Im surprised the Twins have never kicked the tires on Aaron Harang. He seems like a Twins type inning eater no frills pitching style veteran pitcher.
I'm a bit relieved Terry Ryan hasn't signed his Ortiz/Ponson/Livan/Correia/Diamond/Pelfrey clone yet this year. They should be letting the young arms get those fifth starter innings.
Ortiz/Ponson/Livan/Correia/Diamond/Pelfrey clone
At least one of these was (relatively) home-grown.
Our trees seem to do pretty well, which I think is a direct result of cutting them ourselves. The city has early and late days for tree collection, and (for a variety of reasons) we always put ours out for the late collection. Even as late as mid-January they haven't lost too many needles or gotten to dry.
As long as you have a fresh cut when you plop it into water and keep the water level above the cut, you'll do well for quite a while. Trick is to not let the cut get dry and let the tree seal it off.
Yep. We have a deep, bucket-style stand that I'm pretty diligent about keeping full. I heard enough heart-wrenching stories about Christmas tree fires from Pops after he became a firefighter. I won't leave the lights on the tree plugged in while we're gone.
That is less of a problem these days thanks to people not using heaters that coincidentally give off light on the trees. I don't know if people compensate with six times more lights though.
True that. I've got a couple of strings of the old glass, C9 size incandescent bulbs. I absolutely love them, but there's no way I'll ever put them on our tree. We started transitioning to LED lights for most of our rooms, though we still use the incandescents in a few. (I unplug the incandescents - which give off a ton of heat - but leave the LEDs plugged in.) I wonder how long I'll still be able to get bulbs for them.
I almost thought I was being overly worried by unplugging the tree lights when we left for a few days this past week.
Lost the serpentine belt on the Suzuki on the way to work this morning. So I've got that going for me. Hopefully I didn't do any other serious damage.
I lost a timing belt on the Accord several years back, and thankfully that was the only damage. My fingers are crossed for you.
My nephew has influenza as does my sister-in-law. My son has something that we're taking him to urgent care for. We've already cancelled family plans once and Christmas get togethers may be permanently cancelled now because of illness. I just learned I got turned down for a promotion.
At least I'm good at musical chairs.
Miss SBG figured out that Santa wasn't real. On Christmas morning, she informed us that the whole thing was fake and so was the Easter bunny. There were a few tears shed, mainly because she was so angry that we lied to her. But, she got past all that. I was pretty proud of how she put everything together. Let's just say that she totally outsmarted her mother.
Nothing that a wink and a finger over the mouth can't potentially fix.
mainly because she was so angry that we lied to her
This is why I hate that I have to go along with the santa thing for my kids. Its a battle I tried to fight but lost.
I never felt that way as a kid. I, mean yeah, I felt duped. But I didn't blame my parents. I just knew it was a societal thing that was perpetuated for entertainment. I don't think they lied about anything really important.
That said, I'm ambivalent on the Santa thing. If he wants to believe in Santa, I'll go with it I guess.
Well, my wife is actively pushing the santa thing and also using it as a "go to bed or santa won't come" sort of device, which I feel incredibly guilty about.
I remember thinking that if my parents ever found out we knew, that would be the end of Santa presents. There were probably a few years where both sides were just playing along. It didn't help that we all saw Santa getting into a rusty Chevette after he delivered presents one Christmas eve. Thinking back, there were a few other holes in the story.
This is our rule, as it was mine (and it sounds like EAR's [back when she was EAP]): If you don't believe in Santa, he doesn't bring you gifts.
In our house (but not my childhood or EAR's), each kid gets 3 gifts from us.
Cutting out Santa means cutting out stockings and one extra present.
I don't know when I figured things out, but I never officially stopped "believing", but stockings were filled even in absentia until we had kids of our own.
I sure as heck don't push the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy (and I've failed as a Fairy too many times).
I could probably pass them off as trickster foxes or raccoons if I could come up with a motivation.
At least one, and perhaps both of my girls pretend to believe and I think it's a presents thing. Sour Cream's belief seems somewhat real, but she went through at least a three-month period last year when she said "Santa isn't real" in a depressed voice to family who asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her.
Skim definitely knows, but plays along. I think it's partially for presents but also for her younger sister.
My parents never really pushed it. I don't recall ever being bummed out by that.
I'm not going to push it, but I'm pretty sure that Linds will.
kids today are so entitled
oh youre upset we lied to you about you getting presents
wake up youre lied to all the time
when we say its all gonna be alright we are lying too
Let me hope that she found out because of some B.S. shelved elf.
