What are you doing....

Tonight... movie watching, cookie monster making and eating and apparently some blogging.

New Year's Eve has always been big for me. I guess it comes from the fact that I have a math nerd for a dad. The concept of one year ending and one beginning, and having an exact moment to "be in" was super exciting.

Obviously as a kid I didn't realize that others were celebrating the new year at 23 other times around me... that was not important.

One of my first NYE memories is of me and my cousin Jay staying up late so that we could jump up in 1985 and land in 1986. We stood on tall kitchen stools and as NYC counted down to one(on the TV) we JUMPED and landed in the new year. It just didn't get any better than that for me.

I knew a boy once ... his real name is Michael Martin.... we all called him Mickey. His birthday was on December 31st. I can remember several years late in High school early college celebrating with friends including Mickey.... I wonder what he is doing tonight?

Since Mason and I have been married with KIDS... we tend not to do anything big since our anniversary is only a few days after, plus my birthday a few weeks after that.

Sad to say... one tradition that I grew up with has seem to have bitten the dust. For about 10 years I RELIGIOUSLY watched the MTV TOP 100 Video countdown - which lead up to - the MTV New Year's Eve party/bash/show.

Starting in the New Millennium (btw - does anyone remember No Doubt singing the REM song at midnight?) they changed the format of the whole thing. Less music, more talking - they wouldn't even show the WHOLE video for all the videos... just clips.
This year I looked and they didn't even have the countdown :-(

I am SO OLD! Nevertheless ... I have some great memories of NYE... some really crappy ones too. But one thing is for sure... I can't wait until the boys are old enough to understand the hubbub because WATCH OUT! I am getting out the stools!

Let the Slinglinging Begin

Although you can't tell from this picture T really liked the sling. Mason liked it too. It freed up his hands... AND he said that he enjoyed not feeling like his arm was going to fall off.
I practiced with T ... but I wasn't as adept as Mason was at first.... which was a bit discouraging... I really wanted to be Earth Momma from the start. Oh well. I will just have to practice more!

Wrapping Paper part 3

Forgive me dear readers, for I have sinned....

Well, that might be too dramatic. But the 'No Wrapping Paper' project failed. It was the impending finality of purchasing fancy material that did me in. The idea of sinking all that money into a plan that I really didn't have work out all the way. Plus I found it much easier to wrap each person's gift in one particular paper. Braden (dark green - his favorite color) Mason (red) and Tristan (blue). Braden knew which ones were for him, and which ones to hand out. It really was a great system.

More than one person suggested using gift bags. And while I agree with them in theory... and I use them for birthdays and showers. I can't stand the sight of bags with a bunch of tissue sticking out of it jammed under the tree. Plus, with a bag you have to have the gift upright, whereas with wrapping the whole box, you can lie it on its side or whatever when trying to find space to stick it under the tree.

But fear not! There is hope. I think I have my final vision of what I really want/need for this 'no wrapping paper' project to be realized.

Without any effort the solution reveal itself.

The CLOTH gift bag: (see below)

My aunt ordered a cement mixer truck for Braden through amazon. And it came 'wrapped' in a cloth bag that fit (snugly) over the box, complete with tied bows on each end. (box shown is not the actual box that came... it is a bit shorter, hence the 'poof' at the top - note - poof (which is not desired) disappears when correct size box is used)

It is totally reusable and it can be used for square or oddly shaped items. This totally feels like the solution to me. Now if I can only find out how to get my hands on some! (for free would be even better) Dang! I am SO cheap!

Remembering

My friend Anne shared with me her tradition of adopting an angel off of the Salvation Army tree each Christmas. She chooses a child with the same sex and age as her children "would have been". She lost her son to stillbirth about a month after I lost William.

I thought it was a wonderful idea. So this year while I was at the mall and walked by the tree... I stopped and read some of the angel cards. I quickly found one that matched William. I brought the card over and they assigned me this little boy.

