Just Taking a Moment...

 I just want to take a Moment and Wish all of the Wonderful People here in J-land a Happy New Year.

And I want to offer you the gift of the words to one of my favorite songs. I think that it is very appropriate for this day as we take a moment and look back at what this year brought us and forward to what the new one will bring.

Song: Seasons Of Love Lyrics

COMPANY
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love.

SOLOIST 1
525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure
the life of a woman or man?

SOLOIST 2
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or
the way that she died.

COMPANY
It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends. Remember
the love! Remember the love! Remember
the love! Measure in love. Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

Wishing you Seasons of Love for the next year... Because, really, isn't that what it is all about?

 

 

Tagged by Promise

I've been tagged by Promise to tell 5 weird things about myself.... Only 5? Hmmm... this might be difficult narrowing it down to only 5 ;p

O.K., Here are the meme 'rules' in case anyone else wants to play along:

These are the rules of the game: The first player chose a topic. In this case, the topic is FIVE WEIRD HABITS OF YOURS. You must then write a journal entry listing those weirdnesses you possess~as well as the rules of the game. Then, you select FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG and link their names/blogs in your entry. Go to their journals and leave a comment informing them they have been tagged by you and to read your journal to see in what way they have been nailed! Those five then MUST (note that I insist upon it!) write an entry listing their weird habits and tag an additional five people.

1. One of my favorite foods of all time is called "Peanutbuttersyrupandbutter". Want the recipe? Well, you take a small plate and you put a good sized pat of butter on it. On top of that put a large dollop of peanut butter (smooth is best). Next, smother this all in Karo White Corn Syrup. Now, take a knife and mix it all up till smooth. Best eaten as an 'open face' sandwich on white bread. Better yet, tear off strips of the bread and 'scoop' up globs of it to eat. Yep, weird, but isn't that what we were trying for???

2. If we go to the movies I MUST get there in time to see the previews, or at the very least the ABSOLUTE beginning of the movie. If I miss even the first 5 minutes I just can't stand to watch the movie. Oh, and this applies to movies at home too. I have to watch them from the beginning.

3. When I play a video game I like to complete every little thing. I don't like thinking I missed something. I usually buy the clue book so that I know every little 'extra' I can do.

4. When I am working I like to finish one task, clean up my area, then start the next task. While I can actually do several things before cleaning up/straightening up, I am not comfortable if I can't put all of my tools, etc back where they belong before I leave at the end of the day at the very least.

5. When trying to figure out how to do something (i.e. make something happen with my blogger template, do something with a photo in a graphicsprogram, or get a certain 'look' when taking a photo) I will often obsess and spend way too many hours just 'trying one more thing' to see if I can get just the 'look' I am trying for.

The last thing I am supposed to do is to 'tag' 5 more people to do this. Since this has been floating around for a little while in our community while I was procrastinating doing it, I am not sure who hasn't been tagged yet. So, I'm going to leave it up to you guys to tag yourselves. If you haven't done this yet, leave a comment and consider yourself tagged!

Fun with Blogger

I know that since I 'mirror' my AOL Journal and my Blogger Blog, people pick the one they prefer and only read that one. That makes sense <g>

BUT!!! There are some 'decorating' options over at Blogspot that AOL doesn't offer, and I just got done 'redecorating' for New Year's.

Stop on over and check it out Adventures of an Eclectic Mind2

I not only 'redecorated', but I explained the steps I took to do it.

My Christmas Card for You!

I was at the zoo on Friday to pick up G and since I had a little while before he was ready to leave, I took my camera and went for a walk thru the zoo. As I turned a corner, I was met by a lady leading this baby Llama around. This is NOT a retouched photo. He was happily wearing a little Santa hat as he and his handler wandered around the zoo greeting visitors.

So, with his help, I would like to wish all of my readers a Happy Holiday!

Looking for Santa?

Tomorrow is the big day! So, if you want to check Santa's progress, pop over to: NORAD Traks Santa 2005

Celebrations of Light & Hope

This is a repeat of an entry that I made last year on this day. It still says what I want to remember about this time of year, so I'm doing a 'reprint' <g> The only change is that G. is off for Christmas this year, but we are still celebrating our family get together at my brother's on Christmas Eve as this year his wife has to work Christmas day.


                    
Today is the shortest day of the year... and the longest night. It is the first day of Winter. It is the celebration of Yule. It is an acknowledgement of Hope. That Light and Warmth and other good things will always return after the darkness. It is the day that G. and I celebrate as our personal Winter Holiday. In ancient times, this was the festival of the rebirth of the new god and a promise that after today the days would get longer, the nights would get shorter, and warmth and Spring WOULD come.

Yes, secularly we, like so many others, celebrate Christmas. In the United States, Christmas is no longer just a religious holiday. With the gift giving, and Santa, and the decorations... Christmas has become more, and less, than what was originally intended. Everyone takes the pieces and parts of the holiday that works for them. Some embrace the religious parts, and try to ignore how secular it has become... others embrace the secular with it's parties, lights, Santa, and presents and ignore any religious beginnings of the holiday. But, at it's heart, it is still a Winter Holiday.. A celebration of Hope. And every religion/belief system seems to have a celebration of some type that embraces this.

I grew up in the States, and therefore my memories of a Winter Holiday include all of the above. And Christmas itself is as much a melting pot as the United States itself. The Christmas tree is German, and Santa is the culmination of a blend of traditions from many countries. Mistletoe? Druid. Christmas Cards? England. You see what I mean. G. and I will be celebrating with my brother and his family on Christmas Eve at his house. That's the day we all have off together. Christmas Day G. is working so a co-worker can be home with his small children for the Santa Claus ritual <g>.

I think what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter who you are, or what your core beliefs are... There is a place in the Winter Holidays for all. But, please, take a moment this season, whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Yule, or Christmas, to remember that the REAL reason for all of these celebrations is to celebrate HOPE in all of its forms.


graphics by useless graphics

Decision Made

I've come to a decision.

Because of a circumstance that I can't go into right now (but, if it pans out you all will be some of the first to know <g>), I need to retain my AOL account for the time being. Since I am keeping my AOL account, I have decided to leave this Journal open and to 'mirror' entries I am making over at my Blogspot Blog.  Do not mistake me... I still hate the Banner Ads, but I like my friends more!!

This will NOT be an exact mirror site of my Blogger Blog. There will be an occasional entry that is more AOL oriented, and some that will only be relevent to those over at Blogspot. This is as it should be, they ARE seperate entities. What I mean by this is:

     *Photo entries will be in both venues

     *Cool things I find on the Internet??? Both Venues

     *Complaints about Ads on my personal Journal... AOL only

      *Neat ways to change your template and play with HTML  and CSS stuff... Blogger Only.      

You get the idea. Now the why........ Well, I started Adventures over here on AOL, and I still have a few readers who have not made the 'Exodus'... and, some of these people do not feel comfortable commenting and things over at Blogspot, and they miss getting Alerts. So, for these friends, I will Mirror over here.

Why keep the Blogger Blog? Well.... come on! That thing is just FUN! I can do so many really cool things over there that I can NEVER do over here. ;)

First Gift of the Season

Click on the pretty picture... Come on... You know you want to <g>

Update: Your second gift is up also... I wanted to put it here also, but AOL won't let me put it in either my About Me space or my description. Since it is supposed to stay at the top to be seen, putting it in an entry that will keep moving down the screen seems silly.... Curious yet? Click on the graphic and see what I left... <bg>

Blogger on the other hand allowed me to enter it below my description, but before my entries... where it will stay.  Hmmmm... Blogger is seeming easier to work with daily than AOL's J.