It’s all about the Holly….

OK, let’s start this off with a little excitement –

Every year, usually in mid-to-late third quarter, I look at hundreds of ticky-tacky Christmas items, as part of my job.
Specifically, I review new items that will potentially be imported by my employer, in the coming year. To ensure that there are no restrictions; and to determine how much we’ll pay in duty to import them.

If you’ve not already decided that this is going to be too boring, read on.

Christmas items, or “Trim-a Tree” items, are a huge deal for retailers.

They stock up during the summer months, and dance around like they have to pee really bad, in greedy anticipation for the day when they can change their seasonal areas out and get to sellin’ Christmas stuff.

It is what it is. I don’t judge.
I’m an enabler, after all.

Anyhow, this product category being such a big deal, you KNOW that there’s going to be thorough rulings in place, defining what a Christmas tree light string is, as opposed to one that technically might not go on a Christmas tree.
More importantly to this story, there is a very comprehensive list of what an item needs to have or to BE, to be considered a “Holiday festive” item, and therefore import-able at 0% duty.

We like 0% duty.

A handful of years ago, the most recent, most detailed version of “Classification of Festive Articles” guidelines was released.
And in it, was an at-the-time insignificant item.
Sprigs of Holly are classifiable as a holiday festive article.

Next thing you know, you are seeing holly on everything! Everything that the rulings determined were NOT, by themselves, festive articles, that is.

Snowmen or their likeness are not considered a holiday festive item. It’s simply a winter item, apparently, unrelated to Christmas.
But... But we don’t want to pay duty to import that big-ass inflatable snowman that sits in your front yard!
No problem.
Just slap a sprig of holly on his hat.
Viola – now it’s CHRISTMAS snowman.

Ditto the big-ass lawn penguin and his polar bear buddies.

And ditto that creepy looking giraffe that’s not actually strangling on the holiday light string, but “playing with” it, according to the product description….

A monument to animal cruelty?
No! It’s a holiday festive item! See? Someone stuck holly on the giraffe’s head!

Honestly, I found myself a little irritated by the whole development. It seemed a circumvention of the rulings put forth, just to save a few cents, at the expense of… ugly-ing up Christmas a bit more. I
t was slightly offensive to me both professionally, and aesthetically.


I mention this because of what happened to me the other night, as I walked my dog around the neighborhood.
I started seeing sprigs of holly everywhere.

I wasn’t seeing Frosty the Snowman in the neighbor’s yard. I was seeing a tiny weed on a top hat.

It wasn’t a cute inflatable penguin, it was a tiny leaf and a couple of berries on a stocking cap…

It wasn’t a giraffe strangling on….er… playing with a holiday light string. It was a giraffe with a tiny scrap of shrubbery stuck on its forehead…

I simply couldn't help myself.

Yeah, maybe I DO need a vacation.

Random Christmas thoughts

And I DO mean random…

I’ve lucked out twice so far, at the post office. Getting there with packages just at the right time, only to turn around while (next or 2nd) in line and seeing folks lined up out the door and down the sidewalk.
No way in hell I’m going back THERE anytime soon.
My luck has been pushed.

Took my last vacation day for the year last week, and went to Christkindl (Kringle) Market with Wendy and Fiona.
We’ve not many Christmas traditions, but this is one of ‘em.

http://www.chicagohotblog.com/chicago-christkindlmarket


First time we went is the very day we found out we were going to have a baby.
So technically, Fiona’s been every year.

It’s beautiful, has great vendors, lovely food and beverages and is just Christmas-y as all get out.
And this year, there was a Snow Faerie/Angel (street performer) that totally captivated Fiona (and me, and many others, for that matter).
She gave off such an aura of calm and otherworldliness, that you walked away wondering if maybe, just maybe she wasn’t actually a street performer…


A gift card is a handy, if at times impersonal gift. But if someone on your list ASKS for them….

The REAL problem with them is that they’re small, and flat, and weigh nothing, and can end up being lost amongst the other items in the bag, and end up… recycled.
We think.
We’re not positive.
We just know it’s gone.
Ouch.

If your kid sleeps for crap, AND is prone to coming to visit you around 11pm every night, just when are you supposed to put all the presents out / put together the big stuff?

Sorry, sweetie. Santa saw that you were awake, and just skipped our house this year.
Sweet dreams.

Every kiosk at the mall was out of the correct size watch batteries. But at least I spent an unnecessary hour at the mall on the Saturday before Christmas, finding this out.

Who knew that this was such a hot holiday gift idea?
“Merry Christmas, baby. I wound your watch…”

That kinda sounds like it should be on the naughty list.

And yeah, I AM the guy who puts a new $15 dollar watch battery into a 4 year old Timex that probably only cost me $30 when I bought it.
I LOVE that watch, the 6-7 times a year I actually wear it…

Daughter did us the solid of getting really sick a week BEFORE Christmas this year. So she should be cool by Saturday.
Last Christmas, her and I both had the flu, and downed Tylenol all day together while watching really bad kid’s TV.
REALLY Bad.
Caillou bad.
Barney bad.

Caillou... the show that she only asks for, when she's feverish. Coincidence?

Looking forward to spending Christmas with my family, all of whom are driving in for the weekend, weather permitting.
Even if it DOES mean I have to sleep in the basement.

Murray Christmas is never on Christmas, so this is really cool.

If you’re waiting on a punchline… there isn’t one.

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family.
May the coming year bring you all joy, good health and prosperity.

Christmas day IS in your grasp, as long as you have hands to clasp.

