Gator Pam

Yesterday Santa came and visited all of the Villages. I had spent Friday night wrapping 80 small gifts, and dividing them by age groups and gender. That was just for my Village, the other CAs did the gifts for their own Village. For Gator Town, it was cold yesterday morning (woke up to lows of 27º), so instead of the sodas and ice I usually set out I brewed a 25 cup urn of coffee and another urn of hot water. I had boxes of four different Swiss Miss cocoa mixes, various black, green, herbal, and fruit tea bags, and a box of instant hot apple cider. Small bowls of sugar and Splenda (labled for those who couldn't tell the difference by looking), and a half gallon of milk in a pot of ice. I also put out three bottles of differrent flavored Juicy Juice for the littles. I made a platter of five varieties of store bought cookies, and called the food part done. I had decorated two trees, one on either side of the fireplace in the Commons Room, the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had requested permission to have a fire going if it was a cold day when Santa visited back in October and was told I needed to wait for the chimney to be inspected. It never happened, so no fire yesterday. I put the padded chair for Santa in front of the fireplace between the two trees, and suspended a wreath with garland wrapped around it from above the mantle so it was seen behind Santa. I was not the one taking pictures, but I do hope they come out well. I'll post a link to them when they go up on the website for anyone who wants to see them. I had several residents tell me this was a really nice program. It put a really bittersweet ending to the whole day for me, as it was my last official program before I have to resign due to us moving out of the Village...

The Nocturnal Period Preceding Yuletide T'was the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus. Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the woodburning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific St. Nicholas. The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing sub-conscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof. Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself - thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer, piloted by a minuscule, aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power traveling at what may possibly have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predicates, he vociferated loudly, expelling breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen -"Now Dasher, now Dancer..." et al. - guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities. As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180 degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved - with utmost celerity and via a downward leap - entry by way of the smoke passage. He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebon residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle. His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of his malar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion's floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub and supra labials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen dihydrogen oxide. Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose gray fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was, in short, neither more nor less than an obese, jocund, multi-genarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me risibly frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head slightly to one side, he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless. Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced emptying the aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about face, placed a single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave taking and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility: "Ecstatic yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to the selfsame assemblage my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn."

I usually wait for Target's 90% off Chr-stmas cleaance, and am happy with whatever I find. I don't really need any additional Chr-stmas items, since e go to FIL's to celebrate.

Eve, at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, I think the doors opened 90 minutes before showtime, but I would say except for possible parking issues, that an hour to 30 minutes before showtime should be plenty of time. Also at that concert, we saw people dressed in all types of ways. From ratty t-shirts & jeans to holiday wear. At the concert the year before at Madison Square Garden, people were more dressed up than dressed down.

We all do presents and stockings on Chr-stmas. But instead of signifying the three kings gifts to the Chr-st child, they're mostly Santa and gifts to one another. But, we also give Beorn one gift for each night of Hanukkah. We love our standing rib roast and yorkshire pudding. Or, you could alays try a Chr-stmas goose instead of turkey.

My sister's sending one to Beorn, so I need to read up on them. I don't think they can cheat with it for two reasons: 1) I'm pretty sure it only works with a special type of paper. I may be wrong though. 2) Aren't the answers given verbally through a small speaker? Unless the proctor was hard of hearing, I am sure anyone trying to cheat with the FLY pen would be instantly caught.

There's a Hebrew phrase for that. Shalom = Peace Babayit = Home Shalom Babayit = Peace in the Home

Aww...thanks all. Yes, we celebrate FIL's holiday, and we only celebrate it at his home. If he came to our home that day would pretty much go by without recognition. We would probably try to find a nice restaurant to eat dinner at or something. But, I also blatantly admit that I live a life of contradiction. I don't keep kosher, or even attempt to keep kosher. Yet I prefer going to the most observant shul in town (the Lubavitch Center) for worship. So, leaving out a vowel in a name for HaShem for me is more important than any censure I might receive for celebrating the holiday of another's belief. However, celebrating the holoday the way we do, in a totally secular way with Santa, gifts, stockings, tree, but no prayers that invoke JC does not go against Judaism in anyway that I know of. It's a celebration of winter more than a religious holiday for us, yet keeps FIL happy.

Welcome, welcome. How nice that this thread is the reason you joined the forums. :) I pretty much am usually only interested in clearance when it goes 75% off or higher, but I do like to know what items hit 50% off so I can start watching them for the 75% off. My main interests are small appliances and domestics, with the occasional bar-be-cue grill or garden item thrown into the mix. May I ask what Target related blog mentions GottaDeal?

Welcome to the GottaDeal forums, spwalkhen! We're honored you chose this thread for your first post. If you go into the 2005 Black Friday archives, you'll that the big Target toy clearance in January 2006 was being discussed as the last active thread in that forum before it was closed.

