So … what’s up with you Santa? How are things up at the ol’ N. Pole? Are the elves behaving, and is Mrs. Claus fattening you up for your yearly journey? It’s already cold down here, so I imagine it’s cold up there too. You’d better dress warmly for your trip.

There … that’s out of the way. Now let’s get down to business.

Actually, before I get into my list for this year, I have one thing that you must do for me. I’m not asking … I’m begging. PLEASE let the weather be decent for Christmas this year. I didn’t make it home for Christmas last year because of the weather. I didn’t make it home for Thanksgiving this year. I would like to spend the holiday with my family. Can you please talk with Mother Nature to see that happens. Thanks.

Now for the nitty gritty. A lot of the stuff I had on my list last year are still valid. I’ll include them and the new stuff so you don’t have to go searching for my list from last year (just helping you out there big guy). Hopefully you can find something on the list that fits the bill. Things are in no particular order. I’ve included links to some items on Amazon so you can get an idea of what each thing is (it’s just for reference).

• Wii games & accessories
  • Endless Ocean
  • Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board)
  • Wii Sports Resort
  • Wii Game Party/Wii Game Party 2 or similar games
  • Press Your Luck
  • Family Game Night (1, 2, and/or 3)
• DVDs
  • Cars
  • Moonlight – The Complete Series
  • Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse (don’t judge me )
• CDs
  • Pink – Greatest Hits … So Far!!!
  • Jerrod Neiman – Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury
  • Lifehouse – Smoke & Mirrors
  • David Nail – I’m About To Come Alive
• NASCAR Stuff
  • anything Dale Earnhardt Jr
  • anything Martin Truex Jr
• Electronics
  • Flip camcorder or some other similar brand
• Misc
  • ground espresso
  • white chocolate coffee syrup
  • iTunes gift card
  • gift card for clothes (I need to try ‘em on to know they fit … my favorite store is JCPenney)
  • my “man” candles (The Midsummer’s Night scent by Yankee Candle – they smell like men’s cologne)
  • dark (dark, dark, dark) chocolate
  • pots and pans (a really nice set, not that cheap crap where the coating peels/wears off after a couple months)
  • The Office Space Kit
  • luminglass
  • toys for my desk at work
  • anything else that’s techie/geeky
  • a house (I’m be ok w/ a twin home)
  • health club membership w/ personal trainer
  • chest freeze (a small one)
  • burr coffee grinder (it has to be a burr grinder to grind espresso beans)
  • a cowboy (I’ve been asking for years … come one … isn’t this the year? )

“Why” you ask? Well …

click to enlarge

The Christmas 2009 winter storm will continue to impact the area through Saturday morning. For the remainder of Christmas Eve…there will be periods of light snow. Snow rates will increase from late tonight through early Saturday morning…and north winds will increase to 25 to 35 mph…causing considerable blowing and drifting snow with blizzard conditions. Widespread whiteouts can be expected across much of Eastern North Dakota into adjacent Minnesota counties. Travel Christmas Day will be extremely hazardous. The map represents additional snowfall accumulation expected from noontime Christmas Eve through midday Saturday. On Saturday…the snow will wind down slowly but winds will still be high and visibility poor. Sunday will be better with no snow in the forecast and winds diminishing. Please stay tuned for further updates.

As you can see, Mother Nature had other ideas. Well, her Christmas present is going back. LOL

We got about 6 inches of snow overnite here in Fargo. It didn’t snow all that much during the day, and it wasn’t all that windy. I did consider leaving work early to head to Mom & Dad’s before it started snowing again. I obviously decided against going. The road reports for my route home was “snow covered” then “continuous ice/compacted snow” then “scattered ice frost” and back to “continuous ice/compacted snow”. I decided to use my better judgement and stay in Fargo. If the roads are travelable on Sunday, I’ll head to Mom & Dad’s (unless they decide to come up to Fargo). And if the roads are still shitty, there’s always next weekend.

Robin ended up staying in Fargo too. If the roads in town are passable, maybe I’ll venture over to her place to hang out. Otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do. I plan on making some chili cheese dip tonite to munch on (I was going to make it and take it to Mom & Dad’s). I bought the ingredients yesterday to make lasagna. I might make that tonite so I can pop it in the oven tomorrow for dinner (with leftovers for supper). And I have beer in the fridge and vanilla vodka chilled out in the freezer.

It definitely sucks being stuck here in Fargo (alone) for Christmas. It’s the first time that I haven’t made it home for Christmas. But I’d rather be stuck here than in some ditch or worse. I guess the Christmas presents and baked goodies will just have to wait. I just wish Mom hadn’t said that she had some krumkaka for me (I love those). Maybe I can hitch a ride with Santa.

I sent out a Christmas letter with my cards. I thought I would post it here for my friends that I don’t have addresses for.

December 2009

Wow. A Christmas letter from me 2 years in a row? That probably won’t ever happen again.

