The Sociology of Santa Claus

15. December 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

My sister sent me a couple funny links to Santa-related blog posts. A good laugh.

You can see them too: here and here.

I got to thinking (uh oh) about those guys sitting in those chairs for hours on end at the mall. Children from all walks of life sitting on their laps. In various states of friendliness towards fat strangers with candy and presents.

I guess I’ve been really lucky in this department — my boys have always been pretty good with Santa. I might need to do a blog post showing my boys with Santa when I get home. In only one picture does Jacob look less-than-happy (2003, he was about 15 months old)…and he just looks peeved, like he has somewhere better to be and Mommy was wasting his time dragging him to Orlando to visit Santa.

From Santa Claus Journey

In 2005 we visited Santa at Southpoint Mall in Durham and that year it was like Santa casual day and he was wearing just a holiday shirt w/ suspenders with his red pants. Weird. What was more weird was that Mrs. Claus plopped herself down on the chair with the boys for the picture. Not against the rules or anything, but it was unusual. That was Timmy’s first visit with Santa, he was about 10 1/2 months old. Jacob was 3.

From Santa Claus Journey

Most of you have heard my story of Jacob’s most-magical-Santa-experience-in-the-universe at Macy’s in NYC in 2005. I remember Jacob asking for a “remote control train” (GeoTrax), in fact. Highly recommend it if you ever have a reason to go to NYC during the holiday season while the kids are still believers.

From Santa Claus Journey

I have the 2008 picture, but not with me as I’m writing this in Florida. I had to go to my online photo albums to retreive the rest of these. And for some reason, I’m not finding the Santa pic from 2004. Enjoy the rest of our Vollmer Santa Journey here.

My husband played Santa Claus one year at our squadron Christmas party. He was the youngest Lieutenant in the unit, everyone pointed to him. He was really sweet with the kids, but did end up with several kids who were scared. I guess it isn’t for everyone.

Hats off to all those public Santa Clauses out there — you have the patience of a saint! I guess that’s why you’re SAINT Nicholas, huh?

The Wall!

13. November 2008 · 6 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,


Okay, now that I’ve gotten all my political blogging out of the way (see yesterday’s), I can go back to my usual housewife/Mom/Air Force wife-type posts, tee hee.

Today I made a trip to Target to get something for my sister’s birthday (I know you’re reading this, Margaret!) I hadn’t been to Target since before Halloween — yeah, almost 2 entire weeks! So of course they wasted no time assembling the holiday aisles right at the entrance, just past the dollar spot bins.

Since one of the items I planned to get for my sister was just past the holiday items, we had to pass the holiday items.

And then we passed it.

The Wall.

It’s part of an aisle dedicated to stocking stuffers. You know what I’m talking about. See the picture above, it’s stuff like that. You know your 2-to-8-year-old kids suddenly lean out of the shopping cart and start pawing at everything on the aisle.

Floam, Play Doh, Star Wars action figures, Hot Wheels Cars, Crayola activities, Bratz miniatures, Polly Pockets, candy, puzzles, playing cards. Arranged in bins along the aisle, top to bottom.

Today Timmy was walking alongside me instead of riding in a shopping cart, since I was only running in for one thing, so he was able to easily reach into a bin filled with Star Wars Galactic Heroes miniature 3-packs. $9.99. This was rather cute, though, as the figures were “decorated”:

“No.”

“PLEEEEEEEEZE, Mommy?”

“No! Christmas is still 6 weeks away! Why don’t we ask Santa for it?”

“Because I’m going to ask Santa for a GeoTrax airport!”

“Oh.”

About a minute later: “Mommmmmmmmmmmy, I’ll be SOOOOOooooo SAAAAD if I can’t get this….”

“Would you like to spend your own money on it?”

“Yes!”

“Fine.”

And that’s exactly what we did. I came home and took $10 out of Timmy’s wallet.

I’m not trying to be mean. I’ve been VERY good about not getting the kids toys every time we go to the store. And now that Jake never comes with me to the store, I try even harder to avoid it.

And so it begins. For the next 6 weeks the kids’ senses (and mine) will be inundated with the sights and sounds of the holidays. While most of it is wonderful and magical, they’re also going to get flooded with Toys R Us wish books, Star Wars Clone Wars toy commercials, and Pixos ads.

