I'm constantly tweaking my blog.

It's much like my living room. Just when I have it the way I like it, I rearrange it, adding new things or re-discovered things that I uncover in the basement.

Lately I added a book review column as my dear friend Courtney and I formed a book club a couple of years ago and I miss it. Its rather difficult to meet as she is teaching in Thailand right now. But this is the system we used:

* = Didn't finish it because it was so objectionable. Fire-starting material.
** = Maybe worth reading if you are stuck waiting in a bus station, or it's assigned reading.
*** = Enjoyed this book. I'd recommend you borrowing a copy from a friend or the local library.
**** = Strongly recommended. I have a copy, will keep my copy forever and I'll get you one too because I hope you like it as much as I do!

I hope you join in and I'd love to hear what you are reading about and enjoy.

Christmas in the Northwest is damp affair. A friend in Australia remarked that she would love to come up to experience a white Christmas, since the holiday in the land down under is translated to picnics in the park and searing heat. I didn't want to discourage her, but Christmas is rarely decorated with the real white stuff here even though the latitude would seem to be condusive to the white stuff. Rain is much more likely!

Having said all of that, we were delighted the first day of December, to see buckets of snow falling out the window. We all threw on our winter gear and went for a walk. Big, fat, feathery flakes fell around us and we threw wet snowballs for the dog to catch (and eat) while we walked. The new Wauna cats, gifted to the girls this last summer, insisted on joining us for the ramble. They were less than impressed. Unless fat rodents and fluffy birds fall into their paths, they don't see the exercise worth the effort.

Naturally, none of the snow stayed around, and we had record-breaking rainfall two days later that flooded this half of the state. Great brown plumes of storm run off tracked out into the sound, visiable as I made my way to work. I worried about the returning salmon. They are faced with such an apparently impossible task of replentishing the sound, and development and poor netting practices threaten to wipe out the natural runs. But we never have wildfires whip through during the summers....

I had no idea what it stood for, but I was intrigued with this MEME that I saw on a great blog. If you click on the title, you'll see her blog. It seemed harmless enough, so I took a few minutes to come up with answers that sorta reflected me at the moment. So here it is:

And, Another Meme
Your answer has to start with the first letter of your name.

1. What is your name? Mara
2. 4 letter word: Mook
3. Vehicle: MGB
4. City: Malibu
5. Boy Name: Maurice (Wheet wheew)
6. Girl Name: Monica
7. Alcoholic drink: Molson Draft
8. Occupation: Mason,
9. Something you wear: Monocle (not me personally….)
10. Celebrity: Mel Gibson
11. Food: Mango
12. Something found in a bathroom: Mascara
13. Reason for Being Late: Mumps
14. Cartoon character: Mighty Mouse
15. Something You Shout: Move it! (My Mom reads this blog!)
16. Animal: Moose
17. Body part: Mouth
18. Word to describe you: Mellow, maundering, morose, manic, (Depends on the time of day and coffee consumption)

I tag Courtney and Keely (And all of you who want to give it a try!)

PS. Fresh from Wikipedia: The term Internet meme (IPA: /ˈɪntərˌnɛt mi:m/) is a neologism used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads in a faddish way from person to person via the Internet.[1] The term is a reference to the concept of memes, but is used loosely to refer to things that are not necessarily memes in a technical sense.

There you are then

As I might have mentioned before, up here in Waunaland, what tends to motivate me to blog are walks on the beach with the Wauna dog. A couple of days ago I was taking in the low winter sky pressing down against the high tide, and I remembered my Gram talking to me as a child about wishing stones.

From what I got was during the ice age, a huge glacier carved out Puget Sound. The icy behemoth tumbled rocks, dragging them all the way through Canada and into the native soil around the bay. After melting, they left rocks. Lots of them. Brown stones. Grey stones. Black stones. Cool shaped stones.

Occasionally though, you might run across beautiful stones in the shades of sherbet, and sunset, and mermaid to add to you coat pocket collection along with the gum wrapper, damp tissue and dog cookie.

