Merry Christmas

On December 25, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Christmas1 Comment

Can you believe that it’s finally Christmas? Neither can I, I mean, it seems like it was just summer like a week ago, and now it’s Christmas, and it will be a whole new year in a week.

We didn’t go out of town like we usually do because Darrin thought he was going to work on Monday, and he didn’t want to drive for 6 hours just to have to drive back home tonight. So instead, we stayed home to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Presents… Darrin has the job, so he makes the money and buys everything. I can’t even afford to buy underwear, which by the way I asked for and got lol.

He really needed good cell phone service instead of his crappy Net10 service, so we went to Verizon and he bought himself an iPhone 4S. He wanted to buy the iPhone 4 because it was $99, and at first he did, but then they added $45 tax and sold him a package of accessories and it all came to $199. I told him to buy the 4S because I knew he would kick himself in the ass if he didn’t, but he didn’t think he could afford it. When he realized that the 4 didn’t do what the 4S did (Siri and voice recognition instead of typing), he changed his mind and switched a couple of days later. He had to pay the tax on the first one, plus the $35 restocking fee, but he’s really happy with it and that’s all that matters.

He asked me what I wanted, and he bought me the underwear that I mentioned before. 2 packages of boxer briefs which had 4 pairs per package for $32 each, but it was buy 1, get 1 half off, so it was $48 total before tax. See why I can’t afford to buy underwear? It’s expensive as hell lol.

We went to Kmart yesterday to buy presents for other people and he decided that he wanted to buy me something else, so he bought me a lava lamp. I’ve always wanted one, but could never afford one. It looks cool when it is working, but it’s mostly a blob on the bottom. I don’t know why it isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, but then again isn’t that just my luck? I finally get a lava lamp and it doesn’t go up and down. But I still love it and I’m sure it will eventually get the hang of it.

Chips high school girlfriend gave him a tetris game, no not the video game, this is a physical game with plastic pieces. It’s called Tetris Link. I think that I love it more than he does because I’m a gamer and he isn’t. He said he wanted to give it a try, but if he doesn’t like it then the only way I will be able to play it is if I can get people to play it with me via Google+ Hangouts.

I made some pumpkin pies yesterday and gave one of them with a container of Cool Whip to our tenant. I don’t know if they really wanted one or not, but I made it for them so I hope they like it. I love pumpkin pie, I don’t think you can have a Christmas without pumpkin pie, but that’s just me.

My final present will be the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. If we had gone to San Diego today, I would have missed it because I don’t have a DVR. I would have had to wait until it repeated, which I’m not sure when it will. So I’m very happy that we didn’t go for that reason.

We had lunch at China Town Buffet. We were going to go to either the Golden Corral or Hometown Buffet, but neither of them were open, so we ate Chinese food instead. It was good, I mostly ate all chicken, which is all I ever eat there, but it was very good and filling.

Well, I hope you all have a great Christmas and get lots of presents that you were hoping for. Happy Holidays.

Pictures – click to see it bigger.

Happy Holidays 2011

On December 23, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Christmas, HolidaysLeave a comment

I forgot to send out cards this year. Oopsie! So instead of sending our cards out late, this is what everyone is getting lol. If you are wondering why it’s not a photo of us, neither Darrin nor myself are photogenic (we hate our pictures being taken) so you get to see our tree instead. Hey, Darrin just got his new iPhone, I don’t want to be responsible for breaking the camera with my image LOL. No but seriously, I would like to get a picture of us together but I’d prefer in a more professional setting. Maybe in the year 2025…

Every year since the 90’s, I have spent Christmas with either my family, or with Chips. This year we are going to stay home instead of traveling. It is fun to drive south for the holidays, but Darrin just can’t get the time off. I actually don’t mind staying home because I’ll be able to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special. I would hate to have to wait for the next series to come on when it finally repeats. That has happened every year too so I’m looking forward to finally watching it the day it actually airs.

Santa has already visited us, so we really don’t have much to celebrate anymore. Darrin bought himself, or should I say Santa bought Darrin a new iPhone 4S with a 2 year contract with Verizon. And I got some new underwear. Yes, I asked for underwear lol. That was actually what I really wanted so I’m happy. I was down to 3 holey pair, so I was long overdue. I would have asked for an iPod Touch 4th gen 16GB, but Santa has already spent too much money on one apple product, so I can wait to see if I get any money from book sales for that, or an iPad2 lol.

