoping that I can pace things out so my munchkins aren't cranky by the time Monday rolls around.

And it looks like we might be going to my in-laws for dinner and then driving around to look at Christmas lights on the 23rd. Honestly, I'm not real excited. Joe's mom mentioned something about it and I said something to the effect of "that sounds like fun". Because it did. But then yesterday I found out my sister-in-law wants to go and Friday is the only night she can make it. It's not like we can all fit in one car anyway. I was really just hoping to spend a nice night at home Joe and the boys, before a busy weekend. Joe's working third shift right now and with all the busyness of the season, we've barely seen each other for a while.

I need coffee.

so, so tired

Real trees all the way! Nothing smells like a fresh cut spruce or fir. It's a family tradition to head to a tree farm every year, ride the wagon out, pick and cut our own tree, drag it back, play in the snow (except this year it was rain and mud), drink hot cocoa and eat chestnuts that really are roasted over an open fire. It's a fun time every year.

Of course, this year our tree is a little, tiny 3ft tree. It was pretty funny bringing it to the guys that trim the trees. Everyone else had these gorgeous 6ft trees and had a midget tree. We don't have much space at home, so it's being set on the coffee table.

You know I had to make an appearance in this thread sooner or later.

I'm with Tank. Too often I think it's the thrill of the kill and the macho party/road trip/celebration/camping event that's behind the hunting thing, sorry. And I hate even calling it a "sport" -- if you want to shoot at moving targets, use clay, that's a sport. So is the biathalon. But if you want to call slaughter a "sport" -- then use a close-range bow and arrow or a spear, THAT'S a sport, not this long distance rifle with a scope thing.

There's so much more to it than the thrill of the kill, but I'll get into that later. However, honestly I agree with you about calling hunting a "sport". A sport is a game. Hunting takes the life of something, and I think by calling it a sport it trivializes that. However, I wouldn't call hunting a "slaughter". I hunt, I may or may not kill game on the day that I go out. I turkey hunted for 4 years and spent days trying to get a turkey, before I finally shot one this spring. Hardly a slaughter. Slaughter is what happens on farms.

I also believe that a LOT of the animals go to waste (or to taxidermy), not to food. If you live in Alaska, or a rural area, and supplement your limited food supply, that's one thing. But c'mon, it's 2011 for most of the rest of us -- and all I can say is I know way more hunters than I do venison eaters.

That seems unusual. Every hunter I know, and I know a lot, eats what he kills. Or if they personally, don't eat it, they give the meat to friends or family that will. As far as taxidermy, it's actually possible to breast out a bird carefully for the meat and still have the rest of the bird stuffed. As far as deer hunters go, if someone gets a big buck and puts the head on the wall, the meat is still eaten.

My husband and I are hoping to shoot 4-5 deer this year. All of it will go into the freezer. All of it will be eaten over the next year. We don't buy beef at all during the year, we very rarely buy pork or chicken. Honestly, chicken is a bit of a treat. Usually the only meat I buy is for sandwiches and breakfast. We also eat every duck, goose, partridge, woodcock, rabbit, and squirrel that we shoot.

Which is why, fine line though it is, I think there's a distinction between hunting as a "hobby" and those who feed, clothe and house their families by killing the animals that stock our supermarkets. They're like garbagemen -- someone's got to do it for the "good" of the rest of us, disgusting job though it is.

 

As for population control, there are better and more humane ways to do it.

 

Also, if you really want to know what's in the meat you're eating, wouldn't you buy a grain-fed organic animal who'd feed has been controlled? You have no idea where that wild animal you're eating has been grazing -- might be drinking out of nuclear reactor's cooling pond, eating pesticided-laced farm produce, dining at the junk yard, the dump, where someone emptied a latrine, or downwind of a factory pumping lead into the air. Not to mention all the bacteria and worms and diseases it's encountered. Ick.

Thankfully,I don't hunt by any nuclear reactors, cooling ponds, junk yards, dumps, or factories. As far as chemical-laced farm produce, it's possible, but it's the same stuff that the animals on styrofoam trays in the store ate.

