Reflections

It's New Year's Eve, and both of my daughters are upstairs getting ready to go out.  Since Kitty is going, that means I have to go.  I don't mind.  She went out for the first time last New Year's Eve, and had a great time.  I hope she has a great time tonight as well.

I've been doing a lot of thinking this week since I was on vacation.  I'm not going to list any of the bad stuff that happened this year; and there was quite a bit of it!  I'm going to think about the good stuff that happened in the 4th quarter that made all the tough times worth the struggle.  When I go back to work on Tuesday, I'll have a new job in a new department that I'm looking forward to. I reconnected with someone that really made me very happy.  My good friend Diana at work got married!  I received a great work review so I'll be getting a raise AND bonus in February!  I got a surprise special achievement award deposited in my bank account right before Christmas, which really solidified the fact that I really turned things around this year.  And we are all healthy and relatively happy, so that's a good way to end the year.

I don't do resolutions any more; but I will adopt a couple of lifestyle changes in the new year.  And I hope to increase my book sales (tell your friends and famuly to buy them on Nook and Kindle!) and release another couple of books; plus edit Kitty's so she can get published too :-)

My tree is still up and beautiful; and I think I'll keep it until Brie's birthday in a couple of weeks.  It just makes me happy to see it.  And I'll still listen to a couple of Christmas CDs; especially since I just bought the Rudolph soundtrack.  Yep: it's still Christmas to me!

I have to close with a Marie story.  She went to North Carolina for the funeral of her older sister, my Aunt Doris.  She called me on Christmas night to see how my holiday was, and because neither my sister nor brother answered when she called them.  Nice to know I got the call by default!  But that's not the best part.  I called her Thursday late afternoon before my massage (more on that in another post) to see how the service was.  She said it was wonderful; then she asked how everyone else was, by name.  She followed that up with, "I can't believe that the whole time I've been down here no one has called me."  REALLY MARIE??  What had I done: just telepathically mind-melded with you??  Apparently my phone call didn't count, so I just said I was sorry and I'd see her when she got home.  Then I hung up and called my sister, telling her to call her mother!!  Gotta love my mother.

Looks like it's time for me to get ready.  Before I go, let me say that I wish you a very happy New Year.  I wish for you health, happiness and prosperity in 2012.  Be kinder than usual to others, because you don't know what kind of struggle they may be having.  And most of all: be happy!

Goodnight and God bless :o)

Christmas Blues

Now that Christmas is over, I have to admit to a little bit of melancholy.  Our tree was up right after Thanksgiving, but it feels like I haven't had enough time to enjoy it.  Christmas songs started playing on the radio several weeks ago, but it seems like they're over too quickly.  People have already tossed out their trees and stopped turning on their outdoor decorations.  It just makes me sad.

Plus I'm currently on vacation and had all kinds of plans, but I haven't done any of them yet.  I was going to the matinee, out to lunch, was going to re-arrange my room, catch up with a couple of old friends, finish my new book: but none of that has come to fruition either. 

Maybe it's because it's been such a long and tough year that I don't have the energy.  I haven't had a vacation all year except for a couple of days here and there.  Work was really stressful this year, but it's ended up being surprisingly good.  So maybe instead of feeling melancholy about the season being pretty much over: I should feel anticipation for what lies ahead.  I'm actually starting in a new department when I get back in the office.  New job, new duties: should be pretty interesting.  And I'll be so busy, I won't have time to dwell on how I miss Christmas...

Besides, it'll come back around next year.  And as Kitty would say: only 362 days left!

Christmas Time Is Here

I swore this wouldn't happen this year, but it did: only worse.  I did all of my Christmas shopping online, which was great.  But here it is Christmas Eve, and not only isn't any wrapping done, I haven't even opened the boxes!  So now that I'm sleepy, and it's going on 9:00, I have to lug all the boxes upstairs,open them and wrap.  Ugh!

But before I weep softly as I get out the rolls of wrapping paper, let me wish you a very Merry Christmas.  May your days be merry and bright.  May you feel God's blessings, and be with those you love.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Peace.

It's The Thought That Counts

Ah Christmas: the season that proves it's better to give than receive.  And no one embodies this principle better than Kitty.

She loves to give presents, and she really got in the spirit of things this season.  She and Brie don't always get along 100% but they do love each other.  And this Christmas, for the first time, Kitty bought Brie's Christmas gifts first.  And she bought her 4!  They were very thoughtful gifts and 2 she was able to open already: her Yankees ornament is hanging on the Christmas tree and her Yankees stocking is up and ready to be filled.  The other 2 gifts: well I can't tell you that!  But they will be enjoyed just as much; and she knows her sister will get her something that she'll be very pleased with.

One item on Kitty's list that I really didn't think anyone was going to get for her was another limited edition Living Dead Doll: Elisa Day.  Last year she had received Frozen Charlotte, a very rare doll to add to her collection.  Trust me; she was lucky to get that considering how much it costs.  But I digress...