We also would be on the lookout for the elusive agate which can be found glowing on the beach, back lit by the low winter sun. Agates the shade of deep red, bright orange or Sunkist orange and white. Some are the color of good suede. Some aren’t that great color wise (think of puddle water brown). But all worthy of collecting and placing in the glass salad bowl with a candle in the center...

According to Gram the best are the wishing stones--ones that have a white stripe all the way around it. If you are lucky enough, you will find a rock that's complete with a cummerbund wrapped all the way around a tuxedo black stone. I was told you have to hold it tight, close your eyes, make your wish, turn your back to the waves and throw the stone over you left shoulder. If it hits the water, then your wish will come true. (I suppose the closer to the water, the better the chances!)

I'm not sure it really worked. I never came home to a mountain-load of candy in my bedroom closet, or a pony. But so many good things have happened to me in my life this far, things might really work out after all!

I know that dance is not a new concept in the history of mankind. As soon as we as a people could stand and beat rocks together to establish rhythm, somebody started swaying to it and looking longingly at their partner of choice. Who immediately went in search for something dangerous and manly to do that didn’t require counting and rhythm.

But dance here in Waunaland, especially Latin Ballroom dance, and has had a huge resurgence fueled equally in part by parental need to recreate together sans children in public without sitting and consuming calories, and to reestablish the fact that we can go out regularly once a week for an hour and a half, and find on our return that the house will still be standing.

The Wauna Guy turned the big “five oh” this weekend. I attempted to surprise him with the rental of the F. O. E. club (Fraternal Order of the Eagles for you uninitiated folk) and the hiring of our dance instructor to teach a bit of dance for the rest of us.

It seemed like a great idea at the time. I rented a hall that quite a few could sit in. I could feed them cake and coffee without the worry about cooking for the masses, and we could all dance and skip the need to carry on awkward conversation with people that we see once every other decade or so. What I didn’t take into consideration is that roughly half of the invited folk would decline on the perception that they can’t dance. (Unfortunately, it seems that it was the male half of the invitees that squashed the idea.)

That seems so sad to me. Those people who did show up had a great time laughing and joking and DANCING! The kids in attendance last night had no qualms stepping up and grabbing a partner and with furrowed brow followed instruction with excitement and joy. A few of the more timid joined in on the second half of the dance session and discovered that they could keep up quite easily. And I think my spousal unit was a bit surprised by the event, mostly by who showed, and how much fun they had.

So Waunalandians, dance! Its fun, you can do it in the kitchen, in the streets and, well, other places. You don’t have to be a star. You don’t have to be Fred and Ginger Rogers. For those who couldn’t make the party, well, I’ll be reaching my big “five oh” in three years, four months. Start practicing now!

Big Leaf Maple. Acer macrophyllum, for you plant aficionados. A pretty straight forward common name for a tree. It is big. It has leaves. It is a Maple.

You won't find them in the nurseries or boutique plant stores in the Pacific Northwest. Why bother? Plant snobs don't like them. They are everywhere. They drop stuff. Leaf cases. Pollen. Catkins. Leaves. Helicopter-like seed pods. Branches. Whole trunks.

The forest canopy in any low land forest on the wet side of the Cascades is made up of conifers like the Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedars and the deciduous trees like Alder, Willow, Cottonwood, and the occasional oddity like the evergreen (but also always shedding) Madrona that does not have needles like the evergreens. But that is another story.

I love the Big Leaf Maple.

Springtime's last bare branches to be clothed is the Big Leaf Maple. Their peridot leaves uncurl like the scarfed skirts of ballroom dances. They cast an odd green light on the forest paths of the PNW. They tilt at crazy angles on high bank beaches of the Puget Sound and became my early life jungle gyms where I spent glorious summer days. I was Rima of Rimoloma in them, communing with bird, squirrel, cat and dog life. They provide temporary umbrellas from hot summer sun or rain squalls blown up from points South.

The Wauna-area maples dress in acid green chenille moss and accessorize with licorice fern. Their thin-tipped branches were my drinking straws when I camped. I'd find branches the trees shedded the previous year and drill out the marshmallow-like centers and peel off the thin strips of bark. (It occurs to me as I reread this, that my blog is Maple-colored.)

