7 days until Christmas!
Good grades. School may be killing my Christmas Spirit at the moment. I can't wait for it to make a comeback after I treat myself to some Christmas parade after my late final tomorrow (which, because of its lateness, I got out of work for.. whoo!). So, hopefully, I will have many pictures and something really terribly inspirational to say after the parade. Heres to hoping!
OH! and in case you didn't think about it...
A MERE 20 days until Christmas!
My car smells intoxicating-ly like a Christmas tree. Horrifyingly like a Christmas tree. But I'm not taking that thing down. That's over 6 dollars worth of smell, friends. Let me explain.
On Saturday, I went out with my two best friends in the world for an exciting trip to Cracker Barrel. I think Cracker Barrel is where I would have Christmas dinner if I couldn't have it at home. It's just a magical, southern feel good destination. However, there were so many things that should have indicated to me this would be a trip like no other. For one, a grumpy old man yelled at us from across the restaurant to be quiet. His words were something like, "Shut the hell up! You scared the hell out of that guy behind you! We're trying to eat!!!!" This was all due to my friend laughing. I hope he doesn't get to see Christmas this year. What's that Santa/Jesus? You heard that? I'm sorry. I didn't really mean it. unless you agree...
So, we got to the counter where you pay. And I saw these beauties up in the left corner. What beautiful air fresheners! And Yankee Candle? They're sure to smell great! The price was unmarked, so I almost asked how much they were. But then I thought, my zeal for Christmas knows no price. They couldn't be more than 4 or 5 dollars. My bill was 11 dollars before I added them. As the woman scanned my friends, made small talk about their good scent, and bagged them... I looked up. 18 dollars. Are you kidding me? I could have had another serving of chicken and rice...
So friends, take a ride in my car. Know what it's like to BREATHE, I mean really BREATHE Christmas.
Today I went shopping with two of my very best friends. Casually, we went into a Barnes and Noble bookstore to get some coffee from Starbucks and browse books we probably would not purchase. After being shocked by the political illustrated books we found geared towards pushing the agendas of the democratic and republican parties (each candidate had a delightful book describing their life story, oh dear), imagine my happiness when I came across the book to your left (or your right, if you're looking it this while suspending yourself from the ceiling).It's the best thing I've found this Christmas season and my heart fills with regret for having not purchased it. Thankfully, for myself and the world, it is available on Barnes and Noble Online. If you will check out the "search inside this book" option you will see the beauty it brings. For instance, while it may not be offered here, there is a delightful page that says "What greater joy is there than finding the perfect present for a person?" and the picture is of a cute little hedgehog and a tiny cactus. What a perfect pair. Spiky and precious in a non-harmful way.
So, rush my friends and purchase this book! Use your life savings if you have to. It is the only thing that can press the agenda of the Christmas philosophy better than myself and Santa Claus.
Oh, and in case you didn't check the count..
67 days until Christmas!(we're practically in the home stretch)
What are your goals this Christmas season? If you haven't started already, you are at least thinking about what you are going to buy for people. But Christmas is about more than presents. It is about experiences. Today, I strongly suggest using the power of Internet and planning out your Christmas excursions. Whether it's a Winterfest, Christmas parade, or some delightful holiday-themed craft show I believe it is your duty to work it into your busy schedules.
Memories are forever!
And remember, a mere...
74 days until Christmas!
Christmas is thoroughly on at Big Lots here in Knoxville. Imagine my surprise when I was going to get discount cereal and I found this! Friends, I hope you're expecting one of these as an impersonal present this year. They are just TOO precious.
The one in the middle of this delightful 5 dollar bunch has an attachment of a cottage shaped tea infuser. And of course, to match, it actually is a sack full of gingerbread flavored tea. The right one is a peppermint cocoa which comes with a tiny whisk for the purpose of whisking your cocoa toppings! And the cappuccino has a ... holiday cheese grater? I can't really explain that one.
