Christmas

It’s 60 degrees in Illinois, blawin a hoolie, chuckin’ it doon and we’re under a tornado watch (translation – quite windy and raining). Part of the reason I’m not in the Christmas spirit yet? Mibbae aye, mibbae naw. (Why is she speaking in Scottish I hear you ask?) But I guess the main reason is that my kiddies are no longer kiddies and even though Santa still brings them a new board game every Christmas that we (torturously) force them to play with us, we’re kinda running out of new board games, plus with them both being in college funds are tighter this year so I’ve cut back heaps on prezzies. Which perhaps is the answer to why I’m not in the Christmas spirit yet. *sigh* Wish I hadn’t already eaten all the mincemeat pies that hubby smuggled into the USA for me.

Happy Christmas Bloggers, from a very Un-Festive Alba!

Birthday Dawg

Glenn the Airedale again (Oh no, not ANOTHER post about her dog!!!)

But it’s his birthday…. he’s 2 today! Time to stop eating socks I think Glenn. Yesterday morning I woke up to a lovely ‘present’ underneath the Christmas tree… I thought he’d been a bit quiet the previous evening – he was obviously digesting the latest sock to go missing!

I let the kids name him (Glenn) but my last dog, which was also an Airedale was called Bob the Dog, which in my opinion, is the best name ever for a dog. I really wanted to get a collie this time round just so I could name him Colin the Collie, but I was outvoted in favour of another Airedale.

The first dog I ever had though was called Hutch. Yep, after Starsky & Hutch. Who, I hear the younger readers ask??? In my defence my sister got to name him and she was only 6 when we got him. He was a Bearded Collie and I’ve always wanted to get another but they’re mad. Madder than Airedales and I don’t know if I can handle that kind of energy every day.

I used to work beside a woman who always called her dogs Pierre. Now Pierre is a pretty great name for a French Poodle, but by the time I knew her she was onto Pierre 5 which is kind of weird dontcha think?

Another woman I worked with called her dog Dewey after the Dewey Decimal System – we worked in a library – and somehow that’s even weirder than Pierre No. 5 (sounds like a French perfume)

So now I come to the point of all this rambling… what’s your pet’s name and what has been your favourite pet?

 

 

 

 

The Top Ten things I miss about home at Christmas

Lying awake at 3am last night I was thinking of all the things I miss about home (Scotland) at this time of year and decided it’d be a good blog (Yayy, I FINALLY have something to write about!) Anyway here is my top ten list of all things British I miss about Christmas in the USA.

Mincemeat Pies

Friends and Family – maybe that should have been the top one, but hey, none of my friends and family read this so they won’t even know. And I mean I miss them all the time, but I only miss mincemeat pies at Christmas!

Cheesey Christmas Music – the USA does have it’s own cheesey Christmas music, but they don’t have Slade, Wizzard, Elton, Jona Lewie or the best Christmas song ever, The Pogues and Fairytale of New York blasting out of every shop.

Selection Boxes – no more need be said on British chocolate I think!

Marks and Spencer – wee sausage rolls, sausages wrapped in bacon, stuffing, wee bits of cheese wrapped in bacon (tried to make them last year and ended up with a baking tray full of melted cheese and limp bacon. It was not pretty)

Work Christmas Party Nights Out – the chance to have fun and let your hair down with your co-workers and laugh at the boss dancing with his secretary.

The Rain – just checking you’re still with me. Of course I don’t miss the rain!

Boxing Day – I know Canadians do Boxing Day, why don’t Americans? We do it anyway and when American friends ask what we do on Boxing Day I just say it’s like Christmas Day all over again but less stressful and without the prezzies.

Mincemeat Pies – I said that already, but I can’t remember the other 2 things. Damn, I should have written them down last night…

Can any Brits fill in anything I’ve missed? I would have said Christmas specials on the TV, but I never watched soaps and the only Christmas special I watched was Doctor Who… so I guess Doctor Who can be my 10th thing. Yayy, success!