DecBloAdMo

Cheryl reminded me of something I had vaguely remembered this morning, but couldn't quite put my finger on.

DecBloAdMo.

December Blogging Advent Month.

So the idea, to remind you, is to blog each day of Advent on the run up to Christmas.


So for today, we'll start with the beginning of my Advent Activity calendar.

Last night, a friend excitedly commented that the next day was December and thus the day to open her Advent calendar.

I had completely forgotten about Advent Calendars.

Well, not completely. The chocolate ones (Peppa Pig, Hello Kitty for the kids, Disney Princesses and Thomas the Tank Engine for me and Scott) had been bought, and the felt ones made by Scott's Auntie Debbie had been filled with chocolate. But the important one, the Activity Calendar, hadn't been sorted yet. So late last night, I worked out 24 activities to get us ready for Christmas, printed them, cut them out, and stuffed them into their calendar.

It was so well worth the effort; this morning, Fifi and Lolly came bounding in, exclaiming that Santa had been and had filled their calendar with letters. (I tried to explain it was actually the 'elves' because Santa is too busy with other commitments, but Fifi insisted she had heard the sleigh bells last night and had seen Santa out the window, and besides, how would the elves fly without Santa? So who was I to argue?)

Today's activity will be to make paper chains to help count down to Christmas.

It's actually one of the least fun activities from my perspective, because they get bored halfway through, and heaven forbid the kit I bought will be the lick-n-stick sort rather than the self-adhesive. But it's sort of a ritual-turning-into-tradition, so I will just get on with it.

Below I've listed the activities for the month that we are doing in case anyone wants some ideas for your own family. Obviously some of them pertain only to our family, but it might give you some ideas for yourself.

And please, if you decide to blog about it, leave a comment and your blog address, so I can link to you!

Happy Advent Blogging!

1. Make paper chains and use them to count down Christmas!
2. Go to see ‘Goody Two Shoes’ Panto with Daddy and Granny!
3. Write and post our letters to Santa.
4. Check email for message from Santa.
5. Make paper lanterns to decorate for Christmas.
6. Cut colourful snowflakes and hang them in the window.
7. Make a family video e-card and send to family and friends.
8. Make gingerbread men for the Christmas tree and deliver some to neighbours.
9. Paint Christmas tree ornaments.
10. Have a Christmas picnic in our pajamas on the floor.
11. Go to Lolly’s birthday party!
12. Eat dinner by candlelight only with the fancy dishes.
13. Read a story about Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus.
14. Wrap up presents to take to America.
15. Make reindeer food and put in little bags for your friends.
16. Pack bags for a sleepover at Auntie Lorna’s!
17. Visit Santa at Daddy’s work.
18. Go to Christmas party at church.
19. Drink hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie.
20. Look through old photo albums and talk about the pictures.
21. Fly to America for Christmas!
22. Have a Christmas dinner with Mamaw’s family.
23. Build a fire with Musha.
24. Put out a carrot for Rudolph and milk and cookies for Santa.
25. Eat chocolate gravy for breakfast and open presents!!



(Want to read about last year? Day 1, 2010)

0-5

How exactly did this happen? And when?

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I Am (Not) A Superhero*

Trying to be perfect and trying to appear perfect are serious struggles for me. I don't like many of the things I do, so I brush them under a carpet and pretend they aren't there. I worry what people will think of me if they know about my shortfalls. I know I am not alone in this, but I still hate to admit flaws in my nature. Usually admittance of a flaw is followed by an explanation, or let's face it, an excuse or justification. If I'm wrong as a one-off, I find it easier to admit and deal with than if I am facing an ongoing struggle.

I kind of feel this desire right now to admit a few things about me that I'm not proud of. I know that my issues aren't 'The Biggies' (I'm not addicted to heroin or a cheating wife), but they are things that make me feel less good about myself. They are things that I try over and over again to correct but still end up doing or being. All right, here are some examples, with no excuses attached...

*I gossip about people a lot. Sometimes quite maliciously.
*I sometimes spank my children.
*I shout at my children far, far too often.
*I sometimes get pleasure in seeing other people fail.
*I am conceited and judgmental.
*I enjoy getting drunk now and again.
*I don't always believe in God.
*I don't clean my toilet every day.

