PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.51

1. So, have you been naughty or nice this year? Both? Gimme details!
I think everyone's a little of both, right? I mean, I try to be nice most of the time. I just donated books to the reading program I volunteered at this last summer. I try to maintain peace around people around me. I try not to fly off the handle too much. But I *do* fly off the handle. And get paranoid. And go see strippers in Vegas! Speaking of which, my sister was here last Friday for her birthday, and we took her to a strip club because she's never been and she's been begging me to take her since she turned 18, so I was like, what the hell? The women were less skanky than the last time we hit that place. Some of them were actually attractive!

2. Are there any Christmas television commercials that you look forward to each year?
The only one that comes to mind is the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" commercial, which I haven't actually seen in years. And wasn't there one with a snowman zooming around in the snow on a Norelco razor or something???

3. Are you the type that likes to know what you are getting as a present (do you rattle the boxes?) or do you like suprises?
I *totally* dig surprises! My husband could leave all my presents out on the counter in a bag or something, completely unwrapped and unlocked and unhidden, and I wouldn't even TOUCH the bag!!! Now, I like to make sure that I get things that I actually WANT, so every year I have a LONG Amazon.com wish list, but that gives them lots of options to surprise me with!!!

4. Have you ever been scared of those "mall Santas?" Is there anything at "the mall" that does scare you?
I am not scared of mall santas, but last night JP & SL asked if we'd sat on Santa's lap yet this year. And the thought was just revolting! I'm not going to sit on some strange man's lap just to get a picture!!! Yikes! I guess it's just my core mistrust of men or something...

5. We've talked about Holiday foods you love, so what holiday foods do you hate?
When the fuck did we talk about Holiday foods we love??? You know what I absolutely ADORE my mother's fruitcake. I think everyone who hates fruitcake hasn't had my mom's fruitcake. It is sweet and very flavorful, usually with a hint of rum. She hasn't made it in years, and I miss it!!! The one holiday food I hate is eggnog. Eww! Oh, and cranberry sauce. Cranberries in general are evil.

6. Have you ever forgotten to buy someone a gift? How did that situation play out?
I'm pretty sure I've never forgotten anyone. But every year I feel bad that we get my family lame, cheap gifts, and his family nice, expensive gifts. But this year I was thinking about it, and it's nobody's fault but maybe mine and theirs, because I just don't know them well enough anymore to know what the hell they want!!!

7. Describe (or post a pic of) the tackiest holiday yard decorations you've ever seen?
I don't really think that lawn decorations are ever really *too* tacky. It's all in fun and all. I don't really like those plastic characters with the lights inside though. I like romantic christmas lights, not big lawn deer or lit-up-from-the-inside snowmen.

Bonus: Can the people on TV see me or am I just paranoid?
How did you know????? Actually, I don't know about you, but I don't think people on TV can see me. However, I've never told this bit to anyone, so keep it a SECRET, ok? When I was 11/12 or so I was a huge Duranie and had their pics ALL over my walls. Like nearly every square inch was covered with posters or pics torn from teen mags. And after so many hours and days and weeks and months of fantasizing about them, one fantasy popped into my head that D2 had installed some weird camera system into one of their posters. And they could see me. And whichever one I had the hots for that week had fallen in love with me. And through magic he could pull me through the poster and we would make out and live happily ever after...

And you know that paranoid side of me? The insane, slightly OCD side of me? That thought carried over to all the other posters in the room too. And eventually most pictures in general. It is still a weird compulsion that I have to stop from turning over the TV guide when I'm naked, so that the person on the cover can't see me.

Today's Comment Question: What was your best! present! ever!??
Probably the best single present ever was my camera a few years ago that hubby got for me. It is amazing, and I was SOOOO impressed that he got it because it was so expensive, and I just love it. But the best Christmas haul was when I was somewhere between 8-10 or so. Me and my sister were living with just my mom in an apartment here in WA state, while Dad had my brother back in Hawaii. We were very poor and living on welfare, and mom scraped pennies and got extra cash from Gramma in Hawaii to make it the most amazing Christmas ever. My first impression upon emerging that morning was that everything was red. I think that she'd used alot of red wrapping paper. But out in front was my first bike, and it was red. And every single thing wrapped under the tree for me was something Garfield. I was obsessed with Garfield and I was so ecstatic. I had a bike, a stuffed Garfield, and a million Garfield things! I still have the little velcro Garfield wallet somewhere in my stash of childhood memorabilia...