Hi there. Hope you are all having a great weekend so far. I know there are lots of runners who are in Hawaii this weekend for the Honolulu Marathon. JEALOUS! (well, except for the idea of running in humidity).

Yesterday, I took a nice brisk walk through the neighborhood.

holiday decorations walk

this was definitely a BRISK walk. It was cold out.

I passed a bunch of homes decorated outside for the holidays and it reminded me of the post I wrote last year when I ran past some majorly absurd holiday decorations.

Do you remember the snowman that was square? The Icecube man!

ice cube man

square man

Make sure you go read that post for a good laugh but here are some more decorations I discovered yesterday.

There was the swan. Explain to me why this is related to any winter holiday?

swan decoration

Reindeer: yes, Peppermint candy: yes Santa: yes, Swan: WTF?!

And these pirate looking toy soldiers were so scary looking.

unwelcoming toy soldiers

Scary pirate toy soliders

There was also this Mr. and Mr’s Gingerbread but Mr Gingerbread’s pants were falling down. Scandalous =)

scandalous

Gingerbread couple. It’s hard to see but Mr. Gingerbread’s “pole” is visible because his pants were falling down. ROTFLMAO!

And then I saw these two decorations, the Eiffel Tower and a huge jeweled crown. I’m stumped.

Eiffel Tower and a Crown on the lawn

Eiffel Tower and a Crown on the lawn. Explain please!

So that’s that..

Today is a busy day. First I’m headed to the local dog park to help take photos for their big event: Pictures with Santa.

pictures with santa

pictures with santa

Duncan loves to pose with santa!

dog and santa pic

Duncan and Santa “Paws”

I’m not as much a frequenter of the dog park anymore but I do all their graphic design stuff pro-bono (logo, flyers etc) and last night I helped ice and decorate the cupcakes that will be sold today.

holiday cupcake decorating

holiday cupcake decorating

Then I’m heading over to a Caring Kids event. Caring Kids is an organization my Sister-in-Law is co-executive director of.

 

Caring Kids

Caring Kids

Their mission is to help children grow into compassionate, positive, and empowered members of society through character education, social activities, and parent support. And today is their 4th annual holiday party and charity drive. We all sponsored an underprivileged child and purchased gifts that they requested. Today we’re going to wrap the gifts and get them ready for delivery. It will be a fun, festive and heartwarming afternoon. Just a big reminder what the true meaning of gift giving is all about.

And because that isn’t enough for one day, I’m rushing back from that to head over to my friend Nicole’s holiday party.

So what are you up to this weekend?

And tell me what is the most absurd holiday decoration you’ve ever seen?

 

Hi there.

I am happy today. Want to know why?

1. I ran
2. I FINALLY set up social media functionality for this blog. See…. —–>
3. I took a nice walk with the doodle in a meadow/wetlands area
4. I was off from work today

I have a routine with the dog that whenever I leave the house I have him lay down on his dog bed and I give him a cookie. Before I left for my run this morning he had a moment of confusion and got the stairs mixed up with the dog bed. But then when he saw that I was standing on his dog bed he got all posessive and came to “claim it”. Good dog!

prerunritual
I headed out the door for a new 5 mile route thanks to Day 5 of the 25 days of fitness challenge that Monica over at RunEatRepeat is hosting. (Today’s fitness task was to try a new workout or take a new running route). It ended up being WAY MORE UPHILL than my usual route. But I embraced it! Hills get you higher right? Well elevation-ally speaking anyway.

watch125
I noticed a whole boatload of holiday decorations as I ran through the neighborhood. Some things I’m just not sure about…..so let’s discuss:

First there was the square snowman. Is this supposed to be a snowman made of ice cubes? Then wouldn’t it be an iceman? Or is it a Marshmallow man?

iceman

Frosty the ice man

Then there is what I call the Yard Sale. How many lawn adornments is ok. I think this is probably borderline.

yardsale

Yard Sale decorating

Cartoon Characters: Do we think that characters like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Snoopy, Mickey and Minnie are stealing Santa’s thunder?

characters

And is this Santa a little creepy?

creepy santa

creepy santa

Does Hanukkah Harry Exist? Or is this just a Jewish Polar Bear?  And Does that mean there might be Jewish Penguins out there too? (I just noticed the santa clad dachsund to the left. weird!)

hanukkahharry

Mr & Mrs. Santa Ducks? These homeowners have to be duck enthusiasts. Either that or they’ve quacked up!

ducksAnd then the yard sale house had some duck-age happening too (it looks like left over from previous holidays)

moreducksSpeaking of previous holidays, I think it’s safe for the scarecrows to come down now.

scarecrowBut who am I to judge. This is the extent of my holiday decorations

sally-nodecorateI better stick to running.

Considering it’s December here in NY it was rather warm today, so I took the doodle for a nice walk.

mtloretto

Question: Discuss what you think of the boatload of holiday decorations I covered here. Do we like ducks? Are we cool with having Santa share his spotlight with Disney and Sesame Street characters? What’s more pleasing to you, the yard sale look or a single wreath with some white lights and a single bow? I’m a less is more girl.