www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OvUyjsllQM

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{Queue Gillian’s Island Theme Song Instrumental}

Cruise – the second hour:

Around the time we finished running through the cruise ship evacuation simulation (You know, the one where you waddle around the deck with life jackets on?) Kiersten turned to me and said ”Cam, Keighley and I came up with the cutest nickname for you.”

CUT! Before I go any further, let me give you a run down on Keighley and Kiersten’s nicknames.

As you can see, these two have a plethora of nicknames to choose from (and I’m pretty sure I’m missing 3 or 4 nicknames).  I, on the other hand, am lacking in this area.

Where were we? Oh yeah, Kiersten had just announced that her and Ky had a new nickname for me. Take Two!

“You did?”, I abruptly asked. (Naturally, I was THRILLED with the idea of another nickname.  I was on my way to being a member of their “club”. {Cha-Ching!})

“Yeah, we heard this name the other day and thought it was so pretty,” Keighley declared.

“What is it?”

“Bajanga,” Dee & Dum replied in unison.

I rubbed my ears.  They seemed to have been clogged with sea water. “Come again?”.

“Bajanga.”

“Are you serious?” I looked at Keighley, then I looked at Kiersten.  They didn’t crack a smile.  (Ohhhhh, they’re good.)

“We’re serious.  Isn’t it cute?”

“No.  It sounds like a name for female parts.”, I stated.

“What?”, Keighley retorted.  ”You’re sick.  My mind didn’t even go there.”

“Whatever.”, I snipped back.  ”You two probably heard the word ‘Bajanga’ on Oprah.  Is that what she calls her Woo-hoo?”

Kiersten rolled her eyes, “Oh my gosh.  No.  That’s a ‘Va-jay-jay’.”

“Yeah, Cam.”, Keighley (aka Niko Splat) said. “Get it right.”

“Well, I still think it sounds like a word for lady bits.  I hate it.”

“Whatever you say, Bajanga.”

For the next 4-5 days, I was stuck on a cruise ship with Agent Banan-o and Shampoo calling me {queue deep voice} “Bajanga”. They did what they set out to accomplish.  First, they annoyed me.  Second, every time I brought up the fact that “Bajanga” sounded like a name for one’s “Nether-regions” I was ridiculed for being “disgusting”.  Third, I became so tired of their little game that eventually I let them call me “Bajanga”.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who has to put up with crap like this.

Eventually, the cruise ended and we went back to life (where I could once again access useless information online).  Within days of being home, I began my “bajanga” google quest and within minutes I learned.

1. It’s a word that is used to describe a myriad of objects, one of them being a Female’s “Cha-cha”.

MORAL of the story: I’m perfectly content with three nicknames and my sister’s are the dirty ones (i.e. Pickle Ornament).

–Camberley–

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Knowing that I love all things dainty and gold, Michael got me the pinky ring I’ve wanted for years and a new gold chain. The gold chain he got me is extra awesome because I recently lost a very special necklace of mine and have been in mourning for months. I feel like I am beginning to heal. Now if only I could replace the charm that went missing with it… hint hint

excuse the distracting charm

Michael received something that is both practical and special; his quilt!  Despite the quilt not being exactly what I wanted for my man, until the right one comes along it gets the job done. The quilt rarely leaves his side and I am not allowed to use it without his permission.

We both got what we love and I’m thrilled to have 4 years down.

Hopefully the next 4 years will be just as crazy, just as hard, and just as happy.

PS. My sweater is a Savers special and makes me feel like I’m wearing a cloud. Although most people comment about it being a “grandma” sweater, Michael seems to think I look AMAZING in it.

What. A. Man.

Keighley

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Hit us with your best SHOT.

You heard correctly.  We want you to ask us questions and, in turn, we will answer them.  They  could be practical questions, silly questions, questions for Debs or Keighley, decor, food or relationship questions (get the point?).  We will answer…every…last…one…

FIRE AWAY!

P.S.  We will except questions via comments on the blog, facebook messages, tweets, email, text…

(The above letterpress question mark is from Jesse LeDoux’s The Secret Stash)

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This is what the thought of kids does to me!

I could go on forever about all of my hopes and worries, but I will keep that list for my paperbound journal. (yes paper…)

Anyway.

As I put up our Christmas Tree this year, I couldn’t help but become slightly depressed. Although Michael was at home as I decorated the tree I could not for the life of me get him away from the Tube. Despite the windows being open, music playing, and the neighborhood children harassing me in my front doorway (I often open my front door when I’m working in the living room and all the neighborhood  monsters like to visit and ask me 189,345 questions while trying to get Piper Rue to stop growling at them) it took me 45 minutes to get Michael to participate. He finally made an appearance after I screeched that all he had to do was hang the last 4 ornaments! Sounds charming, right?

While I watched him hang the last few ornaments my annoyance subsided as I realized that soon enough there would be children to decorate the tree with me. Not only would I one day have my own little army of elves, but Michael would HAVE to participate because he would have multiple people nagging him. So as I continued to set up my Christmas decor this weekend, I refrained from nagging Michael and instead daydreamed about my own monsters breaking ornaments, fighting over who gets to do what, and getting on my nerves.