76 days until Christmas!
We've begun setting up Christmas at the Walmart where I work. Tomorrow I will take pictures and post them!
Today, however, settle for me directing you to brush up on your holiday knowledge. http://www.triviapark.com/quizzes/xmasquiz.html
Enjoy!
80 days until Christmas!
Today, however, settle for me directing you to brush up on your holiday knowledge. http://www.triviapark.com/quizzes/xmasquiz.html
Enjoy!
80 days until Christmas!
If this blog has yet to light your Christmas fire surely this video will set it ablaze
81 days until Christmas!
We cannot always provide the same consistent way Santa does. Thus, I did not, yesterday. But here we are today. New chances. New ventures. In 2004, Pepsi made such a new venture into the Christmas world. While Coca-cola was only bringing the holiday through delightful Santa scenes and polar bears, Pepsi had stepped things up a notch.
In 2004 Pepsi injected untold amounts of Christmas cheer into our lives with the short lived Pepsi Holiday Spice. True to it's name Holiday spice was loaded with holiday spices and tasted more like Coca Cola than Pepsi, Pepsi made Coke truly a Christmas miracle. Sadly the drink's first Christmas would be it's last, the Scrooges rejected the jolly drink. The spirit of Holiday Spice lives on in Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, which combines a ordinary drink with a holiday fruit.What does Christmas taste like? I think it tastes something like cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie, pepsi holiday spice, reindeer blood, and Santa's cookies. I think somehow Pepsi Holiday Spice reached too much Holiday excellence. It assaulted the taste buds, making you believe you were Christmas. It was too much. I imagine they never gave it out at asylums for this very fact. Imagine all the crazies saying they were Santa?
Buy a can off ebay, and take a sip every day until Christmas! Make them short sips.. because...
82 days until Christmas!
My true love gave to me: Christmas carol midis! I'm going to help you get your jolly on today by giving you a premium website to download yourself some cheer. Remember, if your service permits, you can also set midis on your phone as your RINGTONE! Imagine the surprise when in class at 8am tomorrow your "Deck the halls!" midi plays full blast. Your professor will not be upset I'm sure, simply because I'm sure a well educated person would love and appreciate Christmas even in October(unless their religion does not allow for it; that's cool with me, of course.).The Woodshed: Christmas Midi Files
95+ million users agree: they come to this website. They download the midis. But the best part is it offers DEMOCRACY. Which is the part of the reason Santa loves the United States more than anything, aside from the UT VOLS (as proved earlier, I believe on the 26th?). You can vote for Santa's faves. Why do you get to pick his favorites? He's just that giving.
That's all for tonight. What a shorty! I'm sorry. I promise that tomorrow I'm bringing the heat.. or the chill... THE CHILL OF THE WINTER'S SNOW ... WARMING YOUR HEARTS! The hearts of millions everywhere. All for one. One for Santa.
84 days until Christmas, friends!get to downloading
Sometimes life, like Christmas, is never as it seems.
85 days until Christmas (with a thoughtful pause)
Sometimes. Even Santa. I hope you take the last fifteen minutes of today (if you're in the East coast, England + get on it, Central and on you've still got time) to remember what a hard job Santa has. He has to make all of those presents and tell all of the elves what to do. But they just resent him. Those elves, they don't understand his higher calling.Merry Christmas, friends. Merry Day. Merry life.
86 days until Christmas! ( hang in there, Santa )
Holy night. All was calm.... and then, this was facing you outside: a raccoon ... and he's got your cookies hostage. What do you do? Do you kill him? No. That would not be very Santa like. He's just enjoying in the cheer like you and me. The look on his face tells me he's singing "Deck the halls with bows of holly.... fa-la-la..." and we cannot kill him.
For he, indeed, is just a metaphor for what really lies before us as we enter into the holiday season. He rages inside our body looking for his cookies. This raccoon represents in the fur the anxiety attached to the Christmas season.
