Happy New Year 2011!

It's almost New Year's eve. It's the time when you want to start "anew" with New Years resolutions.

Every year I vow to stop swearing.

That lasts for a total of one hour.

Every year I vow to be nicer and calmer.

That last for about 2 hours.

Although I will make another attempt this year.

I will also try to be a bit more open minded and not so judgemental.

I will also try not to be so paranoid and neurotic about things.

I"ll keep working on my "sainthood" status.

It's not easy, but I'm consciously working on being the best that I can be.

I've given up donuts and cookies. I will continue to stay away from foods that I can not control.

I have to laugh when I see the sale paper ads this time of year. It is loaded with exercise equipment and diet suppliments. Many people must buy these things as a part of their New Year's resolutions but let's face it by March, these exercise machines end up being coat racks and dust collectors.

I think it is almost impossible to start a diet at the peak of winter.

There is a shortage of fresh veggies and fruit. The winter just makes you hungry for comfort foods. I can only hope for is to not fall off the wagon and give in to the sugary comforting carbs.

I try to get out there and go for a run everyday even if it's a short one. I try to stick to an ongoing routine. The same goes for working out in cell block#9. The progression is slow but it is still progressing.

I work (and struggle) to improve myself in body, mind and soul.

It's working.

I think.

Happy New Years!

post holiday letdown

I had a very nice Christmas.

I hope all of you did too.

Now this is the part I have a hard time with.

The day after.

Yes, I am one of those jerks that go into post holiday depression.

It's like the party is over and now you have to pay for it by being thrown into a dark dank cold endless prison pit for three months now.

It's as if something switches off. And now, I will have a dull suffocating migraine for the entire month of January.

It happens every single year without fail.

I don't know if it is because it is so dark, cold and dry or what. It's not just a mental thing but a serious physical thing for me.

I don't know how the people who live in northern countries deal with winter for six months of the year.. ugh...

Thankfully, I only put up a small Christmas tree so it is not such a daunting task when you have to take down the decorations. I leave the "santa frogs" out and all my Christmas cards up longer to enjoy.

Right now, here on the east coast, we are getting pounded with a major blizzard.

We are expecting two feet of snow.

Thankfully, I declined a few customers over the holiday. I wanted to spend time with my family rather than to go to work. I refered them out to other pet sitters in the area. As I look out the window with the snow still coming down I am so glad I made that choice. As much as I like my job the weather plays a huge role.

I am also glad I had adopted "Patches"( the rescue cockatiel) too. He has quite the personality.

There is nothing I enjoy better than spending time with all my birds, especially on cold snowy dark days. They bring so much joy to my life.

I think everyone should have pets, especially if you suffer with the "winter blues". I am going to go downstairs now and play with my birds. :-)

It's Christmas eve!

OK here it is-Christmas eve!.

Many people have their interpretation of "what Christmas is".

It ranges from cries of "it's a Haaaaaallmark holiday", "it's a pain-in-the-ass time of year", "Crass commercialism" to "just a day off of work","a reason to get the family together", a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Christ" and "a time to reflect and show kindness to others", or whatever.

I dunno, I'm enjoying this time of year.

I am reading this book right now called "Father Joe". I don't have the book right in front of me right now but the author is one of the former castmates of Monty Python. Parts of the book is funny coming from a wise-ass sarcastic comedian but most of book revolves around the simple non judgmental common sense thoughts of a benedictine monk without all the rules and bias that you would think that would be hammered at through Catholic indoctrination.

The author met this monk when he was just a boy.. The author tried to fight Father Joe's gentle and noninvasive ponderings by desperately trying to trick the monk up with his moral dilemnas and shenanigans all without success. Father Joe was an unique calming soul without judgement and without the expected lectures.

I kind of makes you think.

Keep life simple.

Don't over think things.

So many people are unhappy and angry by way of their own doings.

People can be selfish, self absorbed and make life complicated for others around them as well as for themselves by committing themselves in a ridiculous cycle of self imposed drama.

Step off the ever ending treadmill, remove the ear buds, put down the iphone and just breath and watch the leaves from the trees fall.

Thrive to keep your life simple and clean.

Your soul will benefit from it.

Have a Merry Christmas, no matter how you celebrate it.

The nuttycracker

When I was a kid, my mother would take us on a day trip to downtown Boston to see the Christmas village at Jordan Marsh. We also went to see Edaville railroad and Pleasure Island at Christmas time to get into the holiday spirit.

