I’ll Be Home For Christmas…

I’M BACK!

This Means:

1)      I no longer have to sleep sitting upright. 

2)      My cough drop dependency is nearly non-existent.

3)      The blankets piled up in the middle of the night are due to preference and not Mom’s Orders

Task #18: Finish Taking Pictures for Gift

            How do you take your parent’s pictures without telling them what you are up to???  You tell me…  I gave up trying to figure out how to tell them to get dressed so I could take their picture without actually telling them to get dressed so I could take their picture.  So I spilled that I needed it for a gift.  I know, I know, major fail on my part.

Task #19: Apply for Student Visa

            Lots of blanks to fill, a painful payment, and click of the “finish” button later… and I was all done with the student visa application! I found out today that it is processed and complete which means….. I CAN OFFICALLY BOOK MY FLIGHT!!!

Task #20: Find Christmas Recipe Ideas

            After some bonding time with the Food Network I have decided to contribute a handsome Pesto Pasta Dish and Bruschetta! Yummm

Task #21: Miracle on 34^th Street

            This is a must!  You just can’t complete a Christmas To Do List without it.  It was sooo good.  Lived up to all its glory and then some.

Task #22: Complete a Packing List

            12 pages equates to one year worth of clothing and whatnots.  My masterful planning is complete.  Now I have the hard part left to do which is to actually pack them.

  

With only a Month Left before Leaving I found out:

1)      I can get my sisters to do annoying servant-like tasks just by speaking the following words: “In a month I’ll be gone for a whole YEAR!...Pleassse”

2)      Finding good deals on flights hurts my eyes, head, and wallet

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas...

Task #17: Pictures Pictures Pictures

102 seems to be the magic number because despite meds, fluids, and rest my body consistently remains at the same temperature.  Consistency is suppose to be a good thing right???

Well, I took a little time out of bed rest to finish this task.  I’m not going to lie…It took some contemplation and much will power to get myself up and ready to go.  

Today’s task was all about capturing and preserving memories.  My mother is always complaining how we haven’t taken “real” pictures of the family in quite some time.  So I decided to take care of this.  I had the siblings dress in their best for a little photo shoot (minus me, though the blood shot eyes, deep set eye bags, and ill stricken face would have made for some humor).

Tomorrow’s task is going to be far more tricky.  How do you get your parents to dress up and take pictures without letting them in on your surprise gift???  Hmmm That is what I will be contemplating tonight.  Until then, I am back to my bed joined by a cup of hot tea and the overwhelmingly satisfying smell of vics vapor rub.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Task #16: Classic Movie Marathon

Being Sick forced me to switch up a few tasks.  So I moved up this movie marathon and pushed back my library adventures.

I spent the entire day with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.  It’s as if Turner Classic Movies knew I would be watching.  So my fellow sickling of a sister and I bonded over packs of saltines and the beauty of a black and white film. 

An Andy Hardy Marathon made this task easy.

I wish everyday life was like this.  Then it would be filled with singing, dancing, quick dialogue, and innocent romance.  Perhaps I should make this happen, and go to the grocery store, dance down the isles, sing to the cashier… Ya, that’s not happening. I’ll leave it to the films.

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…

Task #13: Create a Christmas Wonderland Indoors

Task #14: Watch all of the Jurassic Parks Back to Back

Task #15: Plant a Garden

The combination of a fickle wireless connection with that of being ill stricken has prohibited my daily submission of story time into the world of the Blog.

I probably should have seen this coming being that I live in a house currently contaminated by the cold, flu, and strep.  

However, it didn’t stop me from completing my tasks.

#13) I channeled my inner Martha Stewart to dress the table, put some more finishing touches on the tree, and light the room.  It’s ridiculous the amount of fun I had decorating the dinning room.  Thank goodness for the extra boxes of decorations I stumbled upon while organizing the garage.  I will have to figure out how to post pictures to show you my creation muhahaha cackle cackle cackle!

#14) It’s been awhile since I’ve spent some quality time with Jurassic Park. 

In completing this task I found:

1)      My dad and I can still quote most everything. He is the Best Jurassic Park Buddy EVER!

2)      The more I watched it the more I laughed (Unfortunately not during parts that were suppose to be humorous)

3)      The dinosaurs were not like I remembered

4)      Despite the silliness of it all, I still love it

#15) A garden in the Middle of December?!?! Ya, it probably wont grow and even if it did it will be a surprise.  You see, we get these seeds in the mail every now and then and whoever decided to open them up and dump them all together into one drawer…probably not the brightest of ideas, then again, neither is planting a mystery garden during winter.  If it produces anything I will be sure to inform. The task was to “plant” not to “grow” therefore I am crossing this off!