Almost Home Made, with Sandra Lee

Almost Home Made is on TV, during my lunch hour. Someone always turns it on one of the TV’s at the gym, as, honestly – who DOESN’T want to work out to Almost Home Made, with Sandra Lee?

Well, me.
But I’m 5 minutes in on a 35 minute cardio workout, and there it is, right in front of me…

It’s how I got hooked on One Life To Live, a few years ago.
(And for the record, I hope Rex finds out that Clint paid someone to falsify the paternity test results, and kicks his ass, even though Clint IS his dad….)

Anyhow, I get done with my workout, and I come across this...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denise-vivaldo/kwanzaa-cake-sandra-lee-hanukkah-cake_b_797165.html

Which made me decide to write a blog entry…

For the most part I really enjoy Food Network’s programming.
It’s informative, and entertaining, and I get the same vicarious enjoyment from watching someone cook a fantastic meal from scratch, as I get from watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, or fishing programs on a cold winter day when I’m home sick.

And of COURSE I’ve pulled recipes off of their website after seeing them made, and tried them myself.

I’m a fan.

But THIS show… Can’t stand it.

There she is, talking about a quick and easy meal she just LOVES to make when she’s having a dinner party….

Take some frozen vegetables, a couple cans of mushroom soup, some pre-cooked bacon, pre-cooked cubed potatoes, and a couple of cans of pre-cooked, pre-cubed chicken….

And for desert…. Take one box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix, a can of sliced pineapple, and some non-dairy whipped topping…
(Seriously, she couldn’t even use ACTUAL whip cream? It comes in a spray can!!!)


I understand not everyone’s interested in cooking from scratch. I also am cognizant of time restraints, etc.
Every meal cannot be gourmet.

Good lord, how I know and accept this to be fact.

But do I REALLY need to watch someone prepare a recipe that she found on the inside lid of a container of Cool Whip?

And do so in a vaguely creepy manner?

Sandra, I have two words for you:

Hamburger Helper
Or
Popeye’s Chicken

For Desert:

Hostess Twinkies

And if it’s a really special occasion:

Boston Market

“Hey, let’s go to Toys R Us, right before Christmas!” OR “tis the season to be jolly, my dimpled butt….”

Random Thoughts and quotes from a delightful trip to Toys R US on a Saturday afternoon, three weeks before Christmas.

Thoughts in Italics. Quotes…not in italics.

More or less.

Well, a parking spot behind the store by the dumpster, right next to a front end loader’s still a parking spot…

“Loins all girded up?” as we reach the entrance…

“Seriously? SERIOUSLY????” 90 seconds later.

"we're back to on-line shopping next year. screw the postage." I whisper to Wendy, as I see what we're in for.

Two minutes later: “I’m gonna throw up” as I find myself too close to the most disgusting couple I’ve ever seen outside of those sleeping on el trains. I turn around quickly, and cover my nose with my coat sleeve. Wendy starts to pass me. I grab her shoulder.

“You don’t want to do that.” I warn her, as my stomach subsides.
“Not sure how they did it, but I’m pretty sure they’ve been smoking cat pee.”

“Did you see the McDonalds drive thru play store? Want to teach Fiona to say ‘do you want fries with that?’”
“Something kinda disheartening about the fact that little kids want to play ‘fast food restaurant employee’. Glad Fiona wants to be a cowgirl AND a veterinarian…”

“It’s on the ‘boy’s side’ of the store? You’ve got the store split up between boys side and girls side?”
(what is this, a Jr. High School dance?)
I was assured that not only is this the case, but a slinky dog is a boy’s toy.
As are board games, blocks, puzzles and all electronica, apparently.

And apparently, using same store design logic, all toddlers are… girls.
And boys should not have stuffed animals.
Or sleds.
Or yo yo’s or doctors kits or…

“Sweet geezus I hate this place.”

We found what we wanted, eventually, or as close to it as we were to get at this store.
Baby doll accessories are pretty clearly “girl side” items, so it wasn’t difficult. Trying to find anything else, since we were there and already miserable, was nearly impossible.

Oh, and the only slinky dog in the place - ON THE GIRLS SIDE OF THE STORE!!!!
“Where’s little Ms. Customer Service?!?? I want to show her….”
“Let it go.”
And I let the slinky dog go, too, as it was a cheap plastic one designed for toddlers, and not the one I was looking for.

We get in line, and… stay there. For several soul-eating lifetimes.

Finally, it was our turn, next. When out of nowhere, we were approached by a guy who had one item, and didn’t want to wait in line like everyone else. He assured us he had cash in hand for it, and could we please… We sere standing there with three whole items in our cart. $25 worth of toys for all of our time and trouble and loss of soul….
“Sure, go ahead.”
When he thanked us and whisked in front of us, is when we realized he reeked of alcohol.
“Cocktails first, THEN Toys R Us…. I can see the appeal…”

Finally, we paid for our purchase, after assuring the check out person that we were not interested in opening a charge account today (or ever!!!!) thanks.

“I think I just caught scabies.”
“You did NOT just catch scabies.”

We walk through the door, out into the parking lot.

“Car exhaust never smelled so good.”
Wendy busted out laughing.
“Thank god I didn’t have to go through that by myself.”

“Hey let’s go to Walmart next!” My wife says, not quite keeping a straight face.
“Sounds great! Or we could play in traffic…”

We get in our car, behind the store, next to the front end loader, near the dumpster. Other cars see this, and eagerly await their turn to enjoy our crappy parking spot.
“Suckers!!! Flee!!!! FLEE!!!!!”

I put the car in gear, back out, smile and wave to the people who blocked traffic so I could back out and they could pull in. They smile and wave back.

“Let’s go get custard. We earned it. “