No punctuation or capitalization means facetiousness from AMR. But I will say that I have means to provide that my parents never did. I'm not sure that giving her more than I had is such a good thing. She does act more entitled than I ever did.
I am glad the Santa Claus thing is over.
Not exactly facetiousness, just... writing in a different voice, often without concerns of being stupid about some point.
But, like Spooky below, I don't understand the being upset about being lied to. Unless "complete honesty" is an elevated family value, but I can't fathom how that could work. We tell kids tons of lies all the time, so what's some magic-and-mystery-and-gifts lies for fun and games on top of it?
Dido. Kids deservento have a little magic and wonder in their lives for as long as possible (*conveniently sidesteps religion*).
My daughter had a lengthy correspondence with the Tooth Fairy when she was young. She eventually figured it out, but we had fun with it while it lasted.
I don't know that I can explain my reaction; I wouldn't claim at age 7 I was at all rational or logical about anything. Perhaps it felt to me like a different type of lie than others adults tell. And it was something I'd believed so fervently and then in a moment, it was gone. (I found a bag of gifts from "Santa" in a corner of the dining room on Christmas Eve.)
In any case, I certainly don't object to other parents handling Santa differently. As far as I'm concerned, with or without Santa, there's plenty of room for magic and delight at Christmas and at any time of year. I can tell you the jalapeno was certainly PLENTY excited about things this year.
Have you heard the NPR (TAL?) story on the family with the elaborate Santa experiences? One of the kids, mid-30s, remains bitter and distrustful. Of course, he was still was on the hook until age 12 or 13....
I was extremely upset when I figured out the whole Santa thing--also at age 7, I believe. I could not believe the entire adult world lied to children about this. I eventually got over my anger, but I still remember that feeling and it informed my decision to not do the Santa thing at our house. The jalapeño and I have had a number of conversations about it, especially now that he's 4, and we've talked about the fact that other friends of his believe Santa is real, and it's okay that they do.
These negative reactions are really interesting to me, not so much because I was the opposite, but because I literally can't even remember the moment I figured it out (or was told). The only thing I remember is thinking that it didn't change anything.
As a jewish household, we had to grapple early with the Santa thing (and Easter Bunny thing) and how to respectful of others' beliefs. I think that made other things easier for us.
We open presents on Christmas Eve and then "Santa" fills the stockings for Christmas morning. It's usually a few cheap toys for the kids and some candy. We did the same at my house when I was a kid. I don't remember the moment when I stopped believing. In fact, I don't remember believing at all. My parents never told me whether Santa was real or not. It was just a tradition we had and something to look forward to on Christmas morning. One year, I got up and there was nothing in the stockings. I had to remind my parents to put stuff in them. I went into another room for a while until they were filled.
In my house, it was much more plausible to believe that Santa Claus had brought the Christmas gifts than to believe that my dad would actually have spent money on them. I loved Dad and still do, but he's never exactly been a big spender, especially on frivolous things like toys and stuff.
Starting a separate thread, but wanted to mention something in the vein of the Tooth Fairy. Our six year old just lost her first tooth. So that night, after everyone was in bed (including my wife), I snuck downstairs and got some paper to write a little note from the Tooth Fairy. I sat at the top of the steps to write the note, when my eleven-year old came out and busted me! He said, "Whatcha doin?!" I kept telling him to go to bed. He persisted, but eventually I got him to go.
the next morning I went to work before anyone else got up. I called home later in the day, my son answered and said, "I now know what you were doing at the top of the stairs." Busted. It gets better
Then I talked to my wife. Apparently, she didn't know that I had done the Tooth Fairy's work the night before, so she went to put a dollar under the pillow after she had woken up and went into the bathroom. Well, my six year old came out of the bathroom and totally caught my wife putting a dollar under her pillow.
She ended up getting two dollars (instead of the customary one, which irked my 9-year-old who has lobbied for higher tooth wages) and gained a big clue about the Tooth Fairy's true existence. Oh well, at least if they don't believe, they don't get any more dollars 🙂 *Maniacal Laugh*
I already loved the story, and then you ended it with a *maniacal laugh*? Gold.
I know women's basketball isn't that big a deal around here or for that matter pretty much anywhere outside of Connecticut (and perhaps Tennessee) but I think it's worth mentioning that Minnesota knocked off No. 12 Nebraska while the Gophers were playing without their best player, who is done for the year.
That was a pretty epic comeback by the Gophers. It probably helped that Nebraska only dressed 7 players because of the flu and one fouled out. But a win is a win.
The top ten free agents still available.
Im surprised the Twins have never kicked the tires on Aaron Harang. He seems like a Twins type inning eater no frills pitching style veteran pitcher.