Thinking about all the annoying things my kids will one day put me through, my thoughts turned to traditions. Michael and I often debate who had better holiday traditions growing up. Although this discussion always ends in a stalemate, we continue to have it year after year. We have decided that when we eventually have kids of our own, we will combine a few traditions and then create some of our own.

So the first tradition that might make the Poulsen-Fleming cut is…… DRUMROLL………

The Pickle Ornament

The tradition of the pickle ornament has always been regarded as a German Christmas Eve Custom however after extensive research I learned that there is no such thing! Just another case of Americans creating false “history” and trying to integrate it into our own holiday traditions. So being that this tradition is not proven to have actually been practiced hundreds of years ago, I’m not sure I am completely loving it.

So here are a few versions of the “Pickle Legend”:

1. “A very old Christmas eve tradition in Germany was to hide a pickle [ornament] deep in the branches of the family Christmas Tree. The parents hung the pickle last after all the other ornaments were in place. In the morning they knew the most observant child would receive an extra gift from St. Nicholas. The first adult who finds the pickle traditionally gets good luck for the whole year.”

2. “A descendent of a soldier who fought in the American Civil War, John Lower (Hans Lauer?), born in Bavaria in 1842, wrote to tell about a family story that had to do with a Christmas pickle. According to family lore, John Lower was captured and sent to prison in Andersonville, Georgia. …In poor health and starving, he begged a guard for just one pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and found a pickle for John Lower. According to family legend, John said that the pickle—by the grace of God—gave him the mental and physical strength to live on. Once he was reunited with his family he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree. The first person who found the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune.”

3. “The pickle ornament has been a Christmas tradition for over one hundred years. When people first started decorating a Christmas tree to celebrate the Christmas holiday they used whatever they had, including food.

Many Christmas trees were decorated with foods like popcorn, baked goods, fruits and vegetables. Apples and oranges were carefully placed on the trees branches and as the Christmas celebration took off the food was taken off of the Christmas tree and enjoyed. It was a part of the Christmas celebration to take the food off of the Christmas tree and eat it.

Pickles were good to use as a Christmas tree decoration. A pickle is shiny and easy to hang on a tree. A pickle is something just about everyone has on hand and pickles do not spoil fast as they hung on the branches of the Christmas tree so they were a popular food to place in Christmas trees.

Many families placed one pickle in the tree. Someone would hide the pickle and everyone else would look and see if they could find the pickle before anyone else did. Whoever found the pickle first would get a prize. The prize could be something expensive wrapped in a pretty package or it could be as simple as being the first person to pick a food off of the Christmas tree.”

So what do you think?

Pickle Ornament or No Pickle Ornament

keighley

Image 1,3,5 Image 2,4

Ps. Do you have any UNIQUE traditions?

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You see, I woke up with some of the worst stomach pains this side of the Mississippi.  The stabbing, burning sensations were so bad I thought – “I have a stomach ulcer like Keighley. Whhhhhhy us?!?” and “I may need to go to Urgent Care, something’s not right”. I had no idea what was going on with my body because, up to this point, my only symptom was knife-like pains in my stomach (Not my intestines, my stomach).

5 hours later, nausea came knocking at my door and for the next 4 1/2 hours I spent a majority of the time with my head over the toilet.  I assumed I had been stricken with the dreaded stomach flu (since it seems to be spreading like wildfire); but, my severe stabbing pains lingered throughout the day on Thursday. This lingering pain made me take a step back and reflect on my ailments. I have self diagnosed myself with…

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SIDENOTE: According to “The Amazing Days Alive Calculator“, I have been on this earth for 9,740 days.  Until last week, I had gone 9,736 days without…dum…dum…dum…

.

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FOOD POISONING

As Debs would say, “Seriously?!?”.  There are 365 days in the year and I developed food poisoning on a day centered around food.

Luckily, this little girl took those lemons and made lemonade.  I curled up on the couch with a heating pad (and my Boston Terrier), turned on the Wii, downloaded Super Nintendo’s Donkey Kong and developed an addiction. Classic Nintendo games are my weakness. Dallan and I put life on hold.  Every free minute of Thanksgiving break was dedicated to Donkey Kong. Within 72 hours of downloading the game, we had conquered it

I know, I know. We probably should have spent our vacation painting the office and folding laundry.  However, sometimes you need to close the office door, let the clean laundry pile up on an empty chair and get down with your Donkey Kong self.

Epilogue – This morning, I ran to Walmart and purchased the newest version of Donkey Kong.

Dallan’s thoughts: “We are never going to get anything done.  Cancel all remaining plans for the rest of the month.”

My thoughts: “It’s November 29th. Don’t you think trying to beat Donkey Kong Country Returns in 1 day is a little ambitious?”

If I’m not online, you know where to find me.

–Camberley–

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