Some new Abby pictures.....

Should auld aquaintance be forgot.....

Happy New Year's to all!

My last New Year's Eve as a single woman..... ::gasp::

:)

Seriously - all my best wishes to you all for a lovely safe happy and healthy 2006.

Christmas 2005

So Christmas 2005 is past us, and like always, it was a very nice time. I got many cookbooks, perfume, Martha Stewart living magazine, gifts off my registries, gift cards.... and best of all to share the Christmas spirit of Santa with 2 sets of children. Santa "called" my cell phone Friday night to tell Trinity to go to bed, and we "tracked" Santa on NORAD with Vitali and Alexi Saturday night. That and my dad swears he "heard reindeer on the roof". It was great - to share that joy of Santa with children, it makes it complete for me. Christmas morning was with my future in-laws, where I got spoiled rotten and had a lovely breakfast.... Christmas day was at my aunt and uncles in Westford, a very nice day spent with two babies - which is always fun.

Dirty Christmas

Top 10 Things That Sound Dirty at Christmas But Aren't

10. Did you get any under the tree?
9. I think your balls are hanging too low.
8. Check out Rudolph's honker!
7. Santa's sack is really bulging.
6. Lift up the skirt so I can get a clean breath.
5. Did you get a piece of the fruitcake?
4. I love licking the end till it's really sharp and pointy.
3. From here you can't tell if they're artificial or real.
2. Can I interest you in some dark meat?
1. Well, if you can't get it to stand up straight, try propping it against the wall.

12 days of Christmas

This is kind of cool.
1st Day: The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day: The "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day: The "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day: The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day: The "five golden rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day: The "six geese a-laying" is the six days of creation.
7th Day: The "seven swans a-swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day: The "eight maids a milking " reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day: The "nine ladies dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day: The "ten lords a-leaping" represents the Ten Commandments
11th Day: The "eleven pipers piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day: The ‘twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.

December 21

Well it's almost Christmas... and what's on my wish list this year.... ?

Health
Happiness
Love
Peace
Financial relief

...for Rob to stop worrying about money.
...for my friends to not feel sad.
...for the wedding planning to go smoothly
...for things to continue going smoothly at work.
...to find a wonderful apartment for us to start our new life together.

Is that asking too much?

Just when I thought I heard it all from New Orleans..

From The Smoking Gun: "With dead bodies still floating in the streets of New Orleans, a pair of Louisiana lawyers are seeking to cash in on the killer hurricane by slapping the name Katrina on alcoholic beverages. In a new filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Andrew Vicknair and Harold Ehrenberg provided federal officials with a logo--reproduced above--bearing the word Katrina, the phrase "Get Blown Away," and a small satellite image of the deadly storm. The trademark application was filed on September 4, just six days after the hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1000 residents and leaving thousands homeless. The filing by Vicknair, 31, and the 47-year-old Ehrenberg--both of whom are graduates of New Orleans-based Loyola University's law school--does not detail what kind of booze products will bear the Katrina name. But it's a safe bet that these wannabe profiteers are plotting some variation on The Hurricane, the Bourbon Street staple. According to their trademark application, Vicknair (pictured top left) and Ehrenberg (pictured bottom left) operate from an office in Metarie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb that suffered heavy hurricane damages. "
All I have to say is WOW. Lowlifes. Talk about turning a dirty profit.

Random thoughts

Found this in another blog - and laughed out loud at work.
"I loooooves me some cb hash! Nuthin like staggerin into the local greasy spoon at 3 or 4 am after a night of hedonistic bacchian binges where the toothless lady with the red lipstick up to her nose asks what you want while she gums her chewing gum. “I’ll take the corned beef hash” I usually try to say without staring at her mole sprouting two thick hairs like daffodils on a fresh grave. They always come out steamin and crusty. Ever notice the weird sheen on them? Not a greasy sheen but sort of like melted plastic sheen. Hell yeahs, throw some fried tubers in bacon grease on the side and a couple eggs over easy on top and I’m the happiest sum bitch this side of the Big Dirty. Oh yeah, don’t forget my ketchup. "
God I love the internet. Always something interesting out there.

Let it snow, let it snow...

Well the first big major snowstorm is falling here in Boston. I must say it's rather pretty to watch... but it would be even more pretty if I didn't have to be out in it! :) Took some pictures for my California family members... Macy's at Downtown Crossing has Christmas windows featuring my favorite holiday movie - "A Christmas Story"

Ralphie : Oooh fuuudge!
Ralphie as Adult: Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!
Mr. Parker: What did you say?
Ralphie :Uh, um...
Mr. Parker: That's... what I thought you said. Get in the car. Go on!
Ralphie as Adult: It was all over - I was dead. What would it be? The guillotine? Hanging? The chair? The rack? The Chinese water torture? Hmmph. Mere child's play compared to what surely awaited me.

Mr. Parker: Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.
Mrs. Parker: Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear.
Mr. Parker: Oh, yeah.

Ralphie as Adult: The old man stood there, quivering with fury, stammering as he tried to come up with a real crusher. All he got out was...
Mr. Parker: Notafinga!