Thursday, December 01, 2022

2.1 Hat - Frosty the Snowman

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the first day of the month is "Hat."

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I have a small beef with many inflatable Christmas decorations. Before I begin my rant, I'd like to take a minute to do a brief update on Hannah the Dog. When we first brought her home in 2019, she was scared of everything. That first Halloween and Christmas we spent avoiding entire blocks because the decorations were terrifying to her. I will never forget her tucked tail and how she tried to hide between my legs when she saw a display of multiple scarecrows outside the local museum. The fact that I can get Hannah to stand in front of an inflatable that is so much bigger than her is just a testament to how much braver and bolder she's gotten.

Additionally, Hannah's results from her latest neurology appointment were formally read by the radiologist. When I spoke with the neurologist at her original appointment, we were cautiously optimistic based on Hannah's behavior and the neurologist's brief look at the scans, that we'd get a "stay the course" report from the radiologist. In a direct quote from the neurologist "it practically takes an act of Congress for the radiologists to report improvement in discospondylosis," so we weren't expecting anything other than "no new sites of infection."

Instead, what we got was "this patient [Hannah] shows no signs of discospondylosis" No signs. None. Both the vet and I were THRILLED. This was beyond our most optimistic projections. You guys. The vet is having us taper off her medications and if all goes well, Hannah will no longer be on antibiotics or anti-fungals by May. The vet said I can just "enjoy her" and let her do whatever dog things she wants to do.

I took her on a really long hike that same day. I let her off leash and she ran around and got really muddy and ran into my legs so hard she left a bruise. I took her to the dog park on the Friday after Thanksgiving and let her play with other dogs. She doesn't have the stamina she used to have, so we're slowly working our way up to longer walks and more time playing with other dogs and sniffing off leash, but SHE IS A REAL DOG.

 Back to holiday decorations.

Frosty the Snowman 
Was a jolly, happy soul
With a corn cob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal

That is the song. We all know it. So why do people insist on calling generic snowmen, like the one in the above photo, Frosty? He's has a carrot nose, not a button. there's no pipe, and while his eyes may be made of coal, I doubt it. It's not Frosty, it's just a snowman. In a top hat. But it's obviously NOT a magical hat because if it were, my small town would have made the news when this snowman (not Frosty) became animated.

End rant.

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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about hats, go see her at Too Legit to Quit.

25 comments:

  1. On a related note, my husband is John and our last name is Frost. I can't tell you how many times people hear his name and say; "Oh, you should start going by Jack!" and then they belly laugh and think it is the first time he has EVER heard this not-overly funny "joke".
    This happens ALL the time at Christmas. He doesn't care, but it's become an inside joke to laugh (silently, inside) at how other people laugh at their own comment that they assume is original but is, in fact, the EXACT opposite. So I guess the joke is on them at this point?

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    1. I heard a lot of Flying Nun "jokes" as a child, so I understand where the annoyance of the same thing over and over again comes from. It's not malicious, I tell myself, just a tad bit of an annoyance.

      I do wonder if your family has sort of taken ownership of the Frost/holiday season connection at all. I feel like I would be unable to resist a pun, but perhaps your family has different feelings about it.

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  2. That is great Hannah news!! 🎉

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  3. Yay!!!! That is GREAT news about Hannah. You've been through so much with her- it's amazing to think that she can now just enjoy life and be a regular dog. Glad she's not afraid of Frosty! er... Mr. Snowman, that is.

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    1. Just a regular dog! I don't have to freak out when she rolls on her back! She can wrestle with other dogs! It's amazing.

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  4. Hooray for the Hannah news, that's awesome! And no, clearly that isn't Frosty, he's just a wannabe.

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    1. Yes! From here on out I'm calling him Wannabe Frosty.

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  5. That is wonderful news about Hannah! I must admit that I am guilty of calling any inflatable snowman Frosty! Paul and I just watched Frosty together this week. He was pretty delighted with it. As an adult, I commented on how inappropriately dressed the kids were for winter. The main girl character had bare legs, most weren't wearing coats. What in the world!!