Okay, I had to throw that last one in because I was starting to feel a bit too vulnerable there! Although frankly, I am embarrassed to admit I don't clean my toilet every day, because I really should.

But there, now that I've admitted a few things about myself, I can now stand in front of you and say, 'I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. I would like to be perfect one day but must just hope that the Bible is true, and I will one day be made perfect like Christ, because I can never be perfect here on earth.'

But I will keep trying. And my hope is that by admitting a few things, I might be taking another step in the right direction.


*Title stolen from my friend Corinne's amazing book Ralph Is (Not) A Superhero. Go buy it now!

Oh Christmas Tree! - Part 1

This post has been split into 2 parts. For ease of reading, I've put Part 1 second so that it will be read first. Something to do with Matthew 20.16 or something maybe.

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Time for that once-a-month post!

(And that's really stretching it, because I hardly post once a month.)

But let's talk Christmas. I usually talk Christmas at least once a year here at the dying-a-slow-and-painful-death "Scott and Lori" blog.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and usually I wait until after Thanksgiving to get all Christmasy. But this year, I'm going to America for Christmas (yay!), and so I feel like I'll be missing some exclusive Christmas time in the house because of it. Therefore, I want to put up my tree NOW.

But Scott says no. *Pouty face.

That hasn't stopped me from watching only Christmas DVDs and listening to Christmas music. The current rotation in the DVD player has been Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Nativity!, A Christmas Story, and Garfield's Holiday Collection. Still to come out are A Nativity Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and Charlie Brown's Christmas. Not to mention Dora's Christmas and Peppa Pig's Christmas. In the CD player, I've been enjoying the Nativity! soundtrack and Glee's Christmas soundtrack. Gotta get out my Absolute Christmas compilation, and I must Must MUST find my all-time favourite - PlaySkool's Christmas Lullabies! Have the case, but the CD's not in it!

Scott says I can put up the tree next week. I'm very excited. We will then get to enjoy it for four weeks before hopping a plane and flying home for the first Christmas in 8 years. Eight Christmases ago (not counting this one to come), I was living in an apartment with Ingrid and Amanda, eagerly awaiting the arrival of my boyfriend Scott from Scotland who was coming the day after Christmas to see me. He arrived, and a week later told me he wanted to marry me. That year, I spent Christmas with my mom and dad and brothers and their girlfriends.

Oh Christmas Tree! - Part 2

My, how different this Christmas will be.

This year I'll be spending part of Christmas with my mom and new step-dad and step-brother and step-sister, and the other part of Christmas with my dad and new step-mom (but not my three step-sisters and one step-brother). I will also be spending it with one brother and his wife, but not the other brother. I will hopefully be going to visit my brother-and-sister-in-law and two nieces as well. What a change it will be.

I have never met my step-mom and have only ever met my step-dad in a context outside step-family. I have never seen my mom or dad with different people. In fact, I've never seen them apart. Both have come to visit separately since their divorce, but I've never been in my childhood home without both parents there. I've never had to do the divorced thing, time with one parent equals time with the other. I hope both parents recognise that upon visiting their homes that very first time, and meeting their new spouses that first time, they are going to need to let me retreat quietly to another room for a moment to shed some serious tears. What a weird, surreal experience this all will be.

I am looking forward to my trip, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, and seeing my house, and having Christmas with my actual, biological family. But I'm not sure how I'm going to cope with so much change at once. I can't wait to meet my brother's new baby, and I look forward to seeing my Texan nieces and family, and there's even a tiny chance I might get to meet my new Georgian step-siblings. And I'm looking forward to meeting my new step-mom and step-dad and all those step-siblings and step-nieces and nephews that are attached to them. But I'm just not looking forward to seeing my little family all broken up and patched up so differently from how I've always known it and how I always believed it would be.

So much innocence gets lost when you grow up.

Growing up really, truly sucks. Having your foundation cracked and crumbled right from underneath you really sucks.

But I suppose that's when all these wise people say you really become stronger. I don't know anything about construction, but I suppose having to rebuild your foundation and building it according to your own specifications and needs probably indeed gives you something firmer to stand on for the future.