Please have snow and Mistletoe, and Presents Under the Tree…

Task # 12: Wrap Christmas Gifts

I naturally followed my long day of Christmas shopping by a gift wrapping marathon.  My room is an explosion of Christmas paper, ribbons, and bows.  I plan on cleaning up tomorrow.

A week or so ago I saw this Christmas “How To” video. It showed how I could use plain brown paper to wrap the present, but using ribbon, pinecones, ornaments, and foliage could transform the seemingly dull into extraordinarily festive and exceedingly beautiful.

I gave it a go and what I found was this:  I am the reason they make pretty printed wrapping paper.  No matter how many bows I put on my gift just remained boring.  And you could most clearly tell that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.  It did not come even remotely close to the lovely gifts in the video. 

So what did I do???  I gave up, gave in, took a trip to the store, and bought the wrapping paper.  I have to say that the penguin and polar bear playing in the snow make a more festive gift than my poor excuse for an attempt.

My parents’ gifts were the victims of my trials and errors because I figured they are obligated to love me no matter how poor my wrapping skills are. Luckily by the end I was able to create a decent looking gift!

All I Want for Christmas is You...

Task #11: Buy All Christmas Gifts

Its 11pm and I just got home from a long day of gift hunting.  It's a jungle out there and finding gifts for each family member can be pretty intimidating.  I cannot surrender the details of my purchases for fear that I will give away the surprise.  After all, watching the facial expressions is the best part about gift time!

Walking from shop to shop while carrying bags definitely provided me with my workout for the day.  Today just reinforced my feelings that shopping for girls is much more fun than shopping for guys.  Let's face it, after the age of 6 boys just become difficult to shop for.

Anywho, due to the secrecy of this task, I am going to have to keep this one short.  If you have yet to do your gift shopping I wish you well.  Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas…

Task #10:  Fill out a box of Christmas Cards

Several hours sitting on the living room floor writing Christmas cards left me with a cramped hand, but it was well worth seeing the stack of envelops filled and ready to go.  I have to admit, I had to repeat a few messages because coming up with 50 original things to write....well, that just wasn’t within my brain power’s jurisdiction. 

They are all on their way into the hands of people I've never met.  Complete strangers? Well, I just like to think of us all as distant neighbors.

If I were going to do like Julie Andrews and sing about my favorite things, letters would definitely be mentioned a time or two.  It’s hard to explain the absolute excitement that accompanies receiving mail that doesn’t contain bold print telling me I could win big.  So, the way I figure, if I can potentially make someone’s day or even moment, then my time and ink was well worth it.

So Today’s Findings are as Follows:

1)      I now have the ability to draw Christmas figures like nobody’s business.  Christmas trees, a well dressed snowman, snowflake, you name it!

2)      I can transfer large helpings of chocolate kisses, wheat thins, and fruit snacks from bowl to mouth with ease.  I could be a magician the way I make them disappear.

3)      When purchasing pens from the dollar store, don’t expect them to be long lasting

What a Bright Time, It's the Right Time...

Task #9: Put Up Christmas Lights

Surprisingly enough, this didn't take nearly as long as it did to actually find the boxes of Christmas decorations. I sure could have benefited from Superman's X-ray vision. 

I vote that this time around we mark the boxes with something exceedingly clever like “Christmas" or  "Decorations” or perhaps be extra daring and put the two words together.

Let me share a few things with you:

1)      Untangling lights requires much patience, but if you have Bruno Mars in the background telling you he'd do anything for you, it makes time pass quickly

2)      You can get shocked by exposed wires (so be sure to check them out BEFORE  you plug them in)

3)      Even the slightest of electrical jolts can hurt

4)      Either I need to grow a few inches or my ladder needs to be taller (I had to surrender the icicles to my dad)  

5)      I am afraid of heights.  Actually, this isn’t a recent development.  To this day, the playground swings frighten me (This would be the REAL reason my dad is in charge of the icicles)

6)      Sometimes, just when you think you have everything right, your little sister will point out that the reindeer look like they are sniffing each other’s butts.

Overall it was a productive day. I wrote a few letters, found my ID, searched flights, wrapped some presents, and finally gave my house the warm décor of Christmas lights it's been missing. 

All I have left to do is to locate and gather all my pens, markers, and glitter glue for tomorrow’s venture into the land of Christmas cards!  

Happy Lighting!

Oh Little Star of Bethlehem...

Task #8:  Take Some Time to Stargaze

You will come to realize that my Christmas "To Do List" is quite random and this just further proves it.  The winter months bring an early sunset which makes for longer nights and more opportunities to take a breather from life, sit back, and look at the stars. 

It helps that I live in a place where a high of 80°F in December is nothing to be alarmed at.  This way, there is no, “it’s too cold” excuse to deter me from my list.