    My husband would never be on board with having an inflatable in our yard but our kids LOVE them so much. They really add to the walks we take through our neighborhood. One house had a chat w/ a bowtie for Halloween, a turkey on November, and soon he'll put out a small Grinch. It really gives me a burst of joy. That said, I brought lunch to a friend w/ a newborn on Monday and their neighbors have an enormous snowman. Like 20' tall maybe? That would get very old if they were my neighbor!

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    1. As an adult, I was kind of surprised to hear Karen easily identify a refrigerated boxcar. Like, every kid knows that at a glance? It's so funny and perplexing to watch favorite kids shows as an adult. Who is giving Charlie Brown rocks at trick or treating?

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    2. Yes, we saw a Wannabe Frosty inflatable in my FIL's neighborhood over Thanksgiving that was SO BIG. It was much taller than the house and had so many guide wires all over the yard. My husband and I wondered where it was stored for the rest of the year.

      I used to really have a chip on my shoulder about inflatables because I think they look kind of cheesy, but I'm softening on this because I do think kiddos really like them and the season should really be about them, right?

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  6. YAY for Hannah! That is wonderful news! The first year we had our dog, Mulder, we used to walk by a house that had a big inflatable something or another for Halloween, and it was the kind that waves around kind of manically. He was TERRIFIED of it, would bark and bark and bark. I just comforted him and gave him treats if I could, and he eventually decided it wasn't going to kill us. Now he just ignores such things. The wisdom of age, I suppose. He was about 8 months then, and now he's 7 years old.

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    1. Hannah was probably 2ish when we got her (who knows?), but it was clear that she hadn't been exposed to anything. I do think you're right and she just has chilled and relaxed as she's been exposed to more and more. (Although this morning she flipped out over a plastic grocery bag caught in a shrub, so we're clearly not all the way to Mulder levels of acceptance yet!)

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  7. Most definitely not Frosty, agree 100%. Frosty exists only in my mind, and this one page of a children's book I had where he was accurately illustrated, IMO. I will never name any physical snowman Frosty, out of respect for the real one who lives inside my head. LOL.

    I don't really like inflatable decorations, because then during the day when the pump is off they are just a big flop on the lawn. And that looks kind of weird and sad and scary to me. Like they melted into a dead puddle of whatever they are. haha.

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    1. The fact that inflatables are always deflated is one of the reasons I don't really like them. It seems like it must be quite challenging to keep them fully upright and inflated and most people aren't checking their decorations regularly. But it does seem like kids like them, so I'm just embracing their melty dead puddle as the price!

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  8. I felt ridiculously happy reading about Hanmah's test results, - such great news! Oh, and the snowman is cut😉

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    1. Thank you! It's been such a long road with her and I'm so happy, too!

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  9. YAY HANNAH YAY!!!!! BEST NEWS EVER!!!!

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  10. NO SIGNS!!!! That is wonderful, happy, amazing news for you and for Hannah!

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    1. NO SIGNS! Better than we could ever have imagined. We didn't even schedule a follow-up with the neurologist. She said she hopes she never sees us again! I am having a hard time believing it!

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  11. This is the very best news! You two have done amazing things for Hannah; I'm so happy that she is getting better and be her real dog self.

    I'm laughing at your rant. I never really thought about Frosty VS regular Snowman. Wow, you've opened up my eyes to this Christmas Season Atrocity!

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  12. Wow, that is AMAZING news about Hannah! I'm so excited for her to just be a normal dog who does normal dog things now! You must feel so, so relieved.

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  13. Oh Engie, that is wonderful news about Hannah. A Christmas miracle really! I am so thrilled for her and you!!

    I thought you were going to rant about inflatables in general. Usually not a fan over here LOL

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  14. YAYAYAY about Hannah! I got choked up reading that. Love - and appropriate care - really does make a difference. You have been the BEST family for her. <3

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