Happy New Year Everyone!!!

New Years @ Bopmyspace.com

I hope the new year finds you and all your loved ones safe and happy.

Love,
Mic

P.S. The post times are off. I am sending this at midnight on the dot here.

Some pictures from Deb I meant to post

Running out of steam

I guess this blog is running out of steam. Everyone is busy, but that's okay. So, I think that contributions will be posted whenever the spirit moves us. I'm kind of burned out with school, so I will take a break from posting myself. Please feel free to post, those of you who have the desire. I will check it regularly. And when I get something good to write about I will. Love you much, Mic.

Christmases remembered

I remember one Christmas morning waking up to open presents and I got a surprise I didn't expect but loved and remember to this day. I can't tell you how many Christmases in a row I go one of those dolls that you were supposed to be able to hold the hand of while it walked next to you. Those things were nearly as tall as I was then. I distinctly remembering this one Christmas (and I don't remember how old I was, although it had to be less than 9 because it was before we moved to Toronto) fully expecting to get yet another one of those dolls. Instead what I received was a bunch of little dolls (about 3 inches tall and with the prettiest hair and tiny clothes) and rooms of doll furniture to go with them. I was never so surprised and overjoyed. I just loved those little dolls, and I wish to this day that I had saved them. I remember many hours spent playing with those adorable dolls. Does anyone else remember my getting those?

Now, it is time for you to share a particular Christmas that you each remember. I cannot wait to hear about them.

Below is a better video of my decorations than the other one I had put on YouTube. Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo

Suzies Homemaker meet the Pillsbury Doughboy

Ha ha ha!

Thanks to the Pillsbury company and its premade dough products, Chantelle and I made some awesome gingerbread dudes. The apartment smells fantastic and all that is lacking is a tall, cold glass of milk. No, these are not the only ones left of the three dozen cookies made. We only decorated about 1/3 of them. We are off to Myrtle (Granny) and John (Grandad) Maddix's home, with dinner and gingerbread dudes in tow.




Here is a photo I took over at John's and Myrtle's. Poor Myrtle, her eyes were bothering her that day, and I think the flash didn't help, so that when the picture was taken she had her eyes closed. It happened in both pictures I took. But I still like the picture, since I have so few of John and Myrtle.

Happy Birthday, Les

Happy Birthday @ Bopmyspace.com

I love how the cat looks similar to Lily and Oreo. Love You!

Goodies from a Good Guy

This is my friend, Jim Moran. Until mid-October we worked in the same workplace, but then he transferred back home to the Western part of the state. He's very talented in the kitchen and at this time of the year he makes gingerbread houses to give to friends. Below is a sample of his creativity. Note the "attire" of the little gingerbread men and the yellow Peeps people. How apropos! He had come up for a visit this past Saturday to attend the same party Kath and I went to. Since he had to go back home that night, he asked that I bring his creation to work for him on Monday. So, I did and by today the candy inside of it was almost completely gone. Note also the nickname on the card in front of it with which he was baptized the first time he brought in baked goods (and continued to do so regularly) to work. Anyway, it is cute and festive and I wanted to share it.




p.s. Where Santa is standing on the awning of the roof is supposed to be a candy cane like the one to his left, but I broke it. Like a bull in a china shop, am I. Sorry, Jim! And I don't know how the NYSP came off the front of the building.

Partaking of Some Christmas Cheer

My friend Kathy and I are going to a party at a co-worker's house. So, Kath took a picture of me in my sparkly red chenille sweater. It turned out nice, so I thought I'd share it. The Father Christmas behind me is one I made. It is a copy of the one Jon and I had for our Christmas tree when we were together, which he wanted to keep. So, I made myself one similar to it. It doesn't fit on my present Christmas tree, so I figured I'd put in on the entertainment center.

I'll be thinking of you when I'm throwin' back the eggnog and rum. Ha ha ha!!

Snowladen cloud cover

glitter-graphics.com

It's been snowing for a couple of hours here, hard at first but more softly now. The clouds have that lightness to them from the light they are reflecting. That always brings to mind the lines "The moon on the crest of the new-fallen snow / Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below". I want to just gaze out my window and watch the snow fall softly everywhere and sip my glass of wine, listening all the while to Christmas carols. The snow makes the ordinary so pretty and pure-looking. Each time the sky is like this on a snowy night it reminds me of living with Mom and Dad at 3 Rue Cardinal, in Dollard des Ormeaux. Remember that little park right across the street from house? On nights like these I would look out my bedroom window late at night, and going in and out of the barely visible trails that edged the little park were cross country skiers. Those were moments of calm and peace I will remember all of my days.

I want to chuck what I am doing and write out Christmas cards. I had contemplated not sending any out this year. I have had a serious case of the Holiday Blues lately, but I think it is because I'm worn out from the semester and my health is still on the mend. But I bought cards to send out today, thinking it would raise my spirit. And it has, somewhat. I think that the snow has helped even more. Being so busy, I forget to slow down and appreciate such things. But one MUST do so, it is good for the soul. How very pretty it is! Maybe I'll go for a walk in it.

"Ovah ya go"

Is it Monty Python that the phrase "over you go" comes from? I don't recall. But it aptly describes a precarious, but hilarious, scene I found myself in yesterday evening.

Earlier in the day I had gone outside to sweep the snow and ice off my very steep back steps and brush off my car from the snow left behind by the previous night's storm. Toward evening, I had to, once again, sweep off the back stairs because my friend Kathy was coming over and I didn't want her to slip on the new snow/ice accumulated on them. So, I bundled myself up and braved the blustery cold.

I began sweeping, starting at my top landing and going down the steps one-by-one. At about the third step down from the top I failed to see some ice that I had overlooked while sweeping, and when my foot fell on that step, out from under me it went. I landed on my back and began to slide. With my coat on and the stairs below me still covered lightly with snow, it was as if I were on a sled on my back. The bristles of the broom got wedged between a step and the outside wall of the building, the handle of which I clung to like a rope, and it stopped my descent briefly. Paused supine momentarily, I tried to roll myself on my right side in order to get up, thinking "Boy that could have been really bad", when I lost my grip of the broom, and continued my descent, picking up speed as I slid the rest of the way on my right side down to the very bottom of the staircase. As I came to a stop, my body flopped back down on its back and I lie there assessing just how much bodily injury I had sustained. "Nothing broken, I think", but boy did I hurt like hell.

The neighbor below me was not home. Kathy was still at work. And, the people that live in the apartment below the one she just recently moved out of (to move back in with her elderly and ailing mother) obviously didn't hear my yell during my descent. So, there I lie, with my body sore and my feelings more so for not having anyone around to see if I was okay. After wiping the tears of self-pity off my face that had quickly frozen there in the cold, I collected my aching bones into an upright position and looked at the stairs. My descent was so rapid that it cleared them entirely of snow. "Well, at least I don't have to sweep them." I promptly crawled back up the stairs and drowned my self-pity in a full glass of Pinot Grigio.

Oooh...today I am oh so sore. But in restrospect it had to be the funniest sight. Too bad I didn't have someone with me to witness the comedy unfolding as it took place. I count my blessings; it could have had a more dire outcome.

In retrospect all I can think about is Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold on the metal sled he coated with some superslick spray and went tearing down hill and across town at Mock I in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. (Ahh what a CLASSIC that movie has become!)

Have a wonderful day, All. Hope this tale brought a chuckle to you. :)



p.s. I thought the little animated, skating Santa was saying Ha Ha Ha after falling, which is why I chose it. But, I think it is Ho Ho Ho. Let's just pretend it is the former. Humor me; I'M the one that fell. ha ha ha!!!