Things I learned attempting to complete Task #8:

1)      My sleeping bag fits nicely on top of my Xterra

2)      I can locate one of the dippers, but no matter how hard I try, without the other to compare it to, figuring out whether it was the "Big" or the "little"... I will never know

3)      The quiet of the night is kind of scary.  If I hadn’t been parked right in front of my house, I'd probably be spooked by every little rustling noise

4)      Hot chocolate is not just great by a fireplace

5)      Climbing to the top of a vehicle is much easier than getting down

All in all, with the hustle and bustle of searching for gifts, gathering decorations, and everything else that life throws at you, taking a break from it all can be a nice treat in the middle of the week!

But if you live in a cold climate, maybe hold off on the outdoor stargazing, I wouldn't want you to get sick because that would certainly do no good.

Do You See What I See...

Task #7 Make a Truthful Visit to the Optometrist

If you know me, you know that I am virtually incapable of lying.  Call it a voice in my head, a gut feeling, the angel on my shoulder telling me “no, no, no”…I simply cannot bring myself to do it.

Now I’m not saying I can’t joke or give my rendition of sarcasm because it is in those cases, in which lying is blatant and expected, I find no trouble with a little light hearted humor.

There’s a saying that states to every rule there is an exception.  This is mine: Since I can remember, when visiting the eye doctor, I have never been the most truthful when it came to the Eye Chart.  You know which one I speak of; the one that starts with the enormous “E” and proceeds into a pyramid of unrecognizable print.

Here is my confession:  I always read out the letters of one eye, memorize it, switch eyes and repeat.  Now you may be wondering, “Why in the world would you do that?”  My answer doesn’t really justify anything, but I might as well share my skewed reasoning with you since I’ve already revealed this much.

The way I figure it, the same prescription on both eyes means:

1)      I never have to worry about keeping track of which side of the case I put my contacts in

2)      I only have to keep one spare in my purse because if it rips or falls out the matter of which eye would not be an issue

3)      When I do find myself in the above predicament I will not wait in hope that my other contact will tear or get lost due to uneven numbers.  This way if the same thing happens again to the same eye, I am still A-OK in the balance in numbers of the contact world

See, I told you it wouldn’t make much sense.  So my Task today was to visit my optometrist and when standing at the tape looking at the pyramid of disappearing text I would SAY IT LIKE I SEE IT.

AND I DID!!! Yep, you are reading the blog of a girl with two different prescriptions and two different boxes of contacts to prove it. 

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree…

Task #6 Creating Christmas Ball Ornaments

Welcome to Vanesza’s Craft Corner! I dubbed today Ornament Making Day which basically means quality time with glitter, glue, and popcorn.  Harmless enough right??? That would be a NEGATIVE. 

Why is it that the events that pose to be seemingly juvenile tend to be the ones that make for a slightly dangerous endeavor?  Let me just begin by saying that the fire extinguisher I had ready and waiting during my cooking adventure yesterday would have served a more useful purpose today.

It started this morning when I searched “Make Your Own Christmas Ornaments”.  I found this neat idea which seemed simple enough.  All I had to do was buy glass ornaments, fill them with popcorn, microwave, and VOILA: Instant cool looking ornaments to glam up the tree!

After purchasing my needed materials I headed home and began right away.  My downfall occurred when I neglected the part which stated that I was to keep watch of it.  I learned why fairly quickly.  Smoke and the Smell of burnt popcorn made its way through the kitchen.  I opened all the windows and got in an extra workout when shooing away the smoke.  My next attempts didn’t end as catastrophically.  I had a few slightly darken kernels, but not any nearly as bad as the first.

I am still spraying the Febreze periodically and a new Glade plug-in takes its new home in my kitchen outlet.  It wasn’t quite smooth sailing, but despite some rough waves, task #6 is finished!  

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Task #5 Make Cake Batter Pancakes

Having a kitchen in college taught me a few tips and tricks:

1)      Adding a tablespoon of instant coffee to your chocolate cake mix enhances the richness of the chocolate flavor.

2)      When baking, substituting the oil with peanut butter can be a yummy alternative

3)      Adding a flavored extract (vanilla, peppermint, coconut, etc) to a simple syrup mixture can create fun new flavors when put into hot chocolate and hot/iced coffee.

4)      When bacon burns, public safety will be knocking at your door

5)      When fish burns because you are too distracted by Pocahontas singing Just Beyond the River Bend, public safety will be knocking at your door

I also got to thinking up ways to tweak meals into individual portions.  There was one thought I always had in my head but never quite got to perfecting…..It was this:

How can I make a quick easy individualized dessert??? 

Today I spent some time trying a few things out and have found a decent way to satisfy a sweet tooth: A CAKE BATTER PANCAKE!

