happy new year to all!!!

this should about cover it for resolutions for the year, if you add that the third chimp's pose also means "eat no evil".

how long is your list??

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.
--Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

and i heard him exclaim 'ere he drove out of sight, "merry christmas to all, and to all, a good night."

another fruity slice of life.........

another below zero day.

i scurry into menard's at noon to buy a gallon of paint for the ceiling of the new room.

i changed my mind about the wall color once and now i've got misgivings on the ceiling color.

i make my final color selection ( and i mean final or it'll be the dr. phil show for this marriage) in the paint dept. and head for the check-outs.

the lady in line in front of me is a store employee going off-duty. she's chit-chatting with the checker as her transaction progresses and they finish up business. the checker wishes her a merry christmas.

"oh, wait, i almost forgot to give you your present!" the customer/worker replies. she reaches into her big purse and pulls out a gift, beautifully wrapped, roughly the size of a brick. and it sounded like a brick as she plopped it down onto the counter with a big thud.

"it's a fruitcake!!" she proudly announced to the checker.

the look on that checker's face was priceless!

"you shouldn't have." said she.

deja vu or what? did i not write about the holiday fruitcake recently?? :)

i laughed all the way to my car.

if she choses not to regift it she can use it as extra weight in the trunk of her vehicle all winter.

friday nite on white street

took this tonite-- my charlie brown tree cut from our place on the river, my ancient skates, and an old sled from the 30's. that is the extent of decorating the front of the house this year.
i just might dig out some big old colorful c-9s though for the yew bushes. saw a house decorated with those fat old school lites and it brought back lots of good memories.
walking at nite this time of year is hushed and heavenly.
tonite giant gauzy white clouds were suspended motionless below the big black bowl of the nite sky. the beauty and silence, so humbling.

post holiday pot-luck regrets...'tis the season...

and last weekend's trip to chicago was 3 days full of slips, and i am really cranky about it now.
this last 10 pounds or so is really gorilla-glued to my body. a monkey on my back, so to speak.

perspective

it is -11 degrees this morning.

it is also garbage/recyclables day, being thursday.

and every thursday as i leave for work i usually see a youngish, thin, unhealthy-looking guy on a broken-down old bike. he comes around and fishes out aluminum cans from the recycle bins on the curbs in the neighborhood. i always leave our cans for him rather than take them in for money myself.

this morning as i pulled out of the driveway, who do i see out in the blistering cold but the guy on the crappy bike, trying to ride down our icy, snowy street, balancing 2 garbage bags of cans on the handlebars. he was wearing a thin jacket and had a raggedy thing tied around his face for protection from the cold.

how ashamed of myself i was at that moment, for i'd just been whining mentally to myself about having to go out in the cold, having to go to work, blah, blah, self-pity blah as i started the car and left the driveway.

the disappointments of christmas past

dear santa,

just writing to reminisce with you about the year i did not get the chatty cathy doll that i'd asked for.

i'm sure it was a simple mistake on your part, as you were so busy that christmas eve nite in the early 60's. i'm sure that the one you delivered next door to my best friend sharon at 738 marinette ave. was meant for me at 740 marinette ave.

never wanted to make an issue of it. however, if you would like to make it up to me i would graciously accept a chatty cathy doll this year.

i realize, of course, that they have become very collectable and therefore price-y as dolls go; so if you just can't lay your hands on one i would certainly be satisfied with a nikon camera in the d40 to d60 range with an additional 55-200 zoom lens and a close-up lens for taking snaps of flowers and such.

and i did really appreciate the betsy wetsy doll you brought me. she piddled her little heart out for me for months--even when i fed her orange juice, milk, and kool-aid. the cough syrup, though--not so much.

sincerely,

evie kuran dieck

ps-i'll put out hot-buttered rum and tom 'n jerry fixins instead of boring old hot cocoa......

building a 5 story gingerbread mansion this year? better get on the stick!

no panic here.

have scaled back and kicked back and some traditions are victims of christmas down-sizing this year.

christmas cookies for example. why should i make dozens and dozens of the things that are my greatest downfall in the healthy-eating department?? after the holidays i would eat them all, even in a frozen state from a sneaky trip to the freezer in the basement. i know that about myself.

decorating is taking a hit this year, too, mainly because of the remodeling project on the family room that is in a frenzy of completion this week.
by the time i get the house cleaned of the insidious plaster dust that is coating everything in sight santa will be on the roof tapping his foot and checking his watch.

in the interest of saving trees, time and scotch tape i am toying with some new "minimalist" ideas in the gift-wrapping department.

christmas cards are happening this year because i was in the mood to send them. some years i don't. if i see cards at a store that i fall in love with it's a good sign.
this year i found glitter-spangled doves of peace. and i mean glittery. wore it around for days. no wonder glitter is called the herpes of craft supplies...

best email opened today

"fa la la la la di da'

10:01am today.

jcpenney store at the ever-shrinking pine tree mall.

first one in the store to avoid the crowds and catch the clerks at their best.

