Happy New Year! is one way to say it. If you keep on typing it will wrap around.

And so we end the year, stealing from Mandarin meg. Shhhh, don't tell, eh?

Best wishes to all of you, and we'll see you tomorrow, with a brand-spanking new year.

Escape!

There is something to be said for a slow connection. I made it to 39.37 seconds!!

You're Babar the King!
by Jean de Brunhoff
Though your life has been filled with struggle and sadness of late,
you're personally doing quite well for yourself. All this success brings responsibility,
though, and should not be taken lightly. Life has turned from war to peace, from damage
to reconstruction, and this brings a bright new hope for everyone you know. These hopeful
people look to you for guidance, and your best advice to them is to watch out for snakes.
You're quite fond of the name "Celeste".


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

and from Susan at EBC:

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Fly a kite. Get your resolution here

Pandora of Montana has tagged me:

Guiltiest Song: "Lose Yourself", Eminem. Only you folks know *grin*.

Guiltiest TV: Hmmm. Desperate Housewives.

Guiltiest Food: Hmmmm. Big hmmmmmm. Uhhhhhh. Candy bars from the snack box at work. I really just shouldn't.

Guiltiest Drink: The margaritas at Texas Roadhouse. Strange things happen when I drink those.

Guiltiest Crush: Well, first it was Robert Redford, then it was Kevin Costner, and now, it's Brad Pitt. And I'm soooo happy he's with Angelina.

Let's see, now who shall I tag: I'm gonna say, anyone who wants to play!

It's Friday again! Yay!

I had a couple of vacation days in December, so this is my third four-day week, with one more to go next week. I could get used to this!

Whoa!

Now Randy had quite a Christmas!

Okay, in this post we're going to discuss the various grays/greys there are in the world. Discussion in the comments. (I think mid-Michigan has to be one of the grayest parts of the world.)

H O M E

Things I learned (or relearned) over the holidays:

• Twenty-four people can still be squeezed into Mom's living room. Twenty-five cannot.
• Opening presents before dinner is still more fun that opening them after.
• Fifteen pounds of ham will feed 25 people, with lots of leftovers. Thirty pounds will make for meals of leftovers. (What was Mom thinking?)
• Even if it's a giftcard in the package, it's more fun to unwrap presents than open cards.
• It can be white ALL December, and still end up being a green and white Christmas.
• There's no place like home.

And what did you learn?

Nominations are Open:

For your hero of 2005.
Can be a famous person or a not-famous person or an infamous person.

Well, hello everyone! I'm back from a lovely Christmas. If you celebrate the holiday, I hope it was a good one for you.

I didn't unconsciously mutter yesterday, so I'll mutter today:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Virus::Computer
2. Poop::dood (poop upside down, a long-standing family joke)
3. Smart::Aleck
4. Agent::Secret
5. Wrap::those presents
6. Brass::Bad
7. Waste of time::oh, a lot of things that are also a lot of fun
8. Suspicious::minds
9. 360::degrees
10. Dummy::Charlie McCarthy

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

Taking a quick break from a massive gift-wrapping session!

Ut-oh.

I have one gift that I purchased back in October, and I can't find where I put it. Have you ever lost a gift before you gave it?

The Slut-o-Meter is here. Might want to find out your score.
Thanks to Patti for finding it. And wow, girl! Impressive numbers!

Yikes!

After snow all December, we now have possible rain in the forecast for Friday. Wouldn't it be funny if we DIDN'T have a white Christmas after all???

oh sure.


Tarzan!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Holidays.

So often they have "other" sides.

This Christmas, our family is sad as my brother entered detox Sunday. Sad that it came to that, sad that he won't be with us for Christmas, but happy that he is taking steps now to get a long-standing problem under control.

This Christmas, our family is ecstatic that Niece #1's husband is home from Iraq, for good! Their company returned to town this morning. My mom and brother and I couldn't stay for the whole thing (as they were delayed) but the pulsating excitement and joy in that auditorium was a wonder to behold.

