A Truly Wiidiculous Christmas!

Christmas in New Jersey this year, at my sister and her husbands house. They just finally closed on their little slice of heaven about two weeks prior. Our holiday extravaganza was to be the first real event in there new home.

Although Santa brought me many a wonderful gift this year, no other gift was so loved by my ENTIRE family as the Nintendo Wii that I received from Alyson and Dan. Mom and Dad also bought games and extras (Wii fit) that added to the insanity that would soon be the Wii! This post has been a long time coming because I was hoping to have some video for your viewing pleasure, but alas, I have not received the video feed from my sister yet. Trust me, it will be worth the wait when you see it. Let's just say that it revolves around Dance Party Revolution 2........

All joking aside, my family spent, wait for it........ 12 hours playing Wii on Christmas day. It would have been 13. but we turned it off for an hour in order to enjoy Christmas dinner. But don't you worry, that Wii was back in action as soon as the last dish was cleared, well actually I think it may have even been before the dish was cleared. But...Hilarious. Only word to describe my family playing Wii. Not to mention the Mii development that took place. This was serious business here, but by the end we had exact matches for everyone that was playing. I would have to say that my moms Mii was the best. Alyson and I really nailed it on that one.

No one got out of their pajamas for the entire day! No one. Now, if you have ever spent any time with the Powells you would understand why this is such a crazy thought. The rule in the Powell house was always..."unless you are sick, no pajamas should be worn past 10 am. EVER" (This could explain alot about why my sister and I love to veg in our Pjs on a Sunday afternoon...) Anywhooooo...my mom dubbed the day, "Absolutely Wiidiculous. " And boy was she right!
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Day two of Christmas was just as crazy, although we all actually got dressed and ventured out of the house. See, Progress. Alyson and Dan were treating everyone to a day in New York. This was complete with Department Store window viewings, Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, the tree, Skating, carriage ride through Central Park, and dinner at Rosa Mexicana (oh how I dooo love Guacamole!) The night was topped off with a viewing of the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this show was. Truly spectacular. Of course, I personally think that the best show of the evening was Alyson and I prancing down the streets of New York, arm in arm, singing "Let's go to the Movies" from Annie. Hey, we are a singing family, it happens.

The only bad part of our New York trip was my dad being side swiped by a car (don't worry he was okay and rallied) and the moms getting trampled outside of Radio City. (Again, they rallied).. I guess that comes with being in the City.....And then they wonder why I moved to the burbs!!!!! The rest of our time in New Jersey was spent....well....Wii-ing....shopping, eating, and doing a little home improvement. (Come on people, you really think my sister and Dan could buy a house two weeks before my father was coming for the holiday and not expect him to arrive wearing a tool belt. Reality Check here folks.)

In a nutshell, great Christmas holiday in Jersey. Wait, did I just actually write great and Jersey in the same sentence? The world as we know it is coming to an end..:)

What's with the Bah Humbug!

People, what more can you ask for here? It snowed, there is a chill in the air, Christmas is only days away....you should all be happy...smiling...cheerful and joyous!

What's with all the crankiness. Cranky people in the store, cranky people on the street, cranky people at the bank, cranky people everywhere. Why so cranky? really?

Enough with the Bah Humbugedness. I want merriment and cheer darn it! Do you hear me!

So close I can taste it...

Working from home today. Why you ask? As I type, I have two lovely gentlemen installing.....wait for it.... my new boiler.

hallelujah !!!

I am seriously considering having a Holiday "Thank Goodness I Finally Have Heat " Party. We shall see.

I can't say I was thrilled with the fact that they were hear at 6:40 in the AM...but heat baby. That is the best thing eva!

Is It cold in here...or is it just me?

Oh wait..I know...it's cold because I still don't have any stinking heat! Come on people. We are now on Day #6 with no working boiler and I am beyond the point of angry. I could maybe understand if it was say...August, but it is December here people! I need heat. I have been trying to get this boiler replaced since late August, early September, knowing that it was on its last leg. Surprise surprise...it kicked the bucket.

Maybe I would mind less if there wasn't a brand new boiler sitting in my garage! Agggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
I had the new boiler before Thanksgiving. Would have been nice to have it all installed and then we would not have even had this problem.

My poor kitties have these little cold noses. I feel so badly for them. I snuggle them up in blankets before I leave for work. I put the little heaters on for them and when I come home, they are in the exact same spots. Poor little guys.

Knock Knock. Who's there? Plumber.. Plumber who? Plumber who should be at my house right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where is the Value in a Value Menu?

Okay people, let's get down to the brass tacks here....these supposed Value Items that exist on so many chain restaurant menus, is there really any value in them at all? Let's discuss.

