I had every intention of doing a bonafide New Year’s post this morning – affirmations and all – but I was too tired. Don’t feel sorry for me. I took a two-hour nap this afternoon. It was delicious, but I’m still tired. I’m stunned that I didn’t get sick this week. I was surrounded by sick people, but neither H nor I caught anything – even with all the wet and virus-ee kisses from adorable, ailing grandchildren.
We had Christmas on the run by 10:00 a.m. this morning. Almost all the inside decorations were down and packed and some of the outside ones were down. They’re all up in the attic now. (swish, swish…dusting of hands motion here) Not a trace remains.
I spent the first part of this day in my jammies. After the decoration removal detail, I showered and donned soft sweats. The black eye peas (for luck) are on the stove, the Caesar salad only needs a light toss, and I’m relaxing here with you till I feel hunger pangs.
These are a few things I’d like to write on my blank slate on this New Year’s Day.
1. Take better care of ME! (Always at the top of my list, but I never quite manage it the way I imagine it.)
2. Get checked out by a few specialists (mainly my eyes and the progressing numbness that seems rentless)
3. Really, really try to stay calm and centered when everything goes awry (hysterical laughter here!)
4. Lighten up! (self-explanatory)
I realize that numbers one and two are essentially the same thing, as are three and four, but offering only two resolutions would make me appear unenlightened. We wouldn’t want that.
I hope everyone reading this will receive the boon of good health, the comfort of peace of mind, the fullness of love, and the security of abundance in the coming year. Happy new year, friends and family!
A bit of Christmas captured…
Click on photos to enlarge.
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Tonight there will be a blue moon – the second full moon in a calendar month. Don’t miss it.
Of course, it will not really be blue. The term blue moon…
“may be a reference to clergy, who used the moon to calculate the dates for Lent and Easter, calling a moon that arrived too early a “betrayer” — in Old English, “belewe” — moon.” [Continue...]
We’re heading down to Dad’s now.
Happy New Year to all!
Mapping of the Known Universe…
Here we are again – only a few days from Christmas. Dare I say that I’m ready? I’ve checked almost everything off my list. I have to go to the grocery store in a little while. Yes, it would be good to have groceries. Important people are coming and I can’t wait.
Then there’s a little baking to do and…
Okay, so I’m not quite ready. But almost…
I’m listening to Satchmo. Love him. Have a thing for horns.
Hope everyone has been good! I hear I’m not the only one who keeps a list.
Shay turns two today. I can hardly believe it. He arrived in the midst of chaos. His older sister was very sick, and was admitted to the hospital – a different hospital than the one where his mama was giving birth to him. It was a scary time.
Today is the day when the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days is reversed – each day will be a little longer until the Summer Solstice – June 21. With all the stressful events surrounding Shay’s birth, I guess it was only fitting that he arrived on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the yer, the 355th day of the year, and one of the most hopeful days of the year. It is the day of the year that symbolizes rebirth; it’s the harbinger of longer and warmer days in the Northern Hemisphere when Earth will bloom with new life again, and a cause for celebration in most cultures. Shay’s arrival was definitely cause for celebration, even on a day filled with concern about Ava’s health.
Shay has his own little way of navigating in the world. He’s quite the observer of life, checking out everything up close and personal, but he has started talking a lot more recently. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot of things about his likes and dislikes along the way - Shakira for instance.
At two, there’s a lot of looking forward to be done, but in the meantime, there’s a lot of mud and bugs and stuff that must be examined thoroughly. I love how you can still see the wonder in what most of us never even notice. Only two-years-old and filled with the knowing that most of us would pay a king’s ransom to regain.
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and you’ve already begun a journey that will be uniquely yours, Shay. What ever you do and whoever you become, this is where you began – your home with your mama and papa and sister. Happy birthday, big guy!
Looky who was born on Shay’s birthday and what they have to say to him.
- 1850 – William Wallace Lincoln, son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Willy’s daddy said, “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”
- 1918 – Donald Regan, American White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003) ~ “Some of us are like a shovel brigade that follow a parade down Main Street cleaning up.”
- 1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host ~ “In reality, the most important things happen when you don’t look for them.”
- 1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress (Can you believe Barbarella turns 72 today?) ~ “It’s never too late – never too late to start over, never too late to be happy.”
- 1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor ~ “If you have an opportunity to use your voice you should use it.”
- 1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player – “Find something that you’re really interested in doing in your life. Pursue it, set goals, and commit yourself to excellence. Do the best you can.”
- 1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter (d. 1998) – “When anyone tells me I can’t do anything… I’m just not listening any more.”
- 1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor ~ “My mother’s five-foot-two, and I’ll be honest with you – she’s the only person I’m scared of.”
Looky what happened on Shay’s birthday in past years.
- 1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- 1913 – Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
- 1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film ever, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.
- 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth’s gravity.
- 1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
Holidays and observances on Shay’s birthday
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.
Last Night~
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This Morning
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Did I mention that I saw a very attractive woman (just slightly younger) flirting with Herm at the grocery store the other day? He was paying for something, and she was waiting on him. He wants to go back, but he can’t remember which store. I’m not gonna tell. What? You think I’m crazy? He should write it down next time.
He has no idea, but he’s in a whole new class now. A man’s stock goes up dramatically after 60. The closer he gets to seventy, the higher it goes. If he still has a legal driver’s license, he’s golden. There are so many old women and so few old men. Herm is about to fall into popularity that he never could have dreamed in his younger days.
