DAD, G, GEORGE, POPOU, A UNIT, etc.

Sorry to my Secret Santa for the delay, and everyone else if I can't find the spell check icon.
Now back to the wish list.
Hmmm - always easier said than done.
1) As for something I've always wanted to know but never had the time or know-how to research, how do professional recording artists get compensated for both their record sales, and the times their songs are played on the multitude of radio stations across the world. I think the organization ASCAP (not sure what it means) has something to do with the process but don't know what. What are the rules and how does it work?
2) I love cookies - yes the perfect food.
3) Never been good a using the thing that spins around over the BBQ grill to slow cook meat/chicken
4) I love brownies
5) A daily inspirational web site / automatic message to email
6) Did I mention I love cookies!
Not much help - I know :-( but I can always use socks.

Dan Walsh Christmas List

- Corn Beef Hash recipes

- Peanut Brittle

- Music (if it burned onto a dvd-r, one can fit a ton of music on one disc.

- Used Books- Non-fiction, fiction, historical fiction.



More to come.....

Dan Lamb'ba's Wish List

Can't wait to see everyone!

Ideas....

1.) gift card to Banana Republic

2.) gift card to Best Buy- to buy Blu Ray Movies (I want - Inception)

3.) gift card to Sports Authority for Under Armor work out cloths (please no under armor speedos)

4.) I love anything from Pelagicgear.com , its fishing apparel

Noelle's Christmas Wish List

You might not know this...but I love taking pictures. I have several areas that my secret santa can help me with:

Lighting - I need a hot-shoe flash...but I also need a better understanding of how to use light. How to adjust my cameras settings under certain light settings, etc...

Inspiration - I live for the photos at National Geographic's website. The picture of the day is great for me. I love this one: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/candle-spruces-pod-best09.html I could use more websites that help me consider what kinds of pictures I might be able to try to take.

Landscape - I have zero talent at taking landscape photos. Really could use expertise insight.

Obi and Lolly Ideas

Quick ideas for the kids - as usual Obi lives for art (sculpture is BIG this year) and Lolly lives for basketball.

Obi
Really plays for hours with his PAPO figures. Here are the ones from the 2009 catalog that he is interested in adding to his voluminous collection:

PAPO
Papo Cheetah
Papo Cheetah Cub
Papo Zebra
Papo Werewolf $12
Papo Minotaur $6
Papo Mermaid $4
Papo Horse of Knight Eagle $6
Papo Knight Eagle $6
Papo Cerebus
Papo Ork
Papo Prince of Brightness $7
Papo Dragon of Darkness $18
Papo Knight with Triple Battle Axe


Books for Ben:
Star Wars Lego Dictionary ISBN-13: 978-0756655297
Star Wars Clone Wars Drawing ISBN-13: 978-1591746980
The Official Episode Guide: Clone Wars Season One ISBN-13: 978-0448452470
Prince Caspian: The Movie Book ISBN-13: 978-0061231643
The Crafting of Narnia ISBN-10: 978-0061456357
The Lion Witch and Wardrobe Movie Book ISBN-13: 978-0060765620
Harry Potter Poster Books - Half-Blood Prince, Order of the Phoenix, Goblet of Fire

Star Wars Duel Action Lightsaber http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3539869&CAWELAID=372437815

Harry Potter Hippogriff $15 on the WB Harry Potter site

Bendaroos - www.bendaroos ($20 for 500 Bendaroos!!!!) Have to confess I don't understand the enthusiasm about these...but he has mentioned them tons!

Lolly
Nerf basketball hoop or soft/velcro darts game

She really wanted this toy in Disney - but chose another as her souvenir
http://www.disneystore.com/disney/store/DSIProductDisplay?productId=1251726&categoryId=305102&action=Product&name=Cars+&storeId=10051&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&catalogFromSearch=10002

This looks like something she would enjoy - Flingshot Monkeys (3 for $14.95)
http://www.hearthsong.com/product.asp?pcode=1853 (It also looks like something Tim would enjoy....)

She also loves Toy Story, Helicopters, Racing Cars, Pluto (from Mickey Mouse - not the planet) and animals.

JD Actually Has Mark

I'd love some help solving my stupidity problem but I’m going to be realistic and try to set my Secret Santa up for success…Here are some ideas:

· Radio antennae changing lessons for a Toyota Sequoia. The antennae broke earlier in the year (b/c I went through a car wash w/out putting it down) and it’s driving me crazy. Since we can’t afford to have it fixed, I’d like to do it myself. Any assistance you can provide (research, videos, manuals, details from discussions w/ Autozone employees, etc) would be really helpful. No coat hangers please.

· My iPod broke so I’m looking for some new music. Please feel free to burn something on a cd that you think I’d like. I will also accept cd's with music that I don't like but this is not preferable.

· Used books on tape. The would be really helpful for a couple of reasons. First, I'm stupid and can't read. Second, I don't have a radio in my car. Third, I don't have time to read and I've heard it's pretty cool. My wife is really good at it. Anything that I can listen to in the car…Tape or CD…would be great. No 8-tracks or children’s books please.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

Kindest regards,
Your stupid brother/son/father/husband.