In early fall their enormous leaves slowly take on a pale to canary yellow and briefly, the celedon saltwater is littered with golden fairy boats drifting out with the tide.

Now the maples are stripped bare from the two wild windstorms we had early this month, and I look forward to reclining on my chenille beach chair next summer and look through the shuffled layers of green while the Wauna dog searches for beach jerky.

It has been far to long. I'm very sorry. The dance between home and work has been a challenge.

Most recently it has been the struggle of hosting the in-laws for Thanksgiving and for Derek's birthday (two days later!). My concerns are that it will be difficult to clean and keep clean the house for the events and do all the cooking for both events as well as work and volunteer at the girls schools and the YMCA too. And keep the girls happy. And take care of the animals. And take care of my parents home and mail while they are gone until April....and....pass the bottle please~ *_*

How do you super moms do it?

What do you use for $ if you hire the work done?

I'll get back to you with the compromises made.

Oh. Hello there! Did you think I'd forgotten you?

Well, you see, I have recently gotten a J.O.B.

Much like a regular job in many respects, with daily trials such as getting up at a set time, commuting to work, a desk, and various and semi-responsible tasks to perform, a J. O. B. requires 110% of my usual waking attention to keep my "learning opportunities" to a minimum.

(Read here: repeated attempts to mitigate self-imposed disasters without making me look too inept! Are you so cruel as to ask for examples? How about xeroxing 1000 copies, only to find them printed upside down, inviting a client and board-member out for margaritas the second day on the job via work e-mail as I knew her pre-employment and finding out that my boss is a staunch non-drinker, or having suggested a new way of filing although the "CURRENT sytem works PERFECTLY well THANK you very much!")

While most of the business world would find my work-a-day tasks quite mundane, I find I am challenged trying to be creative using my self-imposed gas allowance to deal with child care responsibility, errands and creating a respectable wardrobe for a moderate sum of money as a working Mom. No Prada for this worker bee!

Yes, I know, I'm not quite ready for the big league yet, but as a full-time mother and house maven, this is big for me. Truly big.

It will grow might old pretty quickly I suppose, but I am enjoying regular paychecks, a parking spot with a view of Mount Rainier and the docks of the harbor outside my office window.

I miss blogging 'though. Maybe I'll take shorter lunches and use some time at the local library for computer access on my work days. Or be creative like "Post Secret" and add a new blog just on Sundays.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for not losing faith in me!

I suspect there is a true reason that magicians of yore used white rabbits as subjects for their prestidigitations. White rabbits, in my experience, are quite canny.

Last spring, two young bucks came into our lives via a friend who's friend couldn't keep them any longer. The Wauna menagerie was shy of rabbits, so Hubby and I agreed. After all, rabbits are not much different than, say, goldfish for entertainment. Right? Little did I know! I know that some of you veiw rabbit as a food item, but keep in mind I live in America where pets are valued by many as children are.

These new additions were dubbed Merry and Pippen and we immediately set them free from their former 3' wide by 4 1/2' wide penitentiary wire existence to a spacious rabbit wire enclosure on the ground. The children were delighted and astonished at how much fun they had. The pen we created was a 6' round complete with three large rocks in the center to climb atop of or hide below and a weedy patchy garden for bunnies to nibble on.

We learned rabbits can do the bunny fling--a wild leap and twist in the air, followed by a race in circles. They would then throw themselves down when exhausted and bask flat in the sun. They would rather be on something (rocks, a recycled bottle recycling bin, each other...) than under something.

But for Merry (who turned out to be the grumpier of the two bunnies and not nice at all) the garden was greener on the other side of the fence. Within a week, he found a high spot in the bottom of the fence and wiggled under. Off he raced to check out the neighbor's barn and horses. I didn't find him until the next day!

We anchored the wire with big rocks and figured he wouldn't budge that. But we were wrong! For his next trick, he managed to push the bottom corner of the gate and slither through the crack to freedom. We placed a cinder block in front of the gate so you had to drag it out of the way to get in. Naturally, if we would forget once to replace it after going through, he was out again. Pippen, through this whole escape attempt was content to remain in confinement.