Sure, we love the things it brings like singing, ice-skating, arbor decoration, and, most importantly, the gift of love between all mankind. But there is one part of Christmas that we all secretly hate. That part is the shopping and the preparations for everything we later enjoy. Imagine! People start shopping for Christmas on Christmas half-off sales December 26th. What kind of madness would start this? Christmas madness. It is a disease diagnosable by a business demeanor when talking all things Christmas. It is accompanied by an all too detailed "person ---> budget I will spend because I love them this many dollars ---> gift" flow chart. But do not worry my friends. If you suffer from this, you probably have most of your list checked off by now. And I'm sure little Suzie won't know the difference between last year's Paris Hilton fragrance and this year's Just Me, and you did a great job covering up with black permanent marker the red stickers from Walmart that say 1.00. Really, calm down, that raccoon in your soul was having a feast on your stress cookies. Time to relax him with some eggnog of peace.
So, as the days count down, just breathe! You'll make it there and you'll make it through. Everyone will love everything you get them. And if they hate it they will return it without telling you. It'll be okay. Calm the raccoon.
87 days until Christmas!
A mere three days into my endeavors here in becoming the greatest Christmas blog on the blogosphere many of my friends and family have begun to question the sustainability of my project. In a month where it is still too early to already have your Halloween party planned out, how can I really make a Christmas blog last? Well, my friends, my readers, I promise to you with more fortitude than even a presidential candidate that this blog will be up to date until the very day which I write upon. That is, of course, Christmas day.What will keep this good ship The Jolly Ship afloat is the fact that I am not the only one enraged with the Christmas spirit. There are others that in February, April, and especially July (which any true elf will recall the 25th is famed as "Christmas in July") stop their daily activities and look up to the sky. In that brief moment they will remember the warmth and majesty that is the Christmas season. It will cover them, as it does me, with a peace that remains and a yearning that forces them to check online how long it is until Christmas .
And, of course, there are also those motivated by the business of Christmas. The jollibusiness (jol-li-busi-ness: noun. like agribusiness: if instead of cultivating crops and raising cattle you cultivated fiber optic angels and raised reindeer), if you will. For instance, QVC already has their Christmas shopping available online as well as running specials on the 25th this month as well. They too appreciated the 90 day mark as I did. I would like to highlight for you now the most spectacular of offerings they have already placed on the world wide web:
Our good friends Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto are all here. They are climbing all over each other for one common goal: the placing of the star on the tree. However, in a deeper sense they are also climbing up towards Santa - - to attain Santa-ness. If only they would be able to be ever-forgiving and giving the same way Santa would. Donald, I'm sure, would not mouth off nearly as often. So, my friends, pull out your credit cards or apply for a new one and get it before it's gone!
This concludes tonight's moment in Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to tomorrow as I continue to raise the bar in my coverage.
Happy Holidays, friends! Remember: a mere Halloween and Thanksgiving are keeping us from blissful joy!
88 days until Christmas!
This concludes tonight's moment in Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to tomorrow as I continue to raise the bar in my coverage.
Happy Holidays, friends! Remember: a mere Halloween and Thanksgiving are keeping us from blissful joy!
88 days until Christmas!
As you may or may not know, I am a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Due to my three years of giving my tuition money, this year UT decided to give back and help me with my dreams. As though sent from angels to accomplish my goals in this blog, I received in the mail an envelope containing samples of the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: Vol themed Christmas card. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but I feel like it is the universe working towards my ability to become the most well-respected Christmas blog on Internet. So, without further introduction, let me show you these beauties:
I really do not have too much to say about these. I think their beauty speaks more than my words can. Stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting installment!
Good old Rocky top, Rocky top Tennessee.
89 days until Christmas!
