mornin' buddies (2am here on the left coast)..."couldn't sleep at all last night...cause i was tossin' and turnin'...turnin' and tossin..." ok, who sings that one?

anyhoo, as i lay in bed with heartburn (shouldn't have had that last piece of pizza)...and a brain that just wouldn't quiet (billbot, even the meditation didn't work)...as this christmas is an unusual one for michael and i, i have been reflective, as without the presents and hoopla of mad shopping et.al...and i am not particuarly religous...i decided to count my blessings...soo...here goes...

i am thankful for...

1. a loving family
2. 4 dogs and 2 cats that love me unconditionally and are always happy to see me, even if it has only been 5 minutes since i left the room!
3. to get to look at this every morning


4. to live in a country where i have freedom
5. to have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard
6. to have friends like you, from places i have never been, but hope to visit someday and have a nice cup of tea (or wogga wogga) with you

sooo, anyone else want to share?

Morning Cynde, 11.00am in the UK. Taking a rest from cleaning before the arrival of relatives! Bob is in bed, sleeping after working nights. He was not impressed when I told him there would be 1 million people working in the UK this Christmas Day, he's one of them. I just count the blessing of him having work, November of last year he didn't have a job and we didn't think we would get to Bonaire in 2002. He got this job the week before Christmas and we got our holiday. The job runs out in September 2003 but we are booked to go to Bonaire in August. After that who knows? Being able to count your blessings seems like a blessing in itself.

Good Morning Cynde Loo Hoo I'll share!

I'm thankful for ...

1. My wonderful husband.
2. My close relationship with my family.
3. My health.
4. That I have a roof over my head and that I do not have to go to bed hungry.
5. That I am surrounded by friends here at home, in different towns and here on BT.


Have a wonderful day everyone, my husband is taking the computer to his work. (I have the day off )

Good Morning Julia!
Could not help myself with another beautiful pic.

I'm grateful for every minute of every day. I'm blessed with life, love and laughter... and you!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We have zero snow out there - but snow is predicted (80% chance) for all day Christmas.

The bartender said, "Cute parrot, does he talk?" The guy with the parrot says, "It's a Christmas Parrot. He does more than just talk, watch." The guy lit a match and placed it under the parrots left foot, then the parrot started singing "Jingle Bells". The guy then placed the match under the right foot and the parrot then started to sing "The 12 days of Christmas." The bartender said, "That's incredible". He then asked, "What does he say when you place them between his feet?" The guy said, "You know I never tried that, let's see." When the match was placed between the feet of the parrot the parrot began to sing a familiar tune... "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire."

"Perhaps the best x-mas decoration is being wreathed in smiles."

~Juliana Sideris



"What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day."

~Phyllis Diller



"Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved."

~Augusta E. Rundel

...met the milkman at the door...

cynde, don't know who done it originally (before my time) but joan jett does a good, more contemporary cover ;)

for christmas??? duh, more bonaire!!!

Morning! From the looks at the past days posts..everyone is as busy as me too!
Shopping...work....just got back from my sisters and the babies! very cute kids!
Cynde...was it Paul Revere and the Raiders?
Missed you guys....looks like it may be a white christmas on the northeast coast...Rusty? what do ya think?

Blessings:
1. Have to go with "friends like you too!"
2. Family
3. good job, great co-workers
4.Home sweet home
5.Birds, cats and animals yet to come!

What nationality is Santa Claus?

North Polish

Hi It's looking like a White Christmas is coming our way - good reason to stay in where it's warm!

I have to work tonight and tomorrow night...have Christmas day off...are you working Rusty?

Good morning all.
We leave for Bonaire Wednesday AM.
Plenty of room for goodies...as soon as I get the teenager out of the suitcase.

I think Mighty Dog is just worried about who will feed him while we are gone.


Let us know

ok, i'm up again! managed to get about 3 hours of shut eye, brain finally stopped running

meryl and bob, i was thinking Hermans Hermits, but i think you may be right meryl...bob, haven't heard the joan jett version, but i bet it is cool!

no snow here, just same old boring southern california weather

thanks everyone for sharing your thanks with me...the one thing i haven't missed is the mad shopping that goes on! julia, glad hubby has a job, tell him he should be thankful for that, as michael was laid off 2 weeks ago, and not even so much as a nibble yet! i know that this is a bad time to be looking for work, as everyone is wrapped up with the holiday spirit and not thinking of the dredgery of interviewing! plus close of the fiscal year for a lot of companies...nough of that...

"thar's gold in them rocks i tell ya!"

oh, i was watching the history channel over the weekend, and it appears that the dutch have done it again! we stole "santa" from "sinterklaus!" and a catholic preist wrote "twas the night before chirstmas." after that, it is pretty much history!

