Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Happy HoliDAZE

On Saturday, we headed out toward the annual Springfield Christmas Parade. It was windy, but fairly warm for mid-December.
Here we are, bundled and posing for the camera. I can't even keep my eyes open when I'm taking my own picture.
You won't get any candy standing way back there!

Speaking of candy...the highlight of the parade was a verbal altercation involving two women and some candy. Apparently, someone stepped on someone else's foot while retrieving candy from the street. Mind you, the candy in question was only tootsie rolls and peppermints. Nothing to get one's panties in a bind if you ask me. The police officer, whose main job seemed to be traffic control, had to intervene. I like this picture, because it looks like there is a lot of Christmas love going around. Not so...as soon as the officer would walk away, the woman in the tan coat would turn and start mouthing the much larger foot-stepping woman. We missed a good portion of the parade, just enjoying the street show taking place right in front of us.

Sunday evening, Christina and I braved the forecast and went to Silver Dollar City. It was really warm - strangely so. The lines for rides weren't very long, so we rode a few favorites. I also rode one that Christina had ridden before - the Barn Swing. It was something! We'd watched the lighted SDC parade (my favorite float is above) and finished riding. As we were headed into the Christmas shop, there was a huge gust of wind. Suddenly, it was really cold! It started to rain lightly, so we decided to leave. Lots of people thought this was a good idea, so there was a large crowd gathered waiting to ride the trolley back to the parking lot. We thought we'd just walk - after all, it was all downhill. We followed the walking path until it abruptly ended. There was a sign posted that said "No crosswalk. Traffic does not stop. Use park transportation." Um...would have been nice if there'd been a sign a little sooner. By now, all that stood between us and the parking lot was a road. Forever and always, you've been able to walk from that lot to the park and back, so we were ill-prepared for the abrupt end to the walkway. Not to worry - we darted across the road and made it safely to the car.

If I haven't bored you to tears yet, I have just one more holidaze story. After work today, I went to the post office. I got into the line for the automated stamp and mailing machine. As I eyed the box full of envelopes carried by the woman in front of me, a man joined the end of the line. He had been waiting in the regular line where you speak to a person when you reach the front. He loudly told everyone within earshot that he'd been in the line 20 minutes and only 4 people had made it through. He continued his monologue with minimal encouragement from his audience. The line moved, bit by bit, and soon it was time for the woman with all the envelopes. She weighed and printed postage for each one. One. At. A. Time. A postal employee appeared from nowhere to greet all of us and make sure we were finding what we needed. Mr. Loudmouth took the opportunity to tell the poor guy all of the flaws of the U.S. postal system. I felt sorry for the guy, but he took it well. I wonder how many times today he has heard the very same complaints? Soon it was my turn. I could feel the hot stares of the waiting masses behind me, so I hurried through as quickly as I could. When it came time to put my pin number in for my debit card, the machine wouldn't take it. I could feel the panic rising, so I backed through the menus and ran it as credit. Whew! I hope that my package reaches it's destination. In my haste, there is no telling where I sent it!

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