"may i help you, ma'am?" (clerk, not making eye contact of any kind with customer)

"yes, i have a return, please." (customer, as she takes a nicely folded sweater out of the bag and sets it on the counter with the receipt on top)

"do you have a receipt?" (clerk)

"yes, it's right there." (customer)

"oh. but the sweater is inside out." (clerk)

"no, it's not." (customer)

"yes, it is. the zipper placket is on the outside." (clerk)

"no, that is the style. with the zipper placket exposed on the front." (customer)

"then it's defective." (clerk)

"no, that is the style. if it's defective then you have at least 6 other defective sweaters still hanging on the rack." (customer)

"well, it's unattractive." (clerk)

"my thoughts exactly. that is why i am returning it. although designing it like that did make it cheaper to make." (customer)

"i doubt that." (clerk)

"they didn't have to turn under any raw edges to put in the zipper. that saves time. that means it's cheaper to make. time is money." (customer)

"i still doubt it. and it is ugly." (clerk)

"thank you. have a nice day." (customer, walking away, as she mentally wishes she was into early morning drinking because a bloody mary or something like it is surely called for after this little customer service vignette. she settles for an apple fritter and coffee from the bakery.)

windy city weekend

my favorites from our weekend in chicago.

snaps from the kriskindlemart in daley plaza.

the hot spiced wine was delicious and the company was exceptional.

it was the 4th annual trip to chicago with the daughters.

not one picture i took of them turned out.

i am much better at taking pictures of things than people.

must require less talent.

ps---the tree at the mart is made of 100 some wisconsin grown balsams all squished and wired together to form this gigantic cone of a tree. impressively engineered, but not too impressive to look at by my very picky standards for pretty christmas trees.

"let them eat cake"

the lowly fruitcake.

the butt of holiday jokes.

the gift you send as a practical joke to a friend. or an enemy.

and the next year the recipient of the fruitcake sends it back. and mysteriously, it doesn't look any worse for wear. maybe they are made of melamine.

what's the history behind this perennial bane of christmas gift recipients everywhere?

must research this. especially since the lady at the hostess bakery store (no, her name is not dolly madison) told me that she has sold 800 of these colorful little fruity bricks so far this holiday season.

when you give someone a fruitcake and they look you squarely in the eye and say, "you shouldn't have", believe them. they mean it.

and they will get even.....................................................

poor oprah

no amount of $$ and 24/7 access to personal trainers, personal chefs, personal life coaches or shrinks can keep any one of us from being human and therefore, prone to weakness and failure.

only oprah could turn it into a giant publicity opportunity.

i don't think a lot of regular folk suffering from metabolic disorders, eating disorders, and depressive disorders will be able to relate real well to her current situation, since they don't have the same resources at their disposal to battle their problems, and they also lack a bff to stick on national tv to tut-tut with the tv anchorfolk aboutwhat a tough, tough year they've had.

change of plan

after talking with several athetick-y type friends i have changed my winter activity plan.

ix-nay on the xc skis and yes to snowshoes for both dennis and me for christmas from santa.

we were out in the country yesterday cutting down a tree (with brodie breaking trail for us) and i couldn't help but think that it would've been great to be on snowshoes for tree-hunting.

we bagged a beautiful spruce and a small tree for molly for her apt.

brodie had a field day of doggie nose candy----scents galore!!

it was our first tree-cutting outting without the 3 kids.

so it was different.

but good.

because we started with just us.

and now we are just us again.

56 years old and resuming a sport i enjoyed...

damn!! forgot the poles in the car!

(did i mention that tomorrow i'm turning 56?)

"when i am old i shall forget to wear purple" (and not give a damn.)

he comes tonite

as you wrestle with the devil today, trying your best not to be naughty, remember that st. nick comes tonite!

so be good and remember to put your shoes outside the door before bed.

if you're so naughty a person that the shoes are empty tomorrow morning, ah, well, at least they've had a good airing...

"it's he-re" (like the line in poltergeist)

it's he-re, winter time, ready or not, here she comes!

isn't this a lovely photo?
i do love being outside on winter nights, especially when the moon's waxing.
i do most of my walking at night, and my route along the river is so peaceful, and so quiet.
and so safe.
just me and the brodie, dressed warmly and growing icicles in our noses.
he is a trooper in the snow, ever nose to ground on the trail of some scent.
what an earth dog.
what a companion.
wish i had another one like him.
oops! did i say that out loud?!?

does santa read blogs???

just say no to chri$tmas

ah, guilt, that most crippling of emotions.

it's so hard to say "no" to being led down the commercial path to what is now not christmas, but chri$tmas.

no wonder it's the most depressing time of year for so many people.

not enough $ to give their loved ones "happiness".

not enough talent to have the perfectly decorated home.

not enough time to present gifts that look professionally wrapped.

it's hard not to feel guilted into believing the commercial vision of christmas joy that's pounded into us every holiday season.

i know people who breathe a deep sigh of relief when the holidays are over, relieved that they've survived another christmas.

how did we allow this crazine$$ to take over christmas?

december first

december first.

does mentioning the date give you the fight or flight response? twinges of anxiety?

so much to do! shop, shop, shop! spend, spend, spend! bake, bake, bake!

wait a minute, take a breath. make a cup of tea, sit down with your list, and write your own name right at the top, with this thought in mind: "this year i put myself at the top of the list--not for gift-giving to self but for time-giving to self.. i will give myself the gift of some down-time this year to enjoy the season and not just survive it."