Besides his age and sizes, I knew nothing else about the child. I read the list.... He needed a winter coat, shoes, pants shirts and pajamas. I stood there staring at the card.... trying to picture him - what he looked like what kind of personality he had, my heart broke and I stared crying. For my son, for the mother of this boy who couldn't clothe her own child. I couldn't imagine what that family must go through (not only at Christmas) but everyday just to survive.

Once the water works subsided I really enjoyed picking out all the stuff for "my angel". JC Penny was having a sale and I made out like a bandit. A coat, pants, t-shirts shorts, sweatpants, and the cutest jammies I could find... plus a brand new pair of Lightening McQueen sneakers!

I cried again when I dropped off all the stuff. I think next year I will bring Braden... I think he will understand it more and I will (hopefully) be less emotional. The lady running the tree thought I was NUTS!

Great Importance

This is a picture of the Nativity scene my mother made at a pottery class over 35 years ago. There are 17 pieces to this set. 2 Camels 2 Shepards 3 sheep 2 donkeys 1 cow/bull 3 wise guys Mary Joseph Angel and Baby J.

I love this nativity. I love it because my mother made it. I love it because I can remember setting it up with her every Christmas and I love it because I can now I can create the memory of it with Braden.

Every piece was wrapped in old paper towels and newspaper to keep them from breaking when they were stored away. Each Christmas when it was time to decorate. My mom would get out the old shoe box and we would sit on the piano bench and take each piece out one by one, unwrapping it and placing it on top of the piano. We made it a game. We would try to guess which piece we were holding before we unwrapped it, and we would always try to get Baby Jesus last.

So for the 2nd time Braden and I sat on our piano bench (same one) and unwrapped each piece and put them on top of the piano. I work on at NOT crying as I arrange the pieces around. I try to explain that "this was Grandma B's when I was little...." but Braden doesn't really understand just yet. My step-mom is Grandma to him ....

Until last year I had kept them wrapped in the same old paper towels and newspaper. I liked touching what she had touched with me..... There is something magical about the nativity.

If there was a fire in the house, THIS would be what I grabbed on the way out.

Merry Christmas from the Family

Christmas Magic

I LOVE a good show. I LOVE the presentation of the performance. Whether its big or small. From a Broadway production to a small wedding. I find every detail important... EVERY. And I place high expectations on these 'events'. Maybe it's because I was born into a family of actors. Or the fact that I spent 9 years of my life as a community theater actress myself. Or maybe it's because I am a perfectionist. Whatever it is I love the magic and pretend of a 'show'. This is one of the reasons I was so disappointed in our Visit with Santa.


I feel like this is my first "official" Christmas as a mom...because this is the first Christmas that Braden really GETS what is going on. No matter how much of a fuss we made each year, decorated, went to see Santa (courtesy of Grandma) baked or sang carols they all came and went without much notice from Braden. Not that he wasn't excited to get presents. But he just didn't understand the whole thing.

This year however is DIFFERENT story. He is ALL over Christmas. From singing Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger to Christmas parties and putting up the tree. He remembers his Advent calendar each night and talks about Santa all the time.

So of course I feel the pressure to have a great presentation. I don't mean the perfect decorations, or a fancy meal. But I do mean the "big reveal" in the morning. To have all the presents under the tree and his stocking stuffed and laying by his bed.

I can remember so clearly my Christmas mornings as a child. Waking up at dawn and finding my stocking by my bed. Running down the hall to my cousin's room. Then the three of us would open our stockings and chew the bubble gum (which came in said stocking) and wait until 7 when we were legally able to get our parents out of bed. Coming down the stairs, the house still dark. I would get SO excited (who doesn't) see all the presents for us 4 kids sitting under the tree. I would run over and plug the lights in and just stare up at it.... in awe.