Speaking of my book, I had hoped I would have been finished with it by the day after Christmas but I am still in editing. I finished my final edit, but then I went back to the beginning and have found more issues. I am working on my final final edit so hopefully it will be finished by January 1st 2012. I can’t promise anything because when I finish with my final final edit, I will of course have to read the whole book again to make absolutely sure it’s perfect before I publish it. I don’t want even one word out of place or misspelled lol.

In case you are wondering, yes I have been working on this book for the last 6 months. I actually started in 1989… started over in 1997… started over summer 2010 and only wrote 3 or 4 chapters. Started over again in May or June 2011 where I rewrote the chapters that I wrote in 2010 and wrote the rest of the book. It only took 2 months to write it, but it has taken me 4 months to edit it. Writing is hard ya’ll!

Anyway, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all.

Who Said People Can’t Celebrate Christmas?

On December 12, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn ChristmasLeave a comment

http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:403958

I have been hearing a lot of talk lately about how people aren’t allowing anyone to celebrate Christmas. The thing is, I’m only hearing about it from the Christians. I’m not hearing anyone saying they are offended by Christianity or Christmas itself. I’m very confused here. I mean seriously help me out, who is saying it is offensive?

I feel like if people don’t want to celebrate Christmas, then don’t celebrate it. If you want to call it something else, then call it something else but Christmas is a Christian holiday so just deal with it.

If you are Jewish, you have Hanukkah. If you are Atheists then you probably celebrate it for the tree, presents, Santa and a reason to get together with your family. I should know because I am atheist, I don’t knock the holiday because I know it is a Christian holiday. I celebrate it because I have always celebrated it since I was a kid and I don’t see why there is any reason to stop.

I just don’t understand why people are making such a huge deal about people being offended when I haven’t actually seen or heard anyone being offended over the words “Merry Christmas.” I mean really people, quit bitching about everything and celebrate your holiday the way you want to celebrate it and get over it.

How My Gay Pride Jello Did

On December 9, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn gay prideLeave a comment

Last night was the Christmas Potluck dinner with PFLAG of Bakersfield. I was so excited to bring in my Gay Pride Jello mold and nervous at the same time because I have never made one before. I took it out of the mold at the house for this picture but then put it back in to go to the church. We got there and flipped it out onto the plate and all was good until people started cutting into it. The layers didn’t stick so they started coming apart. Oh the humiliation!

Apparently nobody really gave two shits about the fact that they didn’t stick because there wasn’t that much left on the plate when we left.

We have never been to a pot luck together that didn’t involve his family reunions so Darrin was pretty bored. I figured he would have gotten up and started mingling with people, I mean, he does that all the time so I was shocked when he picked this venue to become shy. I on the other hand am always overly shy and never even look at anyone much less get up and walk around. I do when I know people but I barely knew any of them. The only way to do that is to continue to join in these events so I can get to know them better.

I did meet a few people who ended up becoming friends on Facebook with me. One of them just so happens to share the same name with my first boyfriend, although I’m pretty sure it’s not him because my first boyfriend was deaf and this guy isn’t. Unless there was a cure I didn’t hear about.

During one of the PFLAG announcements, the guy who had the Mic, named Ike who commented at our table how our names are Mike and Ike… you know, like the candy?, anyway he was naming names and telling people who they were yadda yadda yadda and he came to me and I was like whoa dude, I’m nobody yet lol. But he mentioned me because we were new there and I made a comment to him at our table about how I never even knew Bakersfield had such a huge gay population.

Anyway, I had fun and I hope to be invited to more events. Whether I will be able to go is another matter.

Zombie Pumpkins

On October 26, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Halloween1 Comment

People are always talking about my pumpkins as if they are these great works of art. I mean, they really aren’t but I’m not complaining because I love the attention. Ok so they aren’t always talking about them but you know what I mean. They talk about them occasionally, happy now?

I used to buy the pattern books at the drug stores like Walgreen’s and Rite Aid but then I discovered that you could get them for free online so I started downloading patterns. I even bought a pumpkin carving CD which allows you to custom make your own design.

I have also found sites such as Zombie Pumpkins where you can buy patterns which you will never see in the pumpkin masters books. They are constantly updating them to add new patterns so every year you will have fresh new designs.

