Blog on!

My friend, Denise, who I met while working at Vz, got me into the 'blogosphere' several years ago when it was just becoming mainstream. One of the early and appealing examples at that time was dooce, written by Heather Armstrong. Another was PostSecret. I stuck with dooce for awhile, drawn into her stories by her clever, hilarious and sometimes shocking style. I haven't read her blog lately - although I have gone back for a quick read at times.

Denise just sent me a link to a NYTimes story about blogging, and in particular, about dooce, that chronicles Heather's continued success. Cool. Read this article and maybe you'll be blogging too - if you're not already! Cha-ching!

Sleeping Gills

Just because I have sleeping photos ...

Bryan & Carolyn in car on way to Toronto

Toby & I watching a movie

Don reading 

What have we learned in 2,064 years?

Here it is:    

  "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled,
   public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be
   tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should
   be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to
   work, instead of living on public assistance." 
                                          -   Cicero   - 55 BC

So, evidently nothing.

Christmas 2010

Obviously I'm a bit late in posting Christmas photos but better late than never. We had our tree up and decorated before Bryan and Carolyn arrived home from school. This year our tree was decorated by Don for the first time ever and he did a great job.  He had fun reminiscing through the various ornaments that we've picked up during vacations throughout the years. Usually its Carolyn and I who get excited as we unwrap our favorite ornaments but she was away and I was not feeling great the night we were decorating. The other thing is that this year we decided to get a small tree. Well, thanks to our friend Randy, we had a tree waiting in our driveway one day that was huge - our biggest yet! Don had to go out to buy a new stand for it before we could bring it in!  It was beautiful! Here's Don on top of a 5' ladder.

On the 23rd the four of us went to see Spider-man Turn off the Dark on Broadway. This was the first performance after the terrible accident that occurred two days prior when a stunt man fell something like 30' and was badly injured. The show was originally supposed to open around Thanksgiving when I bought our tickets, but delay after delay meant that we were now seeing a preview show. (The opening has now been pushed to March, I think!) The effects are exciting and very cool. The story is just over complicated and slow. And the music was just okay - not an amazing experience that we were expecting. Glad we saw it, but it definitely needs work! We stayed overnight in the city and spent part of Christmas Eve walking around the Village but it was COLD!

Christmas dinner is always a highlight for us. Here we are after dinner - satiated and content!

On Boxing day we drove north for four days in Ontario visiting H&B, my parents, and Don's sisters and their families.The best part was that we completely missed the first big snowstorm here in the northeast. We arrived in Mississauga to NO snow. Ingersoll had a lot more but roads were good throughout our travels.

First to Mississauga. We visited H&B who are doing well. After a delicious dinner we took a small pictures. Guess what we gave H&B this year?  Yes, we are a Penn State family!

Bryan, Dad, Mom, Carolyn - all showing their PSU pride

I have more pictures from Mississauga and none from Ingersoll where my bro-in-law, Doug, was the official photographer and was supposed to send to me ... so I will rattle his cage and post those photos shortly.  Just one more to put up ...

Carolyn & Brian

And now I can say, while its still January (barely), Happy New Year!

NYC Friday night

Kathleen and Mark Henning came for a Christmas-in-New York visit, with their beautiful daughter, Laura. Don and I went in to meet them for dinner on Friday night. Kathleen and I worked together at BCSI at the multi-tenant site at The North American Life Center; during the fun days of work (before cutbacks!)  For those who know Kathleen, she and Mark are now retired, enjoying travel, their kids, and an active life.  

Kathleen, Laura, Mark, Don and I

We enjoyed catching up with them and getting into the NYC Christmas vibe. Soooo busy, colorful, and alive! After dinner we walked back to our car through Rockefeller Center and grabbed a shot of the tree - always impressive!  

It is always great to see old friends and get into the city!

The gift-giving rule

I've never liked it when someone asks me what I want for Christmas because I feel it will ruin the surprise. I like that a gift means someone went out thinking of you and wanting to make you happy - THAT's the gift. I feel the same as the shopper of the gift. Its a visit with the person in your mind as you think about them - their likes, hobbies, activities - and then come up with ideas.


Recently, I read a paragraph that described the "gift-giving rule" so perfectly when one character suggested to another that "If you buy me a record for Christmas, I'll buy you a book."

"It (the proposition) broke the rules of exchange, innate and unspoken, that governed gift-giving in our family. A gift is not a gift if the giver knows, before giving it, that it is exactly what the person who will receive it has wanted all along. That is another transaction. That is a purchase, not a present. A gift is a gift if you search for it, ponder over it, pick it up, put it down, pick it up again, and walk around with it while, weighing it against the other gifts that are wrangling for your regard.

A gift is a gift if you choose it finally, wrap it with one last gust of uncertianty, and give it away. That is a gift,. An item, inanimate, that reeks with intention and puts us at risk. And that is why gifts are dangerous and difficult and cause such distress."

- Pg. 176, The Tender Land by Kathleen  Finneran 

I can think of lots of other reasons too that gift giving causes distress, such as finding parking at the mall, but I love the sentiment of this "rule."

Cathy & Col connecting in Corning

Thirty years! It was thirty summers ago that I first met my friend, Colleen. We were working on the same shift at Ontario Place and the deal was instantly and forever sealed when we discovered that we had both lived in The Hat at the same time. (That’s Medicine Hat, Alberta for the few of you who wouldn’t just know that!) 

We have kept in touch when we could throughout these 30 years, and last weekend met halfway between our homes in beautiful Corning, NY. We started talking at about 11am on Saturday when we hugged hello, and stopped talking at about 10am Sunday when we hugged good-bye. While talking we had lunch, browsed the cute shops, walked across the river to the Steuben Glass store, where we bought matching bracelets, drank coffee, sipped wine, enjoyed a delicious dinner, etc. etc.

What did we talk about? Our jobs/careers, our husbands (good stuff, except for snoring), our homes, our kids/niece (little Rosebud), friends in common (some we’ve never met but have heard so much about we feel we know, like Col’s friend, Wendy in the Soo), our parents, our futures (new freedoms and adventures, new angsts), our handbags (same brand), being frugal vs. cheap, books we both enjoyed (Olive Kitteridge) and recommendations, cosmetic cases (mine is older than 30 years – okay, I’m sentimentally attached to it because of where and when I bought it – in San Fran from a woman who went by the name “Ocean”), U.S. politics, The Hat, and probably everything in between.

It was a great weekend, Col! 

Coincidentally, my sis-in-law, Vicki, flew to Atlanta the same weekend to catch up with her childhood friend of the same name.  It must have been girlfriend-reunion weekend.