Twas a Blog Before Christmas

I've already finished my Christmas shopping, I've sent out my cards, I've watched some holiday movies, and I've even opened up some presents.

We celebrated Christmas with my siblings last weekend, because on real Christmas they will be celebrating with their in-laws. Only my sister and I will be home for the holidays.

Normally on Christmas Eve we go to church, have our meal, open up our new pajamas, play some games, watch a movie or two, then read "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

When Christmas morning arrives (no earlier than 6am...that's a rule in our house) we get up and see what Santa left us under our tree. Even at the age of 23 Santa still gives me a gift or two ;)

A couple hours later my parents wake up and we open up our gifts from each other. The rest of the day is spent much like the night before - playing games (Scrabble is our favorite), watching old holiday tv episodes, movies, and snacking on leftovers.

And because I've had this week off from work (yes, I'm very lucky) I've been waiting patiently for Christmas Day to arrive. When I was little I wished for it to come as fast as it could, but now that I'm older I wish for it to last a little longer. For it is the waiting that really makes Christmas special to me.

Merry Christmas to all my blog followers. I hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday and a wonderful new year!!!

Old News: Black Friday is the Blackest of Fridays...Especially at Walmart

Walmart people are the worst. That was my Facebook status on the day after Thanksgiving at about 2 o'clock in the AM!! And ya know what! They truly are the WORST! Let me start from the beginning.

Wednesday while I was visiting my bestie Andrea, she asked me to go Black Friday shopping with her. Aaaand since I had a few too many drinks I said yes! Later, I tried to get out of it, but I think I'm kind of a people pleaser so I just agreed (again) to shop with her on the darkest day of the year.

Thursday came with a wallop of turkey, potatoes, stuffing (YUM), and other good food. My siblings and I searched through the flyers of "must have deals and doorbusters" when my sister, Tyne, said, "Let's get dad a TV." Target had an awesome deal, and I agreed that I would stand in line with her. So I promised Andrea that I would shop with her and then my sister too. Knowing that Andrea would understand, I was able to work out my shopping plans so that I could do Target with Tyne and then meet up with Andrea for the rest of the morning.

As I searched the flyers for the umpteenth time, I figured that I could run to Walmart and grab a few DVDs too. Might as well, right? Wrong.

Friday morning came faster than ever. I dropped Tyne off at Target so she could stand in line. The time was 1:00 AM. I dashed off to Walmart to get those cheap DVDs. Well, all the ones I wanted/needed were gone except for one. So I grabbed it, dialed Tyne's cell to tell her that I would probably be awhile since the lines are disgustingly long at Walmart, and then got in line. Thinking I was at the end of the line I shut my cell phone. The lady in front of me turned around with a nasty wicked witch of the west look and said, "Ya' know...it's not nice to cut!"

I apologized immediately and said that I didn't even realize I cut. She didn't care. She just turned around to her heaping cart full of Walmartness, and I politely moved to find a new line. I felt bad, yes, but I didn't know I was cutting. I swear! I never even cut in the lunch line when it was tater-tot hotdish day!!

After I found a new line, I stood there with my DVD for 20 minutes. The line didn't budge once!! So I left the DVD in the greeting card aisle and went back to my sister empty-handed.

Yes, Walmart people are the worst. The store was a mess on Black Friday. The lines were atrocious. There was no order or method to the check-out lanes and they didn't even have all of the lanes open. Plus, that lady was mean to me, and she made me feel bad.

After Target opened at 4:00 AM, I got the TV, grabbed a couple of DVDs and other things and was checked out in about 15 minutes. Target was well prepared with everything. Therefore, Target people are the best.

The rest of the morning went well when I met up with Andrea. All the other stores did a good job with all the madness of shopping too. Props to Sam's Club, Younkers, Menards, and Target.

But Walmart, shame on you!