Holidays. They do have "other" sides.

"Mary, did you know?"

This Christmas song caught my attention this year. I've been thinking about it a lot, and looking for nativity scenes at churches. So far I've only spotted two stationary ones, one lighted one, and one tableau. (The tableau was quite cute. It was teenagers on a Saturday afternoon, with three live goats, and the goats were soooo cute and cold.) The blonde Marys are kind of a jolt. My favorite so far is the Mary at Cristo Rey.

Some years we've been in danger of not having a white Christmas. That is definitely not the case this year. We've had snow throughout the month, and the forecast will keep us in the white stuff.

I've liked the wno this year. (Don't hit me, otto!) It's made me think of the old-fashioned Christmases of years gone by.

And be sure to ask me how I like the white stuff come February. *smile*

Fake blizzard. Actual picture over on flickr.

spotted at a couple of different places, and the quizzie finally worked for me.

You Are Rudolph

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy. Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Stretch, yawn, oh lovely! I love having a Monday off. Now I'll catch up on all the things I've needed to catch up on: mailing my cards, finish wrapping packages, finish decorating, finish finishing! Plus napping. And . . .

A Little Monday Madness:

Since I haven't received any emails from my faithful participants, offering questions (hint, hint), I will have to come up with my own... =)

1. Name 1 toy you owned when you were younger, that meant a lot to you. My sewing box that my grandparents gave me when I was ten. I still have it.
2. Name 2 games you enjoyed playing as a child. Hide 'n Seek. Monopoly.
3. Name 3 foods you didn't like as a child, but do now. Mushrooms, coconut, and green peppers
4. Name 4 foods you didn't like as a child, and still don't like. asparagus, cooked cabbage, can't think of a fourth, but the third would be, and I bet you guessed it bryn: brussel sprouts!

It appears that there have been problems accessing both this blog and the comments. Sorry about that. We're in the holiday season now, so anything can happen, I guess. (That's what I get for using free tools.)

It was the deer. Those beautiful animals with their big dark eyes, their white plumelike tails, and their ridiculous Vulcan-like ears. He had tried three times in the four years they had lived in Long Ridge to have a vegetable garden, and each time the deer had devoured it.

~~Before You Know Kindness, Chris Bohjalian

Up with the 3:00 a.m. whatevers, so, we shall mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Replenish::Refuel
2. People::Person
3. Trend::Fad, chart
4. Girlfriends::Sharing
5. Spirit::Moves Me
6. Banshee::Howl like a
7. Oasis::in the Desert
8. Thrills::and Chills
9. Fountain::Chocolate. They seem to be in this Christmas.
10. Boxes::Gift wrap.

I would have said pumpkin:

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional Those who like you crave security

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Lifted from Knit-Together, where Kathryn is the sumptious Mud Pie

Argh!

I picked up a sandwich for lunch yesterday. It was a chicken barbecue thingee, and it tasted a bit off. (I didn't finish it, which is rare for me.) Within an hour, I was raging sick. Ewww! So came home from work, slept three hours, got up and had some soda and crackers, slept three hours, got up, had some more soda, slept three hours, had some chicken soup, went to bed for the night.

Feeling better this morning, and the scales say some weight went bye-bye.

A new weight-loss program.

Great Grandmothers.

Today would have been my Grandma Bea's 99th birthday.

Today my mom is being a Great Grandma and my nieces and nephews are being Great Grands.

My mom is quite conservative in her tastes in books, movies and television shows. Bad language, violence, and sex are issues. Her grands know her tastes, and work within that framework. Nieces #2 and #4 went to all of the Lord of the Ring movies with her, and would tell her when to not look if things got too intense.

On Thanksgiving, Niece #2's new husband went over to Mom. "Grandma," he said, "there's a movie coming out and we'd like to go to it with you." He was speaking of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

So the program mushroomed, and this evening two nieces and three nephews are gathering for Chinese with Grandma and then going to the movies. And I don't think they'll have to tell her not to look at all.

