Teresa and I went to visit her cousin in Houghton/Hancock, MI this weekend. We had a pretty good time. While there, we went to Calumet. It's a neat town but seems like a lot of buildings are empty and everybody is leaving. I happened to come across a book at a bookstore this weekend that showed how much of a bustling place that used to be back in the mining days. Quite a bit different from now. I'd like to spend some time there taking pictures of buildings. Lots of neat old stuff there. While there, we stopped at the St. Paul the Apostle Church. I had stopped there once a couple years ago with a friend but didn't have my camera with so I wanted to go again. We went on a Sunday and found it a bit odd that the front doors were locked just after noon. We ended up getting in a side door meant for the handicapped. Pictures here (along with pictures from last weekend).

Besides that, we just relaxed and tried to watch a couple movies. We rented RV, which I had seen with Cayley and Barb in theatres, along with Ice Age The Meltdown, Nacho Libre and You, Me and Dupree. Teresa has an Apex DVD player that she got from Wal-Mart awhile ago and to my amazement, it wouldn't play the legit movies we rented. It kept skipping and missing parts of the movie. There were no scratches or smudges on the disc so I went and bought a lens cleaner. After that didn't help any, I took the player apart and nothing looked to be wrong but my electronics knowledge is limited. I guess I can just leave it to being cheap junk from Wal-Mart. Here's a lesson people: save up and buy a decent brand instead of crappy electronics. I've noticed that there are fewer and fewer stores stocking good electronics. Keep buying that shit and that's what you'll be left with after all the manufacturers decides there's no market for good equipment. So....after that, I tried hooking my computer up the TV to play the movies. We tried "Ice Age" and it ended up needing to install a player to work. It was Hotllama Media Player which didn't play the movie after being installed so thanks to that company for wasting my time. Luckily it was easy to uninstall. We tried "You, Me and Dupree" and "RV" but found out they wouldn't open at all even with Windows automatic media detector thing (I can't remember what it's called). "Nacho Libre" tried to play with the Interactual Player but gave me a decoder error. I'm probably doing something wrong but I'm not too impressed that these movies wouldn't even play on my computer. I guess my computer just isn't meant to be a multimedia machine.

Anyway, Barb had a little survey thing on her blog so I decided I'll post it here too:

Your Christmas Traditions

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I like egg nog but I can only drink so much of it even though I drink milk like it's water. Probably because it's so thick. Because of that, I have to prefer hot chocolate.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Always wrapped. What's the sense in giving unwrapped gifts? That's part of the fun.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Always coloured. White is too boring.
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Teresa and I put ours up around Dec. 1 for my parents visit. With my mom and dad, we used to do it a couple weeks before Christmas.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
I would have to say turkey or duck (my grandma from Denmark serves this every year).
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Not really one single memory but I just like getting together with family since that's the one time of the year that just about everybody is around. Sadly, the family gatherings are getting smaller as everybody is doing their own family gatherings.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't really remember.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes. My grandma on my dad's side celebrates Christmas on the 24th so I open gifts from that side of the family that day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Teresa and I put up coloured C9 lights, a gold mini light star, red beaded garland, sparkley Martha Stewart balls and some straw decorations my mom brought us from Jysk. At my parents place, they have bubble lights, some small mini lights, red beaded garland, normal silver tinsel-like garland, misc. ornaments gathered over the years and a nice angel on the top that mom got a few years ago.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I dislike snow but in a perfect world, I would like it to snow on the 24th and melt on the 26th since I can't really imagine having Christmas without it.
12. Can you ice skate?
Yes but it's been quite awhile since the last time I did.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I don't think I've had a favourite. They've all been great.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Seeing family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My dad's mom makes rice pudding with strawberry topping. Every year there's an almond put in the bowl (one without the brown "skin"). Whoever finds it wins a prize (usually chocolates or candy).
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I don't really have one but I like everything that happens on the 24th and 25th.
17. What tops your tree?
See the decoration question above.
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
As Barb said, everybody likes receiving even if they say otherwise but I like both, especially if the gifts I give are what the receiver wanted.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer and I like the version of Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby and David Bowie.
20. Candy Canes?
I don't mind them but I prefer the little ones. The regular ones last too long.