Thoughts on New Year’s Eve

December 31st, 2013
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Time is one the most precious of commodities we have.
It should never be wasted and always treasured for its possibilities.
On this New Year’s Eve of 2013, I hold in my hands my fresh new calendar for 2014 that I will hang in the kitchen tomorrow and as I flip through the untouched months and days, I wonder what this year holds for me, my family and my friends.
Of course I hope for only good and fantastic things to happen to those I care about and that includes you my dear and wonderful readers!  Thank you so much … Read More

A Broken Christmas Ritual

December 31st, 2013
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I can’t tell you why but for the first time in many years, I didn’t place a Christmas wreath on my husband’s marker at the cemetery. I thought about it.  I was going to do it.  But then I never did get around to it. I’m hoping that this doesn’t make me a bad person.I’m really hoping it just makes me a conflicted human being dealing with life the best way I know.Every Christmas since he died 10 years ago, I have made a personal ceremony out of placing a large Christmas wreath with a big red bow on his… Read More

SNL — Wrapping With Justin Timberlake & Jimmy Fallon

December 30th, 2013
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A good laugh is worth a million bucks. Justin Timberlake & Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live There are a few of my friends and family members who can make me laugh so hard that I can’t get my breath and I love that they have this special talent.  They are usually imitating someone or just have the ability to see life in a quirky way and I always can use a dose of their sense of humor. Fortunately, there are also a few shows on television that also make me laugh.  One of them is “Saturday Night Live.”  When… Read More

Family Dynamics

December 27th, 2013
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I’m sure I’m stating the obvious when I say that every family has its own dynamic and its own way of relating to each other and I think that this special form of communication developed within the family over the years is revealed in its barest form on a holiday. Let me tell you about mine.  Please?  Okay.  At least a little bit. Take 15 adults, 8 grandchildren in their teens and twenties, 6 children under the age of six and one newborn baby and put them all together in close quarters for a number of hours and what do… Read More

Christmas Eve 2013

December 24th, 2013
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Have you been naughty or nice this year? Santa knows which one, and as the song says, he’s making a list and checking it twice! On this Christmas Eve, that seemed to arrive so quickly this year, I hope Santa is good to you and brings you exactly what you wished for.  Santa is one busy dude you know so don’t forget to put out the milk and cookies for him!  Sometimes we leave him a nice cold beer because we know that with all of his dashing around that he has worked up quite a thirst! Photo Courtesy of… Read More

It’s A Wonderful Life

December 23rd, 2013
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This time of year I am always on the lookout for when “It’s Wonderful Life,” is airing on television. I could buy the DVD of this holiday classic but that would take the spontaneity out of it for me.  I like the surprise of turning on the television and finding it already on, or in the case of this past Friday evening, I caught it right at the very beginning. I know that it’s not a diverse film, I know that many things that happen in this film are dated and wouldn’t be said or wouldn’t happen today but I… Read More

Confessions of A Mediocre Widow By Catherine Tidd

December 20th, 2013
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The title of Catherine Tidd’s new book suggests she is a mediocre widow. Don’t believe it for one second. Catherine Tidd is quite the opposite.  Catherine Tidd is in fact a courageous, smart and very funny woman in search of herself and an entirely different life while raising three young children after the death of her beloved husband, Brad, in a tragic motorcycle accident in 2007. Her book is refreshing and down-to-earth and is full of painful and funny personal insights about what happened to her after the death of her spouse: the hospital, the funeral, her in-laws, the whole… Read More

Summertime Music In December

December 18th, 2013
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Baby, it’s cold outside isn’t it? Weather predictions of flurries, dropping temperatures and possible black ice bring with it winter’s outer armor of boots, scarves, gloves and woolen hats.  Meanwhile, kids around the nation are praying for snowstorms to arrive for Santa Claus and Christmas and extra days off from school. And in the midst of all this Winterness, a friend tweeted this rockin’ new video (see below) titled “Keep This In” by Phillip Noss that transports me to one of my favorite places: THE BEACH!!!! Santa Delivers To The Beach Doesn’t He? I love the warm, breezy feel to… Read More