BoxerBob and I have the week off - so once we get his office downstairs finished up - the phone line is supposed to be set up this morning sometime (btwn 8 and 10 HAHA!) - we can goof off.

Tomorrow we're going to take a ride to Historic Deerfield with my Dad and stop at Yankee Candle late in the afternoon.

It's SO Christmas-y and when you come out after dark every tree has thousands of lights. The crowds have all gone away and you can stroll this huge fantasyland of decorations and ornaments and music and fragrance - we love it. They even have a large Santa's Workshop that's all animated and cheery. We're usually the last people there.

rats..have to figure how to post images later.
It's a mad house of kids and there various friends and fiancees etc.

Wally and Eva have a great trip....friends and family and nutty houses...thats what the holiday is all about!
Rusty....sounds like alot of fun..love yankee candles.....Kiss dad on the cheek for me and wish him a great holiday....

Hey Wally! At least you gave it a shot. Lucky you - going to Bonaire for Christmas. That's a wonderful present.

Picasso's bum?

Last minute packing...ice cube trays, bowling balls, penguin posters

have fun wally and eva

rusty, i get off at one today, then the rest of the week off...woohoo!

woodwind?
image{cam.jpg}

dope!

cynde, yesterday you were talking about martini's. It is so wierd what is being called a martini any more. I fell in LOVE with one at the restaurante Maya in Melaque,Jalisco, It is what they call the Rasi Martini. Jalepeno infused vodka, clamato juice, worchestershire sauce and olive garnish. (a bloody mary by a different name)Maybe it is in the olive! Since I do not get to Russia very often, I had to start making my own infused vodkas, jalepeno, pineapple, orange for "martinis" yum, yum

Ho Ho Ho All,

Thankful........

As the old expression goes, "Everyday above ground is a good one!!"

Lots of good family and good friends, even my imaginary ones on BT! (how many of your friends look at you funny when you tell them about BT .... The "get a life" look)

Oh and *so far* the credit cards aren't bouncing. Going to be a close call in January though!!

Also, lots of "interesting" things going on, like a mystery novel, where the outcome could be good and exciting or a bummer. Just waiting to see how the universe unfolds. (Well actually, trying hard to MAKE it unfold the way I would like, but realistically how much influence do we have?)

Just the other day BillBot was explaining the odds to me.... yikes!! well there is BT, cams, and wogga!

Keep the massage oil warm and the Ommmmmms flowing and all will be well.

Now if just the other 95% of this nutty World could get with the program! ...... Must write another looney e-mail to the Prime Minister. ...... He reads EVERYTHING I send him you know. His auto-responder e-mail bot says so.

Man gotta get that Christmas shopping started, tomorrow. After the garage guy calls back with the damage on the tire problem.... if there is any money left.

Ta ta for now me cyberspace friends.

Bill & BillBot

clint, funny you should mention the martini thing...i bought a "martini recipe" book. michael and i were laughing at some, "vodka, oj, and a splash of lime" forgot the name, i was like, sounds like a screwdriver withought the ice! lol! oh, and there was one that was "tequilla, triple sec, and lime mix" was called a parrothead or something like that...ok, margarita without the ice! i did find one that had "blue cheese olives." i love olives and found some at the store, yummy, haven't even put them in the drink yet, just keep going for the jar!

more bonaire christmas...additional ornaments not required

???

Bill & BillBot,

Yes I get funny looks about BT. I keep up with all of you guys, with out writing much. LOL.

Hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Ida

one more time...

Hey Bob - that's a cool shot - love the little red and orange decorations on the sea fan. That's exactly where I'd like to spend Christmas!

Hey Mr. Bill - I hear you'll be busy on Christmas Eve?

lol, rusty, very cute billbot!

found this site when i was taking my oceanography class...you can look up any long/lat along the california coast!

the red circle is our little merlot (covered with the brown cover)


and this is the Dana Point Ocean Institute where i have been volunteering!


http://www.californiacoastline.org/?

PAul Revere and the Raiders? Herman's Hermits? NO! NO! NO!
You youngens don't remember Bobby Lewis?
What do they teach in music appreciation these days? He was 10 years before those groups:

Bobby Lewis

HO! HO! HO! dr. doolittle! thank you! geez...now i get bob's "met the milkman at the door" statement...i actually thought that milkmen actually still existed in Ohio!

which reminds me...we had a milk man come once a week when i was a kid...he slipped on the kitchen floor (my mom was/is a neat freak) and then sued my parents...he lost...that was in the VERY early 60's when law suits were uncommon! anyone else have a milkman?