The past year or so has been kind of stressful for me, but things are starting to look up. As I said in last year’s letter, I lost my job in October 2008 and started a contract position in December 2008. That contract position only lasted 4 months (I was filling in for someone on maternity leave). I found another contract position in May 2009. The position was supposed to be a contract to hire position, but the company ended my contract early in August (and laid off 15 people the day after my contract ended). All that uncertainty almost drove me crazy.

But I said things are starting to look up, didn’t I? I started a new job (a permanent one this time around) in November. It’s with a company in Moorhead. I’ve been there for about a month and a half now, and I’m very happy. I get to work with php and MySQL again, which I really enjoy working with (yes … I AM a geek).

I’m not sure what 2010 will bring, but I’m hoping it keeps on the upswing. I had been planning on buying a house, but the rollercoaster that my work life has been over the past year has put that on hold for a little while longer. While I don’t have the money saved up for a house just yet, I do have some money saved that I think I’ll be putting towards a new car in the spring. I’ve had my car since 2001, so it’s time for an upgrade.

I hope this holiday season treats you well. I hope Santa brings you everything that you ask for. ;) Make sure to take time to treat yourself well during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Take care and have a great 2010.

Happy Holidays …

Becky

This past year has been trying. I lost my job last October but then found 2 short term contract jobs. The short term-ness and uncertainty really wore on me. But I found a full time, permanent job a month ago (so thanks for that early Christmas present. ) I’m hoping that the tide has turned and things will start going “up” for me rather than how they have been.

I thought that I should get you a list of things that I wouldn’t mind getting under the Christmas tree this year. These are just suggestions. I don’t expect to get everything on my list. It would be nice to get one or two things though.

• Wii games & accessories
  • Wii remote
  • Wii steering wheel
  • Endless Ocean
  • Mario Cart
  • NASCAR Kart Racing
  • Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board)
  • Wii Sports Resort
  • Wii Game Party/Wii Game Party 2 or similar games
• DVDs
  • Cars
  • Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Not Fat I’m Fluffy
  • Moonlight – The Complete Series
• CDs
  • Chris Young – The Man I Want to Be
  • Luke Bryan – Doin’ My Thing
  • Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum
  • Love and Theft – World Wide Open
• NASCAR Stuff
  • anything Dale Earnhardt Jr
  • anything Martin Truex Jr (his new team for 2010 [NAPA])
• Misc
  • iTunes gift card (for music and/or iPod Touch apps)
  • gift card for clothes (I need to try ‘em on to know they fit)
  • my “man” candles (The Midsummer’s Night scent by Yankee Candle – they smell like men’s cologne.)
  • dark (dark, dark, dark) chocolate
  • Windows 7 upgrade
  • Flip camcorder
  • anything else that’s techie/geeky
  • a cowboy

You should be able to find something doable on that list. As you can see, I put the cowboy back on the list this year after leaving him off last year. There aren’t any country bars left in Fargo, so if I’m gonna get a cowboy, it’ll have to be from you.

Watch out for birds on your journey around the globe this year. I’d hate to hear that you crashed after hitting a stray snow goose or something. I’m too old to stay up and wait for you … I need my sleep. But I’ll leave out some baked goodies (if I ever get my ass moving and make ‘em). Tell Mrs. Claus I say “hi”.

Becky

P.S. I just thought of a few more items for my list:

• office toys for my new desk at work [or my desk at home]
• programming books [on subjects like: CodeIgniter, php, MySQL, jQuery]
• pictures for my bare walls [both in the living room and the bedroom]
• LCD computer monitor (preferably larger than 19″ and widescreen)

I’m heading home in the morning. I took tomorrow off of work so that I could drive home in the daylight. I didn’t want to have to drive after work (either today or tomorrow), especially after the last bout of snow that we got today. I’d like to actually be able to see the road surface. I don’t wanna be surprised by black ice or slush and end up in the ditch. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about slush though … it’s not warm enough to melt. The majority of my trip is on interstate, so the road surface *should* be okay. It’s that last leg that I’m worried about. I’ll have to check the road reports in the morning. I don’t have a set time to leave. That will depend on the road conditions. But I’d like to get out of town by no later than 10am. I’ll just have to wait and see.

I got the majority of my packing done tonite. The rest of the stuff I have will wait ’til morning. Stuff like my pillows and bathroom stuff will have to wait ’til I’m all ready in the morning. And the baked goodies and cheese ball/spread and other perishables will have to wait ’til right before I leave. I’ll toss all that stuff in my trunk. At least I don’t have to worry about it getting too warm and making that stuff unsafe to eat. LOL

I plan on coming back to town on Friday. I don’t have the work … they’re closed. But I do need to pick up my paycheck (unless direct deposit is in place by then ). They do mail it out if you don’t pick it up by 4pm. But I’d rather get it Friday and get it in the bank that day then have to wait ’til (most likely) Monday to get it in the mail and then put it in the bank Monday nite, meaning the money wouldn’t be available ’til Tuesday.

