Full of it

I wanna know who the moron is who decided we needed to have 1.6 gallon toilets. It had to be some theorizing putz who never sat their butt on an actual pot. Some engineer-type who used an outhouse for all their elimination needs. I just know it was.

I want my old toilets back! I don't care how much water they used, dammit -- at least they worked! Over the years, we've replaced the two originals and added a third when we built a downstairs bathroom. Every single one of them has required plunging waaay too often. Doesn't matter what the, uhmmm... composition... or quantity of waste matter is, the damn things back up just from sitting on them! What a useless waste of the water we're supposed to be conserving. Theoretically, of course.

You wouldn't believe how many discussionss there are in this house where the main topic is, well, poop! Erg!

Now and then...

After nearly a month's break, I finally picked up my camera again yesterday. We had a little snow earlier in the week so we moseyed on over to Baker Park to see if I still knew how to use it.

NOW

THEN

NOW

THEN

Turns out I did. Since I had spring time shots of these views from the past two years, I thought some winter time ones would make a fun comparison. Each season holds its own beauty.

If you're interested, you can see more winter shots of the park on my new & improved* photo blog.

*new & improved = I put a new header on my old Project 365 blog!

Boo, hiss!

Well poo on you, Blogger!! That doesn't seem right.

You know those "blog follower" gizzies that have been popping up all over recently? I can't have one. Why? Cuz my blog uses the old template format instead of the new layout format or some such silliness as that. I can see that I have followers and their names, but I can't put the gadget on my blog with that picture thingy. Bummer!

Seems to me if you're gonna pass out new bells and whistles to play with, you oughta pass 'em out to ALL your users, doncha think?? Especially your long-term and LOYAL users who've stuck with you through thick, thin, and more errror messages/black-outs than we care to mention!!

I feel like the little kid who didn't get invited to the birthday party! *sniff*

Sweet stuff

For Christmas, Susan, Lawrence, and Winston gave us a gift from a dessert club where we'll receive yummy desserts several times throughout the year. Our first goodie arrived earlier today and of course we each had to try one -- just to make sure they survived shipment, ya know? ;)

photo by Lew

This month's featured dessert is called an Inside Out Chocolate Lover's Dream and this is the descriptive blurb that came with... "Inside and out, this confection is of unparalleled taste. A flaky, butter and cream cheese dough, coup throughout, and topped with a chocolate drizzle for just the right touch..."

A different, interesting flavor, these sweet buttery pastries grow on you after the first bite or so. We liked 'em. I think we're in trouble though -- there are two boxes of about 16 each. Oh, the calories!! Anyone up for a Dessert Party?

23 years ago...

...this beauty entered the world and proceeded to fill my life with a whole lot of happy...

Happy Birthday, my beautiful #1 granddaughter!!

Wish I was there with you! :)

The jury is in...

... and the verdict is DELICIOUS!! I just had me a cheese, bacon and caramelized onion quesadilla for lunch and yeah, buddy! If you like the savory sweetness of plain, ol' dusty sauteed onions, you'll love this caramelized version. With nothing other than the butter they cooked in and a scant teaspoon of salt, the flavor is not that much different than the stovetop version. Perhaps not quite as rich, but a convincing alternate and well worth the lingering aroma.

I declare this crock pot caramelized onion experiment a success and a definite keeper in my recipe file. I'll do this again.

Now off to package for freezing.

Odoriferous

In my browsing travels yesterday, I checked out one of my favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes, and found Elise's recipe for making caramelized onions. Hmmm, sez I, those look yummy -- sounds like something I might want to try making in quantity and then freezing in smaller portions.

With a little more research, I discovered that some folks have successfully used the crock pot to caramelize their onions instead of the time-consuming, vigilant method on the stovetop. Fix it and forget it -- my kind of cooking! Still feeling somewhat skeptical and thinking I'd probably end up with a mass of stewed onions, I decided to experiment anyway. What the hey -- nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, since Lew was going out to pick up a pizza for our dinner anyway, I had him pick up a bag of onions too. Some time after dinner we went into team-work mode and got the onions ready. He peeled and I sliced (next time I'm peeling!) Three and a half pounds and major watery eyes later, they were nicely nestled in the crock pot atop a stick of butter and turned to low. Most recipes I had found called for anywhere from 12+ to 24(!) hours of cooking so they were then left to slowly do their caramelizing thing overnight.

