7 Reasons I'm Excited for Fall

Fall is upon us! Today marks the first day of fall.

Here are my top reasons I'm excited for fall. Alas, I realize some of these are still dreams at the moment because it's still a tad too warm, but it almost makes me smile day-dreaming about it:

1. Making Soup — I'm not much of a chili person (yet, maybe someday I will be) so for me, vegetable soup is the way to go. When we were newly married, having never had to buy stew meat before, I accidentally bought veal stew meat. I came home, Jarrod pointed it out, to which I said "So THAT'S why it cost so much! I was wondering..." I completely missed the little veal label on the front, haha. We had one crock pot of very lean, very pricey soup!

2. Doing More Things Outside — Whether it's exercising, or just sitting still with a book, these things are always best enjoyed outdoors if you ask me. Near some trees, preferably.

3. Blankets — I don't think this one needs explanation.

4. A Nice Stout — After finally growing up and realizing not all dark beers suck and taste like tar, I had my first stout. And I really liked it. I won't be having as many this year, with the cancer and the chemo, but I've been told I can enjoy a drink from time to time. Stouts have slowly become my favorite beers, and this time of year they are in abundance.

5. Candle Scents — Fall is my favorite time for home scents; smells of cakes, cookies, pies, and pumpkin all make me feel very homey in my home. And I love my electric candle warmer since it doesn't require a flame. 

6. Wearing Scarves Again — A scarf is the perfect way to control my personal thermostat. If it's cold, wear the scarf. If it's too warm, ditch the scarf. Easy-peasy. And plus, I just love scarves.

7. The Beautiful Leaves — Duh!

Anyone else excited about fall now? Anything I missed in my list that might be on your own?

Kohl's Comparison

In case you're ever wondered when was a good time to buy things at Kohl's, I did some math to compare.

I placed an order with Kohl's on Black Friday, and felt like I got some pretty good deals. (When I mentioned in my previous blog how I might have gone out shopping that day, I was going to only go to Kohl's, but decided to shop from the comfort of my home instead. Kohl's in town is always a zoo on Black Friday, with a line that stretches halfway across the store depending on your timing.)

Kohl's prices were, I felt, heavily discounted for their Black Friday sale. The extra coupon code for Black Friday was 15% percent off, and $50 order to qualify for free shipping. I ordered all of my things, got free shipping, and ended up with a total of $85 (plus some cents.) 

Then on Saturday, their new Cyber Monday promo started offering a 20% off coupon and only $25 needed for free shipping. 

I was curious if there would be a difference, so I rebuilt my cart today with the same items I bought on Friday. Most of the items had higher prices, ranging from 3-10 dollars more, but one item was $7 lower. Then I applied the 20% off coupon, and my total was brought down to $89. Black Friday prices saved me about $4.50, obviously not a huge difference.

So, in case you were ever curious, there's the math. Depending on what you want to buy, Black Friday might be cheaper, but most likely it's going to be a wash between the two.

I usually don't make such an effort to shop this early, but I don't know, I guess this year I'm kind of anxious to get it done and not drag it out for the next few weeks. I semi-enjoy shopping, but I wouldn't say I love it. And dealing with crowds this time of year is not really my thing. 

Latest Project!

I had a new crochet project recently! In addition to the shawls, I made a couple dishcloths for myself and they are wonderful.

The idea had never occurred to me until I was reading a label or something about the cotton yarn I was using for a shawl. It said something like "Your #1 cotton yarn for dishcloths, ..." So I taught myself a new stitch to make them strong and with less gaps between the stitches, and voila: cloths! I really wanted to give it a shot because I don't know about you, but a lot of my dish cloths aren't as absorbent or good at wiping things up as I'd like them to be. My ones from Target and my cheapy microfiber ones just smear water and anything on my counters rather than doing a good job of soaking it up and wiping it up like a paper towel might.

But these do not have that issue! They wipe up like a charm and also hold a lot of water—when Jarrod wrung one out yesterday... yeah, that was a lot of water in that little thing! The only thing I haven't tried yet is washing it in the washing machine. I haven't decided if I'd put it in the dryer or just lay flat to dry. I'd probably just lay it flat, it is 100% cotton after all.

You can use them as wash cloths for your face, they're quite soft, or dish cloths in the kitchen. Right now, I've got mine in the kitchen. If anyone else is interested, I'd love to make some for you! They're super easy and take little time. The yarn comes in a LOT of colors and mixes (like the blue/purple/navy one) so anyways, seriously, if you're intrigued like I was, send me an email or comment here!

