A Christmas Story...

So, we went to the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond off of Kennedy near the Cracker Barrel and had a blast! We were able to take Larry(our Beagle and Ian's comfort/service dog) not only in the center but into the Cracker Barrel for lunch(I'll talk about that later). They had on display at the Welcome Center all the window displays from Macy's when they had the "A Christmas Story" 25th anniversary display...the Welcome Center bought a percentage of the movie rights and the displays and now it's a permanent display for every Christmas season. They also have a Santa waiting atop a "Cloud Mountain" for you to slide down after you've seen Santa and get a photo taken for only $5! That is CHEAP compared to the friggin' malls, no?

(Image of Ian pointing at the display from the scene in "A Christmas Story" where the old man got "a major award" and he's in the street commanding his wife to position it making it look like "the 4th of July" that glow of electric sex in the window)

Go see it! The exhibit is free...Santa is no longer there(obviously) but the exhibit will be up until January 10th...plus there's a John Dillinger museum as well. Check it out here, they'll have the exhibit up until January 10th!

Why is it.....

Kids always want what they can't have. Or shouldn't have? Is this just human nature? The lure of so-called "forbidden fruit," which if it IS human nature, this has been with us since the dawn of man...

...and woman.

Actually, I really just notice this attitude mainly with men and kids. Not so much with women. Probably because our lives are full of stuff we shouldn't have and don't want, how much more trouble it would be to have something we really want but CAN'T have....uh...in my regard...to hell with that noise.

My life is in such an uproar w/my autistic son, toddler daughter, co-dependant beagle and aging cocker spaniel(who will be 16 on December 23rd! She's in great shape...she just friggin' smells!), oh...and my high maintenance husband, who will be going on seasonal unemployment very soon...so WTF do I need more trouble?

For instance, my daughter makes it a point to let EVERYONE know how miserable she is if she doesn't get the toy Ian's playing with. When he's kind enough to relent and let her have it...she drops it...then runs after the dogs. Attention span of a sock, I tell ya....a clean sock...but a sock nonetheless.

I just find it amusing that when someone gets said possesion(IE, the one they shouldn't have? Keep up) after the initial and long enduring chase, they most likely will drop it, get tired of it and...move on to another possession they cannot nor should have.

I'm just saying....I'm finishing up the final touches on my term paper for psych class and this is actually one of the topics. It all goes into the "green eyed monster" category....I'll let you know what grade I got and maybe even post the paper...

...well, I'll post it if it's a good grade.

BTW....what are you doing to celebrate the holidays? We're going to hopefully see the "A Christmas Story" exhibit in Hammond, Indy, and go hit the Christkindlemarket here in Chicago....btw...aside from buying "stuff" you may really want and can't have, Christkindlemarket is free as is the "A Christmas Story" exhibit. It's only five dollars to see Santa and go down the slide over cloud mountain. Check out your local skating rinks, Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier and the holiday CTA train....all freebies to do over the Christmas break w/your kiddies. A cheap thing to do w/the kiddies is to take the Metra over the weekend from one stop all the way to another....five bucks per adult for the ENTIRE weekend and kiddies are still gratis!

...what say you?

I love pumpkins!

I do! They're delicious! They're very pretty, they're very nutritious, fun to make crafts/pumpkin faces, etc.. with them.....in fact I wanted white pumpkins to make KISS faces but couldn't find decent looking good sized white pumpkins to do that(much less orange pumpkins as it seemed to have been a crap harvest for pumpkins this year). That's why I've not changed my counter and shall keep the pumpkins up, tracking all of your visits.

BTW...is anyone ready for Christmas? I didn't get the chance to put up tons of free things to do in Chicago for the Christmas holidays for everyone yet as I'm getting over a bad cold(not the H1N1 flu, thank God!), plus my autistic son is home for the holidays and will not go back to school until January 8th(uh...euw!) and my toddler is still teething! Bleeh! Anyway...I shall post that info soon! Hang tight, and hang up your ornaments, wreath, boughs of holly and lights....get into the spirit of things.

I do have a question: how do you feel about saying "Merry Christmas?" I am confounded at how an agnostic friend got his drawers in a bunch because of a poem a friend of mine sent re: not saying "Merry Christmas." He went on and on, droning on about the historical fact that Christ is NOT the reason for the season, how Christ wasn't born on December 25th, how the pagans/Druids were the ones who originated Christmas decor and customs, etc...and he wasn't very pleasant about it. I am very tolerant of other religions, have friends who are Jewish, Pagan, Muslim, Atheist and hardcore Bible thumping Christian...and the rule that applies to all of 'em is "I don't shove my beliefs down your throat, don't shove yours down mine." But he believes he's exempt from this.

Anyway...talk to you soon...wanna see if the Chicago Bears are actually going to beat the Green Bay Packers. Right now, score is 13/7 Green Bay and it's in the third quarter and ANYTHING can still happen...