As I got older and realized that my parents (and Aunt & Uncle) were the ones behind the whole thing I was amazed to find that I never found ANY 'clues'. I never saw the gifts, the wrapping paper, receipts, shopping bags.... NOTHING... it was perfectly orchestrated. I had this image of my parents having everything done on time. Gifts bought and wrapped and hidden in their 'secret' spot. NOT the way I have been winging it for the past few weeks. Stashing things under beds and in the attic, behind clothes in the closets. I feel everything has been slap dash. And the more I think of it, this is probably the way it was for my parents too. I blissfully slept through all the assembly and wrapping. Unaware of the chaos that in sued late nights.

Tonight I said to Mason " we are those people... you know, like on the commercial staying up late putting toys together doing last minute wrapping".... he said "yeah... isn't it great!?"

Yes indeedy! I wouldn't want it any other way!

FIGHTER BITER KICKER CLIMBER

That is what we call Tristan... We also call him Velcro Baby. Where Braden was content to ride in a stroller and chill by himself, Tristan likes, nay- DEMANDS to be held and carry. Mason and I finally realized that this trend isn't going away any time soon... SO... we purchased a few slings. He really likes the hip ride, and our arms are about to break off..We thought these would be perfect. It was buy 2 get one free... so I got two for me and Mason picked out one too!

Here is the picture of the lady who sells these with one of the fabrics that I picked.

A Festivus for the Rest of Us!

Festivus is an annual holiday that was made popular by writer and editor Daniel O'Keefe. It was introduced to popular culture by O'Keefe's son Daniel (who also wrote the definitive guide), a scriptwriter for the TV show Seinfeld, on December 18th 1997, in the episode "The Strike". (Season 9, Episode 10). The holiday is celebrated each year on December 23rd, but many people celebrate it at other times, often to avoid the Christmas rush. The holiday includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him/her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, the holiday only ending if the head of the household is actually pinned.
Some people, influenced or inspired by Seinfeld, now celebrate the holiday, in varying degrees of seriousness; some carefully following rules from the TV show or books, others humorously inventing their own versions.






There are a few other books written about Festivus... but they seem to be fictitious works, or works based on the original book.

a factory in Milwaukee that makes real Festivus Poles!

Festivus" was the name of a seasonal Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor made in 2000 and 2001 in honor of the holiday. In 2004, the flavor made its return as "Gingerbread Cookie", and has since been retired to the Ben and Jerry's Flavor Graveyard.

Oklahoma-based winery, Grape Ranch, began producing Festivus wine in 2003

Even Religious Tolerance . org has gotten into the act!

Professor Anthony Aveni of Colgate University, author of "The Book of the Year: A Brief History of our Seasonal Holidays" 7 suggests that Festivus is infused with so much potential meaning that it may become a permanent part of the American holiday firmament. He notes that Halloween was once an obscure festival observed by few, that Kwanzaa was invented by an academic in the 1960s, and Hanukkah has evolved in recent years to include the exchange of gifts. He said: "Even Christmas comes out of a Pagan holiday that happened around the [winter] solstice."

By the way - all of this is completely different from Chrismukkah: is a pop-culture neologism referring to the merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah as celebrated in interfaith households where one parent may be of Christian heritage and another parent of Jewish heritage. Chrismukkah was invented by FOX television program The O.C.. On the show, the character Seth Cohen has a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. As a way to merge the two faiths, Seth claims to have "created Chrismukkah."

Happy Solstice

Solstice happens twice a year. For us here in the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice marks the shortest (darkest) day of the year December 21st. People have either feared or celebrated this event since the dawn (no pun intended) of time.

It never occurred to me (until recently) that ancient peoples were frightened by the changing of the seasons. Not understanding the science of Earth, thinking that the sun was a god. Believing that the Earth was flat. Being fearful of evil spirits during winter thinking that their "god" was hiding. Taking personally any harsh weather as punishment from said god. Plus winter ticks people off. No sun, the cold, everyone stuck indoors... what better way to beat the blahs than a party... heck a 12 day long party.