You got the gist of it. I expand upon the traditional Judaic tradition of not writing out the name of HaShem to include any word that includes any name for HaShem I recognize as being used as such. The Name of G-d For instance, many of the students, staff, faculty, and adminitration at my son's school are devotees of Kr-shna. I generally refer to them as HK's in writing, so as not to disrespectfully use a mantra of their's in writing. For many years I wrote X-mas and X-tian as I was taught the X represented the cross, the most holy symbol in Chr-stianity. I have since heard that it is also a way of designating the Greek name for JC. No disrespect was ever intended on my part. But, many people do not know either of these reasons for using the X, and saw it as 'removing the reason for the season.' So, I switched to leaving out a vowel, consistant for the different names I remove the vowel from when I write them multiple times. I am usually asked at least once around this time of year why I do it, and so far have never had anyone claim they continue to find it offensive after I explain my reasons. They may not understand, but they no longer find it offensive.

Welcome to the thread, chwk! I would say the answer to your question is 'not necessarily.' The LRT/PDT scan gun (I always forget which acronym to use) is also used to take inventory. The way I usually tell which associates are marking things down is that they also usually have a small device that prints out the orange clearance stickers along with the LRT/PDT. Most times they use a shopping cart to put the device in (and occasionally to claim clearance items for themselves).

This is my main reason for getting Beorn the Wii. He also has low muscle tone, especially in his upper trunk and body. He hates exercising, but loves video games. We usually discourage him from playing video games, and keep in GameCube and Dreamcast at his grandfather's. Because I am hopeful the Wii will give him opportunities to use his upper body, I am plannign on bringing this console home. I should also discuss this with his physical therapist. Thanks for the idea.

I'm usually very disappointed in the 'as is' stickers at my Target. I rarely even look at them anymore.

Will GameCube controllers work with the Wii? Or is the classic controller needed to play the GameCube games on it? Is the controller for the Wii sports games different from the regular remote and nunchuks?

Any special plans for Chr-stmas Eve and Day meals? As a Jew, I didn't grow up with any special traditions, but since we try to get together with my non-Jewish FIL to celebrate his holiday I try to make it festive. I have learned about the Italian tradition of La Vigilia - Feast of Seven Fishes on Chr-stmas Eve, and would love to do that some day, but right now I think it's financially impractical for us this year. I have about 20 overnight French toast recipes I rotate for our Chr-stmas morning breakfast. So easy to just place it into the oven while we sort through our hung stockings. I always do a standing rib roast for Chr-stmas dinner, with my version of Yorkshire pudding (the recipe was acquired from an online friend on AOL). I have no idea if it's an authentic recipe, but it sure is yummy. However, this year I am considering deep frying the rib roast. It's supposed to be really excellent, but we do like our traditional oven roasted rib roast, and that cut of beef is so expensive I just don't know if I want to risk taking the chance. We snack on sweets, candies, and citrus throughout the day, so I'm not planning on doing dessert. But, home made eggnog is always served as we wind down the evening. I usually make Martha Stewart's recipe, but Alton Brown's also looks good and I may just give that a try. What are your Chr-stmas meal traditions?

I think most people have never heard of my absolute favorite Chr-stmas song, so I'm not surprised no one has mentioned it yet. Snoopy's Chr-stmas, by The Royal Guardsmen You can download it at: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=1817ED7B3BB93F11

This is what time I got in line at Target on Sunday and I did get one. My local Target had 27 consoles though. I was number 15. I think the last person in line who got one that day was in line by 4:50.

I do the same, although I don't always get the item for 75% off. I sure do try to, though! Post #2600!!

Thanks all. If the consensus is that the systems should work fine for three years without an extended warranty, then I'll pass on it.

My sister is sending my 13 year old ds, Beorn, a Fly Pen for Hanukkah because she saw an ad that showed math software helping a teen with algebra. Beorn rarely needs help with his algebra, but what he is doing is already beyond my abilities and Paul isn't always available to tutor him. Does TRU carry this math software? Is it on clearance if they do?

A question from a relative newbie to owning video consoles. Beorn does own both a Sega Dreamcast and a Nintendo GameCube. But, we keep them at FIL's and they're rarely played more than a couple of hours a day during school breaks and holidays which rarely last longer than a week at a time. We've had both several years and they operate with no problems. I've never even considered an extended warranty on them, especially as a new system seems to come out every three years or so. My plans for the Wii is to have it at home, as I really think Beorn will benefit from the physical movement needed to play the games on it. He will probably be allowed to play every day, for about an hour a day. I didn't even think of getting an extended warranty when I bought it yesterday. Do y'all feel it is necessary? And can I still get the warranty at Target that was mentioned earlier in this thread or did I need to request it when I bought the console yesterday? Opinions please...

Aaaahhh...more and more interesting. :gdevillaugh: Thanks!

Interesting! I think the cash registers at the Target I frequent stop scanning items completely if an item scans at 0.00. Sometimes an item that scans 0.00 at the floor scanners comes up with a price when scanned at the registers. Did you see the 0.00 come up as it as rung up, or double check your receipt? Did it ring up at 0.00 at the register and still continued ringing up your other items?

I scored a Wii at Target this morning, too! Got in line at 4:30 am, was number 15. They had 27 consoles.