My Year in Books

I discovered a great website earlier this year called Goodreads. I had signed up for Goodreads a long time ago when it was a younger website, you might say, but left when I found it didn't have many images for books and was overall clunky.

In March of this year, Amazon reached an agreement with the site and acquired it, and right after that I signed up. For someone like me who likes lists, likes visualizations of things, and likes books it is a great site. It helps me keep track of my never-ending list of books I want to read, so next time I'm searching for a book or get a recommendation from a friend I'm not like 'Ugh, what was it again that I was wanting to read? What was that book called?' My tastes in books are all over the board, and since I don't lean to one genre over another it can be tough to choose what to read next without a list.

When I signed up, I then saw they had a "2013 Reading Challenge" and on a whim, I set a goal for myself of 10 books.  I'm happy to say I surpassed it, and I'm thinking about what next years goal should be. I started in April this year, so I'm thinking my goal for 2014 might be 14 books. If that's the case, I need to start reading again and quit playing QuizUp :)

As you can see, I had a bit of a 'dog book' trend, haha!

Petals

I wondered how many petals were in this flower, so I counted them. 186.

And over 50 of them were clustered in the middle in less than a centimeter of space. Isn't nature cool?

Das Schnitzelbank

Yesterday we went to a wedding. At the reception, we got the wonderful opportunity to join in a tradition the bride's family (an strong German family as you might guess) does at least once a year and always at weddings. One of the old men in the family, I can't remember if it was her grandpa or a great uncle, puts on his little German hat with the feather in the side and grabs a stick for the singing of the Schnitzelbank.

Thanks to my favorite childhood cartoon Animaniacs, I actually knew how this was going to go. You point at things and say "Ist das nicht ein _______?" and everyone responds "Ja, das ist ein ______" To translate, that would be "Is this not a pair of pants?" "Yes, that is a pair of pants!" And you build and build on your items until the last one, where you rename every single one of them.

So last night, the Schnitzelbankmeister was given the microphone and he hung up his old cloth banner of items that he points to with the stick. It looks something like the photo I've placed on here. The items were all the same.

The pace was a lot slower than the Animaniacs spoof, but it was fun and funny no less. Having a group of people trying to say long German words is always funny.

Christmas Movie Quest

I have decided to attempt to watch 1 Christmas movie, short, or special each day leading up until Christmas. I'm pretty excited about it, because there are so many good Christmas movies (when you really think about it.) Here is my list in chronological order, though I won't be watching them in any certain order. What is your favorite? I think I have all the classics pretty much covered. I have all of these either on DVD, VHS (oh god!), or on the DVR except for Scrooged and White Christmas. So I'm hoping those will come on TV sometime so I can record them.

I'm kind of excited about this small project!

Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Little Women (1949)
White Christmas (1954)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1979)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
Scrooged (1988)
Christmas Vacation (1989)
Home Alone (1990)
Winnie the Pooh & Christmas Too (1991) 
Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish (1999)
Elf (2003)

Paul Ryan, A Comparison

I'm not going to compare Paul Ryan to Joe Biden, but I've been trying to figure out who he reminds me of.

So here's Paul Ryan:

and many people are saying, due the widow's peak, he looks like a grown-up Eddie Munster:

but I think, with his grin, he totally looks like this guy:

Did Ben Folds just resurrect the Fraggles?

Found this video today. It really made my Monday a whole lot better, I smiled the whole time I watched it. Mega points to Ben Folds for doing a video with the Fraggles. I forgot how awesome Ben Folds is playing the piano.

I loved it so much the Fraggles ended up in my office. The crazy yellow-green guy is my fave.

My Christmas tradition

Many of us have traditions we repeat each year around Christmastime. And lots of these involve movies. I know many people enjoy "It's A Wonderful Life" or "Christmas Vacation."

But my biggest tradition I can't stray from is my "Christmas tape." I've had my Christmas tape since I was 2. Granted, I don't remember it then. But every year, I have to watch this thing from start to... almost-finish. I'll explain...

My Christmas tape is an old, Polaroid VHS tape that my mom and dad recorded for me sometime between 1987-1990. It contains 5 main shows that I have to watch every year, and a few towards the end that I might watch.