Before the calendar (thanks Julius) humans used the night sky, moon and sun to determine when to mate, harvest and plant. The solstice was a very important part of that 'time keeping'. Knowing how much longer you have to ration out your food and when the weather is going to warm up was a pretty important thing to know.

And even though we understand the science much more today. I feel like we are less in tune with the land (our Earth) than we use to be. There are pages and pages written about solstice. Now-a- days people talk about it in terms of science and astronomy. Learning about the tilt of the earth, our distance from the sun and how that effects both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

And yet, so much of what we do and celebrate stems from our ancestors and their customs. Today we celebrate stuff just for the celebration, without really understanding the WHY... Why do we drag pine trees into our houses. What in the world is wassailing, what do you mean it is not "old man time?" No thank you... I don't want any Yule... I am trying to lose weight!

I like the idea of being able to celebrate Earth. Her changing seasons. Being reassured that spring will eventually come. To be grateful for what I have. To see beauty in the cold and grey of winter. I also love the idea of being connected to ALL people during this season. Whether it's the Middle East, Russia, China, Europe or Africa .... THIS is the time of reflection and celebration.

Bring it on!

a visit with Santa....

So today we were at the mall which was open early on a Sunday because of Christmas. We took the boys to the play area while each of us took turns window shopping. The mall was not crowded at all and it was a fun break from the super cold weather.

As we were walking around we ran into Santa Land. You know the scene. A huge house with fake snow and a white picket fence line divider. Braden was excited to see Santa. There was no line and I started to feel like a horrible parent for never taking my child to see Santa. So I went and asked the lady how much it cost to just "talk" to Santa - without buying a picture. She told me that there was a problem with the camera so if we wanted to "slip in" this would be the perfect time.

We walked up to Santa (who, by the way - looked liked the real deal) and Braden hopped up in his lap. "Hi" Santa said very quietly "What's your name?" "Braden S" Braden replied. "What would you like for Christmas?" he asked quietly "A Green Scooter" Braden mumbled.

"He's just a bit shy" I explained (which I now understand to be a ridiculous statement...DUH of course he's shy) "He's not shy, he's frightened" explained the Santa. And before I could protest, the mall Santa launched into a quite lengthy speech about how it's good to be afraid because it protects us, and listen to your Mom and Dad, and blah blah blah blah....

I tried to change the subject by mentioning the camera being broken. I said "Maybe the Elves will come and fix it" "What?! We've got a call into the IT guy...it should be fixed soon." I gave Santa this look like "come on, you know... the elves! (wink wink)" It went right over his head. Come on buddy - let's stay in character. But no. By this time I was so disappointed. No "HO HO HO" no "Merry Christmas".... no shtick... NOTHING! It felt like such a waste.... Where was the showmanship?

Whatever... I walked away from the whole interaction with a stronger resolve NOT to get sucked into the ridiculous hype.

Where does he put it?

The other day this is what Tristan ate:

Breakfast
a whole bowl of oatmeal
1 scrambled egg
1/2 of a banana
soy milk sippy

Lunch
grilled soy cheese sandwich
apple sauce
soy milk sippy

Dinner
7 chicken pieces
1/4 cup carrots
soy milk sippy

growth spurt anyone?

Speaking of Poor Quality

Right before the holiday shopping season commenced I heard a radio commercial asking all of us Abilenians to " shop locally" and NOT on the Internet. They argued that shopping locally helps not only the local economy but helps the PEOPLE Abilene buy supporting small businesses and jobs in the area. Which is true! And the whole proposal made sense. So I decided to not shop online and to support my neighbors.

And that lasted all of a few weeks. :-( To be fair, I did give it the ol' college try... but Abilene has its limits.

