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  • Holy Swiss Cheese, Batman!  It's already that time of the year jumping out at us again.

    Being that we are now a
    multi-cultural family we have decided to try and celebrate lots of
    different winter holidays.  I have been having fun learning about
    new celebrations.  I've noticed that most of them revolve around
    light.  This time of year being so dark, I like this.  My
    elder daughter is excited about this idea because she thinks she will
    be getting gifts for all of the holidays we celebrate.  That is
    actually very amusing, since I tend to go the other way about
    commercialism/buying/shopping and she knows this.

    My friend told me that they do
    'festivus' - as made-up by George's father in Seinfeld.  I never
    saw this episode, but I don't get TV reception, and we are slowly
    watching the DVD stuff; it hasn't gotten to that episode yet. 
    Anywho, festivus starts in their family with St. Nicholas day, where
    everyone has hot chocolate with whipped cream in a special Santa
    mug.  Followed by St. Lucia day where the eldest girl in the
    family makes breakfast for everyone.  There is a floating Hindu holiday
    called Diwali where the house gets lit up with candles and the kids get
    to light sparklers outside.  Boxing Day/St.Stephen's Day is a day
    dedicated to the helping of those less fortunate.  The list of
    celebrations can go on for as long or as short as one wants. 

    For one of the days we want to add
    a board game marathon.  This is a major concession on my part, I
    don't like to play competitive games.  I have been learning,
    however, not to be so stuffy and just have fun without worrying about
    winning or losing. 

    So, my question to you is... what kind of family celebration ritual would you start? 

  • Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

    Hate me because:

    I wear penguins on my sweaters.

    I love my small yappy lap dogs.

    I sing the wrong words to songs, on purpose.
    I am a reading/book addict.

    I am a terrible correspondent.
    I'm disgustingly cheerful in the morning.

    My children don't turn out like I want them too.
    I don't drink beer.

    Even though I can cook, I don't.
    I can't say "no".
    I really enjoy my job.
    I knit in bed.
    I love raw seafood.
    By night, I am a totally different character.

    I mean, if you're going to hate me, at least make it for a good reason!

  • Wait a minit... where am I?

    Well, beat me with a wet
    noodle, it sure has been a long strange trip.  I'm not in
    Canada... yet.  We're waiting, but I'm not sure what for, I guess
    you'd have to ask my hubby.  Meanwhile, I work, I volunteer at the
    kids' schools and I generally keep myself beaucoup busy.  Of
    course I'm on a campaign to get Fleener to go on a cross country visit,
    because if he doesn't I'll just have to go out there and bug him on my
    time.

    Seeta is doing well for all who wish to know, bouncy as a tigger and growing like a weed.  Keep it real kids.

  • Time for my "monthly" letter, eh?  Well it seems that way anyway.

    This weekend we are going to
    Canada to check out land there.  I have said earlier that since my
    husband is Canadian it may be better to just quit this country's
    government and go to friendlier lands.  It is interesting because
    the people at the B&B said that ever since November 4th there has
    been a LOT of real estate activity going on there.

    We don't actually plan on leaving "for good" any time soon.  We
    will at this time just look for a place to go to in the summers. 

    Earlier this evening, my daughter and I painted our quarters pink.  The St. Pete Friend's Pink Quarter Campaign is a wonderful effort to gain attention to our woefully unequal healthcare system.  They point out that:

    • Over 40 million Americans have no health insurance.
    • At least another 30 million either have insurance that is inadequate or
      would be lost if a job suddenly ended.
    • It is
      their understanding that coloring U.S. coins, as long as they remain usable,
      violates no law.

    After painting the quarters the
    second part is to gain public awareness.  Misha and I will write
    to our local paper and let them know what we have done.  I also
    plan on getting my spinning group involved. 

    Aside from the noxious fumes, it
    is fun.  It does make me wonder if the ladies who use fingernail
    polish on a regular basis have clear thoughts though - I know I'm
    rather fuzzy in thought at this time.  A perfect time to try and write comments to y'all!


  • Here's wishing everyone a wonderful New Year.

    Yea, I know I'm late on the wishing and
    on the blogging for that matter.  I was also terrible at handing
    in assignments on time too.  The above is a vacation picture with
    the infamous Miss Seeta and her infamous eye patch*.  I don't know
    if you remember, but I was
    told ten weeks for the eye patch.  What that really means is ten
    weeks with an eye patch before they check on her and assign ten more
    weeks with an eye patch... repeat procedure  etc.  etc. 
    etc.  Luckily, she is doing really well for a six year old. 
    And my hair should grow back eventually.

    We spent a week in Florida where we rented a huge house with seven
    bedrooms and my brother's family, my sister's family and my parents
    joined my family for a large re-union bash.  We encouraged my
    cousin's to rent a near-by house and their eleven visited with our 15
    for a bit.  What a hoot!  So, here are the 13 kidlets from 5
    families enjoying their ice cream:

    Can you say chaos?  I knew you could.  My only advice is
    Disney World is no place for a vacation during the winter
    holidays.  We spent more time by the pool, which was really much
    more fun anyway.

    Lots of pool pictures:

    So, I'm alive and busy as usual. 
    There are no plays in the immediate future, but I am taking an acting
    class with my son one night a week.

    Loads of blessings to you all.

    *decorated for our/your amusement since she can't actually see what is on it.

  • We rented the school gym.  It was a
    great place for a kid's birthday party.  We played dog, dog, loose
    (like duck, duck, goose) and Master says (like Simon says) and they hit
    a dog bone pinata.  Can you tell the theme was dogs?  Mostly
    it was organized chaos without any organization.  Luckily for me
    it was only 2 hours.

    What I want to know is, why does my face always photograph out so red?

    Seeta's comment that night was, "What are we going to do tomorrow?"

  • Friday is Seeta's new official birthday.  She is having a
    puppy-dog themed birthday party on Saturday.  She is so excited
    she can't stand still.  Since she has never been good at standing
    still, this is not much different from STANDARD OPERATING
    PROCEDURE. 

    So, I figured I'd better write something since I think about you all
    from time to time, but don't do much about it.  I'm here to
    promise party pictures, and then hopefully remember to actually
    follow-up on that promise before the new year. 

  • I'm not dead yet!

    just kippin'

  • Golly!  See what a little peep can do?  I now have a bit of
    news... I got a job!  It is exactly what I wanted... close by,
    fair pay, part-time hours, excellent office.  Yey me.

    Yesterday I took the 1st/2nd grade class on a trip to India. 
    Looking back at last year's pictures I can't believe how much change
    there has been in a year.  Our girl is certainly doing well. 
    Every day I go into the school, someone comes up to me and says how
    nice it is that she is there.  Even the students ask me if she
    ever frowns.

    Here are some perfect puppy pictures  to peruse.  They are so small it always makes me laugh.  That and all the tiny growling they do.

    Hey, Happy All-Hallows Eve to ya all!

  • Peep

    This is so you can't say you haven't heard a peep out of me for a while.