Steph's Secret Santa Suggestions

To my secret santa:

There are many things I could improve upon these days, but I am truly unhappy with how little I've been reading. My goal is to read 1 book a month for all of 2010. My secret santa can help me by coming up with a suggested reading list or finding me booklists or book reviews from magazines/newspapers/websites that I could choose books from. Rewards for reaching my goals would be great too (gold stars and pizza parties?) I have pretty eclectic taste and will read anything from historical fiction/non-fiction to biographies to comedy to mysteries to any type of good fiction.

I can't wait to see you all!

Amy Butter-Deihl's Secret Santa Wish List

Hello there family - can't wait to see everyone so soon! Below are a couple of ideas for my Super Secret Spiritual Sensual Self-Guiding Santa!

Dear Super Secret Spiritual Sensual Self-Guiding Santa,

1) Recipes: (No, I'm not a Vegan. I eat Chicken/Turkey/Duck/Willy Birds and all seafood). I'd love to find some new, yummy, healthy recipes - one for each month of the year would be great!! I'd also like some advice on healthy alternatives to unhealthy ingredients (like butter, olive oil, etc.)

2) Relaxation techniques: I can't sit still for more than 5 minutes, and I lose sleep because my mind is always racing! I'm hoping for some creative ideas (and some planning, too) on how to relax, stretch, breath and take some me time to settle down and forget about the things that didn't get done (until tomorrow when I become a psycho all over again!).

Love,
Me (aka Amy, Lulu, Butter, Buttario, Muffy)

Tim's List

FIRST OF ALL, Amy and I are thinking of not coming home for Christmas because our pet, who is EASILY the cutest out of all of the pets, didn't even make the vote!! WTFF (What the feathery FUDGE!)??

That's some BS (bull sugar).

What I'd love help with for 2010 is getting out and being more active! I sit and watch TV WAY TOO MUCH!! It's rather pathetic (ask Amy, she'll be able to give you an earful about it, trust me!). Well, like most things, she is CORRECT and I need to utilize my youthful legs much better than I currently am!

So, I'm going to focus on trail running/hiking next year as an activity. My request is to have local (local can mean anything with 3-4 hour drive) trails sent to me throughout the year. They can be in Maine, NH, Mass, VT, NY, or CT (even though CT kind of sucks at everything - 2nd worst state in the Country behind... what do you think is the worst?!).

The trails can be found online and if you want to buy gifts the books are the AMC Hiking Guide Series (I already have Maine) - I am most interested in are AMC's Best Day Hikes in the White Mountains: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails in the White Mountain National Forest or Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide, 2nd: AMC Guide to Hiking Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Cardigan, and the Lakes Region.

The real goal here is eliminate lazy time. The solution is to find trails/outdoor activities that I can set aside time for to fill in those gaps. And the actual request is poking me in the rear end throughout the year and saying "Get off your ass and go hike this trail!"

Mark's Crap (Sosa for Bellhorn, straight up!)

This kind of goes with the whole cookbook idea but in a Mark twist!

I have been going to the gym lately and wanting to eat a little better. When I say eat better I don’t mean nuts and berries with a side of bark! I eat meat! I need a hand full of dinners I can put together in no more than 30 mins that involve meat, any kind of meat. If you find a dinner that doesn’t involve meat save it for yourself because I don’t want it! They have to be incredibly easy to put together since my cooking experience starts with eggs and toast and end with spaghetti and meat sauce. Preferably all of these dinners have a lot of the same ingredients so my wallet doesn’t lose weight!!

That is my growth and this is your challenge!

Super Lindsay!

I would like to gain the strength of an ox.

Or, just that of a healthy adult. I have no fitness regime and pretty much no time for one. My wish is for someone to help me figure this all out. The goal:

1) Finding Time
2) Finding Energy
3) Developing a strength-training plan
4) Sticking to The Plan

The challenge:
1) I have no gym membership
2) I own a couple of free weights
3) Yoga classes cost money and time that I don't have
4) It's the dead of winter
5) My TV is in my bedroom with no space to workout

If you have the magical powers to help me overcome all of that, hurray! If you are one of the gift-buyers this year, there are fitness classes across the street from my house and a 10-class card would be excellent.

Also, I'd like to re-learn how to sew.

-Lindsay

XMAS 2009: Drew's Santa Wish

I am always on the prowl for cool new music. Artists i currently like are:

- Weezer
- Regina Spektor
- Kate Nash
- Adele
- Amy Miriello
- Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters
- Pixies (till the day i die)
- Amy MacDonald
- Arctic Monkeys
- Backyard Dog
- Bally Sagoo
- Ben Folds
- Fatboy slim
- Pete Yorn
- Rainer Maria
- Pony Up!
- The Strokes
- The GO! Team (LOVE this band. If you haven't experienced it yet, you should)

Procuring the music isn't a problem, its finding out that the cool new music exists in the first place that is such a challenge. Since we don't watch any TV at our house that doesn't revolve around animated animals singing to each other about friendship, television doesn't really help. Except for Jacks Big Music Show - that shit ROCKS!

Articles ripped out of magazines, links to online resources, illegally pirated MP3 files, CDs that I can rip on my laptop while in Maine... All good stuff.

Go Santa, go!