As I type, some 15 hours later, they've turned a lovely shade of brown and have almost reached the desired deep mahogany color. I'm pleasantly surprised, but these things better taste extraordinarily good... my house smells like a 1950s White Castle or Little Tavern burger joint, complete with as many years of stale fried onion stink!

It being just a wee bit chilly to be opening windows for airing, I wonder who I can go visit 'til Spring??

I laughed 'til I cried...

If you've never had one of these, you might want to forego the following. It's definitely TMI, and I sure don't want to discourage or scare anyone off. If, on the other hand, you've had the unique experience of participating in this, uhmmmm... activity... you can relate. So, sit yourself down for a few minutes and prepare yourself for a good, good giggle.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

Dave Barry on his Colonoscopy

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis. Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!!!!'

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground. MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.

You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full "Fire Hose Mode." You would have no choice but to burn your house.

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by Abba. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' has to be the least appropriate. 'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me. 'Ha ha,' I said . And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, Abba was shrieking 'Dancing Queen! Feel the beat from the tambourine ...' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that it was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

~ ~ ~

COLONOSCOPIES

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during exams were quite humorous... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) before or after their colonoscopies:

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

5. 'You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married.'

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'

10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'

12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'

13. 'How far up did you go? I now have a sore throat.'

And the best one of all...

14. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up here?'

~ ~ ~

In spite of this humorously graphic and realistic description, please don't put off getting a colonoscopy if you're due to have one. The preparation is the worst part; the procedure itself is a piece o' cake and... it can save your life.

Little drummer boys...

Like most of America, I tuned in to President Obama's swearing in at the Capitol yesterday, with all the pomp and circumstance of the festivities and parade that followed. As I watched, I was reminded once again of how how much I enjoy military and marching bands and had fond memories of earlier times in DC. Funny how the mind works like that, isn't it?

My first husband was in the Air Force in our early married years, so we didn't have a whole lot of money for extras. With a little toddler in tow, we had even less $$ for entertainment. We did, however, live close to DC then, so we often took advantage of the freebies available in the city.

One of our favorite things to do on balmy summer evenings was to drive into town to enjoy the free military concerts on the Capitol steps. The U. S. Army, Navy, and Marine bands used to perform on different nights of the week pretty much all summer, so the most we ever had to spend was for gas, which back in the mid-60's was still ridiculously cheap.

I'm convinced that my son's innate sense of rhythm and love of drums flourished due to this early exposure to military music. It was precious to watch this little guy imitate the uniformed drummers while he marched to the beat of his own across the top of the steps.

I was never able to supply him with a real drum set of his own, and he didn't actively pursue a career in music, but to this day, at 40+, the man still loves his drums. Not surprisingly, his youngest son, encouraged by his dad, inherited that love and plays drums in his school band. He has his own professional drum set at home... that he lets his dad play with.

What will the neighbors think??

My daughter-in-law is an EMT and works for a medical transport company in SC. Today, her and a co-worker/driver were scheduled to transport and deliver an elderly patient to a nursing home here in MD, then immediately return to SC. It's about a nine-ten hour trip.

Since they were only going to be about an hour or so from us, they managed to make a quick layover stop. I fed them, had a delightful, but too short visit, and reluctantly sent them on their way at about 10:30 pm.

I had already threatened her with serious bodily injury if she turned on the siren. So, she didn't. However, as they're backing out of the driveway, that warning back-up beeper thing started beeping like crazy and she turned on the flashing red lights instead as they drove off. LOL

I just know my neighbors are going to be wondering what the heck an ambulance was doing in our driveway and is everything okay!! :D

I say ... and you think ... ?

From Unconcious Mutterings, it's been a loooong while since we did one of these. We both played.