I haven’t made a new pumpkin since 2007, although I did buy an Edward Cullen pattern from Zombie Pumpkins last year to make for a friend of ours. I was rushed to finish it so I didn’t even have time to get a picture.

This year I have been asked to carve a pumpkin for one of the ladies at the doctor’s office so I am going to search through the Zombie Pumpkins catalog and find 2 new patterns and this time I will get a picture.

I’m having trouble deciding which one I should make though. She told me to choose so it doesn’t really matter to her which one I pick, just as long as it is fabulous.

I’m thinking that I want to do a semi traditional pumpkin face but I hate tradition so I want to go with a pattern. I’m thinking of the Bicycle Girl Zombie from AMC’s The Walking Dead or this cool unique creation called Root of All Evil.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with tradition so if I do a face I was thinking either Hammy or Horton. I really want to do Happy Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas so maybe I might do that one.

UGH I’m so indecisive. I have until Thursday to make a decision because on Thursday afternoon we will be taking the pumpkin to the doctor’s office to give to her.

I’m thinking that since I am going to be buying 2 patterns for $2 I will just go ahead and buy 2 pumpkins. This way she will have 2 awesome pumpkins to display on her porch for Halloween.

There are a lot of cool patterns on that website. I just wish I could make all of them. If I could, I would have some pretty cramped up hands.

I will try to decide before tomorrow night so that I can have the patterns bought and printed before I carve them Thursday morning. I want them to be as fresh as they can be since they will be sitting out for the weekend.

As soon as I finish carving them I will post the pictures. Well you didn’t think I would keep them to myself did you?

Gmail Video Chat with CR-48

On March 4, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn CR-48Leave a comment

I got my CR-48 in December the first week they were shipping them and I didn’t really mess with the video chat until Christmas day when a friend of mine got a webcam for Christmas. We tried it but my mic didn’t work so she couldn’t hear me. When we came home from San Diego after Christmas we tried it again but my mic still didn’t work.

I’ve been so frustrated that the mic didn’t work and that I had no volume control but realizing I wasn’t testing the laptop but the operating system I started to come to the realization that it might never work.

Whenever Google would do an update on the Chrome OS I would check the mic settings and it never worked, that is until yesterday when they did their update. I immediately checked the mic settings and not only did the mic work but so does my volume control. Finally!

I emailed that same friend about trying again and she finally got on Gmail today so I sent her an IM directly from the Gmail site using Gmail chat. I started the video chat but her video didn’t work at all. I thought, well let’s go to Facebook using the Social Plus extension. That didn’t work either so we went back to Gmail but I waited for her to engage me this time. I don’t know what she did but it worked and we talked for about 45 minutes I would say.

It was a success! It was as good if not better than using Skype. Since I’m on a cloud based computer I can’t install Skype so Gmail chat is the next best thing.

The only strange thing about it was that when she held something up to her webcam it looked like a mirrored image to her but it looked normal to me. I held up a package of something and it was a mirrored image to me but she saw it normal. It was a little strange but if you think about it, we’re sort of like looking in a mirror, she can see me as if I were on the other side of the glass and vice versa. A bit weird but that’s fine, I’ll take what I can get.

I’m just really excited that I can video chat lol.

Sonic Scrubber

On February 21, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

I am fascinated by all of the “As Seen on TV” products because they all look like they are good products that will help people, especially people who have arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome which I have.

I’ve wanted to buy this for such a long time because I hate to scrub grout and having to scrub with a regular bristle brush hurts my wrists, pinches my palms and hurts my shoulder as well. I’ve been afraid to buy it because I’ve bought a few as seen on tv things and not all of them work out with the exception of the one touch can opener which is really good for my condition.

I saw this Sonic Scrubber at Christmas time at the Walgreens but didn’t get it because I didn’t have the money. Well, I decided today that I would go see if they still had it because I really need to clean the grout in the shower because we have guests coming next month and I don’t want to have to scrub. So I bought it and it really works.

I opened the glass shower door and with the Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Power Sprayer I sprayed the tiles where you step into the shower, it was really bad. I gave the scrubbing bubbles some time to work and then I came back in and started scrubbing and within seconds the dirt started coming out of the grout. That would’ve taken me forever with the regular scrub brush which is why it has gotten as bad as it is, it is too painful for me to clean so I can’t clean it and now I can.