I’m also thinking of stopping at Target to see what they have on clearance in regards to Christmas stuff (like wrapping paper, bows, lights, etc). I’m also thinking that I *will* get the iPod Touch that I’ve been wanting. I’d only have to pay around $150 or so (depending on how much tax is) after the $100 gift card I have from work. You can’t beat that deal. I’m just not sure if that’s a good idea though. In about 2 1/2 months, I could possibly (and probably will be) unemployed again. My contract at work is only for 3 months. There is a chance that it could turn into a permanent gig, but there’s no guarantee. I’m going with the assumption that it won’t be so that I’m not screwed when the 3 months is over and I don’t have any income source again. So I’m keeping an eye out for any opportunities. And if the gig does turn out to be permanent … GREAT. I just want to make sure all my bases are covered.

Now I REALLY need to get off of the computer. I told myself over an hour ago that I was banned from the computer for the rest of the nite. That didn’t go over very well … I’ve been on it ever since. But now I really do need to get offline. Gonna crash on the couch for a little bit and then head off to bed so I can get up at a decent hour in the morning and head home.

Here’s the final tally of what I made:

• peanut butter cups: 8 dozen + 3
• chocolate covered cherries: 8 dozen + 9
• pecan tassies: 9 dozen
• no bake cookies: 2 dozen + 6 (I actually made a 2nd batch, but they didn’t turn out. I ran out of butter and had to use margarine. I don’t think I boiled the sugar mixture long enough. They never set up properly. )
• butter cookies: 3 dozen + 9 (I used a bigger cookie scoop this year, so bigger cookies but not as many. But I’m fine with that.)
• peanut butter blossoms: 8 dozen + 4
• peanut brittle: 1 batch

The chocolate covered cherries are new this year for me. I think they’re going to become a new fixture in my baking tradition. They turned out really good. The recipe was easy too.

Last year I made truffles. I didn’t get around to making them this year, unfortunately. They’re easy to make, but I just never bought the ingredients or took the time to make them. I kinda wish I had. But oh well. I’ll make ‘em next year.

I’ll be giving some of this stuff to Robin and hopefully Mona and Allen too. The rest will go home with me for Christmas. And leftovers will come back for me to snack on (I’ll leave some with the fam, but bring some back for me too … I did make ‘em after all). Depending on what is left, I might even take some to work with me after Christmas.

I thought I should get you my Christmas ‘wish list’ since it is getting kinda close to Christmas (just over 2 weeks). I’m not asking for much this year. I know that the economy sucks. And with all of the people in the world, that must be stretching your budget too.

I can always use some techie gadgets. I am a geek. I’d really like an iPod Touch, but I think I might buy that for myself early next year. And you know that I’m a big NASCAR freak. Anything related to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Martin Truex Jr, Paul Menard, or Scott Riggs would be a good bet.

Here are a few other things that are on my list that I think are more manageable in this crappy economy:

• candles
• chocolate … the darker the better
• fleece pjs (probably XL in size)
• gift cards for clothes … I need to try stuff on to know if I like it
• desk lamp … that way I don’t have to turn on all the lights when I’m on the computer at nite

I think that’s about it. Nothing too crazy this year. I did leave a cowboy off of my list this year, but if you can find one, I wouldn’t mind. And if you can find some way to make this contract position permanent or find another permanent position after the contract is up, that would be awesome.

Enjoy the holiday season this year. Don’t work too hard. And be careful on your round the world trek. I’ll be sure to leave out some cookies for you.

Sincerely,
Becky

I made up my list this afternoon as to what I’m making.

• chocolate no bake cookies
• peanut butter blossoms
• pecan tassies
• peanut brittle (made in the microwave)
• butter cookies (made w/ cake mix)
• peanut butter cups

I also have a recipe for truffles that I made last year. They turned out pretty good. I’m debating if I want to make them again this year. I also might make some spritz cookies. It all depends on if I feel like dealing with my cookie press. I always get a lot of pressure built up in it and get frustrated. I didn’t use it last year. I’ll have to wait and see if I do this year.

One thing that I wish I had was a krumkake iron. I LOVE those things. I looked around last year, but they cost more than I’m willing to pay. My Mom knows someone who has an iron, and usually borrows it … after I badger her into it. She’s also the one who makes rosettes. I just don’t have the patience to stand over the hot grease to make them. But boy do I LOVE eating ‘em. LOL

View full image on flickr
Originally uploaded by hightechredneckwoman

I put my Christmas tree up this afternoon. It actually looks pretty decent. I have a random assortment of ornaments on it. Some from my Godmother and others that I’ve bought or received as gifts from others.

I think this is the last year for this configuration. I need to get a new set of lights for next year as this one is on it’s last legs (I had to wiggle the bulbs in order to get the top half to light up). I think I’m going to go more simple next year … just silver and blue. I already have silver garland and blue bulbs. I think I’ll get either white or blue lights (or maybe both) and leave it as that. But that’s for next year, so I have time to decide.