ME
I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Arrival: departure
2. Vomit: smelly
3. Fit: healthy
4. Stutter: hesitate
5. Lifestream: blood
6. Tread: tire
7. Desire: want
8. Freezing: frigid
9. Permit: license
10. Crinkle: wrinkle

LEW
I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Arrival: departure
2. Vomit: yuck
3. Fit: as a fiddle
4. Stutter: speech
5. Lifestream: oxygen
6. Tread: mill
7. Desire: want
8. Freezing: cold
9. Permit: allow
10. Crinkle: cream (he was thinking of Krispy Kreme donuts!) ;)

Woof!

A burglar broke into a house and shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables.

He picked up a CD player when a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark, saying: "Jesus is watching you."

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked off his flashlight and froze. When he heard nothing more he continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out, he heard: "Jesus is watching you."

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically. Finally, in
the corner of the room, his light beam came to rest on a parrot.

"Did you say that?" he hissed at the parrot.

"Yep," the parrot confessed, then squawked, "I'm just trying to
warn you that he's watching you."

The burglar relaxed... "Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?"

"Moses," replied the bird.

"Moses?'" the burglar laughed. "What kind of people would name
a bird Moses?"



"The kind that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'"

Winter play

We were always outside playing when we were kids, regardless of the season and temperatures. And when it snowed? Oh wow, snow was a major bonus! We could always find something to do when there was no school - yeah buddy!


Some of us didn't have sleds (and how we improvised is another story) but other neighborhood kids did and sometimes they shared, so snow on the ground meant sledding on the streets. They didn't plow as often or as quickly then as they do now so streets were snowy longer, there was less traffic, and it was somewhat safer. Later on, when we lived out in the country in VA, a whole gang of us would get together to sled on the empty country road. One set of parents would build a huge fire in their driveway where we could stop on the way back up the hill for some warm-up and hot chocolate. Fun times!

You couldn't have snow without building a big ol' fat snowman, but not too fat 'cause then we couldn't lift the second ball on top of the bottom one. Getting the head up on top without breaking it was always a challenge too. We'd scrounge around looking for sticks for arms and rocks for buttons and someone could always manage to swipe borrow a carrot from their fridge and a hat or scarf from their coat closet to gussy up our snowy dude.

'Course a good ol' snowball fight was always in order. It was usually a case of the girls against the boys and we'd all build our separate piles of snowball ammunition, find something to hide behind, and let the battle begin!

Sometimes fun could be something as simple as making snow angels or

simply catching snowflakes on your tongue (but not sticking your tongue on an iron railing or lampost!)
As a teenager, I tried ice skating but never became very accomplished at it. Never quite got that skimpy little skirt on the ice thing either. I wanted to be covered on that cold stuff, because

a good bit of my time was spent on that well-covered derriere. I decided then that I must have had the weakest ankles in the world and maybe ice-skating wasn't my best form of recreation. But it was fun at the time.


When we finally got too wet or too cold, we'd go inside, get dry and play games where it was nice and warm.


Or, even find a good book to read. Everything was fun when there was no school.

I'm glad I have good, fun memories of wintertime play, both as a kid myself and with mine and the grands. But, that was then. Now I'm not terribly enamored of doing anything in the cold for any length of time.

Now my idea of winter joy is curling up in front of a cozy fire with a hot cuppa and some good TV. I'll leave playing in the snow to the younger crowd.

Unless, of course, a little grand should happen to show up. Then I just might be talked into making an exception or two. :)

It's National Nothing Day!

National Nothing Day is quite simply... a day for nothing.

This un-event was created by newspaperman Harold Pullman Coffin. It was first observed in 1973. The goal of National Nothing Day is "to provide Americans with one national day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing, or honoring anything."

Sounds like a plan to me. Celebrate this day by doing...nothing, nada, zip... and do enjoy doing it!

Man takes 26 years to solve Rubik’s Cube...

Oh, good grief! Talk about needing to get a life! Holy cow, buddy!

Finally done: Graham Parker with his cube
metro.co.uk

It has taken most of his life – but, after 26 years, builder Graham Parker has finally solved the puzzle of the Rubik's Cube.

