Archive for the ‘Holiday’ category

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Christmas Is Coming Too Fast This Year

December 4th, 2011

This year time is flying when it comes to Christmas!

We usually have certain things we get accomplished before the Christmas rolls around, but this year we are way behind schedule!  In fact, just yesterday, I finally go the light put up!  Usually we put the lights up in November during Thanksgiving weekend.

This year, I took a backseat and let me son figure out the lights placement and how to accomplish the wiring.  I instructed a bit with how the wiring should be accomplished, but he planned out how the wiring should be and where the lights should go.  Not bad for an eleven year old.

Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights

The weather has been so warn, that it looks like it’s going to be a hard Christmas for us since we always (or at least usually) get our Christmas tree when it snows.  This will definitely affect our Christmas tree tradition by requiring us to cut down our Christmas Tree without snow this year.  We already proposed the idea to our kids to go this weekend, but they protested (wanting snow) and so we decided to wait a bit longer.

I thought I was done with Christmas Shopping, but wham, now I’m not.  The kids (really my daughter, because the Christmas bells no longer rings for my son) put a few things in the letters to Santa that we don’t have yet.  Actually, on of the big gifts is a new laptop for my son.  I posted about the inner turmoil I had in the previously posted article called: “For Christmas, My Eleven Year Old Son Wants a Laptop!“.  All those who commented swayed my opinion, so now I’m going to buy a laptop for him.  Thanks everybody that commented, your opinions really helped!

So now that I have a lot on my plate still, I need to get rolling, so without further ado, here are some of my favorite picks from the past week:

And now for the Carnivals that I had the honor of being in this past week:

Hope everybody had a great weekend.

MR

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Halloween Is Different This Year For My Kids

November 1st, 2011

Much like the Halloween’s at Everyday Tips and Thoughts, my Halloween were simple but exciting!

My kids are lucky in that Trick-or-Treat is from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on Halloween day in my neighborhood.  Most of the surrounding neighborhoods have it during daylight hours, and on a day that isn’t Halloween.  Is it safer?  Yes, but for a seasoned Halloween-er like myself, it doesn’t have the same feel.  In many ways, I feel that my kids are lucky considering that Halloween in my neighborhood that Norman Rockwell Halloween feel of yesteryear.

3 Halloween Witches

Girl Witches

Then why didn’t my kids go trick-or-treating this year?

My son didn’t get a costume, and  only at the last minute with friends, did he decide to go, but he didn’t even take a bag?!?  So he’s going to come home with any candy.  My daughter (who is only 7 years old), didn’t want to go either!  She stayed home and passed out candy in her Halloween costume.

Confused?  You bet I am!  The group I use to go trick-or-treating with would run to each house to get the goodies!  But not my kids…  There has been times that I have taken my kids to get ice cream after a soccer game for a surprise treat but when we would get there, they would say that they don’t want anything!

Perhaps candy and ice cream has lost it magic with my kids because it’s readily available at home?

This saddens me to a degree, because I had such great times trick-or-treating with my friends as a kid.  Don’t tell my mom, but we would even do a bit of tricking too (heh heh).  My son would never dream of doing any tricks on any of the neighbors.  Where I grew up, the houses weren’t so close together, perhaps it was a bit easier to do tricks when the houses aren’t so close together as they are in my current neighborhood…

And now my attempt to tie this article into a financial one!  Accounting is one area that scares the average small business, but Darwin’s Money wrote a great intro that takes the bite of out the the fear.

Happy Halloween!

MR

 

 

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Our Halloween Tradition Watching The Nightmare Before Christmas

October 15th, 2011

We have a small tradition in my family where around every Halloween, we watch the movie called “The Nightmare Before Christmas“.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

It’s a great tradition where we start the fire (for the first time of the fall season), and then get some of the normal snacks (popcorn, pop, etc).  Next we pop in our five year old DVD and sit back and enjoy the movie.  It’s a fun time for the entire family and we look forwards to it each year.

The movie is full of great still motion effects and catchy tunes, but honestly, I’ve never really thought about any message from the movie other than the basic storyline.

This year I realized the similarities between business expansion , taking risk, failing, and the rewards of trying.

You see the main character “Jack the Pumpkin King” pretty much had a monopoly over the entire Halloween holiday.  The storyline makes you believe that he’s the drive for the scaring part of Halloween.  In the movie Jack allude to how successful they were at their efforts for Halloween during the current year, the beginning of the movie.

Where it get interesting is that even when the Pumpkin King is at the top of his game, he decided it’s not enough.  That’s when he stumbles upon Christmas Town.  He tried to take over the tradition, having Santa Claus abducted under the guise of giving Santa a holiday then he has a go at delivering Christmas presents.

Well, even after a log bout of research and development, when he goes to deliver the presents, he uses the techniques that worked with Halloween Town instead.  The results are disastrous!

As he reviews his experiences, he was initially upset on the failure that happened.  But eventually, he realizes that he tried is best and at least he gave the folks in Christmas town something to talk about for years to come.  He basically licks his wounds and realized it was worth it to give it a try.  He then goes back this Halloween and frees Santa Claus.  Mr. Claus was upset at first, but at the end, give Jack and the characters in Halloween town a special present that they all seem to enjoy.

There is also a sub-theme where Sally (and stitched together doll?) supports him and tried to talk some sense into Jack.  It ends in as a love story…

It’s a great movie, with some great messages if you look for them.

Happy Halloween Traditions,

MR.

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Small City 4th of July Fireworks Display

July 4th, 2011
Small City Fireworks

Small City Fireworks

 

Traditionally my small city has had their 4th of July fireworks display on July 3rd, and this year was no exception.  The reasons they have it on July 3rd instead of the 4th is because they can hire a crew to set off the fireworks more cheaply than on the actual 4th of July, or so the theory goes…

This year’s firework display was awesome too, but not just because of the fireworks display itself (although it was fine), but rather because of the location we decided to watch them from.  This year we went to a small field that was packed with the people from our small city and once again the feeling of a Normal Rockwell scene popped in my mind (read about my Halloween experience that was Norman Rockwell like too).

There were families and a lot of teenage kids in the field.  A baseball game was still in session about a half an hour before the fireworks show began.  Someone was cooking on a grill off to the side, and across the street, the local city ice cream stand was packed to the gill.  There was a steady stream of people bustling to their friends houses that live close to the fireworks show, and a close bar was playing some tunes outside.  The bar owner was cooking stuff on the grill too!

Our kids were running trying to catch lighting bugs (or fireflies), jumping, darting quickly then stopping, pawing at the air as if they were kitten playing with dangling string.  It’s always comic to watch, especially my daughter who is 7 years old, she’s almost to watch.  The as suddenly as their lighting bug quest started, it ended in a sudden game of tag.

After the fireworks display, the kids lit some sparklers and swirled them around laughing and running around.  It was a feel good moment that happens even now and then.

We all had a great time, and now it’s off to bed after a busy day!

Those in the U.S. hope your 4th of July is a great one!

MR

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Christmas 2010

December 25th, 2010

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I hope my daughter won’t be too disappointed!  Her big Christmas gift in her list to Santa was to visit his workshop!!!

My clever wife told my daughter, even if Santa did take her to his workstop, she wouldn’t remember because Santa would make her forget.  Afterall, the location of the workshop needs to be a secret!!!

Thanks for supporting my site!

-MR

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