I bought the Sonic Scrubber as well as the attachments because I figured I might as well get them while they had them. The one I bought isn’t yellow and black like the image above, it is orange and blue, attachments are the same color combo so it all matches lol. Also when I went to look at their website it shows me that it’s now owned by Scrubbing Bubbles – SC Johnson & Son. This must be from when they first came out because the packaging has no mention of Scrubbing Bubbles or SC Johnson and the date on it is 2007.

This product is great and I highly recommend it if you have bad hands and can’t clean with as much elbow grease as you used to when you were younger.

Crocheted Kitchen Towel Topper

On February 10, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn crafts4 Comments

Remember going to Grammas house and seeing these on the oven or fridge door? Ever wondered how they make those?

I always have a towel on the fridge door because… well, that’s what you do, right? When I’m done with the dishes I dry my hands on that hand towel. Well I was thinking, I wonder if I could find a pattern for making the towel topper so when I dry my hands it doesn’t come off all the way.

Well I found one and you are welcome.

My search brought me to YouTube which has a full 22 minute video of how to make it from sewing the chain into the towel with the yarn, crocheting all of the rows, making the button and the button hole and then finishing it off. It’s really not that difficult and it looks so good.

The video on YouTube also has a link for the full instructions which is over on the Art of Crochet by Teresa blog on Blogger. The video is over on YouTube via the Art of Crochet channel.

My problem is that I have carpel tunnel syndrome which means my hands get numb very quickly and I feel a very painful pinch in my palms so I shouldn’t really work on this. The problem is that I love to crochet so that’s a huge bummer for me. I mean, I can see the endless possibilities with this, I can make a topper for a towel for every holiday and for every season. Like in the summer I can have the sunflower or watermelon towel, Christmas can be the Christmas towels, Halloween, Easter… If there is a towel for everything then you bet that I would want to make a towel topper for that time of the year.

I found like 4 Christmas hand towels in a drawer too that would look so awesome with the vintage Christmas yarn that I have that has the mixed red, white and green colors in it.

Maybe some day I might be able to do this but for now I can’t but that doesn’t mean I can’t share the pattern and video with all of you crafty people so besides the link above which you can view to rate, comment and subscribe to, here is that video.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdePxyZ6Kog

Why I Stopped Writing My Book

On January 15, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I stopped writing my book for several reasons and here they are.

I started writing and I think I got 3 chapters written and edited and typed storylines for 3 or 4 other chapters then I quit. I stopped writing because I had to start working on finishing the Christmas stockings but I didn’t work on those all day long, only a few hours so really that is no excuse for why I stopped.

One other reason I stopped writing my book is because I started hearing these horror stories of other people’s childhoods (that’s what my book is based on) and I started thinking that my childhood was mild compared to these people. So I started to think that people may read my book and think that I had it good. Even though I had a rough childhood, other people had worse than I did so my story pales in comparison and it just made me feel really tiny in the scheme of things.

I saw the movie “Riding In Cars With Boys” with Drew Barrymore and she wrote a book about her life and she had to have her ex-husband sign a paper so she could publish the book. Well, there is no way I’m gonna get any of the people I am writing about to sign their name on a piece of paper agreeing to let me publish them because I say some horrible things about almost every family member who did something rotten to me. I just know that they would ask me what I wrote before signing and I know they would never give me permission when they hear what I wrote. Plus I don’t speak to my stepdad or sister anymore and I know those greedy bastards would do what Drews ex-husbands wife would do, they would make me give them money first.

So before I continue writing I’m thinking of changing it from an autobiography to fiction and just change a few things. Obviously I’m gonna have to change names, that way I won’t get sued and I’m probably going to have to change the way things happened so it doesn’t seem too familiar to people.

I am not a writer and I only have 5 years experience as a reader (of fiction) to sit down and start writing a book so that’s why I stopped. I think that I need to keep reading other books to give me more of an understanding about how books work before I start writing again. And who knows, maybe I might take an online course in writing to help.

We will see how it goes. I’m not giving up on it, just putting it on the back burner for now.

More Christmas Pics

On January 7, 2011 By Michel McDonaldIn Holidays, PicturesLeave a comment

You know I totally forgot about the pictures on the cell phone. After we left Chips brothers house in San Diego we went to the beach so the dog could walk on the sand. It’s not too often when she gets to see the beach. Here are some of the pictures.