Last weekend, my mother and I went to see "A Christmas Carol" at one of the local small playhouses. I have to say, it was terrific. We both really enjoyed it.

A few years ago, my best pal of many years suggested we 'doll up" and see the "Nutcracker" (ballet) in Boston. I've never been to it so I thought, "that sounds like it would a classy elegant festive thing to do!". We wore our best holiday velvets and (faux) fur coats.

When we got there it was packed with kids.

Grouchy spoiled kids dressed like they were going to play video games. The parents weren't that much better. I have no idea why parents would drag their kids to a ballet.

I got to tell you, after five minutes, I was questioning myself of why I was there as well.

It was awful.

After watching teddy bears prancing around I thought to myself, "what the f*&%!"...

It only got worse.

Adult men dressed like "tin soldiers" with rosy red cheeks and flesh colored skin-tight tights that seriously enhanced their man-hood were up on their tippy toes scooting around the stage..

My immature sophomoric side came out full force at this point.

I started to giggle, whispering to my friend, "oh my God..we are on the second floor balconey and I can see those guys puds"...

She elbowed me to shut up.

"A gay man's dream..!"

Another elbow to the side.

"Oh no! They are bending over!"

Another jab to the side.

Now I was out of control but it only got worse.

Somebody near us had passed some serious noxious gas.

It was as bad as my mother's ancient old dog Tony's rotten farts. I wrapped my scarf around my face with my eyes watering. I leaned to my friend and said, "oh Jesus, let's get out of here FAST. Some pig really let one rip". She agreed and she was also gagging.

We bolted for the door.

Seriously, it was the worst thing I ever went to.

When ever I see the commercial on TV advertising "the Boston ballet's Nutcracker" I burst out laughing. My husband would then say to me, "I would never take you to see that".

I chuckle to myself, "Thank God!"

Victorian tea Christmas rip-off

My husband and I traditionally make reservations to have our own little Christmas dinner at a nice restaurant just before Christmas.

This year, we decided to something different.

We made reservations for an afternoon Victorian tea party at a Victorian bed & breakfast Inn. You had to make reservations far in advance because seating and times were limited before the Christmas holiday. You also had to pay in advance which was $64.00 per couple. I thought that was a bit steep for "lunch" but I figured, OK, it must be pretty la de da. I've been to high tea before in Bermuda (and London) and I really enjoyed it. As I had posted in a previous post I am bit of a tea snob.

I think this is where I made a mistake.

I guess I had high expections.

When I sat down, the server handed us each a tea bag and pot of tepid water.

I thought to myself, "you've got to be shitting me. This tea isn't even brewed? Gross."

I said nothing and just tried to stay positive.

(In Bermuda, we each got a pot of freshly brewed tea.)

Next, the server came out with a small plate of four tiny bite size sandwiches. I ate them in a period of two seconds figuring that they were just appetizers.

That was the meal.

(In Bermuda, we got a multi-tier of all different sandwich halves to sample. I was actually full from just munching on those sandwiches and did not need to have dessert.)

Then the server then came out with the dessert plate which consisted of four petit fours to share. I whispered to my husband, "I think this is it". He whispered back, "oh no, they must be coming back out with a main meal soon".

That was indeed it.

When we left the inn, we sat in the car in silence for a few minutes before speaking letting the reality sink in that we got totally ripped off.

I was the first to speak and said,"OK, that was a f*&^ing rip-off...and I'm still hungry."

He replied, "Yeah, I think you're right. That wasn't like Bermuda's high tea".

"You wanna get some Chinese food?"

"Definitely!!!!"

I guess we have to fly to Bermuda to enjoy a proper high tea.....

Life is like an art project

The one thing I really like about this time of year, believe it or not, is the all the events and parties I get invited to.

No, I'm not a 'party person" but I do enjoy dressing up for an special occasion and seeing close friends and family.

I'm not a social butterfly by any means. If anything, I'm a bit standoffish. I was the kid in the playground by myself but it never bothered me. It bothered my mother since she was "Miss prom Queen" but it never bothered me. I had to consciously learn to be social.

I have a real hard time mixing at my local Chamber of Commerce "mixers". It's a real conscious psychological effort for me to put on my "Mitt Romney" face to shake hands and talk about my business. I tend to sit by myself. It does not come naturally for me. Some people are born naturally charismatic and have a knack of being someone of interest.

I'm not on facebook or care to be on any of those social networking nonsense either. I really don't get it, seriously.

The people I want to see, I see.

