Happy New Year!

Christmas was wonderful. We had temps in the 80's. Pool and Jacuzzi weather for sure. We ended up having more than 40 people. Lisa did make a comment a few days later that she is not sure if she wants to do this again next year. A lot of the people stayed until 1:00 AM drinking and Lisa was left cleaning. I went to work at 7:30 and when I left the party was in full swing. 

Oreo has gained a bit of weight! 

For New Year's Eve we are going to see The Wolf of Wall Street and then we will go to Canter's Deli which is becoming a tradition with us to have our first meal there to ring the New Year in with. Nothing better than Jewish Deli food!! Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a Happy Healthy New Year! See you next year!

Happy Holiday's

I have been so busy I haven't had much time to blog. I didn't realize it had been almost a week already since I blogged last. We had our Christmas Party at work today and we got out early. I have been busy wrapping and organizing my presents to take to the kids house tomorrow. It is a quiet evening here in my home tonight. The family are spending Christmas Eve at their friends house who will then all be at their house tomorrow for Christmas. So I am enjoying the quiet with my kitties. I always go over there at about 7:00 AM to open presents and have a nice big breakfast. I hear Natasha will be making French Toast. I will head back home and then go back around 2:00. There will be about 40 people for dinner tomorrow. We are having Prime Rib, 2 Turkeys, Honey Baked Ham and all the fixings. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I will get around to your blog visits in the morning. I am beat.

12 Guests of Xmas

Every year Doug Benson of the Doug Loves Movies & Doug Benson Movie Interruption shows has his 12 Guests of Xmas. This time there were actually 13 guests a surprise guest from the TV show Madmen,  Rich Sommer came along with Jon Hamm. It was a great show and it was over 2 hours long. Afterwards the 10 of us that all became friends 2 years ago from these shows went to a late dinner at 11:00 at Jerry's Deli in Studio City. Needless to say I am tired today. I didn't get home until 12:30 and had to be up at 6:00. Tonight is my nail appointment and then home to relax and get caught up in my recorded TV shows. At least there are not too many in my DVR since most shows will be off until Jan and Feb. It is really hard to believe it will be Christmas a week from today. Full steam ahead. It is going to be a very busy rest of the week. I am only working Saturday. Long story short I was given Sunday off in error at the Hospital. So I am going to make the hours up by working Christmas Day 8PM-!2AM and then 4 hours on the 26th since we have it off at my full time job. I will work 10:30-2:30. So my plan with my surprise day off Sunday is to do some deep cleaning, wrapping presents and go to lunch. Saturday before work I am getting together with the girls that I use to work with at BofA at Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant. I will be there Friday night with dinner with the family also.

Jon Hamm & Rich Sommer 

Josh Malina, Samm Levine & Jon Hamm 

Josh Malina, Kevin Pollak, Samm Levine, Jon Hamm & Graham Elwood

Jon Hamm & Graham Elwood 

Housekeeping Meme

Housekeeping Meme
This week let's talk about housekeeping.

It is something we all have to do and it might be fun to see who does what and how!
Maybe you have tips to help us all out or special cleaners you can recommend.

1.Do you enjoy housework? I use to love it but since I have been working 2 jobs now for 12 years it has become a real chore for me to find the time.
2.What chores do you dislike most? Vacuuming and cleaning my mirrors. I have 2 sets of carpeted stairs and 3 bathrooms with very large mirrors in them to clean.
3.Which chores do you enjoy? Dusting and a moping my 3 bathrooms and kitchen floors.
4.Do you have a favorite cleaner? Ed Fred Shower Stall & Tile Cleaner it is a miracle how it works to to remove lime, rust, soap scum and oils.
5.Household appliance you can't live without? Toaster Oven
6.Powder, liquid or new drop in? Drop in for Dishwasher, Liquid for washing machine
7.Softener? favorite brand? I am not even sure?
8.Softener sheets or liquid? I use sheets
9.Dryer or clothes line? Oh a dryer of course!!
10.How often do you change bedroom linen and bathroom towels? Sheets and towels once a week. I live by myself.
11.What one thing would you just love to have to aid in your housekeeping. I am just too picky to let anyone else clean my house the only thing I would consider letting someone to do is my windows and steam clean my carpets.

I am working this weekend. Tonight Don Cuco's with Paul, Lisa went out of town for a Birthday party overnight. Sunday is the Survivor finale and Reunion show. Next week a very busy week for me. I have something to do every night through next weekend. Have a great weekend!