**Honestly, I have nothing against Walmart on the other days of the year. In fact, I shop there a lot. But I will never Black Friday shop there again**

Halloween is mine. Oh yes, it will be mine

And it was!!! Halloween was a ton of fun. As you know, I was Wayne Campbell and Andrea was Garth Algar from Wayne's World. Here are some pictures from the night. By the way, I had to put on extra make-up, because I looked too much like a boy. Good thing I have boobs, haha.

Kinsey's World!

WAYNE'S WORLD!!! Party time!! Excellent!

Anyone else really excited about Halloween? I mean, every single year I look forward to this magical holiday night. It's my second favorite holiday. Christmas is first...presents, duh...and Jesus.

So my bff (Andrea), her hubby (Jeremy), and I are dressing up as Wayne-me, Garth-Andrea, and Jeremy will be Terry the cameraman.

NO WAY!!!
WAY!!

Yes, this will be an excellent night. Let the countdown begin...

But first, let me show you a picture of Andrea, Jeremy, and me. Picture us in Wayne's World gear. Use your imagination people.

Okay, really use your imagination because blogger won't let me upload a picture at this time.

All I have to say about that is "asphinctersayswhat."

Exactly.

Why did Casey Schuler have to Die???

All hands on deck! Let's kill that little monkey from Outbreak. His virus just killed Kevin Spacey's character.

Bummer...too late, if only I posted this sooner.

Anywho, if I'm not a slacker in the blogging world than my name is Fraulein Sausage Fingers.

I almost hate myself for not posting all week, then I think, "Hey, I've been enjoying the sunshine and the pool, and this is summer and I don't really like sitting in the cold basement anyway (since we don't have wireless, I have to plug my computer in downstairs)."

So let me do a quick review with you all:

I almost died three times this week. Yup...three.

First almost deadly occurrence: 4th of July - A rocket firework that is supposed to shoot thirty feet in the air didn't. The stick that was holding it upright burned off, my dad tried to stomp it out, but he couldn't, so he ran, my brother ran, my nephew almost ran, and we all watched as it shot off at us. Okay, so it wasn't as "deadly" as I thought, and if I was outside and really close to it I might have burned myself. This one was a stretch. What can I say...I'm an exaggerater.

Second occurrence: Yesterday - in the parking lot of WalMart. Let me paint the picture for you. My mom drove around the parking lot with my older sister, Kyrstin, in the front seat. I sat in the back behind my mom. "There's a spot!" someone shouted. Yay, we all thought to ourselves, nice and close. So my mom drove down the lane, but had to back up. She put the car in PARK. Then my sister says, "That car is backing up, it's going to hit us!" I look to my left and a jeep/suv/bigger than our vehicle is backing up towards us as my mom is trying to figure out why our car isn't backing up. Kyrstin starts banging on her window with her fist (thinking the idiot who is backing up will hear her), my mom doesn't realize the car is still in PARK, so she is wondering what the heck is wrong with the car, I'm just staring as the back of the green vehicle approaches us (I don't know why I didn't go into panic mode), all the while Kyrstin is still SCREAMING and still BANGING on the window!!!! Finally my mom lays on the horn. The green vehicle stops, we finally pull forward as my mom shifts into DRIVE, and then we all laughed for about five minutes straight.

Third and final occurrence: Aldi - it's the first time I've ever been in that store, and I come home and I get sick. I now have a stuffy nose and an off and on sore throat. I should've never went to the bathroom there...they had no soap. Ick. I will never set foot in that store again (at least not the Eau Claire one).

Alright, fine, so I never really ever came close to dying in those stories...but I could have. I now know what Kevin Spacey's character went through - poor guy.

Lamb Cake for Everyone

What??? You've never made a Lamb Cake before? You've never even heard of a Lamb Cake? You're only familiar with Lamb Chops the show with Shari Lewis?? This is different, sorry to disappoint you. Well, here's a lesson in Lamb Cakes. Try to hold in the excitement.