I look at going to these social events like it is an art project.

I spend hours deciding on what to wear, putting on make-up and thinking about topics of conversation. Everything is an art project to me.

Sometimes my 'project' is successful and sometimes it is not, just like my many paintings.

It's a conscious thoughtful planning event. I map things out in pictures.

I am guessing engineers approach everything too like they are solving a mathmatical equation as well.

I know my husband does.

Just putting a tie on he has to calculate carefully how the end result will look.

I bought this new covergirl ageless foundation make-up to cover up my aging imperfections. I figured Ellen Degeneres wears it.She's looks pretty good and she is a "no fuss kind of gal" so I figured it must be pretty good stuff.

Don't buy it.

It's like putting tar on your face. It took three days of cold cream to get this shit off of my face and it just sits in the lines on your face. The worst part is when I thought if I could add a little oil of olay to it to thin it out, a few days later the make up dried up like a lump of clay and had to be thrown out. The blush was just as bad.

I still like Maybelline's age rewinder foundation the best as well as Bonny Bell's bronzer. The bronzer doesn't feel like make-up and it looks really natural. Maybelline still has the best eye make-up of all the eye make-up I've tried. And believe me I've tried all kinds of brands and it's crazy fad colors and I keep going back to Maybelline.

Estee Lauder and Mary Kay so far have the best lipstick. Avon is OK but Mary Kay's lipstick doesn't 'bleed".

Yes, it's not any different than buying paint at an art supply store. Some of the new products are just crap and some of the old and true products are still the best.

Life is like an open canvas.

Early Christmas present

As I was walking Mattie (the naughty little Jack Russell terrier) a neighbor on her street pulled up to me in her car asking if I knew of anyone who would be interested in adopting a 3 year old male puggle (part pug /part beagle dog mix). I responded, "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?" It turns out the dog has seizures and the owner doesn't want to pay the $9.00 a month for medication to control the seizures. If the owner can not find someone they can unload the dog onto they will put the dog down. Needless to say I was horrified that a so-called pet owner could be that cheap and refuse to put up less than $10.00 for medicine for a family pet. As far as I knew the dog didn't have behavioral issues but just this medical problem that was easily controlled.

I then responded,"Oh for God's sake! Why don't they just take the dog to a shelter instead? There a plenty of people who would have pity on a dog with a handicap!" The woman responded that all the shelters in the area are completely full and can not take anymore animals in.

About a month or so ago I visited a close friend of mine up in Maine.

She loves cats. She greeted me at the door with a sheepish grin and told me she had just adopted a new kitty. She wanted to know if I would take a ride with her to the shelter where she obtained the latest cat to her clan so she could drop cookies off to the staff working at the shelter.

The shelter was a mad house. It was completely crammed with all kinds of animals. I saw a pair of conures (small parrots) next to the front desk and asked the staff about them. These poor birds needed medical attention and a new lifestyle change including a new diet. They had "scizzor beak' which is attributed to a long history of a poor diet which in turn affects the liver. They also were feather pickers. There are many reasons why they are feather pickers but I am guessing again, poor diet and because of other deficiencies. The staff was hoping I would take those birds but I did not.

I have ten birds already and I just was not prepared or interested at the time in taking anymore birds-especially ones with 'special needs" since I already have a 'special needs' bird already. IF I were to take in another bird I would have to plan properly. Whenever you take in a new addition you really do need to plan ahead and not just on a 'whim".

A month went by and I drove up to Maine to see my friend again. She had told me about a newly renovated 'bird rescue" and wanted to know if I wanted to go visit the facility, plus they had a store there to buy all kinds of bird supplies. I said, "sure!" She said to me,'why don't to bring a carrier...just in case..."

I responded, "I'll only take home a bird if it is an older male who is a pied cockatiel!" I figured by setting up those guidelines I would not be bringing home any birds since pieds are uncommon in New England.

Well, guess what? There was this beautiful 10 year old male pied cockatiel who had been at this rescue twice. I figured, "oh what the heck" so little "Patches Kennedy' came home with me. I immediately took him to the vet for a "wellness check" and he checked out A-OK, so far.

He's a vocal comical little fellow. I can't save all the birds but I saved this one.

"Patches" is my this year's Christmas present! :-)

lady luck

Last night my husband and I were invited to a local dive club holiday party by the captain and his lovely wife of Easy Diver (scuba diving charter boat).

It's alway nice to see our dive buddies even when we are not donning our wet suits. It's fun to catch up on news, the latest "rants & raves" and the newest adventures that lie awaiting in the forecast.