By this time, Pippin care down with "head tilt" (many bunny illnesses are weirdly named and fatal to bunnies, come to find out) Merry ceased his escapee ways and spent his day propping up Pippin's bad side and helping him to the food and water dishes. Bunnies have compassion?! Who would have thought?

Nit picking

My maternal grandma Pearl pulled out of high school in the 9th grade. I'm unclear whether she dropped out, or that her Dad thought 14 year old girls didn't need more education. She was the youngest child of five, the only girl, and her mom passed away during the great influenza epidemic when she was 12 years old, so Gram "took care of the men." She cooked, cleaned, sewed and read a lot.

Why this bit of trivia? I suppose that is because though she never graduated from high school, her love for reading kept her educated and interested in the world. What's more, my fondest memories were our hours-long conversations over tea and toast. You would never find her at a loss for words. We would talk about politics, religion, family, music, television and books. Later in my life the topics for discussion turned more toward relationships and raising children. And our "visits" were never less than an hour long, whether over the phone, in person or by post. (Some family members would complain about that bitterly, too!)

But one thing still strikes me to this day: She would never lean on the crutches of using cheater words such as, "Ya know", "Like", "Basically", "Uh", or swear words of any kind. A good Methodist girl, she followed the commandments of "thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain" and took it to the next level. Swear words were for the simple-minded who couldn't think of anything meaningful to say.

She and I would grouse about our pet peeves. Hers was often Internet related. She would say, "It really bugs me when these announcers on TV will say 'double u, double u, double u dot'..."And she would enunciate each syllable clearly and emphatically. It makes me smile to this day when I hear someone say it.

Hey grandma, how about this one. "The people? Who are always ending each sentence fragment? With a question in their voices?"as if to constantly reassure themselves that you are hanging on their every word by asking for your approving nod. My nine year old does this, and I know that's how the other kids speak in class. But maybe I am so distracted with my thoughts I'm not keying in to what she says.

Now it gets more difficult for me to overlook people who use the word "basically" or "like" in at least every paragraph. Come folks. Truly, everything can not really be like everything else. Like, ya know?

And in conversation that is mostly conjecture why use the word "basically"? It's got to be a warning that when I looked up "basic" in the American Heritage Dictionary it used "base" in every sentence to describe it. "--n. Something that is basic. As in ba'si.cal.ly" Thanks for the clarification! If I hear one more person who uses "basically" in their conversation and then go on for another 10 minutes, I'm gonna strangle them!

I miss you Gram. I hope you and St. Peter have good conversations! You would have been a great blogger!

Okay. After the "heaviness" of my last post, I thought I'd put up some fun photos. Here's a few snow critters that the girls created when we had our cold snap.

Daughter 1 made this snow mouse just outside of our raspberry pen. (You gotta keep those berries penned. You never know what'll happen if they get loose! ^_^)

Unfortunately, the rains started up the next day, so the mouse is just a blob of snow. But cute while it lasted!

Daughter 2 created her snow "Rosa" on the lawn of a friend. They had a great time of it, and here is the results! She poached hard from the surrounding garden, so Rosa had a hydrangea hat, fir branch hair, coal eyes, carrot nose and holly arms. She sported a variegated ivy belt and matching hair band, and tangerine buttons on her snow jacket. Very lovely, I'd say.

I changed my "personality" icon on the top of the page to the snow fairy photo I took during last January's snow. The only photo shopping I did was to crop the picture and enlarge it. Pretty cool, huh? The snow was falling in huge feathery clumps because it was relatively warm and because we were so close to the water. I have no idea why the flake was "flying" upwards. Perhaps the wind was blowing from the south and was curling upwards. At any rate, some things should not be over-thought. Here's a larger shot of it:

A recent Tacoma News Tribune ran an editorial last week caught my eye titled “Blogs VS Newspapers" written by David Sego. (Update 1/22/07. Apparently the TNT has moved the article. I'll try to find it and re-link it!)

