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Y'all know that the whole "cannot tell a lie" is a myth, right?

Anyway, here's some truth for ya: I can stick my tongue up my nose.

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Go Giants! as I am loathe to see the Patriots win another Super Bowl in just ten years. I'm really hoping for a repeat of Super Bowl XLII

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I am year of the Rat. :D (A wood rat, to be precise.)

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I suppose that the one movie that I "must-see" every holiday season is White Christmas. (You know, the one that prompts Clark Griswold to quip, "We'll have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny Fucking Kaye!") My mom recorded it off TV years ago, and we always made time to watch it during the holiday season. Then a few years ago my mom bought me a copy of the movie on DVD, which I now watch when I decorate the Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving.

There is also another movie that I used to watch every single holiday season - A Muppet Christmas Carol.

I don't remember exactly when my parents decided that it was the movie we would all watch on Christmas Eve before bed, but apparently that was one. A few years ago it was another one that I got on DVD, but for the last couple of years I haven't been able to watch it as my husband's family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. The celebration seems to run extra late for the last few years, so I might try and watch the movie Friday afternoon this year.

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Hmm, lemme see.

There were no student loans to pay back.

The cars are paid off.

My wedding band and engagement ring have been paid off for a while (since 2008). My husband's wedding band (both of them XD) was less than $200 so those were just paid off up front.

We rent an apartment, so we have monthly payments on that, which I suppose is a kind of debt.

I think we still have a balance on the credit card of nearly $800, but that's mostly because my husband hasn't gotten around to paying it off yet, but that'll happen soon enough.

So, um, aside from the fact that we owe rent every month, I guess we really have no debt.

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I play the violin, and I've been playing the violin for seventeen, almost eighteen, years.

I don't play as often as I used to, but every so often I'll pull it out of the closet and mess around.

Further more, I had piano lessons as a child, but I really didn't like my teacher. However several years later I decided I wanted to play again and am now largely self taught. The reason why I can read bass clef at all? Because I taught myself.

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Oh God how I wish I were making this up.

( When I tell the story, it doesn't sound like it really happened - and I was there. )

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Text speak in anything OTHER than a text message.

When I see text speak in stories (and not because a character is reading a text), in "serious" blog posts or anything where proper spelling and grammar should more or less be required, it sends me over the edge.

Because you look like an uneducated MORON. I will not take you seriously. So people who review a story of mine with "lol gr8!" is immediately deemed an idiot in my mind. While I appreciate that you enjoyed whatever I've written, if you feel a need to comment do so with proper spelling and grammar. Likewise, if I leave a review for you with, "The plot was strong, but your atrocious spelling and grammar made me want to quit reading a quarter of the way through," don't assume that I'm being a troll. The review function on various websites is meant for readers to leave constructive criticism for the author so the author can say, "Oh, hey, they're right, I really should watch my tenses." For someone to start raging that their writing is "just fine" and "doesn't need any work" after recieving constructive criticism really drives home the whole "uneducated moron" label I've given them by default.

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Hm. I have a passable grip of Spanish. I lovingly refer to it as "combat Spanish" in that I really only end up using it in tight pinches where I need to get something said, and while it's no where near perfect, it's enough to get a point made. Further more, said Spanish is Cuban Spanish versus the Mexican Spanish that dominates the area. Confused the hell out of my Spanish teacher in high school because while she was teaching everyone to speak Mexican Spanish with the Mexican accent, I spoke Cuban Spanish with a Cuban accent (with the lightest traces of Dominican, or so I was told), which is what I grew up hearing. After a while my teacher gave up trying to correct my accent after she listened to an interview with Gloria Estefan in Spanish and realized that my accent was Cuban and therefore technically not wrong. Something I haven't lost from my Spanish classes, though, is my ability to sing Christmas carols in Spanish. I can still rock "Noche de Paz" like no one's business, thank you very much (also this is much to my father's amusement).

I also had a basic grasp of German AND Russian at one point, though since I learned that back in middle school, I've lost pretty much everything excepting knowing how to count to nine in German and how to order beer in Russian (long story on how I remember that tidbit). I've learned a few key phrases in French, but those are just humorous phrases.

I would like to learn American Sign Language. I remember in kindergarten we had weekly lessons in ASL, but I hardly remember any of it. And what I can sign is "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (at leas the main verse) which I learned in elementary school and do it often enough that I can still do it. And I can still sign the alphabet. That's about it. I don't know if I want to be completely fluent in ASL, but I do remember a deaf customer at the store where I used to work and I could sign "hello" and "thank you" (and that was it) to him. I would have liked to do more, but alas, I've long since quit that job.

I'd also like to start learning Japanese, especially since there is a very strong possibility that my husband may end up working there next year. I'd like to be able to function in town without the constant need for an interpreter, but we'll see how that pans out. It's possible that he'll also end up in Australia - in which case I'd probably force myself to learn the basics of Australian slang and whatnot.

Ultimately, my goal is to learn how to say, "Where is the bathroom?" (or "Where is the toilet?") in as many different languages as possible.

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Appetizer: Coquettas de Jamon, no dipping sauce required.

Main course: Cuban style black beans and rice with tostones as a side.

Dessert: Flan

Drink: Honest to God Cuban mojito.

That is my idea of a perfect meal. I wonder if I can get my dad to make it for me the next time I go down to visit?