I had bought some raffle tickets in hopes that I would win a new regulator. Fellow dive buddy Laurent also bought some tickets as well to test his luck in hopes of winning the shiny new regulator. As people started to depart the party, they handed us their raffle tickets because they just couldn't wait for the drawing. Between my husband, Laurent ,and myself we had a pile of raffle tickets for not just the regulator but other smaller dive related items. We were sure we would've won something from the number of chances we had.

However, we didn't score a single item.

The next morning, after our usual morning run on the beach it started to rain. As we were driving home after picking up the sunday paper in the neighboring town of Seabrook I was joking to my husband how funny it was that out of all those tickets we had sitting in front of us that not a single one was a winning ticket.

We must be unlucky.

As soon as I said that my husband started saying, "oh shit shit....... SHIIIT.....SHHHIIITTT!" with panic in his voice. The rain had turned to black ice and our car was spinning out of control. It was spinning two full 360 degree turns barrelling down the street. I had then realized that I forgot to put my seat belt on after I had ran to get the newspaper. We were headed straight for a telephone pole and could hear myself saying, "oh shit, brace for impact...".

I was envisioning my obituary notice saying something like, "here lies some dumb shit who forgot to put her seatbelt on..."

The car went up on an embankment and missed the pole by inches.

A car coming in the opposite direction minutes earlier wasn't so lucky.

He hit the pole across the street totalling his vehicle.

After we regained control of our car and took a couple of deep breaths, I told my husband ,"drive like a f*&^ing turtle..and pull over to see if the driver of that car is OK".

There was no driver in the car. He must of gotten out and went to one of the houses by the side of the road for help.

As we inched down the road a police car was flying up the road. I wanted to wave to him to slow down before he went around the bend but it was too late. He flew right by.

I am hoping the cop didn't get in trouble with the invisible trecherous ice up ahead.

When we finally made it home in one piece we both concurred that we were both really lucky on this one.

Lady luck was surely with us on this one.

Have a Tacky christmas!

Christmas brings out the best ,and the worst as far as tackiness.

*(As vividly demonstrated by the attachment photo (above) that has been circulating around on the internet.)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really enjoy driving around checking out the Christmas decorations around the neighborhood. Some homes are beautifully and tastefully done up. I have to admire the decorating artistry of some imaginative folks.

And then there are some that are catapulted beyond the "tacky-meter".

I drove by one house where bits of vinyl siding is missing and hanging off the roof line. There were trash bags that are torn laying about the yard along with a rusted grill and a tipped over bird bath. A sting of colored light with only half of them working are hung up haphazardly along the roof line. Giant (filthy)) plastic snowmen are perched in the yard and of course, no tacky yard is complete without those gigantic blow-up santas. Do these people step back to look at their creation and actually think their house looks nice?

I've seen some houses are a decorated nicely but they ruin it by piling a bunch of those blow-up santas, snowmen, snoopys and grinches all over the place. There was one house with a big yard in Rye that had at least a hundred of those blow up ornaments. They are so bad that they are actually good. I think little kids might get a kick out of it. I know my Father does! Ha!

I think it is beyond tacky when a bunch of "barneys" (liberals) gather about protesting and asking for the removal of Nativity scenes displayed in public places.

Get a F*&^ing life people!

And of course the "fashion police" would have a bloody field day with some of the "holiday " outfits people dare to wear. Nothing is worse than those sweatshirt you see at Walmart with sayings that say, "Ho Ho HO", "Santa, define Naughty", or anything with a stupid snow-man on it.

I think cute small colorful holiday pins are fine on a suit collar, or sweater but those giant dangling Christmas bulb earrings are just wrong.

And I have to mention tacky gifts too.

Anything at Walgreens that is advertised "as seen on TV" is super tacky. These items are chia pets, snuggee blankets, the clapper (oh my God...) and the newest item I saw advertised is the "booty pop". It is a butt enhancer advertised as making your butt go 'from flat to fab". Seriously can you imagine getting one of those as your gift?

Walgreens also sells dancing Christmas trees, santa mice that 'rap" to christmas music and the worst one is santa with his pants down sitting on a chimney toilet. When you press a button, it plays Christmas music as way of a farting sound. My brother had one of these and the kids love it. Little boys love anything that gross!