TNT’s David Sego quoted a Wall Street Journal opinion writer, Jospeh Rago, who voices concern is that though blogs are a current, undeniable force, there appears to be a real problem with quality. (Here’s my opinion right now.) It must have been a while since Mr. Rago glanced at the tabloid rack next to the grocery check out line. Oh, sorry, he must have meant real newspapers like the Wall Street Journal!

Perhaps the article that appears in the TNT really addresses those blog writers that tackle the big political issues and who then discusses their viewpoint. To be fair, the first blog I had ever tapped into was “Power Line” through a link on the Internet. This Internet site was created by three Dartmouth grads, who as far as I know, do not get paid by a media syndicate. But you never know. They are getting a kick back from advertising now!

The gist of their blog seems to be a rehash of the news available through the American media chain, and then is filtered through their own dogma. How is this any different from the newspaper political editorials? I was fascinated by Power Line’s strength of conviction and the apparent depth of their understanding about what is going on in the news. Do I agree with everything they say? No more than I agree with our local newspaper columnists who write about similar issues. Do they reread what they have written and use spell check before they post? Absolutely.

Admittedly, I am no political pundit. I rarely have a strong political party stance and am the first to admit that I am woefully ignorant about the general machinations of our political system.

Mr. Rago, here’s the thing. I read blogs for an altogether different reason than you. I read them to get a taste of what an average person’s daily life is like in another country. I love to think about what someone with a sense of humor has written. I appreciate the angst that is out in blogs there also. Very little worth having is without struggle of some kind, and I am repeatedly touched by those who share their struggles.

Like you Mr. Rago, I’m easily bored with the badly written and the schmaltzy wedding and new baby blogs; the mySpace crowd that try to branch out and away from the mySpace format, but brings it along with them any way; the poets and the peep shows; the religious preaching. Sometimes, though, you’ll run across a gem that informs and entertains. Is it news? Not in any real media sense.

Do I need a media mogul to select what I should be reading? Not with the advent of the Internet. As always, I will glance through a newspaper as I come across it. I will read the elucidating editorials. I’ll admire the photos and cheer the good news and ponder the bad. But for an unfettered glance at the world, I’ll read the gritty blogs of people very much like me.

Happy "week after de-lurking week"! For those of you who were unaware of "delurking" as I was, it seems that we folk who browse through people's blogs but do not comment while we are there, are called lurkers. Much like peeping Toms (or Janes) we want to take a visit into other people's lives without the mess or fuss.

So the story goes that if you regularly check into someone's blog, you should post a comment on what they have written...or just introduce yourself. I found that unless you are a card-carrying blogger, you can't post a comment at the bottom of a blog entry. But if you aren't a blogger, now you can say your howdys (?) in the chat box to the right of this column. Do you see it? Its over there!--------------------------->

The problem now is that I've procrastinated so long in writing a new entry, Delurking week is over. Sigh.

****************

It always makes my family nervous when I post names and photos of loved ones in my blog. I have always felt more comfortable behind the camera than in front of one, so I do have empathy. Really! But my first and foremost reason for writing a blog in the is to stay in contact with my far flung family and friends.

And I am REALLY BAD at writing letters. Besides, you know what they say about pictures being worth 1,000 words? So "Hi" to my Thailand teacher friend! "Hi to my Australian friend (and her great family!)" "Hi to my sisters in the corners of our great state!" "Hi" to my Snow Bird parents who are, at this moment basking in the southern sun and applying yet another coat of sunscreen to their sunburned beaks!

And "Hi" to all of you who admire Tucker the wonder dog and stop in for dog biscuits for your four-legged fur people! Thanks for visiting the Waunaspot~~

Hi all! Here is a 2006 family photo for those of you grousing (sister!) that we never send you an updated picture. So sorry! I'll have to break out the digital camera and get a really good one for 2007. Daughter1 and Daughter2 are currently taller with longer hair, and Hubby sports a dashing moustache/goatee combo that resembles Sean Connery! Sadly, I'm much the same as last year. I'm always tempted to chop my hair short and bleach it blond, but I'm just not the adventurous...yet.

Can you still wish friends and family a happy new year, even if the New Year is a week old? I hope so, because true to my nature I am running a bit behind. Made any resolutions yet?