When he bought the toy in 1983, Yuri Andropov was leader of the Soviet Union, breakfast TV was a novelty and music CDs were in the shops for the first time.

'I cannot tell you what a relief it was to finally solve it,' the 45-year-old from Portchester, Hampshire, said. 'It has driven me mad over the years – it felt like it had taken over my life.

'I have missed important events to stay in and solve it and I would lie awake at night thinking about it.

'I have had wrist and back problems from spending hours on it but it was all worth it. When I clicked that last bit into place and each face was a solid colour, I wept.'

Wife Jean, 47, said it had felt like there had been three people in their marriage.

'When I met Graham, he was already obsessed with the cube – spending hours on it every day,' she said. 'I have often thought about getting rid of it but I knew he would not rest until he had solved it.'

A spokesman for the governing body for competitions involving the puzzle, the World Cube Association, said it was 'definitely the longest it has taken' to finish the cube.

~ ~ ~

I guess I shouldn't introduce him to my 13 year-old grandson then, should I? The little boy who's been solving Rubik's cubes since he was about 10? The child even takes the entire puzzle apart... piece by piece... and puts it all back together again. He has a six-sided one that he has no problem solving either. He's truly a mechanically-inclined phenomenon, in my humble, grandmotherly opinion.

Anyway, 26 years? The man is in serious need of life counseling... not to mention the fact that the solution is all over the Internet!

"Say Kids, What Time Is It?"

I don't know why these things pop up in my head, but how many of you remember...


"It's Howdy Doody Time"
(by Edward Kean)

It's Howdy Doody time,
It's Howdy Doody time,
Bob Smith and Howdy Doo
Say Howdy Doo to you.

Lets give a rousing cheer,
'Cause Howdy Doody's here.
It's time to start the show,
So kids, let's go!



We didn't have a television back then, but our neighbors did so that's where I saw it. After school at first and then at some point, it was on on Saturdays.

The show took place in Doodyville, a circus town which had both puppet and human inhabitants. It typically had a short film, a song or two and visits by the various residents of Doodyville.

There was Buffalo Bob and Clarabell, the clown. And Princess Summerfall Winterspring. And Flubadub and Mr. Bluster too. And the Peanut Gallery! We can't forget that. That's what the audience of kids was called. Everyone wanted to sit in the Peanut Gallery!


A little Howdy trivia:

• the first Clarabell was played by Bob Keeshan, who then went on to play the ever-popular Captain Kangaroo.

• Howdy Doody was the first regular network series in color.

• supposedly Mr. Smith got his name "Buffalo Bob" from the Sycapoose Indians. Actually, Bob Smith was from Buffalo, New York!

• throughout the show's run Clarabell never spoke, just honked his horn and sprayed seltzer at Buffalo Bob, until the very end of the final episode. As the camera moved in for a close-up, Clarabell tearfully whispered... "Goodbye kids."
  

*sniff* Fun memory!

Scattergories

Haven't played one of these in a long while. Got this one in an email from my sister and rather than pass it on that way, I decided to do it here. Play and pass along if you like and let me know if you did.

It's harder than it looks. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things... nothing made up! Try to use different answers if your name starts with the same letter as mine. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Here ya go, Sis - I'm sending it back! ;)


WHAT IS YOUR NAME:
Marianne

4-LETTER WORD:
minx

BOY NAME:
Maxmillian

GIRL NAME:
Matilda

OCCUPATION:
matador

A COLOR:
mauve

SOMETHING YOU WEAR:
mukluks

BEVERAGE:
mead

FOOD:
mango

SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM:
mold

A PLACE:
Madagascar

REASON FOR BEING LATE:
misplaced car keys

THING YOU SHOUT!
monkey balls!

Weathering the weather

I have trouble enough breathing in normal weather, but during the winter months I tend to hibernate indoors and don't go out too much. Mainly because I simply can't breathe out there in the frigid cold. Cold air constricts the bronchial airways and really makes it difficult for us lung-challenged folk.

So usually, when I do go out, I make sure to cover my nose/mouth with a warm scarf or stick my face in my open coat while I scurry out to get to the car. I also try to breath more through my nose, which helps because it warms the air somewhat before it reaches the respiratory system.