We had a milkman (Tom Florence) that was still delivering in the mid 70's. He used to love to see come home from college. I drank about half a gallon of milk a day. We also had an egg man (Mr Dean) that delivered eggs once a week.

mike, i wonder if tom had all your school holidays on a calendar! bonus time! i can't believe you can remember their names! i can remember what ours looked like, big tall man with dark hair (course, i was little, he may have been short for all I know!)

oops, i have no idea how all four got there! oh well, here are some ...

Letters to the Milkman

"Dear Milkman, I've just had a baby, please leave another one."

"Please leave an extra pint of paralysed milk."

"Cancel one pint after the day after today."

"Please don't leave any more milk. All they do is drink it"

"Milkman please close the gate behind you because the birds keep pecking the tops off the milk."

"Milkman. please could I have a loaf but not bread today."

"Please cancel milk. I have nothing coming into the house but two sons on the dole."

"Sorry not to have paid your bill before, but my wife had a baby and I've been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks."

"Sorry about yesterdays note. I didn't mean one egg and a dozen pints, but the other way round."

"When you leave my milk knock on my bedroom window and wake me because I want you 'to give me a hand to turn the mattress.

"Please knock. My TV's broken down and I missed last nights Coronation Street. If you saw it, will you tell me what happened over a cup of tea."

"My daughter says she wants a milkshake. Do you do it before you deliver or do I have to shake the bottle."

"Please send me a form for cheap milk, for I have a baby two months old and did not know about it until a neighbour told me."

"Please send me details about cheap milk as I am stagnant."

"Milk is needed for the baby. Father is unable to supply it."

"From now on please leave two pints every other day and one pint on the days in between, except Wednesdays and Saturdays when I don't want any milk."

"My back door is open. Please put milk in 'fridge, get money out of cup in drawer and leave change on kitchen table in pence, because we want to play bingo tonight."

"Please leave no milk today. When I say today, I mean tomorrow, for I wrote this note yesterday."

"When you leave the milk please put the coal on the boiler, let dog out and put newspaper inside the screen door. PS. Don't leave any milk.

"No milk. Please do not leave milk at No. 14 either as he is dead until further notice."

.


Ouch!

Rusty,

That low res. rendition makes me look rather seedy! Or maybe ...................

Nice pictues Cynde. That institute location looks neat. I think I want to live by an ocean.

Went to do the shopping thing. I'm baaaaack!! Maybe tomorrow. Went to one store - found what I wanted. Then figured out that the check-out line was probably 2 plus hours. NO WAY! I'll try tomorrow when everyone else has finished their shopping. Yup, that's a great idea! eh?

Bill

Cynde,

Love those letters. Please post no more today because I might be pregnant and I don't want to miss any so post them tomorrow. If not then try the day after the next door neighbour's birthday cause he's just died.

O.K.?

Bill, I can't believe these people that go Christmas shopping this early. Wait until tomorrow afternoon. Lines are shorter, prices are reduced and selection is less so you don't waist time deciding what color to get. Works better for me.

rotflmao billbot! i'll pass the massage along

oh, and RIGHT...the stores will be LESS crowded tomorrow...RIGHT...just keep telling yourself that over and over and over and over!

oh, how are the kiddies getting along?

Jusst popped in to say

Here's a cute card for you all to check out. Annie B.


http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?pv=XS02EN

To funny people, here's a site to take a look at. Not funny but very profound. Click Here.

I got here just in time for sundown! Now it's off for fajitas and shrimp cocktail and a movie!

Well, Ratz...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Unbelievable...the university closed today 'cause of snow! I'll be "off the air" until this coming Friday (when I have the Help Desk all by my lonesome!). Colour me gone until Friday (12-27). Hi to all 'til then. I do have AOL but I might as well be off the air until then. AOL S***s, doncha know. Happy Christmas to one and all until Friday. Hope to catch up with ya'll then. Buh Bye !!!

Hey Aunt Blabby, you don't have to tell me about AOL. I'll be thinking of ya, and shall miss ya. Until Friday then. Happy Christmas. Annie B.

mewwy chwismas aunt blabby...wah....miss you!

got another question for those that are still lurking or checking in...remember play dough? michael got some as a joke for his birthday, and he took a chunk to tease the dog, and monet tried to eat it...so even dogs love play dough!

oh, and then he said, "look under the tree" and there is a present for me (that he bought a few weeks ago)...but he has the dang thing tied with an entire roll of ribbon! he says that even now it isn't "cynde loo hoo proof" as i have a bad reputation for peeking in packages (goes waaayyy back to the early childhood years...never was "a good little cynde loo hoo" when i saw my name on a package! my sister (god rest her soul) and i were REALLY good at "peeking" without leaving any "evidence" of infiltration! LOL!