First up on the tape is Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. It was made in 1978, and my parents recorded it in either 1987 or 1988 from PBS. What a trip down memory lane as far as PBS goes... remember how all episodes of Sesame Street began with the Ralston-Purina sponsorship? And the blue screen with the text "Financial support, from viewers like you." Anyways, Oscar the Grouch gets Big Bird believing that Santa is not real and since so many people don't have chimneys, they won't get gifts. So Big Bird and gang set out to prove Santa is real. Also, there is a great sub-plot with Bert and Ernie and Mr. Hooper that is essentially "Gift of the Magi." It's a great, great movie. I just looked, and it can be bought on Amazon, but I'm curious to know if it is truly the original or has been edited. My guess: edited.

Moving on to Christmas special #2: Rudolph. In all it's claymation glory. Who doesn't love Burl Ives?

The third one on the tape is old Frosty the Snowman cartoon. My favorite part of this whole cartoon is: when the kids are trying to name the snowman, one kid says "Oatmeal?" in the cutest, high-pitched voice ever. If you know me, you've probably heard me say "Oatmeal?" at some point. I use it when I can, but no one ever knows I'm referencing something.

Fouth in line is A Charlie Brown Christmas. The Vince Guaraldi Trio made some of the best music for that show. I listen to that soundtrack the most out of all the Christmas music I have. It's timeless, half of it's just a piano and a bass, and it's great. And, if you ask, I might do my little dance from this movie. I have a weird imitation of the kid that just bobs his head unnaturally from side to side during the Linus and Lucy song. This is a yearly request from my friend/cousin Jeff.

Fifth is my favorite, partly because of who it is and also because it is lesser-known: Muppet Family Christmas. This one originated in 1988, I believe. I'm not quite sure when we recorded it, but I'm pretty sure it is the original. I say that because (didn't realize this until recently) this one got seriously edited through the years because of copyright laws and some of the songs. But this one is a lot of fun. It is quite possibly the only time where nearly all, and I REALLY mean that, of the Muppet creations of Jim Henson were united together for one movie. I'm talking The Muppets, I'm talking Sesame Street, Baby Muppets, AND Fraggles. Not to mention a little cameo from the master himself at the end. It. Is. Spectacular.

Since I am a big fan of Sesame Street and the Muppets, it is also interesting to me (in a fun way) how much they have changed over the years. Not just voices and puppeteers, but in main characters and minor characters. For instance, in both Sesame Street and Muppet Christmas shows, Elmo is not a main character. At all. He doesn't even talk in the Muppets one. Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird used to be the real stars of the show, yet nowadays they have been pushed aside for Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Murry, and Rosita. Interesting little things to notice, that's all.

Sixth on the tape, which I don't have to watch every year, are Winnie the Pooh Christmas, and the infamous cartoon where Donald Duck plays hockey with his rambunctious nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

And that's my "Christmas tape." Year after year, I would start to worry that the tape might break, snap in two when I'm rewinding, or just become so fuzzy it became unwatchable. Well, this year we got in preservation mode and my dad lovingly put them all on DVDs for me. I can't explain how excited this makes me. No more worries [for now, haha]! Oh and the other best part about this tape/now-DVD: it still has all the old commercials in it. And those are a riot in themselves.

Anyone else have a movie or two they have to watch every year? Thanks for readin'!

Muppets

We saw The Muppets last night, and we saw the late show. I only mention this because that dictates the type of audience you get, meaning no kids, a handful of adults, and some teens.

I'll start by saying I really liked the movie. If I could do half-stars, I think I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5. I'm a huge Muppet fan; love the sense of humor, but mostly love it for its pure creativity, and I truly enjoy those little characters as if they were real, which is how it's supposed to be. I've been known to cry a few times listening to Kermit sing "It's Not Easy Being Green." And I gotta say when they were panning through Kermit's old office last night, looking at all the banjos on the wall, the pictures with multiple guests on The Muppet Show, and numerous other iconic props, I teared up.

We saw the movie with my cousin and his fiancé, who are also fans. The rest of the people in the theatre, hard to tell. We were definitely the 'most-laughing' group in there. And as I mentioned there were teens there too, who, as teens usually are these days, were completely disrespectful of everyone else there and annoying. They made fun of the movie the entire time. Why in the world would you go see something you have no intention of liking? And when they weren't doing that, they were talking, for the whole theater to hear. I seriously contemplated being that chick who walks out, asks management to ask them to leave, and hope they can't subconsciously pick out my car in the parking lot. It was beyond annoying. So this leads me to my [now obvious] realization: if you are under the age of, let's say, 20, you should not see this movie. Exceptions to this rule are if you are indeed a Muppet fan, like British and dry humor, or are involved in the arts somehow.

