MysteryMan and I decided we are, in effect, skipping the holidays this year. Normally Christmas– and Christmas decorating– is my fave, but with one house  for sale, and being in a huge rush to finish projects at the other house before the weather gets extra foul (it was 25 degrees this morning), not to mention the fact that except for those 12 hours of tailgating on Thanksgiving I’ve spent the rest of this holiday weekend working… the idea of having to string Christmas lights on anything for the next 6 months gives me a twitch in my left eye. But next year? The first Christmas in our new old house? Watch out people.

Non-traditional Traditions

For me, being a non-traditionalist isn’t so much about being “different” as it is about keeping myself primed for new ideas and ways of doing things without having to get over that barrier of “that’s cool, but this isn’t the way things are done” every time I feel like trying something different.

Like, did you know that instead of getting up at 5AM on Thanksgiving morning to put a turkey in the oven, you can get up at 5AM on Thanksgiving morning to drink beer instead? Yeah, I know. The first time I hear that I was all, what?! No.

But seriously, there are no Thanksgiving police.

It took me a year (and one very hectic day where we tried to see 3 families and eat 3 turkeys in 12 hours) to consider that maybe it didn’t have to be all sit-down-with-the-fam, and could be a bit more watch-the-sun-rise-over-tailgating-campers.

But it only took once to convince me (and another year to convince my mom) that this was the Thanksgiving tradition MysterMan and I would keep with our family.

Brining a bird and deep-frying it? It only takes 3 minutes per pound, and you’ve never tasted anything like it.

We did forget beer cozies this year, so it’s a good thing I’ve been watching the Season 1 DVD of MacGyver with MysteryMan.

The football part went about as well as you’d expect…

With commentary via text from my dad.

But… maybe by the time we have kids who are old enough to understand football the Lions will be able to play without embarrassing us.

The Giving Part

It’s about that time of year where we all start giving for the tax deductions out of the kindness of out hearts, and I’ve stumbled across some charities you might want to take a look at:

At the game we talked to the good people of 31stadiums.com, who are traveling 30,000 miles this season in an RV to see every NFL stadium and raise funds for the Cpt. Joe F. Lusk II Memorial Fund.

While training in Fort Rucker, AL, friends Nathan Thompson and Joe Lusk discussed how amazing it would be to travel the nation in an RV watching football. Unfortunately, before this was a possibility, Joe lost his life in Kuwait when his Apache helicopter crashed during a training mission. In memory of Joe, Nate is continuing with the dream while planning to raise money for a memorial fund setup in Joe’s name.

Seems like they had a good time in the Motor City, and I’m always in favor of supporting our troops. Interested? Here’s more information on donating.

You can basically divide my sympathies into two categories: Military, and animals.

Like this little guy?

He’s from the M’Shoogy’s Emergency Animal Shelter and No-Kill Sanctuary in Missouri, and he needs your help.

This family has taken in thousands of animals both wild and domestic and works hard to rehabilitate them and release them back into the wild, or find homes for the adoptable types.

Here’s more information on donating if you just can’t resist those little raccoon eyes.

Particularly since we’ve had a little scandal here in Toledo about the dog warden killing off puppies without trying to adopt them first– and really, what kind of person do you have to be to go above and beyond the norm to kill extra puppies?– I’m a huge proponent of donating to no-kill shelters.

For you Toledoans, check out:

The Paws and Whiskers No-Kill Cat Shelter

Natures Nursery Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Yes. Despite all the powertool badassery, I hug trees and I love animals. What’s the problem?

Just For Laughs

Did I not give you enough stuff to click on yet today? Here are some people who have been making me laugh lately.

Sara over at Russet Street Reno – She’s doing all the stuff on her house that I wish I was doing on my house instead of working my ass off and waiting for the ground to thaw. (Oddly, it hasn’t even frozen yet.) Also, we’re both finalists in the Old House Web blogger contests, and let me just go on record and say that $250 gift certificate is enticing, but I really think you should vote for her. (She’s kicking my ass anyway, and seriously… my post is on crown molding that may or may not still be installed upside down.)

Domestic Episodes of a Rodeo Princess – Rodeo is one of the Grit bloggers, which is one of my favorite places to go and get a glimpse into my future life. Like this…

The two boys and Charles got the pig to go up a small incline. I was at the bottom. Someone screamed, “BLOCK HIM!” I bent at the waist , flexed my knees and prepared to block. A 250-pound pig running at about 20 miles an hour down a hill.

He caught me square at my flexed knees. The force of the impact knocked my glasses off and parted my knees as he was propelled forward. As though we had practiced for months, I slid over his pointy, wet head to a perfect, although backwards, seat on his back and was carried off across the lawn.

My first thought was: I can’t see where I am going.

Second thought was: OH MY GOD I AM RIDING A PIG, AND I AM GOING TO DIE!

Third thought: I am only 18 inches off the ground. No way am I going to die.

I know MysteryMan just read that and rolled his eyes, because yes, that is SO ME in five years (except for the grandmother part.) See how the story ends.

Now all this talk about country living and renovation makes me want to shirk my responsibilities and go hang some trim up at the Memorial House. And you know what? I think I’m gonna, right after I eat some leftover pecan pie for lunch.

God, some days I really love being a grown up.

The pizza-delivery girl who dropped off our dinner the other night saw BubbaCat mousin’ in my front garden and said, “Wow, that is a scary cat!”

And I thought, yeah, ‘scary’ is a good word for a cat that spends a great deal of time pretending to be a fake dead armadillo.

Try not to have nightmares people.

At dinner last night.

Stepmother: LittleFish is learning about the “birds and the bees” in school this year.

Me: Really?

LittleFish: <Heaves a big sigh.> Yeah, and not the kind that fly!