Why I Oughta...

We went on our annual pilgrimage to the Tammen Tree Farm down I-57 the weekend after Thanksgiving and came back with a tree.  Like in years past, we chose a Fraser Fir - and it looks great.   The tree drank and drank and drank (like 3-4 quarts a day) and then pretty much stopped drinking.  We're down to drinking about a quart of water a day - which I'm thinking is enough.  So far, so good - no needle drop, so I'm thinking it isn't parched.  We've lost a tree before - back in 2006 when we went on a trip and the tree dried out.   Sure, it stayed green until Christmas Day, but if you got anywhere near it, let alone breath on it, needles went everywhere.  With the Babe's First Birthday Party this weekend, I'm certain we've made it through. We have 9 foot ceilings, so I'm thinking this tree is just about 8 foot tall.  We picked a different location in the living room this year - and I think it is working out better.  Just 10 days until the Big Guy co

Last year, I brewed a small batch of vanilla extract and gave it away at Christmas to friends and family.  It was a hit!  This year, I planned ahead and worked with my nieces and nephews and made a HUGE batch of the stuff.  By HUGE, I mean 5 gallons.  Seriously.  Now....don't be alarmed.  Each of my 3 sets of nieces/nephews are taking one gallon each.  They're giving them away as gifts to their teachers and their moms are giving some away, too.  But the other two gallons?  That'll be easy to give away as gifts.  There's 128 ounces in a gallon and I bought 8 ounce bottles.  The bottles!  The best part!  Last year, we went to container store and bought 8 ounce swivel-top bottles that were super expensive - like $6 a piece.  This year, I shopped ahead and bought them from Specialty Bottles and went with the 8 oz Clear Boston Round.  Because of the volume I bought, the cost per bottle came in under $1.00 a piece.  And that included caps and....the neat part:  shrink bands

I was tipped off by my brother-in-law Equation Boy/Man about a house near ours that had put up a curious set of holiday decorations.  He told me, "I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing this."  Equation Boy/Man gave the coordinates - it is on Willow Street, just north of First Street.  For those of you unfamiliar with the street names in Elmhurst, but know a few landmarks, this house is just North of the tracks and 4-5 blocks east of York Street. Nat and I were out last night and we decided to drive by.  Sure enough, they're cast aside the traditional holiday decor and lights and instead have just a sign and a simple aluminum pole in their front yard.  Although my photo isn't great, the sign reads:  "A Festivus for the Rest of Us!" and you can see the pole to the left of the photo standing up and proud in the middle of the yard.  Looks great all lit up at night.  Clearly, this is a single dude living here, right?  There's no way anyone's wif

With a little prodding from Nat, I've participated (along with  her, her sister, and her mom) in the Chicago Sun-Times Letters to Santa/Season of Sharing program .  Each holiday season, we get letter(s) from Chicago Public School kids - addressed to Santa - asking for gifts each year. More often than not, these kids would - under normal circumstances - not get the very presents they are asking for.  Either because of economics or family setting reasons, Santa isn't able to deliver on their requests.  And...that's where the Sun-Times steps in.  They mail you a letter and you do the shopping.  This year, my letter was addressed to "Sunta", but I'm guessing he really meant Santa. Makes my heart melt a little bit - every time I look at that photo and read that letter.    Cedrick wanted a R/C car and wrestlers?  I couldn't be more delighted to (hopefully) brighten in Christmas morning.  He'll have a couple of WWF wrestlers and a small R/C car - all at ju

One of the applications we use the most on Google TV is Pandora - where we stream the music through our television speakers.  Since we both (Nat and I) use the same application on the TV, I'm thinking it blended our preferences (holiday tunes + rock-n-roll).  Don't mind if I do, Mr. Petty! After giving it a spin, it wasn't so much holiday music, though!

My mom ALWAYS has a great Halloween party for my nieces and nephews.  The main event is the pinata and this year the weather cooperated.  I found this photo in my phone and couldn't resist posting it for posterity sake.  Equation Boy/Man handles the raising/lowering duties and the kids spring into action when someone makes a dent in the pumpkin sun pinata!

Everywhere you look, it is already Christmas.  And...it is only early November.  We hear folks lamenting this trend as the Holidays creep up earlier and earlier each year.  The stores are already carrying holiday merchandise, muncipialities are already hanging lights on the town square, and consumers are actively ticking off items on their buying lists. The question:  Are marketers "forcing" this holiday stuff on us early to garner more purchases or do we as consumers actually "want" an early Christmas?  I'm not sure, but one annecdote that lends some credence that we "want" Holiday creep is this chart around Starbucks Holiday Red Cups. Clearly there's a HUGE surge of consumers across the country who are clamoring for the red cups. "When are the red cups coming?" "What do the red cups look like?" Questions like that are being asked and - to me - that indicates people are passionate about the cups and are primed for

Had a big crowd on our street - mostly during the early hours - and beat last year's numbers.  This year, we had 39 kids "we knew" from the neighborhood, 181 other kids, and 16 adults.   You're probably wondering how I know the numbers?  Well....that's easy:  I kept track!    Below is my tally sheet along with the prior year's numbers in brackets at the top of each section.  The numbers aren't perfect, because when they come in waves, I sometimes loose track.  We break down by neighbors, non-neighbors, and adults.  Yes....adults.  Neighbors get big candy bars, the other kids get the normal Halloween-sized candy. Last year, we had 37 kids "we knew" from the neighborhood, 147 other kids and I didn't track adults. 2009 Total = 184 2010 Total = 236 Avg Total = 210 Some will ask, so I'll put this out there up front:  I keep track of the candy numbers for inventory control and candy budgeting, of course! As for the night, I'm

The Babe has made her choice(s) from Sonny Acres  in West Chicago.  Time to get busy carving the owls.  Last year we did two of them and I wouldn't expect to do less this fall.

They're both sitting on 2X4 posts, but the Natcrow has 2" PVC for arms and the Jakecrow has another 2X4 for arms.  The inspiration for these guys were Martha's Scarecrows here . What do you think?  Clearly mine aren't as cute as Martha's, but they're close, no?  

Oh...I didn't tell you there were going to be two of them, did I?  Here's how they look from the street.  Still not done with the "little one", but hopefully I'll get to that on Friday.

Was able to get him (at least half-way) properly dressed.  Have to figure out the trousers and the stuffing, but that should be done by Wednesday.  Hopefully he'll be on guard by Wednesday night. Indiana Street - Be on the lookout!

Notice the resemblance?  He's a bit taller than me right now, but I think I carved the eyebrows about right. We picked up some clothes at Goodwill today and I'll get busy stuffing them sometime this week.  Have to get them in the yard before the autumn comes to a close!

With pumpkin heads, too!  I have a lot of work left to get them done and in proper display shape, but they should be done by the end of the weekend.  Neighborhood beware....