Hey Cynde, I remember play dough. I used to make it myself for the kids. It consisted of flour, water and cooking oil I think. The oil kept it plyable. Yes I was good at sneeking a look at the prezzies too. still am. They never know that I have done it either. LOL. Annie B.

Hah! My best memory is my 2 year old Shetland Sheepdog lying on his back with cartoon-style fat belly after he "investigated" his dog stocking before anyone else was up...no real deals there, but the NEXT stocking had...many bars of chocolate...yummm. Of course, this was before he had any idea that choc. was bad news for pups. Yes, he lived to be 18 years old, but the Christmas stocking was...pffft...full of holes..and retired soon after.

Hah! I LIVE for Play-Doh!!! More pliable than silly putty, and it won't stick to your eyebrows...long story. Anyhoo, Cynde Loo Hoo, I am thankful for birthdays because I don't like the alternative.

Your milkman stories reminded me of something we once explored in genetics classes - the "milkman effect." It all started with a *simple* question from a student, something like, "Mrs. Scharosch, why is it that you have hazel eyes, and Steve has brown eyes, yet Travis (our son) has blue eyes????" Ahem...class dismissed! We sort of straightened it out after discussing inherited recessive traits and all that brew-ha-ha. I'm still not sure I get it!

Happy Holidays, all!

Cecil...
What a touching tribute. All I can say is......Peace on Earth. Goodwill to all men!!!
Carol

I don't remember any milkmen, but I do remember getting milk at school in glass bottles. I'm responsible for them changing over to cardboard cartons -- I tripped over a classmate's foot walking back to my desk while carrying a glass milk bottle back in kindergarten, and landed on it when I fell. I still have the scar on my wrist where the glass shard ended up, still quite visible 35 years later. Dripped blood all the way to the nurse's office (Mrs. Hettie Adams -- I still remember her name!), and passed out cold when I got there (I don't do blood -- especially my own). Mrs. Adams called my mother and told her I was probably OK, but she should come get me anyways if I was going to pass out like that. Mom agreed I was probably OK, and came and picked me up... Funny, about 2 weeks later we had cardboard cartons instead of glass bottles for our afternoon milk...

Hazel, my mom had hazel eyes, too. The most amazing gold-flecked color -- I thought it was wicked cool, she hated it... My eyes are blue like Dad's, but there are gold flecks in there that Dad doesn't have...

Faith

My mother has hazel eyes! Amazing coincidence. Dad has blue - I have blue and my brother has one brown and one half hazel/half brown. Very cool looking!



We didn't have a mailman but we had a garbage man. Anyone remember those holes in the ground with a long pail inside and a heavy metal cover with a foot pedal to open it? Way before garbage disposals. Sure did stink - as did the garbage trucks and the garbage man. I was five and kinda had a cruch on him anyway. He used to serenade me with, "Sioux City Sue, hair of red and eyes of blue!"

~Former Susan LOL

hazel, glad i could entice you to come out and play! how long do you have before the kiddies return???? do you have snow???? hmm....milkman effect...my dad's eyes were green and my moms are brown and mine are blue (grandads were blue, so they tell me!)

faith, had me rolling on the floor! you bad little girl...ruined the glass companies business! funny, as if it happended today, someone would have been sued for sure, like the school for doing such a horrible thing like giving glass bottles to small children! the gold flecks must be cool!

rusty, this garbage whole does not sound familiar at all...i'm trying to picture it in my head and just can't get an image...i asked michael last night if they had a milkman, and he said no because he lived in the "city." only those in the "boonies" had stuff like that delivered! lol!

oh, and yes, cecil, thank you for sharing the tribute

Hi and Merry Christmas to all!

Cynde, Michael does not tell the whole truth ... I was born and raised in Berkeley,CA, and we not only had a milkman, but a fresh fruit & veggie guy that came thru the neighborhood twice a week. Of course this was many, many moons ago! We also had garbage collectors who walked up our path to the back door, dumped the trash from our outdoor can into huge barrels they carried on their shoulder, and walked this back to the big truck. My mother also did most of the grocery shopping by telephone - she called in her order to the local grocer twice per week, and he delivered, bringing the groceries right into our kitchen. ...boy this sounds like I must be ancient... I promise, I'm not!!! :-)

Rusty, that's what that funny pail hole and flip-lid thingy was in back of our last house! Dan said it was something like that, but I couldn't quite believe him... It was an old neighborhood, and the house was from turn of the century (last one, not this one). I don't know how long it was since the thing actually got used...