So moving on from that. The movie was great. They took an angle to the story similar to Toy Story 3. In Toy Story 3, the 'old toys' are dealing with the fact that Andy got older and doesn't play with them any more, and they've been kind of forgotten about. It had been ten years, I believe, since the previous Toy Story 2, so that is exactly what they acknowledged with the story: Hey, it's been ten years, so let's do that and ask what has changed in the last ten years? The Muppets is a similar thing. The story is set up around the fact that it's been years since their last gig, and they've been forgotten about and replaced by other things. So they try to round up the gang, and you get to see what each Muppet found a separate career in once "the old gang" fell apart. The story itself felt natural and geniune, as did Toy Story, because it is fans like myself revisiting things we loved in our childhood that have since gone by the wayside.

I don't think it was quite the epic, comic genius of Jim Henson 30 years ago, but it was as good as it will ever get for modern times. Yeah, some of the voices were a little off, but the differences were forgivable. The jokes were very well done though, and they referenced themselves often just like they used to; referring to the camera being there, Statler and Waldorf asked a question and were like "Did we just reveal a key to the plot?" "Well I hope so, otherwise I just wasted the audience's time!" "Doh-oh-oh-oh!", etc.

There were a few more songs than normal, though. Even though I'm a fan of musicals, some of them just felt unnatural. When Amy Adams sang a song solo at a diner, it just felt kind of off. That song was not needed. But! Many of the other songs were hilarious and the lyrics would take you where you didn't think they would go, one of my favorites being the "Am I a Muppet? Or am I a Man?" or whatever it's true title is.

I had heard from a movie critic that Jason Segel, who helped write, and the director, James Bobin, approached this movie very carefully. They didn't want to blow it out of the water or make it so over the top, as many movies are these days (kids ones especially.) They really wanted to make it like the Muppets they remembered as a kid. I appreciate that, and it definitely came through. They did NOT try to outdo the movies of old, just be on par with them. All in all, it was a lot of fun and if you laughed at the Muppets back then, you should give it a shot.

Tonight's venture: Sardonic children's books for adults

While browsing Amazon the other night, in the top sellers list was this book you could pre-order called "Go the F**k to Sleep." Intrigued, I clicked on it. It's a book for adults (obviously) and goes into the troubles of parenting in, I imagine, a hilarious tongue-in-cheek sort of way.

So this set me into looking at some of the related books, and they all make me laugh in some way. I love book covers, and some of these are just great. Also, side note, a lot of these happen to be born from a blog of the same name. A few that I didn't add on here are the book versions of Texts from Last Night, S**t My Dad Says, F My Life, and Cake Wrecks.

Book 2: All My Friends Are Dead. This tale is told from many angles and objects, all of whose friends are dead. See second image. Hilarious.

Book 3: I Hate Everything. I just love the cover for this one.

Book 4: I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar. I think I was part of this original Facebook group, actually. This statement definitely sums up a small part of me. Let me edit this and add "and Incorrect Spelling."

Book 5: Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves. Based on my new favorite blog of the same title.

Book 6: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. If the cover wasn't hilarious enough, I actually laughed at one of the page spreads for about 30 seconds... click here to see what I was laughing at.

And to compliment that, here's Book 7: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals.

Ladybug Death Toll

So for fun, and something fun-ny, back in February I sectioned off a corner of our dry-erase board on the fridge to keep track of our 'Ladybug Death Toll.' I thought about calling it the kill count, being a little video game dorky, but then decided on the other version. Anyways, we have had a TON of lady bugs in the house this year and I was just curious how many we would really have if we actually kept track. For fun, though.

In about three weeks, here at our house, my mom and I have either killed or found-dead 274 ladybugs. Yep. About 100 bugs a week. No, there's nothing gross or wrong with our house. We have it sprayed for bugs, but apparently these little things (which aren't really ladybugs, by the way, they're some sort of Asian beetle I think) are really bad this year. Well, I can definitely attest to that. I know we have them every year, but they seem really, really bad this time around. I hope that as it gets warmer they will either head back outside or that the number will start dwindling down.

I can think of way worse bugs to find at the rate of 100 per week, so I guess ladybugs are about the best case scenario possible, but still! I'm sick of them. I am pretty sure my mom is too. Go away ladybugs!