Getting back to Elisa Day: Kitty had seen her on eBay for $175.  I knew I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a doll, rare or not.  But then last week I started thinking: she'd really been a good girl and very helpful, so maybe I could go in with my sister on the doll.  So I went on eBay, but the doll she wanted wasn't there.  I checked Amazon: not there.  I actually emailed the manufacturer to see if they had one of the dolls, but they emailed me back the next day and said they were sorry, but it had been a limited edition and it was an older doll so they were completely sold out.  I felt bad about this, but went home and told Kitty that the company had contacted me and said there were no more Elisa Day dolls.  She was disappointed, but then said it was all right and went up to her room.

A little while later she came back downstairs and said, "I told the other dolls that Elisa Day wasn't coming until maybe the new year and they understood."  I said, "Honey, they don't have any more."  "Well mom Sadie called her and she said she'd be here after Christmas."  I said, "What cell plan did Sadie use, haha!"  She just looked at me and then went in the other room.  About half an hour later Brie came into the kitchen with a weird look on her face.  I said, "What's up with you?"  She said, "Mom, I just walked past Kitty's room and her door was open.  All of the dolls were standing on their platform except for Sadie. She was standing up in the middle of Kitty's bed with a cell phone beside her!"  I just laughed and replied, "Yeah, your sister said that Sadie called Elisa Day."  "Mom, that's just freaky!"  "No, it's just your sister.  Relax."

Friday rolls around and I'm at work.  The phone rings and it's Kitty. "Hi mom I need to tell you something. Everything's fine here at home; and I just ordered Elisa Day."  "What do you mean you ordered her?  There weren't any left!"  "Well, I went back on eBay this morning and there she was for only $125, brand new so I ordered her.  And I even got free shipping!"  "That's great Kitty!  It's what you wanted for Christmas."  That's what I said, but I was thinking 'wtf'?  There were NO dolls available.  But leave it to Ms. Kitty to have one magically appear back on eBay, and $50 cheaper!

And THEN she says, "But I have a little bad news.  Paying for her used up most of my Christmas money, so now I only have $5 to buy you a present.  But you know what?  There are some soda bottles around the house, so I can recycle them to have more money to buy your present."  Really Kitty?  I said, "That's okay, you getting Elisa Day is a good enough present for me."  "No mom there's something I really want to get for you, so I'll recycle the bottles to get  your gift; and then next week when I get paid again I'll buy Pumpkin her presents."

So...apparently this is how I rank on the present scale: her sister got her presents bought first, then she bought her own gift, next week Pumpkin gets paycheck gifts, but mom gets recycled bottle-money gifts!  Is that really the spirit of Christmas?  But I actually thought it was rather funny.  It never matters to me if I get presents or not; and it was a totally Kitty thing to say!

And you know what?  At the end of the day, no matter how much or little it costs, Kitty always gets something very thoughtful and appropriate for mom.  And I can't WAIT to see what I get this year! 😃

Specials

Now that we're in the height of the Christmas season, let's turn our attention to the televised Christmas specials.  I'm thinking about them tonight because I just finished watching the Alvin & the Chipmunks cartoon special.  It was very heartwarming and had a good message in it and the requisite Christmas miracles, but I'll tell you what: after 40+ years of those squeaky rodent voices, I'm pretty much over the Chipmunks.  Loved the story: hated the voices.  Next year I'll watch it on mute!

But now I want to reminisce with you about the Christmas specials I love the most, and the ones that you just can't catch anymore but I'm trying my best to collect them on DVD:

• The Night the Animals Talked - this one was about the barnyard animals in the stable where Jesus was born, and how one magical night they were able to talk.  But just as they were about to spread the news that our saviour was born, they lost the ability to speak. It was so sad, but they were happy that they'd had that gift if only for a little while.  It was special to me because it was about Jesus, and not Santa Claus.
•  The Wish That Changed Christmas - this was about a young girl who lived in an orphanage, and during the Christmas season she left to find a grandmother.  Heartwarming and of course in the end she did find a woman to be a grandmother to her.
• 12 Days of Christmas - Thank goodness I was able to find this on Amazon!  The daughter of the king is very picky when it comes to picking  a suitor, so Sir Carolboomer sends his page to steal her Christmas list so he can send her gifts that will make her want to marry him.  But the bumbling page steals the king's answers to his crossword puzzle and thinks these are the gifts the princess wants.  So each day he sends her the gifts from the "The 12 Days of Christmas Song", and hijinks ensue!
• The Town Santa Forgot a.k.a. Jeremy Creek - a spoiled, greedy little boy who is used to getting everything he wants sends a looooong list of toys to Santa.  Santa and his elves believe that the list must be for a little forgotten town called Jeremy Creek, and delivers all the toys to that town instead of the boy.  At first he's very upset and throws a tantrum, until he sees a news report about how the kids in the town are so happy to finally get toys from Santa.  Heartwarming and teaches kids it's better to give than receive.
• Mickey's Christmas Carol - need I say more?  It's Mickey Mouse!
• And my personal alltime favorite: Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol!  Yes I know people are always hating on him because he supposedly can't see and he runs into stuff, but I've seen him with his eyes open and he CAN see, whether his eyes are open or not!  But for some reason, this little animated film is my feel-good special each Christmas, even though it's so hard to find it on TV.  Sometimes you can find it on Boomerang, but just to be sure I bought the DVD a few years ago and torture my family every Christmas with it 😄

Next time, I'll let you know my LEAST favorite specials, and I know some of them will be the ones you love.  So stay tuned!