Every Easter at my Grandma's the girls gather around the kitchen table and frost Lamb Cakes. They are made from molds and they hold a typical (I think) cake batter recipe. We each get a pastry bag with a star/flower like tip at the end. *I'm not a baking type gal, so I don't know all the terms for stuff, hence the word "stuff."*

I came into the kitchen late, and apparently my older sister Kyrstin (See What We Did Today) decided to make it a competition. See who frosts their lamb the fastest! GO!!! Well, she was a good four rows ahead of me...and my mom (Look at it as an Adventure) and sister-in-law (she doesn't have a blog) had smaller tips than us. No competition with them.

Me and Kyrstin

I finished second after a few bouts of hand cramps and elbowing my sister. She elbowed me too. All is fair in lamb and war. Too bad I don't have a picture of the finished product, but we used jellybeans for the eyes and nose. Then we sacrificed Kyrstin's Lamb Cake for our Easter meal, and it was delicious.

That takes skill right there.

Easter was a success!!


Sorry I've been MIA since Friday, but I literally woke up and drove from Winona to Elk Mound to get home. Then hopped in the car to Menomonie to see How to Train Your Dragon with my mom, sister, nephew, and niece. A kid next to us spilled his entire bag of Skittles...it was funny!! The movie was pretty good too.

Then it was off to my grandma's for Easter weekend. I got a cold overnight and now I have a ridiculously stuffy nose. Luckily, I took some medicine before my Pilates class. I was afraid that snot would slide out of nose during the "shell position."

It didn't.

Saturday I sort of helped my dad, brother, and nephew in the field. They were pitch forking hay, or grass, or something yellow, into a manure spreader machine. *I'm not familiar with farm lingo either* Then my dad and nephew drove the tractor and spread around the hay. My brother and I walked down to the river and we spotted a Bald Eagle! It was a perfect day to be outside.

I had a wonderful weekend and I hope the temperatures stay nice. Oh, and I won a giveaway on Sam's blog "Thoughts, writings, coffee..." I'm so excited to receive the prizes!!!

Dedicated to the Easter Bunny

So here's a little blurp from one of my short stories called "Believe." The story is about a son asking his mom about Santa Claus. The story within the story is filled with flashbacks relating to Santa from the mother's childhood. One of her flashbacks include the Easter Bunny. Enjoy!


-The Death of the Easter Bunny-

Unlike Christmas, the other holidays fell short. The closest holiday to it was Easter and the Easter Bunny. The believability of one tiny bunny hopping to every house on Easter morning and hiding eggs and Easter baskets wore thin over the years. Sure, I believed in the Easter Bunny, but not as long as I believed in Santa.

We were on our way back from Easter Services at our church. There we sat in the backseat - me in my pink and yellow Easter dress, Tonya, buckled next to me, with her white tights and white shoes, and my brother, on the other side of me, with his neatly combed hair.

My mom hummed “He Lives!” as my dad tried to find a good radio station.

“Greg, watch out!” my mom yelled.

My dad swerved and that’s when I saw it. A tiny white bunny in the middle of the road. It was like it all happened in slow motion. That poor little creature didn’t stand a chance against our baby blue four-door Pontiac Bonneville.

THUMP!

“You killed the Easter bunny!” I screamed.

My dad kept driving.

Everyone grew quiet as I continued to scream.

“Honey,” my mom turned around, “that wasn’t the Easter bunny. It was a different bunny.”

“No, it wasn’t! It was the Easter bunny. Daddy killed the Easter bunny!” I cried.

My brother chuckled next to me, “Way to go dad. You killed the Easter bunny, and you crushed Christina’s heart. Two-fer! High five!” My brother’s hand hung in the air without a slap to conclude the act of success.

My mom pushed his hand down. “That’s enough!” She looked at me, “Don’t worry, you’ll see that the Easter bunny already visited our house and hid your baskets.” She looked at my dad, “Right, Greg?”