Isn't interesting how we try to explain away or justify our tendencies? I have a mountain of laundry to do, my garden is a swamp with last years flower stalks still poking through, my car needs a good cleaning and the dog needs a bath. AND I'm running behind on my Christmas cards, thank-yous, and, well, "Happy New Year"s. (Hang on. I don't think that last bit was grammatically correct!) So now its resolution time:

• Sort and wash those clothes
• Get the muck boots out and get to raking
• Vacuum the car and use window cleaner (doggy nose prints!)
• Take the dog to Petco and use their do-it-yourself wash station
• Loose 10 pounds

(Wait. Where did that last one come from?!)

For those of you who are interested, I found the link to the Tacoma News Tribune article, "Blog vs Newspaper". I'll link to it here, once I post this piece and try to shorten the rebuttal I wrote in response. I'd never make a columnist. I spend too much time thinking about what I want to say, and I'd never make the deadlines! Another resolution?

I practically begged my friends and family to check out the new look of my blog because I wanted to see how the cluster map worked on my blog site.

Thanks so much to my nieces in Tacoma, my sister and her husband in a little berg south of Pullman....and who ever you are in the mid west. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a coyote or a cow, but one never knows....

I also promised those same two nieces a photo of themselves, and I have a great one of the newest little imp in our family.(Who has a great taste in jewelry). I miss having the baby element in my life, so it is always a pleasure to spend some time with the dry-siders. Although I have to admit it is also very nice to not have to wash, wipe, feed and cajole a wee one 24/7. Gives me more time to blog! ^_^

So here are those promised pictures, and I am cogitating on an article that I read in the local newspaper about we bloggers who writes for ourselves, vs "real news". For those who check in just to see photos of Tucker the Wonderdog, you might want to pass on by this next article.

Oh, and I also promised a link to D1's blog spot as well. So there it is in the "Blogs I admire". She should update hers though. Much water has passed under that particular bridge!

Thought I'd pass along a bit of humor. I came across this while clicking through the Internet: video game icons on the interstate...the newspaper article was pretty fair and balanced, I'd say.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/889553.html

What'dya think of that?

The Christmas holiday seemed fractured this year. So many reasons why I struggled a bit. My aunt finally lost her battle with MS after 20+ years of struggle. God keep her cradled in peace!

I had to put my folks' cat down, who had been an off again, on again pet of ours, too, for about twenty-five years.

I began a new job, and then the coup de grace...Wauna (and the rest of the Evergreen State) experienced a humdinger of a wind storm.

I expect the media will call it the "Great windstorm of '06" but it truly wasn't and different than any of the powerful wind storms that we get here every few years here in the PNW. (Why I remember a windstorm so strong that when driving across the Narrows Bridge, the southern facing cables vibrated like guitar strings) I guess its easy to forget when these big evergreen trees our state was named after get stressed, from too little rain, development, disease, they fall down!

What the storm did do was knock our power out for five days, from December 14th to the 19th. Prime cookie-baking and Christmas caroling time. So once we got the power up and running and we thawed out the indoor potted plants (indoor temp registered 40 degrees! Br-r-r!) and moved the 'fridge stuff back indoors, we had 5 days until Christmas. Sigh. And boxing day was spent at the new job.

Not that it wasn't great fun to see family (the ones that didn't escape the weather and go to Hawaii) and have the kids open their gifts, but it all seemed like a media sound bite. Not a true season.

But why complain? I had Daughter #1 take this photo by hanging out the car window just before leaving Waunaville to do errands. It to some degree captures the high tide and low sun and sky that a winter here typifies. I love it! Let it rain, I say. I appreciate the breaks in the weather ever so much more! It reminds me of what is said on this sign I spotted in a window. I hope you can read the inscription. If not, the text is here:

peace. it does not mean to be in a place with no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

I'll tip an eggnog to that!

To underscore the fact that I truely have too much time on my hands (or maybe I'm not using my time as wisely as i should?) I have created this Christmas poem:

(Ahem)

T'was the day after Christmas and all through the house,
Not a child is stirring, and I'm clicking my mouse.
The stockings are emptied and the contents are strewn
all over the floor, none entering their rooms.


