Domestic Geek

I'm going to get a little Grinchy here.

Marcus called and asked me to stop by the store on my way home from work tonight to get him some Honest Teas as he had no beverage with which to partake during his Teamhousewares Golf tournament. As I got out of my car and headed towards the entrance, this is what I saw:


WTF, man? Throughout the whole store, it was already a Christmas wonderland. You retailers want to know why you're having a harder time each year with holiday sales? You're making people weary of it. Instead of the wonder of the season you could experience because it should be short-lived, you're hammered with Christmas almost half the year now. By the time December 25th finally rolls around, people are so sick of Christmas that it becomes an ordeal to get through. I can almost understand Hobby Lobby putting stuff out for people who do craft fairs, but all the home decorating stuff can stay in the warehouse until Thanksgiving.

I even saw something in my Facebook feed from 9News that said Santa was already visiting Cherry Creek mall. Too freaking soon, people! Santa makes his entrance on Thanksgiving morning at the Macy's parade.

Let's get back to making the season special by only having it in your face for a single month of the year.

Can't remember where I originally found this, but I had to share:



'Twas the night before Christmas, and oh, I was weary.
My stitching unfinished, my eyes getting bleary.
The stockings weren't finished, the chimney was bare
And I knew that morning soon would be here.

My children and husband were tucked in their beds,
But visions of backstitches ran through my head.
I'd stitched ornaments and presents and gifts by the ton,
And now, I was finally, almost, almost done.

As I poised my needle for one more stitch,
I heard something outside that made my hand twitch.
I jumped up from my stitching and flew to the door
Pressed my eye to the peephole, tiptoe off the floor.

My stitching forgotten, I peered into the night
When suddenly I got a terrible fright.
On my porch appeared Santa, holding his sack
He knocked softly, and I took a giant step back.

I unlocked the deadbolt, and let Santa in
He entered and gave a mischievous grin.
"Hope you don't mind if I come in the door?
Coming down the chimney can be quite a chore."

He said, "You're up late. Still working, I see.
Do you know how tired you're going to be?"
I know, Santa, I said with a sigh
But I'm still backstitching the stars in the sky

And the fields on that stocking look blobby you know,
I need to backstitch the drifts in the snow.
I've been stitching and stitching and stitching, no rest.
I just tried to finish stitching too much, I guess.

"I know what you mean," he said with a smile.
"This is my busiest time of the year, by a mile."
He stooped down by the tree and he opened his sack
And began to pull presents out of his pack.

"I've got some things here I think you might like.
An oak stitching frame and a brand new Ott-Light.
A bundle of floss and a great big mat cutter."
I smiled and felt my heart go a- flutter.

He put down gifts for us all, then waved his right hand
"Go to bed," he said, glancing at my floor stand.
He gave me a wink and stepped out the door.
I just stood there a moment, glued to the floor.

After he'd left, I turned back to my chair
Picked up the stockings and started to stare.
The backstitching was done! The stars lit the sky!
And on my son's stocking, angels sung on high!

I ran to thank Santa for this final gift,
And watched as his sleigh started to lift.
I heard him exclaim as he pulled out of sight,
"Merry Stitching to All, and to all a good night!"

~Author Unknown

I was trying to do some research to find out why we celebrate Thanksgiving a Thursday. I mean, I know why we now we have it on the 4th Thursday of November, but the reasoning I'm finding for why it is on a Thursday at all is lame.

Getting up for work today was a royal pain. I was soooo tired. To make matters worse, there was really nothing to do once I got there. I knew when I left Wednesday that we would have no work, but I couldn't call in or I wouldn't get paid for yesterday. I wandered the building a lot. Most everyone had gone home for the day by the time I got back from lunch. Most of our clients got their work in early so they could have a long holiday weekend, so no new work was to be had. I only managed to drag it out for six hours and then I called it quits. I spent the next 3 hours hanging in a conference room watching television and knitting until Marcus was ready to go.

The good news is that since I actually got to really have a holiday for Thanksgiving, I'm ready for a little Christmas cheer.

Hope everyone out there in American Blogland had a Happy Thanksgiving. For the first time in five years, I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving, so for that I am extremely grateful. Preparing the Thanksgiving meal is one of the highlights of my year. I love to cook, but with just Marcus and I, I rarely get to go all out.

This year's menu included:

• Free range fresh turkey procured from Sunflower Market


• Mashed potatoes and gravy made from this recipe on The Pioneer Woman


• Broccoli/Cauliflower with cheese sauce (the cayenne pepper was a nice addition)


• Shrimp Stuffing (I had to use some stuffing I got at Sunflower since Kellogg's discontinued their stuffing a while back)


• Peas (Marcus always has to have these)


• Buttermilk biscuits


• Corn muffins


• Cranberry Orange dressing


• Pumpkin pie

I had grandiose plans of getting off work this evening and getting a jump on the holiday preparations for tomorrow. *sigh* I should have known better.

I even went in early, made the shopping list of the last few things I needed to pick up on the way home to avoid having to shop anywhere on Friday or Saturday and looked like I was going to be out by 6pm. Then, after everyone in the department had left for the night except me, my supervisor called and told me I needed to work this one job before I left. One of the other operators put it on hold (he shouldn't have, the job is worked the same every danged time it comes in). Of course there was a problem and I needed the supervisor's input and she didn't answer my phone call or email right away. Oh, well.

I was going to bake a cheesecake tonight, but it will have to wait until the weekend.