I'm a bit relieved Terry Ryan hasn't signed his Ortiz/Ponson/Livan/Correia/Diamond/Pelfrey clone yet this year. They should be letting the young arms get those fifth starter innings.
Ortiz/Ponson/Livan/Correia/Diamond/Pelfrey clone
At least one of these was (relatively) home-grown.
Our trees seem to do pretty well, which I think is a direct result of cutting them ourselves. The city has early and late days for tree collection, and (for a variety of reasons) we always put ours out for the late collection. Even as late as mid-January they haven't lost too many needles or gotten to dry.
As long as you have a fresh cut when you plop it into water and keep the water level above the cut, you'll do well for quite a while. Trick is to not let the cut get dry and let the tree seal it off.
Yep. We have a deep, bucket-style stand that I'm pretty diligent about keeping full. I heard enough heart-wrenching stories about Christmas tree fires from Pops after he became a firefighter. I won't leave the lights on the tree plugged in while we're gone.
That is less of a problem these days thanks to people not using heaters that coincidentally give off light on the trees. I don't know if people compensate with six times more lights though.
True that. I've got a couple of strings of the old glass, C9 size incandescent bulbs. I absolutely love them, but there's no way I'll ever put them on our tree. We started transitioning to LED lights for most of our rooms, though we still use the incandescents in a few. (I unplug the incandescents - which give off a ton of heat - but leave the LEDs plugged in.) I wonder how long I'll still be able to get bulbs for them.
I almost thought I was being overly worried by unplugging the tree lights when we left for a few days this past week.
Lost the serpentine belt on the Suzuki on the way to work this morning. So I've got that going for me. Hopefully I didn't do any other serious damage.
I lost a timing belt on the Accord several years back, and thankfully that was the only damage. My fingers are crossed for you.
Another reason to like winter: it might be keeping you thin(ner).
Late Festivus Celebration.
My nephew has influenza as does my sister-in-law. My son has something that we're taking him to urgent care for. We've already cancelled family plans once and Christmas get togethers may be permanently cancelled now because of illness. I just learned I got turned down for a promotion.
At least I'm good at musical chairs.
Miss SBG figured out that Santa wasn't real. On Christmas morning, she informed us that the whole thing was fake and so was the Easter bunny. There were a few tears shed, mainly because she was so angry that we lied to her. But, she got past all that. I was pretty proud of how she put everything together. Let's just say that she totally outsmarted her mother.
Nothing that a wink and a finger over the mouth can't potentially fix.
mainly because she was so angry that we lied to her
This is why I hate that I have to go along with the santa thing for my kids. Its a battle I tried to fight but lost.
I never felt that way as a kid. I, mean yeah, I felt duped. But I didn't blame my parents. I just knew it was a societal thing that was perpetuated for entertainment. I don't think they lied about anything really important.
That said, I'm ambivalent on the Santa thing. If he wants to believe in Santa, I'll go with it I guess.
Well, my wife is actively pushing the santa thing and also using it as a "go to bed or santa won't come" sort of device, which I feel incredibly guilty about.
I remember thinking that if my parents ever found out we knew, that would be the end of Santa presents. There were probably a few years where both sides were just playing along. It didn't help that we all saw Santa getting into a rusty Chevette after he delivered presents one Christmas eve. Thinking back, there were a few other holes in the story.
This is our rule, as it was mine (and it sounds like EAR's [back when she was EAP]): If you don't believe in Santa, he doesn't bring you gifts.
In our house (but not my childhood or EAR's), each kid gets 3 gifts from us.
Cutting out Santa means cutting out stockings and one extra present.
I don't know when I figured things out, but I never officially stopped "believing", but stockings were filled even in absentia until we had kids of our own.
I sure as heck don't push the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy (and I've failed as a Fairy too many times).
I could probably pass them off as trickster foxes or raccoons if I could come up with a motivation.
At least one, and perhaps both of my girls pretend to believe and I think it's a presents thing. Sour Cream's belief seems somewhat real, but she went through at least a three-month period last year when she said "Santa isn't real" in a depressed voice to family who asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her.
Skim definitely knows, but plays along. I think it's partially for presents but also for her younger sister.
My parents never really pushed it. I don't recall ever being bummed out by that.
I'm not going to push it, but I'm pretty sure that Linds will.
kids today are so entitled
oh youre upset we lied to you about you getting presents
wake up youre lied to all the time
when we say its all gonna be alright we are lying too
Let me hope that she found out because of some B.S. shelved elf.
No punctuation or capitalization means facetiousness from AMR. But I will say that I have means to provide that my parents never did. I'm not sure that giving her more than I had is such a good thing. She does act more entitled than I ever did.