The biggest disappointment came when we went to buy our tree. We thought we found a nice one until we got it home and put it in water. After cutting off the bottom and setting it up it should have drank in a whole lot of water. But it didn't - not even a smidge after 2 days. So we returned the tree and hunted around for a better one. But we couldn't. They were all dried out and old. By the time they get down here they have been cut for at least a month - plus it had been so warm and sunny that some of the branches had been scorched by the sun. I understood quite quickly why fake trees were so popular down here. But I can't stand fake trees.... not only for environmental reasons but because to me it defeats the whole purpose/meaning/symbolism behind the tree. (which I will spare you - FOR NOW!!!) So... I ordered our tree direct from the tree farm and it was shipped to me a few days later. Fresh and green... and all sappy.... PERFECT!

The second issue came when I was looking for an Advent Calendar for Braden. I wanted the kind I had had when I was a kid. Paper, with glitter all over it and an old world picture of a snowy town or forest with open up windows that revealed pictures underneath. I went to Wal-Mart, Target, Michaels, Ross, the Dollar Store AND Family Christian Booksellers.... NOTHING. Besides the box calendar (which you have to put something in) or the tear off chocolate calendars I couldn't find what I was looking for. So it was off to Ebay for that.

Since then I have given up my Abilene only no Internet shopping and it has opened up a whole new world of Toys and Gifts that I can buy/give. For Braden:

From Restoration Hardware: a match box sized music box with a moving train

and Back to Basic Toys: a wind-up Robot

or for my Mother- in-Law From Shore Service Dogs: Note cards with prints of Paintings done by Dogs! (all the proceeds go to the service dog program)

Plus - I didn't have to hassle with ANY people! and really, isn't that what the holiday is all about :-) LOL

Poor Quality

Last month I wrote about how sucky Duracell Batteries are. I now have a new product to add to Julia's List of Crap to NOT Buy: Pottery Barn Kids Sheets.

After a year of washing and using 3 different types of sheets on Tristan's crib all the others pretty much look and feel like they did a year ago... plus the elastic still works on them.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the PBK sheet. It looks very worn and the elastic is nonexistent, so that the sheet pops right off of the mattress. The two "good" sheets cost about 10-12 bucks.... the PBK sheet cost 25-30 bucks. Whatever.... but I thought you all should know...

Just call him Billy

Here is Braden at our Thanksgiving photo shoot.....

A new nickname has been born.... at least for Braden's hair! "Give him the Zabka" I'll say to Mason "I'll sweep his leg" he replies

Plain Ol' Update

I've been busy... no S#!T

Everyone is busy.... I am not sure with what... but everywhere I read and everyone I talk to has the busyies...

Although I have so much I want to "write" about .... Today is just a catch all of the 2.2 (as Jessi puts it)....

• Mason is gone again - just briefly - until Friday for some C130 convention in New Hampshire. Good news is that he can visit some family while he's up there.... Bad news is... the more I hear about New England.... the more it makes me miss home! :-(

• Calhoun's spirit has healed much quicker than his knee... which translates into him being VERY upset about being kept in his crate all day everyday. Chloe gets so excited when we take him out to potty or for food that we now have to keep her separated for fear of her jumping on him and hurting his knee. This (of course) just upsets Chloe so she barks continuously from the time Calhoun gets out of his crate until the time he goes back in. Fun!

• Winter is officially here in Abilene. Here winter is cold wet and grey. That's it. No cold with sun, no grey without wet. It's shoot yourself in the head kind of weather.

• Tristan finally has gotten over his 3 month long runny nose.... I am chalking it up to taking him off milk (a tip of the hat to Beth and Tasha for that !)

• In less than one week I got sucked into the Mannatech hype and then read/educated myself out of it. (still feel quite silly though)

• I tried making some money on Ebay by selling Disney Pixar Cars.... I broke even.... hmmm - better luck next time!

• Our outside lights are up and our tree is sitting in its stand drinking some water. Everything else is sitting in our hallway in boxes. I can't recall EVER being this LATE in getting ready for Christmas.