And Cynde, I was actually fairly bummed when they switched over to cardboard cartons instead of glass bottles for milk -- it tasted better out of glass. But at least I wasn't about to damage myself again! I still remember which classmate's foot I tripped over that day, too, even though it was 1968 when it happened -- her name was Lori Bolton, and she had curly blonde hair. Can you say "memorable experience"?

Faith

lol faith...i was telling michael about the milk bottles, and your story, and he said he had them too...they had paper lids! funny, i had a crush on "john carney" from like 2nd grade to 6th. i would just freeze up around this kid...i was walking back from sharpening my pencil in 6th grade, tripped (over what i have no idea) and as i fell i "grabbed his leg" to try and break my fall...talk about embarrasing!

ginny, ok, i will just tell michael that he lived in daton ohio, then china lake ca, and they didn't have milk men in those towns!

Gee, Cynde, you should have tried my 1st grade trick -- pass out in his lap! We had a round of immunizations, and I managed to survive the actual shot, but when we got back to the classroom, I passed out -- right into the lap of the boy sitting next to me. Next thing I know, I'm coming to with a slight sore spot on the side of my head (where he went springing out of his seat and let my head whump into the chair), and my teacher was running through the door with one of the medical crew from the immunization clinic...

And yeah, the milk bottles did indeed have paper/cardboard lids...

Ah well, time to help Dan clear the driveway, then run another round of dishes through the dishwasher. I figure we have 2-3 rounds more to go before we find the kitchen again! Dan created a 5-course dinner yesterday for us and our friends, and did a rather spectacular job of using every dish, pot and glass in the house... The food was yummy, though -- spring rolls, tofu & veggie soup, veggie mu-shu, tofu in black bean sauce, and (my contribution) apple crisp with soy vanilla ice cream. Not terribly traditional Christmas fare except for the dessert, but as I told Dan, the Christmas carol starts out with "We three kings of Orient are", so oriental food does sort of fit...

Faith

I remember punching holes in the paper lids on the milk bottles and putting straws in them. The teacher chose the two people with the highest grade on the math test to get of math class 15 minutes early and go punch the holes in caps. It was extra reason to do well in math. Those nuns in the Catholic schools were good at using slave labor students to do all kinds of work.

faith, sounds like you had a nice dinner...doesn't matter what is served, it is the gathering of friends and family that count! boy, it sounds like you gave the teachers at your school some interesting stories shame on that little boy for jumping up and letting your head thump on the floor! he should have written "cp" on his hand and he would have had sufficient "cootie protection" from such goings on!

dr. doolittle...what did you poke the holes with? straws? what a good little boy you were...hey, how's woody? he hasn't checked in with us in a while...was he a good boy and did he get any bones in his stocking?

There was a little tool that was shaped like a metal lid with a small nail in the center. It would punch a hole through the lid but the nail was less than half an inch long so it didn't get deep enough to touch the milk.

Woody is doing well, I am trying to find an old picture of him and his brother on Christmas when they were 4 months old. He got a new Ohio State jersy for christmas. I will have to get a picture of him in it.

i can't believe a bunch of nuns trusted you with a tool that had a nail in it! boy, you must have been good!

can't wait for the woody pics

I wouldn't say that the nuns ever trusted me at all. I was far from the ideal pupil. I was just good in math so I got to be the one to get out of class early to punch holes in the mile caps.
I will try to get a pick of Woody in his Ohio State jersey up here or on my web site before I run off to Cozumel on Sunday. I am thinking about being underwater at midnight as the New Year comes in.

Dr. Donkeyboy Dolittle, How lucky are you???? Cozumel at New Years.. Let the party begin..{Poor Woody, Home alone again!!}

freddie, i agree, i think he needs to get woody back on line so he can at least party virtually with those of us that AREN'T going to coz!!

You ladies should come along. I am going to have to curb my diving activities a little next year. I haven't gone skiing or golfing or whitewatering at all this year, just dive, dive, dive every month. I don't want to become too one-dimensional.

fine with me Dr. Sir !!! what time is the flight I am all packed and ready to go!!! We can meet Cyndy at the airport!!!! Cozumel here we come!!!
the heck with Woody!!! Get packing Cynde gal!!!!
Mike is going to take us to Mec-i-co..

wooohooo! just told michael he has to finish the painting! oh, and i guess i have been too one demensional this year too...haven't been skiing yet (although big bear just got snow) and have only been golfing once! i usually take a couple of clubs to work and go hit balls on my lunch hour, but with school this last semester, it consumed all my time!