Now it's been established that I eat what I kill. But the question remains to I enjoy killing what I eat. The answer is yes, and no. Do I get a thrill from the hunt. Well yes. I LOVE being outside. I can't describe the feeling I get sitting in the marsh. Watching the world slowly awake, the smells, the senses, and hearing that first whistle of wings of a dozen wood ducks flying 6 feet over your head, but it was so dim you couldn't see them. I've passed on shots, just to watch the animals. And it's a challenge, there are no guarantees that I'll come home with game. So when I do shoot something, there is a sense of satisfaction that I made a good, clean kill. There is a feeling of remorse the first time I pick up that the bird I shot or walk up to the deer laying in the field. It's a sober thing taking a life of something.

And I'll have to continue my thoughts tomorrow, because the hubby just woke up and needs his computer as he's off for work. Third shifts suck by the way.

Well, let's see. This October I'll have been married 5 years and my twin boys will be turning 2. I've been a stay-at-home mom now for a year and a half and LOVE it. My life is pretty much my family right now, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I do work security for the occasional concert downtown which is fun. And duck and goose hunting has become a passion of mine. I get out as much as possible. That's pretty much life in a nutshell.

Here's a pic of the munchkins. They're already setting up decoy spreads. lol.

Way to shed those pounds Dex and Lace! That's awesome! It gives me the motivation I need to get off the computer and go do my pilates dvd. lol. I'm horribly out of shape.

I LOVE fresh tomatoes and so do the twins! Who would think that a not quite two-year-old's favorite food would be tomatoes? I had the boys in a wagon the other day, while I was picking a few tomatoes. I handed each of the boys a tomato to hold and went back to picking, and when I turned around, Caleb had tomato juice running down his chin and a huge smile. He'd taken a couple huge chunks out of it.

We've been having tomato sandwiches a lot. It's a summer favorite of my husband and I. Toast up some bread, add some cheese (jalapeno havarti is our fave), some mayo, and a little Mrs. Dash to it. SOOO good!

Newcastle is always good.

OMG, Labatt has a lime beer? I am so there. Also, Bud Light Lime > Miller Chill, even though Miller Lite > Bud Light. I generally don't stoop to that level unless I'm at a really crappy bar or that's what's in the pitcher I'm sharing with everyone else.

Yes, try the lime Labatt's. I really like it. But ew, Miller Lite. I'll take one if it's handed to me, but it's usually my last choice.

I prefer Leinenkugel's. Their Summer Shandy is an awesome summer beer. It has a lemony flavor to it. And their Sunset Wheat is one of my all time faves, Berry Weiss is good too. And I love the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. I'm starting to really like Bell's Two-Hearted Ale too, if you like Sam Adam's you should give the Two-Hearted a try.

 

I knew you'd bring up Leinies! And now I remember what i was going to tell you... there's a brewery up by TC that makes a Cherry Wheat that apparently puts Sam's to shame (I haven't tried it yet). Next time we hang out, I'll bring you to my favorite market.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I used to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Woodchuck ciders and I still enjoy them, but I can only drink one at a time now. They're almost too sweet. I think I prefer Strongbow. I had a blueberry cider at The Cambridge House. Oh man, it was SOOO good. I wish I knew what it was called. It was also a little more potent that I had suspected, I had two pints, and had a serious buzz going.

 

Woodchuck actually has a good dry cider now. 802 Dark and Dry. Also, omg, they have a Private Reserve Pumpkin for fall

 

Are you sure the blueberry stuff wasn't Johnny Jump-Up?

Time to go beer shopping! I'll have to try the different Woodchuck's now too. You know I think I had a pumpkin beer last year at the Ren Fair, but I can't really remember if I liked it or not. It was probably after about 4 other beers though. And the blueberry stuff could have been Johnny Jump-Up.

Btw, I'm sitting here with a Labatt's Light right now. Joe came home with a cooler, a bag of ice, and a 12 pack. He was on call all last week and it was a rough one for him. He's making up for it now.