[brief rant on]

Will all you Christmas-haters please stop persecuting the rest of us in our "land of the free"? I do love the irony, however, of using "happy holidays" to substitute for the seasonally-proper "Merry Christmas"...looking at the origin of the word holiday, from dictionary.com:

[Middle English holidai, holy day, from Old English hlig dæg : hlig, holy; see holy + dæg;, day; see day.]

Enough said? It always comes back to the religious! I'll bet that next year, "Seasons Greetings" will be mandated as it doesn't make any reference to God, Christ, holiness or anything non-secular....
[brief rant off]

So,

Merry Christmas

to ALL, even those who aren't so merry!

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't have any beef against Toyota the company, or with the vehicles themselves. My problem is with the people who buy Toyota cars, trucks and SUVs.

You see, in the last month I've noticed that almost every car that pulls out in front of me, or cuts me off on the freeway, or decides that they have something better to do than pay attention to the road, is a Toyota. Usually a Corolla, but often times a Sequoia or even one of the little trucks. It's gotten so bad that I felt the need to say something to express my frustrations with the brainlessness that seems so prevalent.

The solution to my frustrations is so simple. If you drive a Toyota, pay attention to what's going on around you. It's that easy. If you simply do that, you won't piss of nearly as many people, either.

First, we moved out of our apartment of three years into a house. A week and a half later, I had sinus surgery to remove a polyp that was blocking my left maxillary sinus and almost completely restricting airflow.

Saturday morning, was was awakened by a phone call from Terri...she was involved in a one-car auto accident on I-10 on her way to work. She's not seriously injured, thank God, but she's got some bumps and bruises and a stiff shoulder that she'll be feeling for a while. (If you want to email her, you can use the site Contact form here....)
Saturday afternoon we went to the beautiful wedding for a friend of ours, which was the high point of the day. Unfortunately, at the end of the ceremony Terri got a phone call from her mom with the (expected, but saddening) news that her grandmother passed away.

So, all in all, we've had an exciting month. I'm really hoping that the Thanksgiving holiday and the upcoming Christmas season are much less hectic!

Speaking of Christmas season....[rant mode on]

At what point did Christmas preparations and decorations and commercializing start BEFORE THANKSGIVING???? I have been sorely tempted to tell a few particular stores (Wal-mart and HEB, are you listening? yea, right) that if they don't get over their collective cases of cranial rectumitis and at least PRETEND to respect what the Christmas season truly represents, that I'm going to start a boycott. I am truly offended by these displays showing up before HALLOWEEN, much less before Thanksgiving. I guess I find it strange that Christian people are willing to boycott stores that provide support to Planned (un)Parenthood, but don't take any actions to combat the crass commercialism of this holy season. The Church (that is, the Roman Catholic Church) doesn't make any overt gestures toward the Christmas season until Advent starts, four Sundays before the 25th of December. According to Macy's (at least in the "old days"), Christmas season didn't start until Santa came riding in at the end of the Thanskgiving Day Parade in New York City. So why is it that I could buy a Christmas tree in the October this year? It really, really bothers me.....
[rant mode off]

Like any decade, the 1980's was marked by many different fashion trends. Here are several I found on a website when searching for "80's clothing."

Preppy: Argyle sweater vest, polo shirt with the collar turned up, Izod, Tretorns, boat shoes, khakis...

Miami Vice look: Pastel or Bright shirt with a white jacket, sunglasses

Fluorescent: Lime green, orange, yellow and pink shirts, jelly bracelets, make-up...

Jeans: cuffed, acid washed, stonewashed, pinstripe
Popular Brands: Jordache, Sergio Valenti...(I'm sure there were more, but these are the ones I remember)

"Flashdance" look: Off the shoulder sweatshirt, leg warmers

Big sweater or sweatshirt with leggings or stir-up pants

White button-down shirt with a wide belt

OP (Ocean Pacific) surf wear...this was really popular when I was in junior high...bright colored "jams" and t-shirts

Madonna look: lace, black/white tank tops, poofy skirt, lace spandex capri leggings

"Punky Brewster" look: Bandana around leg, double-mismatched socks and shirts

Sneaker styles: Kangaroos (had a pair in Elementary school), Hightops (Reebok Princess hightops were everywhere...I had so many pairs of these over the years in junior high and high school), LA Gear, Keds (made a comeback after Dirty Dancing came out, but still very uncomfortable shoes with no padding).

Jelly this Jelly that: bracelets, rings, necklaces, shoes, purses....

Hair styles: Feathered, crimped, Ponytail on the side of the head, Ponytail on top of the head and teased. Big hair with the help of mouse, gel, hairspray and a comb for teasing.

Make-up: Heavy make up, baby blue eyeshadow, pink eyeshadow, fluorescent colors

Sunglasses: Raybans were cool, Wayfarers, cat-eye, and the ones Tom Cruise wore in Top Gun

Miscellaneous: Parachute pants, Slouch socks, fringed leather, tube tops, thin ties worn by men and women, RELAX and CHOOSE LIFE t-shirts from Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Wham! music videos

If that's not enough, rent any of the following: Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adventures in Babysitting, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Flashdance or Footloose to name a few. Or do a search online for "80's Fashions or 80's clothes"