They're all great.

Needmore Church. Yes, that's it's name, taken from the highway that it sits on. This is the church where Grandma Bea taught Sunday School for many years, the church where she played the piano for many many years. It's where she married Grandpa Larry after being a widow for six years and living with us.



That's US at the wedding.

Behind the church is the cemetery where many of our relatives are parked. We take wreaths out in the winter, fill urns on Memorial Day.

December 16th was Grandma Bea's birthday.

ooh boy. I'm making an Orange Clove Pomander and it smells great! However, I'm a bit challenged in lining up my rows of cloves. Any ideas?

It's the last day for the Weblog Awards, but you might want to take a gander over there and check out some new places.

The sweep of the fields in the old chicken coop's window.

HOW
doYOU

Blog?

It's a textual thing. Pure text with some inline CSS. No graphics required.

Okay, meg asks How Do You Blog?

Tool: Blogger. I've been on it for over four years now.
Initial attraction: ease of use.
Current attraction: It's become quite stable. Except for holidays. And certain other outages. *smile*

How:
1. If I have something to say, I open the tool, type the stuff in, and hit publish.
2. If I'm surfing, I leave the create window open and make notes as I go.
3. If I have a picture I want to share, I grab the link from flickr.

Thanks, meg, for the CSS above!

Eek! A Happy belated birthday to Cybertoad, down in Texas!

The photographer as "split" personality.

I confess: I've been tagged by Gail.

Hmmm. What can we confess?

I confess: that I cheated on a music theory test in 8th grade.
I confess: that I later confessed to the teacher. (I was such a nerd.)
I confess: that I ate some cupcakes at the grocery store when I was seven. And didn't pay for them.
I confess: oh, you don't really think I'm gonna confess the juicy stuff right here in public do you?
I confess: that I weigh too much. *sigh*
I confess: that I have wayyyy too many scrapbooking stickers and pieces of paper in my hobby closet.
I confess: well, here's another one I'm not gonna type aloud. Hmmm. I yam a coward. (My mother surfs the net. Wouldn't want her to accidentally find anything too intense, ya know.)
I confess: that I talk to myself. (And once in awhile, I answer. Oops.)
I confess: that I still like Neil Diamond.
I confess: and this is a big one, don't hate me, but . . . I never really cared for Bob Dylan.

Okay, I'm going to tag the following: Susan and susan and Roscoe and kim and meg and Kathryn and sheryl and otto and sherle and Karen and bryn and LDH and Pandora and . . . well, anyone else who would like to play along.

Your results:
You are Batman

Batman 65% Robin 65% Hulk 60% Spider-Man 60% Superman 60% Green Lantern 55% Catwoman 50% Supergirl 48% Iron Man 45% Wonder Woman 43% The Flash 40%

You are dark, love gadgets and have vowed to help the innocent not suffer the pain you have endured.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...


Haven't done a quizzie lately, so swiped this one from LDH's.

Good Tuesday morning!

Didn't make it back here last night. My friends Deb and Carol gave me an early Christmas/birthday gift: a gift certificate to Coldwater Creek, a women's clothing store that I had never gone to because I thought their clothes were too nice and too small for a big person like me. Nah, they said, so we went there and they helped me shop, and we had a blast!!!! And I got home late.

And how was your Monday?

And it's another Monday Morning. Not very manic. Not very awake. How are you?

Out in the country today.

To Lucy Barfield

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and boynd you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be

your affectionate Godfather,

C.S. Lewis

~~Preface to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Link via SusanJayne.

Survivors Ready? The final is tonight.

My boot order is in the comments.

Mutter Mutter.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Stalker::Night
2. Outrageous::Outlandish
3. Carrying::Case
4. Spirited::Horse
5. Oh!::My!
6. Grid::Iron
7. Country::Singer
8. Karen::Carpenter
9. Candles::Burning bright
10. Relationship::*sigh*

Hey Santa! I got a B+ on the Nice test. So there!

oh great! Somehow I lost my Saturday morning post, which isn't bad because it was just a good morning, but I lost Cassie's and bryn's comments. Eek! I am so sorry!

