I have a hot date with DH this afternoon……we’re going to see “The Return of the King.” I know, I know. You expected something else. I’ll leave that to Pob.
I’m delighted to be going. I’m thoroughly invested in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read the books when I was in college, and have enjoyed the first two movies tremendously. I can remember an attempt to do the story about 20 years ago that was part live action and part animated, and this version is MUCH better.
I’m holding off on purchasing the movies because I want the complete set and all the additional material for all three movies in one package. We’ve watched the first movie repeatedly on cable, and we’ve seen “Twin Towers” two or three times in the past two weeks.
I hope this movie is not overlooked when it comes to Oscars. It surely deserves recognition.
If I don’t make it back to the computer this evening, I hope you all have a wonderful New Year’s eve, and we wish the best of new years for you!

We have the most boring, er….laid back New Year’s Eve. I’d love to be out among friends, partying. I don’t need a lot of booze, but I’d love to chat and dance and generally have a good time. I’d be totally happy with a group who wanted to sit around and play board games until it was time to usher in the new year.
We traditionally have a quiet night at home. I used to open a bottle of champagne until I realized that DH doesn’t care for it. Now I just have a glass of wine. For years we celebrated by watching every Marx Brother’s movie we have, one after the other. After about 15 years of that I protested, and now we surf to see what’s on TV.
The only time I have ever partied was two years ago at Jamie and Speedbump’s. I had a great time! On-line friends from England and Scotland flew in and DH and I flew down, and we partied for several days! I suspect that may be the only New Year’s Eve party I will ever attend, so I’m really glad I have good memories of it.
I was telling a friend that in the past I would walk out my door at midnight and beat a pot with a wooden spoon to drive away the bad spirits. She said that at the stroke of midnight her mother begins sweeping the floor in her house. She works from one end toward the front door, and sweeps the bad right out the door. The broom is disposed of, never to be used again, and never allowed back into the house.
How will you be celebrating? Maybe you should all plan to come here next year!

Do you read the “funny pages” in the newspaper? Some days that’s the only part of the newspaper I get the chance to see. I was browsing through the funnies as I ate lunch and realized that several of them perfectly described my life on New Year’s Eve.
Agnes’ friend invites her to party on New Year’s Eve. Agnes declines, saying she’ll just sit and watch. Her friend goes all out, and Agnes realizes she should have gone…..
I never read “Zits,” but today I did. The boys are laying around talking about their parent’s concept of a “party.” The upshot of the discussion is that the Amish have wilder parties than their parents.
“Shoe,” one of my favorites, ponders the idea that for every brain cell that dies, a fat cell is born. Now that’s down-right depressing!
And “Broom-Hilda” and her crowd describe exactly what will happen here tonight. We’ll start yawning about 8:00 and just give up on ushering the New Year in.
It’s terrible to get to the point where you want to sleep more than you want to celebrate!

This year I gave my sister the book “The Wedding” for Christmas. I’ve read a few of Nicholas Sparks’ books, but they are not my favorites. I prefer not to read a story I know will end sadly, while my sister likes the depth of experiences the characters will endure.
She was almost half way through the book during their visit, and she turned to me Sunday morning and said, “Can you imagine being able to pull together thirty people for two days to prepare your lawn for a wedding?” I was stuck on the thought of having thirty people work on my grounds for two days without the excuse of a wedding!
I could tidy up the grove, clear out the dead branches from the willow and replant the grass. We could stack wood for the fireplace. I could have someone rip out the trees that are trying to grow in my evergreens! I could have a bank of azaleas planted, and three of the gardens redesigned. I could have lilacs and flowering almond, and hydrangeas planted. I could have an interlocking brick terrace laid at the west door to the house, and we could KILL OFF THE POISON IVY!!!!!
Wow…..what a fantasy.

I believe that everyone has traditions at Christmas time. DH and I chose early on to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family. My siblings and their children, and now their children have gathered at my second sister’s home on Christmas eve to share a buffet style meal, and participate in a gift exchange. This year we met late in the afternoon because one of the children was going to be participating in an 11:00 service at his church.
One of my nieces has led a group of teenaged puppeteers at her church. I didn’t know what to expect before my first visit to see them perform, but I was awed at what they created. The complexity of the issues presented was astounding, and the staging was incredibly entertaining.
So, when I had the chance to see my nephew participate in one of these presentations, I asked DH to go with me. I’m so glad I did. We had a wonderful evening, and it added another layer of Christmas memories that make the quilt of our lives.

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Traditionally, our Christmas tree goes up quite late in December. I attend to everything else that has to be done, and we get to the tree right before Christmas. There are several reasons. Dear Husband is allergic to the tree. I thought he was just allergic to touching it, but it seems he is also allergic to the scent. So, we put up a real tree, but we limit how long it’s up. I think it went up on the 21st of December this year, and I’ll take it down on January 3. That’s a long stay.

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Just what is normal? We have come through some wonderful Christmas days to a quiet pool of time before we celebrate the New Year. While my morning has been filled with washing dishes and sheets and trying to get the house back to some semblance of order, I can’t say this feels quite normal to me.

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No…..not the cold stuff, the movie.
I’ve decided that I can’t get into the spirit of Christmas unless I’ve seen the movie “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. I’m not sure why that movie speaks to me, but the season isn’t official until it’s played.
Last night, while I wrapped gifts, I ran the movie, and finally I began to feel good about Christmas. Old habits die hard. Next year, I’ll be sure to play it the day after Thanksgiving!
And……the snow has just started.

We’ve spent the day getting the house ready for Christmas. I finished most of the wrapping last night. The tree is in the stand, waiting to be decorated this evening. I spent an hour this morning finishing up personal notes and Christmas cards that needed to go out.

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This morning the alarm was set for 6:00. I really didn’t want to get up that early, but I had a long list of things that had to be done before we left for exercise at 8:00.
I was burrowed into the covers, surrounded by my favorite pillows, hoping for a little more sleep when the radio blasted me with “I’m lovin’ it!”
I don’t know about you, but I think that ad campaign for McDonald’s STINKS!! I don’t care for the rap style presentation, and I don’t care for the message, either. It’s clearly aimed at very young, very juvenile listners.

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