The Difference in "Christmas Miracles"

At this time of year, it seems like anything even the least bit out of the ordinary is deemed a "Christmas miracle", whether religious or not.  I've experienced a couple of them that I'm going to share with you...

The first one was in November.  Kitty was putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, and she told me that the programmable lights weren't working.  I'd had these lights for more years than I can remember, and I was heartbroken that we couldn't use them any more.  Over the years I had looked for them, but hadn't seen any.  So we went to Wal-Mart on Friday night and went to the holiday section.  There was an entire wall of lights, but I carefully read each package and there were no programmable lights to be found.  Kitty finally got a box of 300 blinking lights and put them in the cart.  Just as I was turning the cart around to leave, I glanced back at the shelf.  Lo and behold, there was ONE package of programmable lights, just sitting there amongst all the regular lights!  I couldn't believe it!  And instead of just 8 different settings, there are 14!  I snatched up the box to make sure it didn't just disappear, and I was sooo happy.  That was a miracle to me!

The second "miracle" happened just yesterday.  I had to go to K-Mart because it's the only place I know that sells Cajun chicken wing seasoning mix, and I was going to make Cajun wings for Schmoop-dog's birthday.  At the store, I went to the aisle where the seasoning should have been, and there was ONE package left, not even in it's own box but put in with another kind.  So it was obvious that I was meant to have this one pack for Schmoop's lunch.  But that's not the miracle.  Afterwards I decided to look for the soda aisle, and just happened to turn down a random aisle that ended up containing soup.  I used to eat a LOT of ramen noodles, specifically the chili flavor.  It was spicy and yummy and I'd add steak, or chicken, or pork, or whatever other leftover meat I had on hand, plus cheese, to make a delicious meal!  But as is usual with me, once I love something and say it out loud, the company can't wait to take it off the market and it's been gone for about a  year. That's what happened to my chili flavored ramen, or "hot ass oodie of noodie" as Brie called it. I even contacted the company, and they said they'd stopped selling it.

Anyhoo, as I went down the soup aisle, I glanced at the ramen section.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but an entire box of "hot ass oodie of noodie"!  I was so excited that I bought 12 packs!  Another miracle for me!!!

Now let me tell you about my sister's Christmas miracle.  A couple of years ago she'd wanted a particular new car.  I'm not going to go into the details, but let's just say that she got rooked on the deal and has been very unhappy ever since.  Recently she received a letter from the dealership saying that they were now under new management, ownership and had cleaned house.  Would she come back and talk to them so they could maybe make amends to her?  She didn't want to, but made an appointment to go see them today and of course she had me go with her.

We got there, talked to a gentleman named Dave, and 2 hours later they not only lowered her interest rate: but they also paid off the remaining balance on her current vehicle, gave her a totally clean and loaded 2009 Murano, and she didn't have to pay a dime out of pocket OR get the other car's balance added on!  Seriously???  She was a very happy camper, to say the least.  And I wasn't too jealous because she let me drive it home :o)  So when I'm ready in a couple of years for a different vehicle I'm going straight to Dave!

So that's the difference in Christmas miracles: if you wish big, there's a good chance you'll end up with something better than hot ass oodie of noodie!  Which I plan to have the next time I have some leftover steak or prime rib to put in it.  Yum!

It's Been A Long Time

Yes, I've been missing from my blog for a couple of months.  Seems like I let a little "bad press" get me down.  I'm not going to get into it, so let's just say that someone took some posts out of context and out of timeframe; and instead of coming to me about it: they chose to give misinformation about the posts to some people.  Long story short: anything that I write that you don't like: don't read it.  And if you have any questions about anything: just ask me.  I'll be happy to set you straight.

Now we'll move on...

Speaking of a long time, I was shocked to get an email from Topher last week.  I hadn't heard from him in 2 years, so you can imagine what I thought.  I had been so worried that I had called his father in Vermont just to make sure he was still...around.  It was so good to talk to Bill, and he assured me that his son was still in the area, working and doing okay.  I believed him; but it was just very reassuring to hear from the man himself.  Of course, Topher said he was still waiting for life to be over, so does that really count as being okay???

It's sad when there are so many good things in life, but because of a chemical imbalance and being on medication, you can't enjoy it.  He's such a good man but he has chosen to give up.  He promised that he'd never attempt suicide again, but now he just goes to work and goes home, getting no joy out of anything.  Such a waste for a person who used to have the strongest life force of anyone I knew.

So I will keep my friend Topher in my prayers.  I'll hope that he's able to find even a modicum of joy, especially during this time of the year.  And I'll pray for all of my other friends as well, because this can be a really tough time of year.

A little somber for my first post in so long, but I promise they will lighten up!

Till next time...