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Ha. Tricked you with that happy and joyful Christmas music crap didn't I! I kinda tricked myself too... I didn't sit down to write anything sad and depressing, I genuinely started out just wanting to beg Scott to let me put up the tree now! So that's why I've split this post into two parts. Enjoy one, and then don't enjoy the other very much.

NaBloPoMo

November is only a month away - who thinks I can succeed?!

Only got five minutes to post, but I suppose a 5 minuter is better than a nothinger.

So - quick update on what I'm up to:

*Childminding
*Teaching TinyTalk
*Rehearsing for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (I'm a florist villager and an enchanted fork!)
*Rehearsing for the Christmas pantomime 'Goody Two Shoes' (I'm Simon, the Principal Boy)
*Taking Gaelic night classes
*Going to BodyPump (weight training)
*Going to Aqua-Zumba (well, I'm starting this week, we'll see how I like it)

Is that all? I think that's all. I also have a bunny rabbit now. His name is Chewbacca.

And that's my 5 minutes up. More eventually.

Lori's Pet Hates of Social Media Usage - The What-Not-To-Do's

I appreciate social media as much as the next girl. I appreciate wanting perfect strangers to know intimate details of your life. I have a blog, I have a Facebook account, I have an unused Twitter account. I get it. I'm down with it. But what I'm not down with is the way some people use the internet to, well, do the following.

These are a few pet hates (pet peeves if you are in America) of mine regarding social media. They are the things I wish to goodness people wouldn't do, because they are annoying. And ignorant. And down-right inappropriate. So here I go. I may come across a bit self-important here, but that is the sole reason social media exists. And you'll find that narcissism isn't one of my pet hates.

#1: Spelling and/or txt spkFirst let's just start with the basics. Spelling. Grammar. This is not because I am a linguaphile. Or maybe it is, but not entirely. It's just that text speak is of the devil. And okay, just because u r on fb on ur fone doesnt mean u shuld stop spking englsih. ffs pls rite properly bc u make smart ppl want 2 kill u, omg. do u think ur teacher in skool wuld except this on ur homewrok? o u say u arent n skool so wtf? omg u r rite wat was i thinking lol.Yeah, um, did you start to feel your head spin, your heart rate increase, your blood pressure rise, the sweat form on your brow when reading that? No? Then you are a perpetrator and you must be stopped.

#2: Vague Calls to SympathyOne of the most annoying things people can do is leave a message on Facebook like, 'Some people. Do they even care who they hurt?' Or 'That's it, I'm done. Who needs friends like her anyway?' And then almost equally annoying is the numerous comments saying, 'Oh hunny, u ok? [[[[Hugs]]]]]' or 'fone me if u need to talk'. GAH. WHY do people do this? If you are that hungry for love and attention, get a dog. But please, do NOT do this next thing.

#3: Hang Out Your Dirty LaundryCan we say embarrassing? Not to mention inappropriate? Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than someone sharing with the world (and thus me) the not so pleasant dirty dealings of their personal lives. It reminds me of this really bad first date I went on once where half an hour into it, the guy tells me he has a serious problem with pornography. There are some things we don't need to know. If you have been to work five weeks in a row with a hangover, you aren't doing yourself many favours by broadcasting it. If you hooked up with a rando while drunk and on the prowl last weekend and you are soooo embarrassed, we don't actually want to know (or care). If your husband blows up at you and insults you during in couple's argument, please don't share it with the internet. In fact, that should be an item number all to itself. Don't talk crap about your husband or wife or boyfriend or girlfriend online. Because, in case you don't understand how the human mind works, people who don't personally know your spouse/partner will then think he or she is a jackass, and that you are a sad, pitiful, victimized weakling for staying with them. Not to mention, it is utterly disrespectful.

#4: Documenting Your Every Move(ment)Some people clearly have nothing better to do than blog or tweet or status update every mundane detail of their incredibly mundane lives. 'Just ate a sandwich. Now I need a drink.' Or 'Spent the last ten minutes in a daze while driving to work.' Or my personal favourite: 'At work and bored.' As a 'friend', I will block you from my feeds for this. As an employer, I would block you from your internet connection. Please, if you don't have something of interest to say, don't say anything at all.

