It Started with Some Mistletoe...

This is really an installment of Memories from Mondays Gone by...on a Wednesday.

About a decade ago...when I was still in Washington State, my youngest brother and I were the only ones still living at home. (Actually, I was living at home AGAIN. You know, they talk about the boomerang generation...adult kids that move back in with mom and dad...I'm more of a yo-yo.)  Anyway.  We had not had  a decorated Christmas in a couple of years and for some reason, Tim and I decided that we would be funny and hang a single sprig of mistletoe in the living room. 

So, we dig out the Christmas decorations and a step-ladder and attach the mistletoe to the light fixture in our living room.  Then we step back to admire our handiwork.  That's when our attention focussed on the step-ladder.  Evidently, we both had the same silly idea at the same time because we just smiled at each other and proceeded to decorate our metal "Christmas tree."

When Mom and Dad got home, they were greeted by a gleaming silver "tree" complete with garland and bows.

And I don't think they ever noticed the mistletoe.

It's a Hagedorn thing...

Hagedorn is my mother's maiden name.  They have this thing... they will...shall we say...veer...from the truth for the sake of a good story. 

So, the other day my mother says, "I told Danielle that you decided that Halle would have an easier time pronouncing 'Papa' and 'DeeDee' instead of 'Grandpa' and Grandma.'"

To which I responded, "Wait a minute. You're the one that said that you didn't want to be called 'Grandma'...I just said that Dad should pick something informal to match...like 'Papa' or something."

Her response?

"I know what the truth is...I'm just telling you what I told her."

Um...ok.

Overheard Bits & Pieces

Overheard in my math class today as the wind beat against the building...

R7: "Wow. Sounds like the Abdominal Slowman is out there...I mean Snowman...wait...what?"

Holiday Memories...

If I had had my computer I would have shared this memory closer to Thanksgiving.  Not because it is a Thanksgiving memory (because it is not...it is not even a holiday memory) but because I was reminded during Thanksgiving.

I spent Thanksgiving in Knoxville with my brother and his family. On the way there I saw a guy trying to get to Johnson City. I know all the warnings about picking up hitchhikers...but there I was, wondering if I could shift some of my stuff and make room for this guy.

See, my dad used to work in Portland, OR. And we lived in Twisp, WA (about 400 miles away) with my grandparents. And after work on Friday, he would hitchhike all night so that he could spend Saturday with us only to leave Sunday morning so he could be at work Monday morning. And I wonder how many people passed him by because they were afraid to pick up a crazy person... But to those of you who stopped to help him get home to his family...thank you.

Oh, and someone else stopped for Mr. Johnson City before I could and hopefully he was able to spend his Thanksgiving with his friends and family.

I Have Re-joined the 21st Century!

So...I have been without a computer for two weeks. This is my serious gaming computer that I splurged on. The silly thing was only a year old but the microphone and speakers didn't work, I couldn't disable the touchpad so everytime I typed the cursor would skip around, the SD card reader was useless and it would randomly toggle between battery mode and AC mode (letting me know this by rapidly flashing a message directly in the middle of my screen).  Seems to be working fine now though.  Yeah, warranties!

Here's the amusing part...when I went to check on the status, I told the geek that I hadn't heard anything from them and I just wanted to know what was happening with my machine... He looked at me with surprise and said, "You didn't get any of the emails?"  I guess I am one of the few people who still have dedicated technology...my camera is just a camera...my phone is only a phone...I have an ipod and a kindle...and they were working on my only computer...how was I supposed to know they were sending me emails??