Let the memories begin.

Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  Feliz Ano Nuevo.   Seasons Greetings

Before we could seriously get in to the spirit of Christmas in my world, we had to first get through  celebrating and regaling my beloved on the occasion of the anniversary of his birth.  That was accomplished on  the fifteenth of December.  He got a pedicure gift card and tickets to a classical Chinese Dance performance.   He is well rounded.  And were then  free to commence with the stress and decisions that encompass Christmas.  Wa-Hoo.

they look horrified when I hold them too.

I  babysat the grand urchins for two  days  in December.  I would never deny you the pleasure of living through this  penance happy time with the children.  I mentioned something to Mila about coming to stay with her the other night and she burst in to tears.  I firmly believe they were tears of joy...the visit went off without much of a hitch.  As I discovered with my own offspring, the TeeVee is a wonderful babysitter and I'm sure the daughter and her spouse didn't mind the pay per view charges for the Tee Vee I enjoyed .  They were happy no one was damaged ...- permanently anyway. 

The old daughter and her familia  honored us with their presence (presents?) on December 31.  We had another Merry Old Time with them for the week they were here.  And I had an opportunity to corrupt fawn (To exhibit affection or attempt to please) on my youngest grandchild.  He lives too far away for me to get my clutches in to him on a regular basis.  I may have moaned about that before.  It's still true.  BTW, he had a John Deere Tractor Pinata at his birthday party in October.   What did you have?  He also had a green and yellow cake.  Obviously.

In my next life there will not be so many birthdays so close to Christmas, or we shall do away with Christmas altogether and celebrate birthdays only.  But I would still like gifts if you don't mind.  We have Steve's birthday on 12/14, Cowboy Tim's birthday on 1/4, and precious darling Jack's birthday on 1/6.  We don't have such an onslaught on my bank account till the June birthdays come around.  What in the world is going on in April/May and again in October?  (do the nine month math thing,  try to track.)  honestly.

So now we are in to 2013.  whoop whoop.  It can't possibly be any worse than 2012 was in my life.  So here's to it.  Hip Hip Hooray and all that.  I saw a phrase that I liked a lot.  It said "Life becomes  easier when you learn to accept an apology  you never got."  I will try to remember that the next time someone cuts me off, pulls out in front of me, or anything else that my sensitive little self takes exception to.  I feel better already. 

It looks like this only it had a Barbie cover on it, pink and purple.  sadness

Do you remember some time ago I shared with you the ignominy of falling in to the swamp with my brand new shiny iPhone?  Well, now I've got a true mystery on my hands.  I came home from running errands today, changed and took my extraordinarily large self off to the gym to commence with this years attempt at fitness.  My back hurts, by the way, fitness sucks.  Anyway, when I got home, (cue mystery music here) the front door was dead bolt locked, and not by my doing I might add.  A box which had been by the front door entry was unpacked the goods were left, but the  shipping box was gone.  The back door, which is never locked, was locked and dead bolted.  Some things were out of a drawer from Steve's night table and my phone, she is gone.  Naturally I thought perhaps Steve had come home and to that end I emailed him and axed him all those questions.  I would have called him, but MY PHONE IS GONE!  We don't have anything worth stealing so all of  our icky stuff is still here.  However, I just discovered that Amazon .com is happy to announce that I've successfully changed my name to Keith 707.  I am bewildered.  Perhaps I've had a stroke.  At least I've documented with all y'all what I believe to have happened.  Assuming I don't start drooling in a bin somewhere, I'll let you know how it all turns out. 

Over the holidays, I had another two opportunities to visit my Aunt Betty.  Once at a nice dinner with my cousin and two of my very favorite people in the the world Charlotte and Cheryl.  They've had the dubious honor of knowing me since before I was born.  You know how sometimes you have people in your life that you just love unconditionally?  Thats the  way I feel about Charlotte and Cheryl.  Charlotte was my moms best friend forever( I believe she is a BFF)   and Cheryl is her daughter.  She wouldn't let me wear her toe shoes when I was little.  But she was my idol as a kid.  I also got to see Aunt Betty with two of my chillens, Alison and Megan and their assorted offspring.  As is their wont, Jack and Mila extorted gifts from A. Betty in the form of (Jack) a brain coral and (Mila) a conch shell.  Not sure how that all came about, but there you have it.

I had an opportunity to spend the day with Horse Show Mom the other day.  She's been a busy little thing  selling horses left and right.  We took one sale varmint down to Menlo Park to the vet for a presale check and as is the case with horses and vets and buyers and sellers that took all bloody day.  As the horse sold on the spot, I was compensated for being agreeable and easy to get along with by a nice dinner and a couple tasty cocktails.  I'm easier to get along with if booze is involved.  Sad but true.  Maybe not sad.

I must fix dinner now.  And rest up for the arrival of my new phone tomorrow for which I must sign.  Wouldn't you sign for something that arrived at your house unless it came from the judicial department or the IRS or something?

Cheers and all the best for a great New Year!
Squidgy