And finally...

#5: Leaving Your Account Vulnerable to 'Frape'The misogynistic undertones devaluing rape thanks to this word aside, do people not protect their phones? Who still does not have some sort of code/number/word/pattern for securing their phones? And why do people leave their phones lying around when they get up to go to the toilet or the bar? Or is it that (and this I assume is more likely) people actually enjoy getting 'fraped', so they just intentionally leave their phones lying around unsecured for their friends to write stupid and usually obscene Facebook updates with? I think I have only ever twice laughed over a 'frape'; once was when someone allegedly announced her pregnancy and then was greeted with numerous mistaken congratulations, and then once when someone went into the profile page of a friend and changed the birthday so that the person was inundated with erroneous birthday greetings. Those were actually kinda funny. So I guess actually what I should say is this: If you are not funny enough to come up with a good prank, don't bother. Because no one actually thinks Mark suddenly loves the man parts and has decided to announce his new homosexual lifestyle this way via Facebook. And I am willing to bet his Facebook-using grandmother doesn't think it's very funny either.

Rant over. lol.

Glam Girls

Scott took the girls for a walk today to get them out of my hair while I tackled the disaster that was our bedroom. He took them to the Pound Shop and let them pick a toy each. Lolly chose one of those rubbery-bouncy light up toys that are totally gross, and Fifi picked a make-up kit. Scott thought it was plastic until they got home, and Fifi opened it to find 'real make-up!' So of course, we had to do make-overs.




Then of course Fifi wanted to give me a make-over too. No way was I going to allow that disgusting gellified gunk on my face, so I took out my stage make-up and let her go to town on me.



Afterwards, she asked me, 'Mum, tomorrow can I sit in our close with a jar and when the neighbours want their make-up done, I will do their make-up and they can pay me?'

Post 1,200!

There is a bit of pressure with this post as (as you can see) it is Post No. 1,200! And I haven't posted anything since... April?

Shameful.

In my lame defense... I've been busy?

But no really, I have!

And I thought (back in... April?) that if I refreshed the blog's look that I would get back into blogging but it's pretty obvious that, no.

Anyway, I'm sitting here on a Friday night in a cleanish living room with hair dye in my hair and thought, 'Oh to heck with it, I'll just write that 1,200th post.'

So here's what's on my mind:
The hubby said to me tonight, 'There are some good jobs I'd be qualified for in Bentonville' or something to that effect. And then the wheels in my head started turning, how I could move back to Fayetteville, be only hours away from my family, go back to work in my old place. My stomach started to get all butterflyish, though that could've just been the pizza I had for dinner, and I can't help but daydream about moving back home.

But then I really love it here. I love Scotland.

Oh, by the way, Arkansans, don't get your hopes up! I'm only daydreaming here!

So yeah, I mean, I have a good life here. I have amazing friends, two good self-run businesses, a nice flat, a fulfilling hobby in amateur dramatics, wonderful parents-in-law and sister/brother-in-law and nephew, and really great winter clothes. Could I really leave all that?

But if I went back to Fayetteville, I'd have old friends I would hopefully reunite with, JR's and the real proper indie music scene, a better choice of churches, my family only hours away, some of my best friends only hours away, and could start a nice collection of really great summer clothes.

But here in Scotland, Fifi goes to a good school where she is learning to speak Gaelic in a class of only 10, and we have the NHS, and we don't have Republicans or Democrats.

But in Arkansas, they don't have Labour or drug addicts using your tax money to get wasted and then pee on your walls while stabbing you with a broken Buckfast bottle.

But in Scotland, we don't have Republicans or Democrats. Or American Christians. Or patriotic Americans. Or Americans who think Scotland is part of England.

(Sorry, I'm perhaps a bit too British now in my opinion of Americans.)

Hmm...

So that's what's been on my mind tonight. And by now, my hair dye is ready to wash out.

So, that's that. Number 1,200. Maybe I'll reach 1,210 by December!

to Uncle Matt and Auntie Charity from Fifi