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of value is: 1val·ue - noun -a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged; relative worth, utility, or importance

So, knowing what we now know about the definition of value...can someone please explain to me the "value" in the items that are served at these restaurants. When last I checked, the whole purpose of these menu items was to actually be getting more food for what you are paying for i.e. a good value. So instead of having to pay $1.89 for a small fries, you could pay $1.00 and get the same thing. Wow...a great value, that would make me want to eat at your establishment more.

Case Study #1: Wendy's (the creator of the value menu) : Aga and I go to Wendy's after a Christmas party last week. We are starving and need to eat ASAP and don't feel like spending a fortune. So we head to Wendy's to get a few items off the value menu to satisfy the hunger...on a budget. Ummm, not so much apparently. I order a Bacon Jr. Cheesburger, value fries, and a value soda. Issue 1 - the 16oz value soda is no longer 16oz, but 12oz ...interesting. The value fries are now no longer a small, they are 4 french fries in a paper sack, and the cheesburger is no longer a burger, but a slider. Very intersting. So, for my $4.00 I received half of the food I ordered. What a Value Aye! Note: Had I ordered the BJC meal, for $5.89 (yikes) I would have received a 20oz soda, Medium fries and regular size burger. Now...I am not saying that I should eat all that oversized food (thats another post for another time) but if you are going to call those piddly little servings a value..then they need to be closer to 50 cents a piece people. Now that would be a value.

Case Study 2: Curious about the recent events at Wendy's I go through the drive through at McDonalds and order a Value Fries. The "dollar menu" now reads " McValue Fries $1.50. Interesting. I guess it is still considered a dollar items as long as it stays under $1.99

Case Study 3: Even more curious, I drive down the street and go to Burger King. I order a Small Soda (otherwise know as the value soft drink as the sign reads). When the price comes on the screen I notice it says $1.89. So I inquire..."the menue says a $1.00 for the small?" She replies.." oh we switched that, the value drink is now the happy meal size"

Are you Kidding me!

I think they should change all of the signes from Value menu to read...

"Cheap marketing ploy that is really just a rip off and we want to see how many people will still buy this stuff and not even notice that we are giving them table scraps instead of actual food portions."

It has a nice ring to it dontcha think!

The Catch 22

So, the good thing is, I cleaned my house from top to bottom so that I could decorate for Christmas.

When I say cleaned, I really mean.....I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed my house until it was squeaky. Since I had been so busy in the last few weeks, I will admit that my cleaning skills and my current status as a neat freak were definitely in question. Even though I had said every weekend for the last three weeks that I was determined to clean, it had yet to happen. So this weekend...the perfect excuse came along to shackle me to the house and clean. I received a call on Friday that the new boiler was going to be delivered Monday morning, and there would need to be room for it in the garage. PERFECT. An excuse to finally clean the garage! Trust me...it needed it. My plan was then to tackle the inside of the house on Saturday evening and then use Sunday to put up the decorations! Sooo..

My dad and I spent most of the day on Saturday lifting, throwing, chopping, carrying, moving, and dismantling most of the garage. The end result was that it was so clean I may even be able to fit a car inside! One job down...two more to go. On to the inside. This was going to be a challenge. Needless to say I started at 3:30 in the afternoon and by 2 in the morning I had beautified the entire downstairs and all but my bedroom upstairs. Don't be fooled here people....I have decided that my house only LOOKS small. Geez Louise!

Anywho, I was going to save the bedroom for tomorrow since that was a feat in and of itself. Yous see, I have a small issue with actually hanging up my clothes after I wear them...with two cats.. Not such a good idea....this small issue usually results in about 12 loads of laundry. OK, moving on.. As you can imagine, just the cleaning alone was enough to render me almost immobile. Ahhh the pain of manual labor. Then there came the tree and all the decorations. I managed to get this done without any major mishaps (not counting the faulty tree stand incident of course). So the house was clean, it was Sunday night, and I could finally relax and enjoy my nice clean house. YAY.

Jammies on...socks at the ready...I am going to relax in bed....let me just put this one last think in my purse.................

Note to self, hard wood floors and stairs have a tendency to by slippery after cleaning. Yup, you guessed it....down I went. Head bobbing on each stair I as flew down them. Thinking...please don't let me die here and have my cats eat me.....(okay, this was a little morbid) anywhooooo, I sheepishly went to bed that night only to wake up this morning covered in bruises, head to toe. Guess I am not wearing strapless to the Christmas party this year :(

As I mentioned, the good news is, I cleaned my house...the bad news is.....I cleaned by house. Apparently, messy floors make for good traction.

It's not me people

I have several posts just eeking to come out...but I am hold up on some photos here! Can I get some assistence from the camera owner please??????