The Big DumpTruck

I used to have a reputation of being a collector of Christmas Music. I think it was a lot easy to be such a thing when you had to buy entire albums, cassettes or CDs of Christmas music. It's much too easy now to just buy one or two songs today.

I did buy an entire CD via MP3 Purchase on Amazon last week, and that is going to be my 2009 recommendation for you. If Trans-Siberian Orchestra toned it down about 2 notches and didn't have any vocal tracks, you'd get the Arctic Express CD "A Christmas Rock Experience."

Some of the reviewers called it the love child of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller but I don't want to turn people off because they dislike one or the other. It really is just rock and roll Christmas music. Listen to the samples, and if you're like me, you'll just pony up the $6 to download the CD. PLEASE NOTE: There are apparently two versions of this CD up on both Amazon and iTunes. On both sites, one is about half the price of the other. I have no idea why this is, other than that the album has a slightly different name and track ORDER, but the same tracks. I have linked to the cheaper version on Amazon. My gift to you. Disclosure: If you do buy it from Amazon and you use the link above, I think I get a dime or two. If you use the link above and buy other things, I get a few more dimes. I like dimes.

Labels: christmas, Christmas_music, music, Xmas

I'll let you all get together and make the decision as a group. I wouldn't want to receive multiple copies. So I added one to my amazon wish list so that if someone does buy it the rest of you will know because it won't be listed there any more.

I told Mr. Dump that I was going to try to be good this year and not buy any Dept. 56 houses (which I suspect he thought was a nice try on my part, but did not believe me). And then, I was searching for one of the houses on Google and unfortunately clicked a link to a site that showed me this:



[Click the link to see a larger picture of the item in all its glory!] As you can see, there is no way I will be able to live a long and happy life without this house. I'm almost depressed because I don't have it yet, and I've known about it since this morning!

I'll let you all go meet now, so you can decide who will get to buy it. Don't worry, I won't peek. Oh, and if you get one for yourself, because you are a fan of the Big DumpTruck, do let us know, okay?

Labels: gifts, Xmas

I am full of roast beast (thanks to Mr. Dump and JP for picking out a lovely cut of beast, and Mr. Dump for seasoning it and putting it in the oven). I could use a nap, because someone who shall remain nameless refused to sleep in this morning. *sigh*

I would write more, but I'm trying to move a bunch of images over to my new photo frame (I never thought I'd want one of those until I just started thinking about it. And because all the pictures I have at work are old and it's just way too much effort to print some to take in to work to replace in my frames. Now I just replace the files in my frames! Brilliant!

Oh, so you are probably wondering what I did on the days leading up to today (which, by the way, is a let down compared to the wonderfulness of the days leading up to today). Well, Junior and I spent 2 days building the Lego Christmas train that I got on sale. It arrived on Saturday, and we built it most of the day Saturday and finished it yesterday. It's a really fantastic train, but doing a thousand piece puzzle trying to find the pieces. We used every bowl/container we had to put the pieces in. You get a dozen bags of Legos, but the bags aren't broken down by train car. So you put everything in bowls so you can paw through it. But I think the final product is worth the effort.

Labels: Lego, trains, Xmas

Okay, I'm all Christmassed up now. Junior bought two presents to give to his cousins (without any input from us) so we are officially shopping for Christmas, baby! We went to Cataldos on the way home from Burlington (Mr. Dump needed to go to the Apple Store for work purposes. Really.) And boy howdy if that doesn't make you feel Christmassy, nothing will. They are already selling trees so we got our first "whiff of the holidays".

I think it's time to have the annual viewing of Little Women.

And you?

Labels: christmas, shopping, Xmas

Yesterday I watched A Muppet Christmas Carol. Just the best movie. You have watched it this year, right? No? Okay, go watch it. I'll wait.

Okay, so then, what happened is, I watched it again. Except I watched it with the director commentary turned on. And I didn't just watch it twice in one day...I watched it back to back. So I saw about 4 hours of the movie. I think I have it memorized, which is nice.

Junior had much more energy than I did yesterday (he had to stay home too) and wanted to do fun things. So I set up my Christmas train under the tree and let him play with it. Leave it to my kid...he pulled the musical ice cream truck ornament off the tree and had a whole scenario where the evil ice cream truck driver was after the people on the train. I don't think I've seen that one on ABC Family's 25 days of Christmas specials.

Labels: christmas, junior, trains, Xmas

I just want to thank everyone who at least attempted to stay off the roads while I shopped this weekend. Friday night we hit Eastern Boarder and there were enough people staffing the store that we did not have to wait to talk to anyone, a huge plus. Saturday we did less shopping than intended, but even though Target was busy, the lines were very very manageable. So thanks for that. We even only had a 15 minute wait for lunch at TGI Fridays. As an aside, have any of you ever tried their "Mac and Cheese for Grownups?" Holy crap is that stuff good. It's got mushrooms and bacon (but not so much that it overpowers - just a few pieces sprinkled throughout) and some grilled chicken with peppers and onions on top. Even the chicken was delish. That is my Big DumpTruck Pick of the Week, for those of you who are hungry and near a TGI Fridays. I couldn't finish mine, so I shared it with my step-son so I don't know how it reheats. I think you could easily make two meals out of it, though.

We had tremendous luck with hitting the mall (Pheasant Lane in Nashua) early yesterday. I think because it was Sunday, people did not think it would be open as early as it was, but we got a primo parking spot, and in a couple of stores, we were literally the only customers. I believe I am 95% done my shopping now, so I will step back and let you all have free run of the roads and malls. Only two more weeks until people can stop obsessing about shopping. I do love when that happens.

I love shopping as much as the next 15 people. In fact, my Nano Novel was about a shopaholic this year. But I prefer to shop when I don't have a deadline hanging over my head and a ton of people clogging the aisles. We ran into one couple yesterday who much have purchased about $400 worth of gift items at the Lindt Chocolate store. But I'll bet they had not a single person left to buy for by the time they left. And now I'm hungry for chocolate, which apparently means I need some potassium, if something odd I read on the internet is to be believed.

Anyway, happy Monday everyone.

Labels: shopping, Xmas

I am going out Christmas shopping tomorrow, so I am going to need all of you to stay home so that I am not inconvenienced by traffic or lines at the registers. I think you all understand how important this is for me, and will be happy to comply. I suggest grabbing a box of Swiss Miss (with mini marshmallows, of course) and hunkering down with a few copies of A Christmas Carol. If you don't have the Muppet version (HEATHEN!) there is time today to run out and have a copy ready for tomorrow.

So remember, stay off the roads and out of the malls. I appreciate it.

Labels: shopping, Xmas