“Ahhh, shit,” my dad grumbled. That’s the only memory I have of my dad swearing in front of me. When we got home, my mom told us that we had to run around the house three times before we could go inside.

Tonya wasn’t happy about that, “But why? My feet hurt.”

“Because,” my mom said as she shoved my dad into the house, “you need to burn off all that energy before you search for your baskets that the Easter bunny hid inside the house.” She closed the door behind my dad. That year was the fastest I ever found my Easter basket. Easter was never the same after that year. My dad, my own dad, ran over the Easter Bunny.

I Survived Last Night

Blech, I feel horrible today. Too many green drinks = a very tired Kinsey.

I felt like my Nutrition class went on and on and on and on and on. Plus, we discussed Vitamins and we all know how exciting those can be... I could barely keep my eyes open. Those B12 and B6's aren't as fun as they sound.

Sorry about saying that I would put up pictures from last night and then not following through. I didn't bring my camera out, so I have to get the pics from my roommate - so hopefully soon I will get those up.

Last night was fun!!! They had really cool Bud Lite bottles that we shoved in my purse to take home...because they were that cool! I fit 5 in my purse. I have a big purse. We didn't steal them, because we paid for them and drank them, but we needed mementos.

Oh, and I met someone who is a "fan" of my blog. My roommate, Codi, knows her and showed her my blog and she read all my posts! How cool is that??? She said she was going to friend me on Facebook, but I don't think she has yet. So if you (I can't remember your name, because of all the green drinks I had) are reading this, yeah, you said you were going to friend me. Maybe you don't remember - you probably drank a lot too!

Alright, I need a nap before I go to work tonight, otherwise I'm going to be one crabby waitress.

I'm Seeing a lot of Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! I was watching The Office last week and Michael said, "It is St. Patrick's Day. And here in Scranton, that is a huge deal. It is the closest that the Irish will ever get to Christmas." Hahahahaha, I love that show.

I'm a little bit Irish, and a little bit Rock n Roll. Shout out to Donny and Marie! My mom loves you guys.

So on Monday night my friends and I tie dyed green shirts, last night we made green and orange jello shots, and tonight we're celebrating!! Safely, of course. Don't worry mom and dad...I'll be safe.

And the best part about St. Patrick's Day: GREEN BEER!

Bad part: GREEN TONGUE!

I'll take lots of pictures and share some of them tomorrow - not of my green tongue, but of the group in our awesome greeeeeeeen shirts!

Before I end the post, Syfy has a Leprechaun marathon on right now - creepy.

If you have the time, here's my mom's blog: Look at it as an Adventure I know she would be happy to have some more followers. She just started and today's blog is pretty funny!

Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day

I love 30 Rock, so for those of you who don't understand what my title means, let me explain. Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, is tired of Valentine's Day so instead of living through another painful Valentine's Day with no one, she decides to get a root canal. Anyway, she names the day Anna Howard Shaw Day after a suffragette who was born on February 14th. She explains this to one of her co-worker's daughters when asked to buy cookies for Valentine's Day. Lemon says she is buying them for Anna Howard Shaw Day instead. Obviously, Lemon has had some bad Valentine's Day experiences. There you have it my friends, Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day!

That doesn't mean I've had bad Valentine's Day experiences, because I haven't. For the last four years I've gone to a movie with my friend Jenny...unless we have dates ourselves (which we haven't had). This year we're going to go see Valentine's Day, which is appropriate, right? Titles these days...

Except, we aren't seeing the movie tonight on account of Jenny being in Texas. We're seeing it later this week.

So how will I be spending Anna Howard Shaw Day? First things first, I'll shower. It's 2:30pm and I'm still hanging out in my bed watching Bewitched on TBS. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed awake until 4:30am watching Inglourious Basterds...thanks Todd and Joe. Then I'll get some homework done and relax.

Sounds pretty productive to me.

Here's to everyone having a Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day!