Traditions Meme

Traditions Meme 

1.Are traditions important in your family for holidays or do you just celebrate without them? It has changed since my parents are gone my sister and I follow the traditions of my son and daughter in law. We always celebrate July 4th with a BBQ as we do Memorial Day. Halloween we always go over to their house for dinner and to hand out candy. Of course we celebrate Thanksgiving & Christmas with dinner at their house. New Years Eve Joe and I always go out and we end up at Canter's Deli for our first meal of the year there.
2.Is there one particular tradition that is most important to your and yours? Thanksgiving and Christmas
3.Did you incorporate any new traditions with your family that are in addition to ones your parents held? No
4.What are they? Do you think tradition is important? n/a
5.Are there any traditions you do not include that you would like to try? What are they? Christmas in Maui.
6.Can you tell us why your traditions are special to you and how they benefit you? They are special because it quality time with my family.
8.Are there daily /weekly/monthly traditions you follow? I usually go over to their house on Wednesday for dinner and Survivor and since I don't work at the hospital on Friday nights anymore we go out to dinner usually at Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant every Friday night which I love.

I have been super busy at work. Shipped over 200 boxes of See's Candies and I had to pack and put the postage on each one. It took me days. Tonight Chris and I have a fun play to go to at Garry Marshal's Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake. Falcon Theatre. Troubadour Theater Company's presents, Walkin' in a Winter One-Hit-Wonderland. It is a holiday cabaret "clip show" as one of the Troubadour Theater Company's most beloved characters, Winter Warlock, takes a walk down memory lane while crooning some chart-topping "one-hit-wonders" with his holiday friends. 'Tis the season for fun and reflection, so break out your tape decks and Walkmans and head on down to the Falcon to hear the incredible story of the tallest Troubie this side of town! They always put on a great show.

Blogadays - Day 8 - A Christmas Meme

Thank you, Kim, for this meme!

1 Eggnog or hot chocolate? Don't like chocolate, but I do have a small glass of Eggnog around the holidays!

2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He use to wrap most presents but big items like bikes he hid in the closet.

3. Colored lights on the tree/house or white? I like white lights

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your Christmas decorations up? When I got real trees just 2 weeks before Christmas but since I got a fake one usually Thanksgiving weekend.

6. Favorite holiday dish? Candied Yams

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? So many to choose from. When we were young we would celebrate Christmas Day in San Diego, La Jolla with my Mom's family.

8. When did you learn the truth about Santa? At 4 or 5

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open just one on Christmas Eve. I have friends that only celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate a tree? Country ornaments

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I love looking at it from a distance. Right now I can see snow in our mountains out my window here at work in Arcadia.

12. Can you ice skate? I use to love to ice skate. I would be too afraid now to try it.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Barbie Doll

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Spending time with my family and friends.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pecan Pie

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Opening presents at the break of dawn and then dinner on Christmas Day.

17. What tops your tree? Lady with a beautiful dress.

18. Which do you prefer-Giving or Receiving? Giving

19. Favorite Christmas song? Mel Torme's The Christmas Song

20. Candy Canes-Yuck or Yum? Yum

21. Favorite Christmas show? Saturday Night Live Christmas

22. Saddest Christmas song? I am not a Christmas music person at all so I am not sure?

I was always so fascinated that a Mel Torme a Jew wrote a Christmas song! As I said in my meme answers I am not into Christmas music but this song I just love. He was dubbed "Velvet Fog" Blessed with impeccable timing and a smooth, mellow timbre, Mel Tormé was known during his heyday as "The Velvet Fog." Tormé was the consummate entertainer: as a drummer, singer, composer, arranger, lyricist, writer and actor, his career spanned nearly the entire 20th century of American pop culture. Of course, underlying it all was an intuition for jazz composition and vocal phrasing.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Mine is a working weekend. Tonight we will go out to dinner at Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant and on Sunday Joe and I have a improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade after I get off work.

Heading into Christmas Now!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was wonderful even though I worked 4 hours on Thanksgiving and since I had Friday off at my full time job I opted to work at the Hospital and on Saturday also. But I took Sunday off!! Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. We had 2 turkey's one stuffed and roasted and one Paul deep fried. We had all the fixings plus of course pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, Oreo pie and a cute Baskin Robbins Ice Cream cake with Reese's Peanut Butter Ice Cream. The kids all went ice skating later that evening. The parking lot in Burbank where we usually park to eat dinner at Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant was turned into an ice skating rink until January. It was just too late for me and I was tired and had to be up early to drop my car off at the mechanic and then get to work at the Hospital at 8:00 AM. So I did not go but they all had fun.

Have a great week ahead. We are heading into Christmas now. I am pretty much all done with my shopping. Just a few odds and ends to get. This week I will send all my Christmas cards out.