Tucker's curled in his bed, and Dad's off now to work
and I'm still in new jammies, my duties I shirk!
I dream of Noels with and without our friends
and chalk up this season as the one that will tend


To lean much more closely towards family this year
and missing the presence of ones held so dear.
Not a glimmer of envy I hold in my heart
for the vision of warm surf and palm trees that part


To reveal those swim suits that shows all my fat.
(Yes, this is denial and I'm okay with that!)
Plain oatmeal and coffee is what I consume,
the upcoming year won't see me filling the room!


The gifts I had opened are thoughtful and kind
a warm leather jacket from hubby, I find,
I might need a Harley to zip off to work
and chocolate, oh chocolate my diet it hurts!


A white shirt for daytime, some candles for night
A mirror for beading, some roses, a sight!
Lotions and potions, jams which in I still lurk
And chocolate, oh chocolate my diet it hurts!


D2 was eager to see Nick treat her kind,
so up at 5:30, a Pet Shop she finds
And gift cards and cash will go to more "pets"
‘Least I won't have to feed these pesky new sets!


D1, easy to shop for, her list was so long,
It’s a good thing my pay check showed up here so strong.
Beads and bead tools, books, clothes, and drawing tools too
and jammies that match my new jammies. (It’s true,


we shopped most together and made us a pact
we’d get some few things for ourselves. It’s a fact!)
Tucker wasn't forgotten, he got into his heart
that opening his gifts, was his favorite part!


Hubby liked his twelve days of Christmas this year,
Between the girls and I, we covered, no fear,
The one rose, two turtle candies, three red wines too,
And four composts, five bagels, and that’s just a few.


So now I’m good and late to get off to work
Good clothes to change into, no longer to shirk.
As I’m ready to head toward the jeep in the yard
The part that I struggle towards what is most hard,


A promise to write you a more proper missive.
(I bet you are waiting to see how I rhyme this’in!)
Apologies profusely to Clement T. Moore
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good morn!

God bless us, every one!

My apologies if you are one of the three people who actually read my blog to get an update in what the heck is going on in my life. Fortunately for Santa, Mommy's been on the job with the local temp agency and was placed in her first real 9-5 desk job...Temporarily as the agency is called...just prior to Christmas. This means presents bought with my own money. Yay!

Good news. Mommy doesn't have to raid Daddy's checking account to by him a gift he really doesn't want. Mediocre news. Mommy's spending her own money to by Daddy a present he really doesn't want. Bad news. The eight year old is forgetting what a home-packed lunch is, and the smell of newly baked cookies when arriving home from school. Oh. And I have REALLY BAD dog guilt. Tucker the wonder dog is snubbing me. Sigh.

So I am cheating on my blog post and am tacking this great blog stuff that I scooped from that old Cynicalbstd, Jay, again. (Who, by the way, admitted stealing it from Gracey. At least we admit it!) Red answers are his. They are great! Green answers are mine.

"...And here's a little Christmas Memo that I stole from Gracey:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate .. No contest ... Especially if you add a little Bailey's or some Jameson's Whiskey.

Egg nog for the first few day until my jeans start getting tight, then back to Ravensara's Espresso Blend. I live in the land of java joints, dontcha know.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Presents must be wrapped. I know it would make things easier on Santa to just put them under the tree, but come on, you only work one day a year fat man, wrap the presents!

Got young kids...they have to be wrapped or nothing would stop them from a 4:30 AM raid.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White. But, I like colored lights too. I used to like flashing lights, but now I like them to just shine constantly.

White on the tree, and colored on the house. Or vice versa. Depends on the mood!

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I don't have any to hang. I always wanted one of those headbands with mistletoe connected to it and then go walk around an see how many kisses I get. Or how long until I'm arrested.

Does plastic replicated count? Don't hate me. My Mom gave it to me, and we have to honor our moms don't we?

5. When do you put up your decorations ?
When I feel the urge to do so. Sometimes the day after T-Giving, sometimes a week or so later. I just sit back and wait for Santa to send me a sign.