A Veteran’s Day Message

12. November 2008 · 8 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

C-130 landing at Ramstein AB, Germany for some R&R during a Bosnia deployment, Jan. 1, 1998. Dave was deployed to Bosnia for an overlapping period of time, but we were in separate locations.

First of all, Happy Veteran’s Day! To my fellow Veterans out there, thanks for reading my blog and for serving our great nation.

But allow me to stir the pot a little. I posted this NY Times article on my Facebook profile this morning and it generated quite a bit of commentary.

I was livid when I read this — I’ve been through enough Public Affairs training in my day to understand that the military’s relationship with the media is a delicate one. If you shut them out, they’ll just come up with their own information and possibly send the American public the wrong message about what the Dept. of Defense is up to. So the DoD’s position is to allow the media as much access as safety and security will allow. This is how we had such great coverage of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and also why ABC’s Bob Woodruff and his cameraman were injured by an IED in 2006. (I’m glad they’re recovered!). The journalists are aware of the risks for such media coverage.

Anyway, this article claims “senior officials” told the NY Times about some “secret orders” for “secret missions” into Pakistan and Syria to covertly chase down Al Qaeda.

I do not know whether this information is true or not. As the Army used to say about speaking about topics unrelated to what you do, “Stay in your lane.” I don’t know anything about this.

I’m upset because the media publishing a story full of the word “secret” probably means that America’s people, resources and national interests might be risked. We are not in a vacuum — Pakistan and Syria have now perked up their ears like a dog hearing the word “Walk?”, and even Al Qaeda probably knows this story now and will act accordingly. Go into further hiding, find other nations for safe haven, or otherwise change their tactics.

Or…they can go on the offensive, and something bad can happen to those Special Operations forces.

And if you REALLY want a good time, delve into the 300+ comments this story has generated. I was pleased to see how many Americans feel that the secret missions were justified, but also horrified by some of the not-so-nice things foreigners had to say about the situation.

Bottom line: New York Times, your story was poorly timed and probably put the lives of American servicemembers at risk. And whoever you “senior officials” are, are you sleeping soundly at night?

No Pressure…Really

14. October 2008 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

I am a Florida voter.

(But I wasn’t a Florida voter in 2000 during the Bush-Gore debacle).

I’ve received questions along the lines of “How are you a Florida voter? You were living in North Carolina…now you live in Nebraska. Shouldn’t you be voting in Nebraska now?”

So I’ll point you here to discuss the laws that govern how military members vote, particularly in federal elections.

Florida has traditionally been a Republican state, but things seem to be turning. I don’t want to focus on the left-lean of her blog, but the Huffington Post points to some recent numbers that suggest that Florida will once again be at the center of attention this election season.

That being said, I’m starting to get wooed by folks suggesting that indeed by vote counts! My military absentee ballot will help drive the electors one way or another. And electors in Florida the Swing State might actually count for something…again.

But which way to vote?

I don’t know. Really, I don’t. To be honest, for the first time in my life, I’m not naturally drawn to the Republican candidate. There are many things important to me that the Democratic candidate is offering a better outlook on Iraq policy, energy, Veteran’s affairs, Social Security, helping Americans through our recession/depression, etc. But the Republican’s platform on immigration, health care and education are more appealing to me.

I don’t know what to do — I want to get my absentee ballot mailed off at the end of this week…this decision will be haunting me till then.

New Poll! ———————————>

09. October 2008 · 10 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

This is more of a cry for assistance than anything else. I still don’t trust that my 6-year-old is brushing his teeth on his own well enough. I remember getting some serious lessons in 2nd grade (remember those pink-colored plaque tablets?)

Meanwhile, Timmy wants nothing to do with my help when he’s brushing his teeth and I know he’s cutting corners. So I butt in with ample protest every day to “finish the job.”

Feel free to add comments about your opinions!

Where Do I Begin With This One????

09. October 2008 · 6 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

First of all, I realize that I’m part of a very small American population. I’m an (almost) stay-at-home Mom who likes airplanes. And the things I’ve had to learn about American airpower are pretty nit-noid. An F-22 brings a different capability to the fight than an F-16, F-18 or F-35.

