** Baby It's Cold Outside **

We're in the midst of an arctic freeze with high temps in the teens and lows in the single digits....with no warm-up in sight.....Brrrrr!!
Fortunately we have a fireplace and we use it, tonight included!
(photo taken last Sunday 12/27/09)

"Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

** Happy Birthday To Our Beloved Dog! **

A few years ago, we got our beloved dog, Tiger, at a local animal shelter. It had only been about a month since we had said good bye to our first and only dog, Rocky. He had lived to be fourteen, I missed him terribly, and said I did not want another dog for at least six months. Well, that all changed when my husband told me about a dog he'd seen at the shelter and that I should come see her, too. You've guessed the outcome: We fell in love with the puppy and took her home. We let our youngest son, Mark, name her, and he chose Tiger. His reasoning was because of the movie: Rocky and something about the name of a song in the movie was "Eye of the Tiger". (although "Tigress" would've been more appropriate!)

Since Tiger's exact age was unknown, the vet estimated her age to be six months. It was summertime and so we chose her birthday to be January 1st. Over the years, none of us have really thought about her birthday or having any kind of celebration for her. I had even lost track of her age, but knew she was getting pretty old, so I looked on one of the past vet bills.....we have plenty of them!....and saw that she was born in 1997!!....And so, Happy 13th Birthday, Tiger!!

I will continue to spoil her, enjoy her, and love her every single day, as I have for the past 12 years.

(P.S. I finally got my photo program to work correctly, and this picture is brand new and current....taken during the evening of Tiger's 13th birthday)

"Happiness is a warm puppy." -- Charles M. Schulz

** Happy New Year! **

How many of us are saying, "I can't believe it's 2010."  It seems like just a year or so ago that the song 1999 by Prince was so appropriate!  ".....so tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999". Wow...that was 10 years ago!

My husband and I "partied" last night with 4 dear friends......snacking, playing cards and listening to "the oldies". I even got up and did a crazy dance a few times.....mostly when we women won the round of cards! The one moment of the evening that wasn't funny or silly was when Rita's husband said something so profound.......that we can all be happy and celebrate that Rita is still with us! (I've mentioned Rita various times on this blog and also in my writings. She recently had open heart surgery, plus a benign tumor removed that was partly collapsing one of her lungs.) She's had an amazing recovery!!....Especially for someone her age!! Sorry, Rita!!

There's nothing better than having friends that are also our family.

"Just thinking about a friend makes you want to do a happy dance, because a friend is someone who loves you in spite of your faults." -- Charles M. Schulz

** My Plan For 2010 **

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions. I know that 99% of the time, people just say what they think others want to hear, or what they know in their hearts they should do; such as quitting smoking, exercising and losing weight. Luckily, I’m not fighting any of those battles. (I quit smoking many years ago; I do exercise, even though it’s quite minimal; and I’ve already lost 10 lbs. and am on my way to my goal of 20 lbs!)

I do have some definite plans, though, as to how I will live my life in the year 2010. I’ll call them Steps 1-2-3.

1) I will not waste so much precious time. I am awake approximately 18 hours every day, and some of those days, I certainly don’t accomplish very much.

2) I will get my home office organized and keep it that way.

3) I’m going to consistently write my memoir and get it completed.

All three steps basically boil down to one thing: More Time for Writing!

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." -- Brian Tracy

*** LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW! ***

Oh, the weather outside is joyful
And the fire is so delightful.....
And since we've no place to go....
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ahhh. I couldn't ask for anything more on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. I'm enjoying every task I'm performing....such as laundry, straightening up different rooms, cooking, watching a little NFL football on TV, answering e-mails, helping to keep the fire in the fireplace roaring.....all while watching those beautiful snow flakes falling, swirling, looking like a favorite snowglobe of mine!

I hope everyone is also enjoying their day as much as I am!

*** Christmas Day 2009 ***

** I got my wish! We're having beautiful snow flakes!!! Some are light at times, some really large and heavy at others! (It truly looks like the photo I posted below!)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings....whatever fits your style and mood!

We'll be with all our kids and grand kids later this afternoon. I can only imagine the excitement and noise going on in their homes this morning!

Peace, Joy and Wonder to all of you.

** Christmas Eve 2009 **

"It's December the twenty fourth, and I'm longing to be up North...."

I was feeling the same way the past couple of days, as the temperature kept climbing and we received a deluge of rain instead of the lovely snowflakes which would be so much more appropriate this time of year. But today the temps begin to drop drastically and our forecast is for some light snowfall. Yippee!!

If we just have flurries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, that is all I ask. I just want to see and feel and be surrounded by the magical quietness, the glorious wonder, the miracle that is ** Snow! **

(The picture above was taken from my back patio in Janurary 2008.)

** A Charles Dickens Christmas **

The movie: A Christmas Carol and the other versions of the wonderful Dickens tale (Scrooge...the musical with the fantastic Albert Finney, and Scrooged...the comedy with hilarious Bill Murray) have been favorites of mine for many years. I love the story of a miserable, greedy man learning how to be loving and giving again, especially at such a late stage in his life.

At this holiday time of year, when giving is stressed....especially to people who are less fortunate than we are, it's always wonderful to see people doing good things for others on the television news, instead of the usual pain and suffering we're constantly subjected to. And many of us ask ourselves, after the cheer and good will is gone and forgotten....WHY is it forgotten? Why do most of us tend to only think of those in need during the holidays? I've heard of a saying that's something like: Need knows no season.

I received a Christmas card today from the wonderful people at the local Habitat for Humanity office. I was immediately struck by the quote on the front of the card, and knew that I must post it on my blog:

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." --- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I will often remind myself of this quote and I request all my friends to do the same. There are millions of people in our world that are so much more worse off than any of us may think we are.