First up: Santa. The ways the power T was worked into this picture are so subtle and beautiful, making Santa and the Volunteers seem at utter peace with the world. Even the kittens and the puppies are happily napping next to eachother; the laws of nature should make them want to kill eachother! Imagine the kitten puppy bloodbath. Yet, Santa's presence, despite his sleeping, overrides their instincts. Maybe Santa was napping when he was supposed to bring our early Christmas gift in the form of victory against Florida last week.
Make no mistake about it: Santa here is saying that the Vols are more important than America. I think if you could add about 2 inches to the frame you would see the American flag burning keeping our Jolliness warm.
I'm not really sure what is going on here. Does someone live in this tree? Why does it need two mailboxes?
Here's Smokey. Larger than life. Scaring the hell out of the little children. He looks majestic like a mighty Sphinx. Hopefully, however, he is not frozen and will not remain here for years to come to be gawked at by tourists.
Nothing says Christmas like birds and holly. I feel like perhaps this was at one point a typical Christmas card. The last bird was holding up his own holly or perhaps a Christmas flag, but someone in the University art department thought, "You know what? This would be even more festive with a giant UT flag." And they were right.
If you could hear this beautiful scene, I feel that one of the birds would be whistling Rocky top and the other Jingle bells at the same time.
I really do not have too much to say about these. I think their beauty speaks more than my words can. Stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting installment!
Good old Rocky top, Rocky top Tennessee.
89 days until Christmas!
When I think of my childhood, I remember distinctly the first year we got Internet in my home. It was a tender time in the 1990s when Internet was simple. It was a safe time for children to use Internet unsupervised, and it was fairly easily navigable. Somehow, in my searching for fun on Internet I stumbled upon a website that changed my life, well, okay. It changed what I did when I got online: http://www.billybear4kids.com/
If you haven't been, go check it out. Granted it cannot run with the big boys as far as modern websites go, but when I found it I thought it was the most spectacular thing to hit Internet. Particularly though, I would like to highlight the activities as it pertains to my question here (which is: creating the best online countdown and guide to Christmas).
Billy-Bear's website offers all kinds of Christmas fun.
1. Fantastic Clipart - (ex. see fig 1., top left) While the art is something that could be, and probably was, created in MsPaint there is something said in the simplicity. Perhaps Christmas is not about fantasy artwork one might create in Photoshop. Perhaps it is about the simple craft of doodling a festive holiday walrus with nothing but your heart and your mouse. There is no shading, no idea of 3d or reality. Christmas is not reality either. It is a fantasy land better than the real world.
2. Games - There are plenty of holiday themed games to be had here as well! For instance, I have linked the most challenging game "Save Christmas from the Midnight Mouse." No backstory is given as to why he must be stopped and what his diabolical plans for Christmas are exactly, but as soon as you press the start button you are sent into an intense action experience. You must click the mouse to stop him... otherwise, he will burst through the presents! What, oh, what would you do if on Christmas morning all of your presents were already opened? The mayhem. The madness. The Midnight Mouse.
3. Adoption - One of the most selfless decisions a person can make in their life is to adopt a child and care for it in their home as their own. And then play with it less incase real conception happens, because everyone wants a real baby. This feeling is replicated here on Billy Bear in the form of ornament adoption. For just pennies a day, you can take an ornament into your website/blog/myspace. And it never asks anything of you. The only decision you have to make is where to put it, what color you want, and do you want it to be strung along with others? Perhaps your goodwill towards ornamanity can truly be showcased through the number of ornaments you take in. WOWJA, you might say. What ornament would Jesus Adopt? The answer is every.
4. Employment Options - Say you need some extra cash this Christmas season... well, I have the solution for you. You can help Santa respond to all of his millions and billions of Christmas letters he receives during the Christmas season. Now, I am not sure about the pay rate or how to obtain a w-2 for the next most magical season - tax season -, but I think it may all just come through magic. Magic is what Christmas is based on. Download and put faith into your payment.
More later!
Merry Christmas, friends!
90 days til Christmas!
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