Regifting is tacky too. I think they only way to can get away with regifting if you recieve a really nice box of chocolates or wine, and you need to get someone a gift ASAP. Of course you need to check the expiration date to make sure that box of chocolates weren't regifted to you, plus it has to be good chocolates like Godivas (none of that Whitman sampler crap)

I have gotten some obvious regifted 'gifts" that were pretty bad (and thoughtless)

Seriously?!? Dollar store salt & pepper shakers? Cheap wooden coasters with old wrapping paper still stuck to it?

I can understand not having alot of extra dough to spend on gifts but give something that you would like as a gift such as home-made fudge wrapped nicely. I know when I give someone a gift I say to myself "would I like to recieve this?"

This may be tacky of me but I found writing this post rather fun.

Oh what the heck, have a Tacky Christmas! (wink)

babes in toyland

Every year our town runs an annual toy drive for kids in need for Christmas.

My family was not rich by any means but I was never without toys for Christmas.

I can not imagine getting stiffed by 'santa" so I make sure I donate toys and games for the toy drive.

I have fun picking out toys that I think some little kid would like. I actually pick out toys that if I were still a little kid that I would like. I like the old classics such as: cute stuffed animals, barbies, game classics such as candyland, monopoly and cooties plus colorful puzzles, and things like that.

As I sit and type this, I reminisce about some of my all time favorite toys that I just loved as a kid.

I've had a lot of favorites, and I am sure after I finish this post I will say, "oh yeah, what about..."

Of course, my favorite (and still my all time favorite) is the troll (wishnik) doll.

I still have my first troll (wishnik) doll proudly displayed on "the special troll shelf."

His name is Peter. (circa 1966)

I also loved stuffed animals (and still do). I had this one stuffed siamese cat that I had for years. It finally had to be "donated" to the dumpster because of it's scrofulous condition. Woody woodpecker was an all time fav too. Woody had been replaced by a newer and cleaner version in the later years.

I had a talking car which you could take apart. That was pretty cool.

One of the best gifts I got, which only lasted a day, was this James Bond gun set. My mother didn't want me to have it but my father snuck out and bought it for me. It had a cigarette lighter that shot (fake) bullets, a watch and other secret agent shooting devices. Needless to say after a fun day of shooting everyone in sight from my brother to the pet cat that secret agent gun set 'mysteriously" disappeared.

My Aunt surprised me one year with a "bewitched' barbie doll. I thought this was the most beautiful barbie type doll ever. This doll also had the biggest boobs of any other barbie doll. She was sort of the Pam Anderson of dolls.

I also liked science toys like dissecting kits and microscopes. I was forever playing "mad scientist".

Comic books were always a hit too. Archie, super heroes, Richie Rich and scary ones too. (I hated mickey mouse and uncle scrooge. Those ones sucked and were really boring.)

I also like artsy toys that you could make things out of like 'creepies crawlers". You poured this booger-like substance of various colors into a mold, baked it in their special heater and, viola! You made a big huge colorful insect! You then could add pins to them making them into "jewelry. I could never understand why my mother did not wear my special hand-made humungous rubbery spider pin on her sunday dress. I always thought she liked the color flourescent pink!

And of course, everyone including myself, loved getting a stingray bike with it's fancy banana seat.

Yup, those were good times!

"inspirational quotes"

Have you ever recieved those obnoxious "what is a friend?" inspirational emails?

Those are the worst!.

My sister gets these lamo "what is a mother?" emails as well. She hates these attachments. I can't say I blame her.

I've seen these Hallmark inspitational magnets and plaques in gifts shops with these corny poems and sappy quotes.

Me, being the cynical-smarty-pants-wise-arse that I am, I just don't "get" the emotional message. Sometimes I really just can't comprehend certain emotions.

I see these "life is good" t-shirts everywhere with this completely lame stick figure riding a bike, swinging on a hammock or playing golf. I see half of the citizens in Newburyport wearing these t-shirts . I scratch my head in amazement that this simple stick drawing resonates something inside of people to make them to wear them. Down the street from the "life is good" t-shirt place is another type of gift shop that sells "life is crap" t-shirts. I don't particularly adhere to the "life is crap" way of thinking but I think the t-shirts are at least funny.(see above picture)

There was this one woman who designed these simple "women empowerment" t-shirts that sold like hot-cakes in one of the downtown's speciality shops. The t-shirts had sayings that said, "simplify" "who needs prince charming?", and things like that. I am really glad she is doing well in her business . I always like seeing women do well in business. But for me, I still didn't quite get her message.