Anyway, while browsing the internet yesterday, I discovered something that might make winter excursions a bit more doable...a "cold air mask." It's a fleecey kind of thing with ear loops that covers the nose/mouth/cheeks and allows your hands to be free instead of holding on to a scarf (which would have been darned convenient when I was trying to take photos outside last winter!)

Duh huh! Why didn't I think of this before? Probably because I didn't realize such a thing existed, but now that I do, I have got to get me one of these! I may look a little strange doing it, but I just might get me some snow pictures yet!

Tag, you're it!!

I've been tagged by Laurie, so you get to find out eight more things about me. Waiting with bated breath, aren't you? ;)


Here we go:

1. Lew says I live on California time. I've always been a nightowl and many times I'm going to bed about the time normal people are getting up. The chirping early birds lull me to sleep instead of waking me up.

2. My treadmill and stationary bike are conveniently located right beside my computer so I can just hop up and take a stroll or pedal for awhile to get my daily exercise in.

3. I've got a real "thing" about fat. Not the pound kind, the meat kind. I do NOT let that nasty, slimy, greasy stuff pass my lips! Uck, gross! I trim every bit off anything that I'm going to eat. You oughta see me make a ham sandwich! lol

4. Speaking of sandwiches, the ingredients on mine have to be in a certain order but it's not consistent from one kind of sandwich to another.

5. I don't "do" bright colored walls in my home. I like them in other people's homes and I'm often tempted to try but know I would tire of them too soon. So, I do light, neutral walls and change accessories instead for needed color or effect.

6. I used to be into contesting -- the kind where you send in entries with your name and address. Over a period of time, I won several small prizes but hit the jackpot once and won a grand prize of $5200.00. That was fun!

7. Most people clean their toilets in the bathroom, where they're generally located. I, however, cleaned a toilet in my sister's backyard once and rinsed it with a garden hose. It's a lot easier getting into all those nooks, crannies, and that "S" curve when it's not bolted to the floor. Got that sucker squeaky clean, I did! (we were renovating her house.) lol

8. Back to food quirks. I'm one of "those" people who like Spam...the kind you eat. Fried crispy on a sandwich with butter on the bottom piece of bread that melts when you put the hot Spam on it. Oh yeah, good stuff! And I like Velveeta too. But not baloney -- go figure, huh?

Now I'm supposed to pass it on and tag eight more people. Instead, I'm just going to say play along if you like and let me know so I can come visit your blog to learn more about you. :)

The pressure's off

Oh man, I am totally enjoying this! My second whole day without "having" to take a picture! Who would've thunk it would feel so good??

For the past two years, I've been involved in Project 365, a photography experience whereby your take a photo-a-day for an entire year. The idea is to learn more about photography, become more familiar and comfortable with a camera, and of course, have a photographic record of your daily life. Meeting new people and making friends are bonuses too.

For the most part, it's a fun project, and definitely a worthwhile undertaking, but it's not as easy as it sounds. At some point, you can't help but feel the self-imposed pressure to not only take a picture every.single.day, but to end up with a picture worthy of sharing with the rest of the world. It can get just a skosh wearisome for us amateurs.

At any rate, I did it for the aforementioned two years sans one day this past November, but I'm still giving myself credit for the whole year. My screwy logic reasons that since 2008 was a leap year of 366 days and I took a photo every day for 365 of those days, I'm still entitled to claim a whole year since 365 days is the "normal" number of days in a year!! Brilliant, huh? You like that logic?? ;) heh, heh, heh

Anyway, I'm sooo enjoying the break. Didn't even think about picking up the camera yesterday and not thinking about it today either. Oh, I'll still be taking and posting photos -- it's become too much of a habit not to -- but for now it's going to be when I want, but more importantly... IF I want!

If those who haven't followed along want to see what I've been up to, you can check out the whole 2-yr archive here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

All righty then. I've eaten my black-eyed peas for good luck in the coming year, put in some time on the treadmill today, and am ready to take on whatever the New Year brings!

Hope everyone had a safe and beauteous holiday and you all enjoy an equally Happy 2009!