I am glad the Santa Claus thing is over.
Not exactly facetiousness, just... writing in a different voice, often without concerns of being stupid about some point.
But, like Spooky below, I don't understand the being upset about being lied to. Unless "complete honesty" is an elevated family value, but I can't fathom how that could work. We tell kids tons of lies all the time, so what's some magic-and-mystery-and-gifts lies for fun and games on top of it?
Dido. Kids deservento have a little magic and wonder in their lives for as long as possible (*conveniently sidesteps religion*).
My daughter had a lengthy correspondence with the Tooth Fairy when she was young. She eventually figured it out, but we had fun with it while it lasted.
I don't know that I can explain my reaction; I wouldn't claim at age 7 I was at all rational or logical about anything. Perhaps it felt to me like a different type of lie than others adults tell. And it was something I'd believed so fervently and then in a moment, it was gone. (I found a bag of gifts from "Santa" in a corner of the dining room on Christmas Eve.)
In any case, I certainly don't object to other parents handling Santa differently. As far as I'm concerned, with or without Santa, there's plenty of room for magic and delight at Christmas and at any time of year. I can tell you the jalapeno was certainly PLENTY excited about things this year.
Have you heard the NPR (TAL?) story on the family with the elaborate Santa experiences? One of the kids, mid-30s, remains bitter and distrustful. Of course, he was still was on the hook until age 12 or 13....
I was extremely upset when I figured out the whole Santa thing--also at age 7, I believe. I could not believe the entire adult world lied to children about this. I eventually got over my anger, but I still remember that feeling and it informed my decision to not do the Santa thing at our house. The jalapeño and I have had a number of conversations about it, especially now that he's 4, and we've talked about the fact that other friends of his believe Santa is real, and it's okay that they do.
These negative reactions are really interesting to me, not so much because I was the opposite, but because I literally can't even remember the moment I figured it out (or was told). The only thing I remember is thinking that it didn't change anything.
As a jewish household, we had to grapple early with the Santa thing (and Easter Bunny thing) and how to respectful of others' beliefs. I think that made other things easier for us.
We open presents on Christmas Eve and then "Santa" fills the stockings for Christmas morning. It's usually a few cheap toys for the kids and some candy. We did the same at my house when I was a kid. I don't remember the moment when I stopped believing. In fact, I don't remember believing at all. My parents never told me whether Santa was real or not. It was just a tradition we had and something to look forward to on Christmas morning. One year, I got up and there was nothing in the stockings. I had to remind my parents to put stuff in them. I went into another room for a while until they were filled.
In my house, it was much more plausible to believe that Santa Claus had brought the Christmas gifts than to believe that my dad would actually have spent money on them. I loved Dad and still do, but he's never exactly been a big spender, especially on frivolous things like toys and stuff.
Starting a separate thread, but wanted to mention something in the vein of the Tooth Fairy. Our six year old just lost her first tooth. So that night, after everyone was in bed (including my wife), I snuck downstairs and got some paper to write a little note from the Tooth Fairy. I sat at the top of the steps to write the note, when my eleven-year old came out and busted me! He said, "Whatcha doin?!" I kept telling him to go to bed. He persisted, but eventually I got him to go.
the next morning I went to work before anyone else got up. I called home later in the day, my son answered and said, "I now know what you were doing at the top of the stairs." Busted. It gets better
Then I talked to my wife. Apparently, she didn't know that I had done the Tooth Fairy's work the night before, so she went to put a dollar under the pillow after she had woken up and went into the bathroom. Well, my six year old came out of the bathroom and totally caught my wife putting a dollar under her pillow.
She ended up getting two dollars (instead of the customary one, which irked my 9-year-old who has lobbied for higher tooth wages) and gained a big clue about the Tooth Fairy's true existence. Oh well, at least if they don't believe, they don't get any more dollars 🙂 *Maniacal Laugh*
I already loved the story, and then you ended it with a *maniacal laugh*? Gold.
Chris Parmelee officially declined his assignment to AAA and his officially a free agent.
not a surprise. good luck to him.
Ditto. I still think he can help a team.
I bet Oakland takes a hard look at him.
I know women's basketball isn't that big a deal around here or for that matter pretty much anywhere outside of Connecticut (and perhaps Tennessee) but I think it's worth mentioning that Minnesota knocked off No. 12 Nebraska while the Gophers were playing without their best player, who is done for the year.
That was a pretty epic comeback by the Gophers. It probably helped that Nebraska only dressed 7 players because of the flu and one fouled out. But a win is a win.
This. Is. Awesome.
Of course Rudolph is a Scrufi SS. Of course.