I scanned this picture from a to-remain-unnamed product catalog that I got in the mail last weekend. I’m sure many of you will see hints of where this came from and that’s fine. For the most part, I love the company. I find many unique babyproofing and kids’ travel items here, so I place orders 1-2 times per year.

I turned to this page and had to scratch my head at this one.

1.) The real Blue Angels don’t fly F/A-22 Raptors. They fly F/A-18 Hornets.

The F-22 is an Air Force aircraft. The Thunderbirds are the Air Force’s demonstration flight team. The Thunderbirds fly F-16s.

The F-18 is flown by both the Navy and the Marine Corps. The Blue Angels are the Navy’s precision flying demo team.

So I took the time to look at pictures of these two planes and I have to admit, I can’t really tell which of the two this toy is trying to emulate.

2.) So I followed a link to the F-35, which is an aircraft still in production. Several prototypes are out and about, doing testing for the Air Force, Navy and Marines. I wonder if the toy will look the most like an F-35? You be the judge.

3.) The flight suit is cute, isn’t it? I LOVE how one of the patches shows the kid as a “U.S. Air Force Top Gun”. And the F-117 patch, too. Really cute.

The “Top Gun” school made famous in the Tom Cruise movie was based on the Navy Fighter Weapon School at NAS Miramar, CA. The school is now at NAS Fallon, Nevada.

Not Air Force. I think an AF pilot might punch me if I called him a “Top Gun”.

The Air Force has a similar school at Nellis AFB, near Las Vegas, Nevada. I don’t know what nicknames are associated with the school, but I’m sure “Top Gun” isn’t one of them.

So I guess what we have here is this cute little hybrid Air Force/Navy airplane and flight suit outfit for your budding fighter pilot to enjoy. Regardless of whether he wants to join the Air Force or Navy. Think Purple — One Team, One Fight, right?

Some might argue: who the hell cares? It’s just a toy!

I guess so…

Perhaps I’ll get on a soap box another time about teaching things to kids WRONG. Especially when those things are taught to MY kids wrong.

Note: I just discovered this toy was manufactured by Little Tikes and is no-kidding marketed as an F-22. I thought it was the catalog’s misinformation. I guess not. Click on the link if you want to get one for your kid. I’m not saying “Don’t buy it!”. After all, it sure does look cute…but you won’t see me buy one. My kids need to learn to pedal their bikes/big wheels under their own power first.

An Oldie, But Goodie

10. September 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:


Dave came across the film Biloxi Blues this evening on Encore when he was surfing channels.

This has to be one of my favorite movies! Matthew Broderick in the 80s was the cutest thing in the world. He’s still pretty cute now — he was a hoot in The Producers and I wish wish wish I could have seen that show on Broadway! But at age 46, his age is starting to show.

But his roles as that guy whose life seems fine and then undergoes an incredible unraveling, like in The Cable Guy, Road to Wellville and Election…hilarious!

(Okay, you can say it: he was typecast.)

My sister will tell you about how we’d watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on VHS over and over and over and over and over again…we still quote that movie to each other, 20 years later!!!

I thought I’d share my feel-good movie of the evening.

A Numbers Game

04. September 2008 · Comments Off on A Numbers Game · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

This caught my attention tonight…I randomly came across this blog when searching for some information about how the Republican National Committee chooses how many delegates get sent from each state (it isn’t as cut and dried as the Electoral College).

Statistics fascinate me — sure, I’ve been exposed to enough statistics in my work and I understand stuff like Gaussian distributions, Chi-squared tests, etc. But because of that, I’m keenly aware of how statistics are used all over the place.

The Yankees thing I’ve referenced above reminded me of that blog posting I did a couple weeks ago.

I wish I could say more about this, but I’m beat and I’m starting to not make sense…

24. August 2008 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Dave is coming up with a sign for one of his model railroad businesses and wanted something 70s-looking. When I was looking for some vintage ads, I happened across this one.
You’d NEVER see such ads today.
That’s all I have to say ’bout that…

Gotta Love Punctuation-Challenged Neon

02. August 2008 · Comments Off on Gotta Love Punctuation-Challenged Neon · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Dave pointed this out tonight. Ugh!

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