For each small pancake: I took 1/4^th  cup of cake mix, added about 1/9^th cup of milk (you may have to judge depending on the fluff you desire) and MIX….On medium heat place a spoonful of butter at the base of the pan and pour your batter over it…When the bubbles form at the top of your pancake its time to flip.  And there you go. You should get yourself an individualized cake that was quick and painless!!

Peace, Love, and Cake Batter Pancakes

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree…

Task #4: Take a Ballroom Dance Lesson

I am one step closer to appearing on dancing with the stars!  All I have left to do is learn more than the 7 steps I was taught today and increase my comfort level with skin tight sequence.  Doing something which classifies me as a “STAR” would probably be required too (I don't think my mother telling me I'm bright is sufficient enough).  I’ll have to remember to put that on my next To Do List.

My friendship with Mr. Foxtrot, Miss Samba, and Mrs. Swing are a little complicated.  My head likes the idea of it, but my stubborn feet do not feel the same way. I found out my multitasking skills only apply to the world of academia.  Talking and dancing is too much for me, heck, breathing and dancing is a challenge!

And who, might you ask, were my fellow dance taking neighbors?  It wasn't quite a room filled with Antonio Banderas look-a-likes. It was, however, a group of 50-70 year olds much like the television soul mates I found during yesterday’s task.  Yes, they were Senior Citizen hotties for sure!

Tomorrow’s task requires major kitchen time, but don’t you worry, I will have the fire extinguisher at arms length.

I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus…

Task # 3:  Attend a taping of a Local Television Show

So, I didn’t catch Santa and my mother rendezvousing underneath the mistletoe, but I did catch my morning television hosts at a live taping today!

It wasn’t until 9:30 this morning that I realized who my true compadres were.  I sat in my seat and took a good look around only to find that I was surrounded by women ranging 50-70 years old (and of course the one husband who’s wife more than likely tricked him into coming).  Yep, that’s right, I, the 22 year old college graduate, share the same taste in morning television as the grandmothers of Arizona.

We had to check in an hour and a half before show time.  Needless to say, this provided me lots of “getting to know you” time.  I found it to be quite amusing and rather educational. 

1) I learned that when we get older our attention span lessens, or at least that’s what I gather from the woman next to me who would turn to me, ask me a question, and before I got two words in she would start humming and turn to the woman next to her to discuss the topic of hard candy (this was a repetitive process). 

2) I also learned that when we get older, we will be well informed in all things relating to the topic of dentures.   Yes, from adhesives to implants, repair to something called a Reline kit, we will someday know all there is to know about the not so wonderful world of dentures.

Everyone there was sweet, I ate my weight in gourmet cookies and cupcakes, and won a gift card. All in all, it was the makings of a oddly humorous time.  Who would have known I would find my television viewing soul mates, gain 10 lbs, and learn about the importance of taking calcium and magnesium supplements all in a single morning?  If that isn’t success, I don’t know what is!

Walking In a Winter Wonderland….

Task #2:  Purchase my First Powerball

I’ll admit that the dairy section of the grocery store isn’t exactly a winter wonderland, but it’s the closest I’ll be getting to one any time soon.  Oh, the grocery store.  Today it was where I visited my favorite coffee isle (the aroma makes me happy), tried a sampling of the barista’s experimental concoction, and BOUGHT MY FIRST POWERBALL TICKET!

If the all caps were not enough of an indication to convey my excitement, just ask the lady who registered my numbers.  She asked me if it was my birthday because according to her I looked really excited to buy the ticket.  I informed her that it was not, but that it was my first time purchasing a lottery ticket.  She proceeded to ask me if there was any method to my madness. So I told her...

You’d think I’d be smart enough to look at previous numbers and use some sort of probability method, but let’s get real….So what exactly did I do???

Well, I received my student ID number today and so, what better way to use it then to mix and match the incredibly long set of numbers into 6 magical numbers.  It probably won’t get me squat other than the loss of my dollar, but I just had to…it was on the list.

On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To ME....

Task #1: Buy a product from QVC

Today marks the day I made my very first QVC purchase!  I've been sucked into the world of home shopping networks since Fall of 2008 when my channel surfing led me to a segment featuring cute leather boots.

I'm the girl who has to shut her eyes and speed walk past the carts in the middle of the mall for fear that I will go home with 5 hair clips putting me in the whole 50 bucks (true story)...This being said it's not surprising that I could not unglue myself from the television set.  It was my worst nightmare, THE CART LADIES IN MY LIVING ROOM!!

I didn't purchase the leather boots today, but I did embark upon the wonderful world of the Wen Hair Care System.  After seeing infomercial after infomercial and advertisement popups allover my computer screen, I thought it must be a sign. Never-the-less, whether it be a sign from the advertisement gods or Just good pesky sales tactics TASK #1 is COMPLETE! 

Hopefully it's forever out of my system because my credit card is always looking a little famished after the holidays and I would very much like it to survive the Christmas Season.