It seems like when its raining and most dangerous to climb a ladder. But this year, when I finally caved to 8 yr old pressure.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Oh just anything. A smoked Petit Jean Ham is always good.

Mom's swedish tea ring. Think cinnamon roll that feeds 6!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Sitting around the tree with only the lights from the tree on and singing Christmas Carols. And then my mother reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"and "The Littlest Angel" to me and my sister.

Laying on my back under the newly decorated tree and looking at all the pretty lights.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What truth? Santa is truth. Santa is good. Santa is my friend.
I truely don't remember. Probably when a conservative not-to-be-mentioned person pointed out that Santa was an anagram for Satan and he steals the true meaning of Christmas from Jesus. *Sigh*

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
When we were kids we used to open one gift on Christmas Eve but the rest were on Christmas morning.

The joy of a big family! Christmas eve dinner and gifts with Mom's family and Christmas day with Dad's family!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With Christmas decorations? Hello? Oh, you mean what kind! Oh, well little balls, lots of small ornaments and it's pre-lit. NO TINSLE!! You'll be vacuuming those bastards up in June!

Pick a color or two and a theme. I have enough ornaments to decorate three trees! The kids did a fine job this year.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it until it's snowed every other day for a month. Then I get sick of it.

Snow? Once every six or seven years we get snow for Christmas. It's magic! And it encourages the sane to stay in rather than dualing with mad men w/4 wheel drives.

12. Can you ice skate?
Not even a little bit.

Poorly, when begged.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Not one specifically but I've gotten some pretty cool stuff over the years *cough iPodNano cough*

Christmas day picnic in Canberra, Australia.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Just trying to be in the holiday spirit of the season and ignoring all the commercialismcialization of the holiday. (Um-m. Can't remember if this is a word he actually used, or if it crept in while I was running the spell check!)

The music! (From Nov. 26thish - Dec. 26thish)

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Fudge and Christmas cookies. There used to be this bakery that made these AWESOME Santa cookies. But, it's closed down now so no more of those. Of course, my sister makes great Christmas fudge and cookies. *hint, hint*

Um. They're all good?

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Watching all the lighting of the tree ceremonies on TV and driving around and looking at all the lights and decorations that people put up.

Candlelight service on Christmas Eve.

17. What tops your tree?
An Angel.

This year? Santa!

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving presents?
Well we all love to get presents don't we. But, I prefer giving them. Not that I'm all that great at picking out gifts for people, cause I basically suck at that. But, I do love giving gifts

Getting. Does that make me horribly selfish?

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
I love Christmas music as long as it isn't being sung by Mariah Carey or most Country music singers. I think Silent Night is my favorite though
Used to be "O holy night" until everyone and their brother has arendition of it. Now I pick "Still, still, still."

20. Candy Canes Yuck or Yum?
Yummy! Puh-leeze! Who doesn't like candy canes? Weirdoes!

I'm a weirdo. Yuck! Where's the chocolate?

In keeping with the Christmas Spirit here is a little quiz to see how much you know about The Grinch.I got 10/10.Oh, and donÂ’t forget that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are on this week! I think on Friday Dec. 8th on CBS.

Champagne Toast on 11/7/06:

Here’s to the continued happiness of Matthew Janiga and Erin Quirk!

We attended their wedding yesterday and many happy memories were involked by their fun, semi casual nuptials.

I was taken back to my own wedding, more than eighteen years ago when the current groom, Matt, my husband’s nephew, was our ring bearer. He was five at the time, but very serious about getting those rings down the isle precisely right. He was handsome in his tux at five, and just as handsome now! My photo is not a good indication of just what a beautiful couple they are!

Matt and my friends’ daughter were quite a pair as they came down the isle together as ring bearer and flower girl in 1988. I’m going to try to scan a photo (A new skill I’m attempting) and will post it here later.

And now the flower girl is an orchestral quality oboe player at the conservatory in San Fran, and my ring bearer is settling in, employed in his field of study in business.

No. Really. I’m not that old! However, I DO sound like a crochety aunty who only remembers the good old days when bread was 75 cents a loaf and you could see a movie—with popcorn—for less than five bucks. Them were the days! ^_^