The Day After
Still recovering from the Christmas party. The full blow-by-blow details will be given to you tomorrow!
Until then, here’s a picture of the Feliciano/Estacio/soon-to-be-Spayer family Christmas picture. Boy, I look incredibly tired!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!
The Christmas party went/is going great. It was/is so crazy having so many people in my house. People had a great time and we have SO much food. I’ve had an hour of sleep and then I had to wake up to drive my dad to the airport at 5am. He’s going to the Philippines for some sort of high school reunion.
I’ll post up pictures later, just wanted to stop in and say hi, since me and Maui are having a wireless laptop party on my kitchen table, as Marian and Fatima(who are still awake) are watching Shrek 3D and the adults (who haven’t slept yet) are still playing mah-jong in the basement. Dan and Dave couldn’t hang and eventually fell asleep on out bed - together. Since it’s a king sized bed, there really wasn’t a problem with them accidentally spooning with each other during the night - their manhood stays intact. 
Hope you’re all having a great weekend!
Merry Christmas Eve!
I’m busy wrapping the last of the presents, baking the last of the cookies and getting my Christmas food together. Just wanted to stop by and give y’all a Christmas greeting, drawn by Daredevil artist Alex Maleev.
5am Cookie Fatality Count
It’s 5am on Christmas Eve day, and I’ve just finished baking 3 1/2 dozen cookies and 2 dozen cupcakes. I’m pooped! Out of those cookies, there were a couple fatalities. Several of the gingerbread/sugar men valiantly lost limbs when I was removing them from the cookie sheet. Total cookie deaths for the night - 2 arms, 4 legs.
Made the calls to the Titas to see what time they’re heading to the house. I’m pretty excited, though a bit nervous, too. I have to remind myself to tell them to bring slippers - the floor can get kind of cold.
Gotta get some sleep now, I know I’m not going to get any tonight! Well, maybe during midnight mass, but that’ll only last until Claudine jabs me in the ribs to stay away. *wink*
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Brr! It’s freezing in Chicago! What’s even worse is that it’s going to be 2 degrees tomorrow - and that’s WITHOUT the windchill factor! Luckily, I’ll have the body heat of 40 of my favorite relatives to keep my house nice and cozy.
Only about 36 hours until the big Christmas 2 day extravaganza at my house, and I’m still not sure what I want to make. The aunts are bringing their own dishes, but I want to make something special - other than my pinwheels, bruschetta, cookies and cupcakes. Maybe meatballs?
I’m about 99% done with the shopping, needing only to buy back-up gifts for any surprise guests that may come. I’m about 85% done with wrapping. In the past my Christmas presents would be a work of art - complete with huge, fluffy bows and sprigs of holly or star garland. I put a lot of time and money into wrapping. This year, they’re lucky if they get the cheap bow. I just don’t have to time or energy to make my presents look nice. Hopefully next year I’ll have the organization skills and cash flow to make my gifts something to ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’ over, but for this year, it’ll be ‘Amazing how just one piece of tape holds this train wreck together’.
The other day I experimented with making some gingerbread cookies. Any of you who know me know that I’m not a baker - that’s Claudine’s thing. But I felt that I needed to make some sort of effort with my party in providing some sweet treats, so what better than gingerbread men? I never realized that making them took so much arm strength - the dough is pretty thick and needs to be mixed well. I had a fun time using my gingerbread man cookie cutters, though.
Before going in the oven
Fresh out of the oven!
I brought the batch in to work for my guinea pigs (aka the guys at work) to try out. They liked it, although they mentioned there was a little too much ginger - it gave the cookies a nice ZING after eating them. Makes your breath feel nice and fresh. So the Christmas batch will have a little less ginger, and I think I’ll throw in a little more cinnamon - you can’t have too much cinnamon at Christmas, right?
Happy Holidays, everyone!!!
G-Mail Invites for Christmas!
Looks like I’ve got 5 g-mail invites to give away. Just in time for Christmas!
Since it’s the end of the year, I’m going to do a ‘favorite pics of 2004′ much like I did last year. I was thinking of having a ‘readers favorites’ in addition to my own favorites. So go ahead and pick out one of your favorite pictures from my site, and 5 lucky people (if there are even 5 that participate) get a gmail invite. If you need a little reminder of the pictures I’ve taken, you can check out the Picture Category Archive. Beware, it could take a minute or two to load - and remember that it needs to be a picture from this year. Even if you don’t want to win a gmail invite, you can still participate. Winners not only get the evite, but also get pimped out on my blog.