I've been to Narnia. It was a good thing. *smile*

Okay, so THIS morning didn't start out well. I was driving merrily along to work, made the corner from Aurelius to Mt. Hope when suddenly thunkawumpabumpakapoeey! Sheesh. I pulled into the cemetery office's parking area, got out, and looked. There it was. A very flat, falling off the rim tire. And it was 8 degrees out. Sheesh! So I called Shroyers to come and change the tire, but of COURSE it would be an hour. Everyone has car trouble on cold mornings.

The wrecker came, but then HE had problems with the lugnuts and had to call in a backup. The back-up got there, and he was going to use a pneumatic thingee, but they couldn't get that fired up. Finally, old-fashioned man-handling worked the charm. They got the spare on, and I took off for Discount Tire.

I took a few pictures of the cemetery offices and buildings while I was waiting.

So how was YOUR day???

So

Survivor. Who will be booted?

Still working on the November 26things. (I know, I know, I'm late.)

A question came up. What, to you, is the difference between under and underneath?

Mandarin meg asks: How do you blog?

Anyone blog with their feet?

Six degrees Fahrenheit! And it's only December 8th! Cold winter coming.

(and lots of furnace calls for HVAC companies. Busy busy!)

Got a caption for Scott's Caption game?

Wonderful!

Leslie Harpold has her Advent Calendar again! I've played with it every year, and I'm glad to see it's back. Now, I'm only seven days late, so I can have fun catching up!

Happy Birthday, Lynn!

If you have a moment, go wish her one. She's over here on the "other side". *smile*

Yikes! Blog*spot sites were down yesterday, that was a bummer. All appears well now! Work is still horrendous this week, so posting shall be spotty. Y'all carry on!

A little Monday Madness to start the week off:

This week's questions are all about moving... Have fun, and thank you so much for playing! =)

1. When is the last time you moved? December, 1982
2. How many times in your life have you moved? 9
3. In your opinion, what is the worst thing about moving? packing
4. What is the most exciting thing about moving? setting up a new household
5. If you've lived in the same place all your life, do you plan to move in the future? yes, moving this June
6. Do you WANT to move somewhere else; if so, where? Same town, different address

Tomorrow's December 5th. Are you going to have a bathtub party day??

Snowball Fight!

Yay! One of the big perks of living in snow country is snowball fights! Had a great one last night with brother Boo, two nieces, and two nephews.

We were out in the garage, getting out of our wet snowy stuff, when the doorbell rang. An old family friend had stopped by. Sheesh! Way to make an impression after 30 years, wet hair plastered to head. Well, that's the real me!

While looking through my archives for the link to the cyber-snowball fight, I found this:


Aww...you are the plant of love! You are the
mistletoe! You are a loving, romantic person
who likes to do what is best for the one or
ones you care about mostly. You are very
affectionate and enjoy being close to people.
You believe that love brings you together,
which is a wonderful thing. You are most likely
going to have a very nice and marvelous season.
Your inventive mind could come up with anything
interesting to do. Merry Christmas =)


What Christmas Figure Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And that hasn't changed from last year!

Okay, here's the snowball fight! (Made it to level 4 on the first try. How did you do?)

Unconsciously Muttering along:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Amazing:: Race, Grace
2. Delights:: the heart
3. Inspired:: to great heights
4. Disgusted:: turned up nose
5. You:: and me
6. Vagina:: Monologue
7. Palm:: Sweaty
8. Sweetheart:: Let me Call you . . .
9. Guilt:: Penance
10. More to come:: The best is yet to be

Aha! November is over! (I know, I'm a day late.)

Shout-outs to Kathryn and Kat on their Art Everyday Months, and to Ali for completing her NANO-book! You all rock!