I guess it is like greeting cards you buy. Some people buy cutesy cards with snoopy on them or some people buy gross cards with fart jokes in them or off-the-wall cards with pyscho clowns on them. Each cards resonates something in them to make the reader respond positively or negatively, depending on that person.

As I was doing some online Christmas shopping, (I'll admit, mostly for myself. Ha! ) I found a site that hosts artists and their wares. I absolutely fell in love with one artist with her quotes and simple but super imaginative art pieces.

Finally, somebody out there "gets" people like me.

I bought a bunch of magnets and a necklace on her site. The necklace I bought has a picture of a love bird wearing a dress and leopard print high heels. On the back of the necklace it says, "Sadly, she's rarely judged on how good she is at recycling".

I thought to myself, "oh My God! How perfect! That is exactly how I feel 90% of the time!"

I find that to be so true. You live a simple life and no one seems to notice the little things you do to make the world a better place. It seems that people are more readily available to crititize you instead on nit picky stupid shit nonsense rather than pat you on the back and say, "hey, you're A-OK".

I just wanted to say that I finally found a real artist that I truly found inspirational!

www.allisonstrine.com

Christmas past

The race is on in preparation for Christmas.

As I decorate, wrap gifts and write out Christmas cards, I stop to pause and reflect on Christmas's in the past. For the most part, I would say I've had some really nice Christmas's. Those happy ones are the Christmas's that I drink in and savor like hot apple cider.

The bad ones, and we've all had them, I stuff in the (Burke Breathed) "closet of anxieties" of Christmas's past", and lock the f*&^ing door.

Deaths, illnesses, divorces, family fights, drunken tirades, tantrums and really really bad holiday party incidents. ....shiver.....can all stay locked up, thank you very much.

As I age, the holiday changes and evolve. New traditions emerge and the old ones are put away as happy memories.

It's all good.

I remember like it was yesterday on Christmas eve, my father would take us to kids to see the USS Constitution. We would hang out with him for the day walking around on the ship while my mother was home busy (I assume) wrapping gifts and cooking dinner. We would make a stop in the North End where he would buy cartons of fruit at a discounted rate. I would get grossed out at all the squished fruit on the street. He would stop by the bakery to buy "special' Italian pastries to bring home for dinner. When we got home we were allowed to open one "special" gift from him.

It was special.

Sometimes we would go to early evening Christmas eve mass. We would protest too much if we had to go to Christmas mass on Christmas morning. We were too enthralled with all of our toys to be disturbed by having to go to church. I know that sounds bratty but we were all hyped up little kids.

We also had a tradition of going into Boston to see the tree lightings at the Boston Common. It seemed to be always the coldest night ever but we didn't care. We would drive around the neighborhoods first in my family's "caddy" to see the neighbors decorations and also by Mahoney's Rocky ledge greenery to visit the live reindeers. We would then come home to watch one of the many Christmas specials on TV that seem to always fall on the same night as the tree lightings. Some of the shows were: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, the Grinch who stole Christmas, the little drummer boy and Mr. Magoo's Christmas carol.

My Aunt "Joan" would have Christmas parties at her home with all of my father's relatives. Santa would stop to visit.

I particularly remember my Aunt Joan's Christmas tree. It was one of those "mod" silver aluminium trees with the revolving colored light wheel. I thought it was pretty cool. My mother thought it was awful.

I figured out real fast that this was not the "real" santa who stopped by my Aunt's house because I always got night-clothes as a "gift". The "real" santa would've known I would've hated that polyester-thin-itchy-flammable-night gown with a picture of "quick draw McGraw" on them. I would've prefered a pair of warm flannel pajamas with "Woody woodpecker" on them instead. I would sulk and my mother would poke me telling me to "cut the crap" and that "santa is watching".

Sometimes we would go to my Aunt "Tillies" house too. I didn't care too much about going to her house. It was always crowded and I would always seem to get in trouble for something. She always seemed to have cold beets (yuck) there for dinner too. My older cousin, Susan, however DID have this gigantic troll doll that I could play with.

We also had a big dinner with my Aunt "Marie" and her family. Sometimes my mother would have them over on Christmas eve and sometimes the week before. My mother would get really stressed out because of all her major preparations she felt she needed to do. I liked it because I got to hang out with my cousin "Kim".

Things change as we've all gotten older.

My brother hosts a big family breakfast on Christmas morning.

My Mother still has a Christmas eve dinner.

I have dinner before Christmas at my house with my cousin "Kim".

Parties seem to come and go.

Yeah, it's still all good.