Upcoming Movies
With the success of Spiderman 2 and XMen: 2, it seems like comic book movies are the way to go if you want to make money. There are a whole bunch that are coming out that I’m itching to see. I haven’t read all the books that these movies are based on, but I try to support comic book movies when I can - if it creates more comic book readers to help out my favorite hobby, so be it. Here’s some trailers that you may want to check out of some upcoming movies:
Elektra
Elektra is one of my favorite characters in comic books. Although I was wary of casting Jennifer Garner as Elektra, she did a great job in Daredevil and converted me. She doesn’t have the look of Elektra, but she has the intensity and athleticism. She plays a tortured heroine very well. I have no idea if the storyline in Elektra is the same as the books (I started reading her books way after she was killed by Bullseye, so I don’t know if she was ever involved as a tutor to a young girl) but the trailer looks pretty badass:
Constantine
I haven’t read Hellblazer, but Constantine is based of off the main character. A supernatural investigator who is walks between good and evil, heaven and earth. Why am I so hyped about it? Two words: Keanu Reeves. Can I get a ‘Whoa!’ in here? The movie should be pretty good - Reeves already knows how to play a troubled herp, the special effects look awesome, and for the guys, ‘The Mummy’s’ Rachel Weisz is in it.
Sin City
Another comic I don’t read is Sin City, though it’s been around for a long time. But one look at the trailer for it, and I’m ready to call up my local comic shop and reserve a couple trade paperbacks. It looks AWESOME. As described by Don, “Imagine the baddest city out there, the most evil, the worst. Now imagine going to the ‘bad’ side of that town. That’s Sin City.” Hmm. Interesting. If that’s not enough to get you salivating, check out the cast: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Benicio Del Toro, Jamie King, Nick Stahl, Michael Madsen, Rosario Dawson, Clive Owen, Alexis Bledel, Josh Hartnett, Michael Clarke Duncan, Devon Aoki, Maria Bello, and Jessica Alba. Check out the trailer - it’s pretty hot!
Batman Begins
To tell the truth, I thought the whole Batman movie franchise died, and I was happy about it. As soon as Alicia Silverstone’s crappy Batgirl came on board, I knew it was the end of it - there was no way out. But then I heard rumors about a new Batman coming out - but a prequel: Batman Begins. As soon as I heard that Christian Bale (of the ‘American Psycho‘ hottiness) was on board, I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe it won’t be so bad!’. Then I saw the trailer, and I know I have to see this one in the theaters! It’s gonna be GOOD.
It’s Christmastime in the City
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air
There’s a feeling
of Christmas
Dressed in holiday style
In the air
There’s a feeling
of Christmas
Children laughing
People passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner
you’ll hear
Silver bells, silver bells
It’s Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day
I’ve been saying it all month, but I LOVE Christmastime in Chicago. The whole city gets dressed up and there’s something wonderful about the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers on Michigan Ave.
Every year, the big department store in Chicago, Marshall Fields, dresses up their store windows with a theme. Last year, it was Willy Wonka. This year, it’s Snow White. Some of my favorite winter childhood memories are of going downtown to see the windows.
Anyway, I wanted to share some of my city pictures with you. I’m building up some galleries to put up eventually, so this is a nice way to start…
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Missing
I forgot my wedding ring at home today.
It’s the weirdest feeling. For as much as I hate jewelry and find my ring an annoyance (I take it off all the time - to wash dishes, while working, cleaning the house, etc) I love that ring. Not having it on for an extended period of time is freaky. I feel that it’s not on my finger and I have a mini panic attack, thinking that I lost it, then relief when I realize that I’ve forgotten it at home.
I think I just may tie a string around my finger, just to stop from freaking out.
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Come back later….I’ve got some pretty pictures to post this afternoon.
Ten New Year’s Resolutions
1) Answer my phone when people call
2) Finish at least one photo gallery
3) Submit my expenses on time
4) Take more pictures
5) Print OUT pictures
6) Work out (shut up, people at work)
7) Reply to emails 
Manage my Outlook calendar at work
9) Clean my fish tank more regularly
10) Save money
Next week: Ten Personal Highlights of 2004