• Feeling generally bad about not writing here everyday... It's not from lack of thoughts and words... but motivation... boo me!

• Christmas cards started coming in the mail! LOVE that.... hate it when I get them handed to me .... not as fun I think!

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

$ 983.74

That is how much Calhoun's vet bill was yesterday when I went to pick him up. He had knee surgery this Thursday after I brought him in on Tuesday since he has been limping since July.

One sunny summer day Calhoun was chasing his sister in the yard when all of a sudden his leg gave way and he fell to the ground. All of us jumped up to see if he had tripped on anything, but he hadn't. We thought he just needed some time to rest and it seemed (to us) that the leg was getting better.

But after the snow and cold and lots of running around outside last weekend, he took a turn for the worst. So I brought him to the doctor.

We had a decision to make....and fortunately for Calhoun the price was high... but not to high (if you know what I mean).

So right now he is sitting in our living room. Restricted in a crate with one shaved leg (looks pretty darn sad). He has to be confined for 2 weeks, then on house arrest for 4 more. Which means every time he needs to go potty we have to walk him out on a leash. He is not allowed to run or walk freely at all. We walk him to his food bowl and to his water dish.

Its only been a day and a half... but it seems like forever!

psst.... anybody want to buy a watch? We are selling one on Ebay to help pay for all of this!

Waiting, just waiting...

It took me awhile to truly understand what Moby was singing about... and now that I do his words bring tears to my eyes everytime (especially today)
To hear the whole song click on the play triangle twice and turn on your speakers

We just had to ask
Maybe some one out of heaven
Would hear us down here

We couldn't bear to stand
How the people leave us waiting
For something up there

Oh, why did you leave?
Why won't you come?
And save us again?

Come back to us spiders
Come uncrush my hand
Let peace and beauty reign
And bring us love again,
like you can

We just didn't know
Someone there outside of heaven
Heard us down here

We couldn't stand it here
How the people leave us longing
For something up there

Oh, why did you leave?
And why won't you come?
And save us again?

Come back to us spiders
Come uncrush my hands
Let peace and beauty reign
And bring us love again,
like you can

So much time, we need to ask everything
How did it go, you need it I got it

Come back to us spiders
Come uncrush my hands
Let peace and beauty reign
And bring us love again, like you can
Like you can!

I read the news today, oh boy......

I don't watch the news. I don't read the newspaper. Once in a great while I will go to USA Today's website and poke around to see what I am missing. This morning I found out that I missed the big news from yesterday... the shooting at the mall in Omaha.

Some guy opened fired from the 3rd floor of a department store, killing 8 and then turned the gun on himself. He left a suicide note at home.

Well, he didn't actually live at home. His parents had kicked him out of his house a while back. He was living with a friend and his family. He had just been fired from his job at McDonald's and his girlfriend had just broke up with him....

.... the boy was 19 years old. There was a picture of him too. I almost burst into tears when I saw the blurry photo. Not that there was anything remarkable about the boy, or maybe because there was nothing remarkable about the boy. He was just a boy, a kid... someone's son, their pride and joy, their bouncing baby boy that they cuddled and loved and kissed and hugged.... Then I thought.... "Where is his mother!"

People who feel loved and accepted do not shoot random strangers. It just doesn't happen. All I could think about was "Why didn't that poor boy feel loved?" it just broke my heart.

All that emotion aside.... I understand that people don't feel loved for a whole mess of reasons. I went through about 10 years of not feeling accepted or loved by my father and family. I found other ways of dealing with it though. My mother died when I was 12 and I have come to learn that because of her death I was robbed of a certain unconditional love.

Other people are robbed of their unconditional love in other ways, not just death. Mental illness, drug addiction etc etc.... I understand that my case is not so unusual or special.

But now that I am a mom and feel such a huge sense of responsibility to my children.

My children only exist because I became pregnant and gave birth. It was a planned pregnancy. Also, I did not choose to terminate the pregnancy or give the child up for adoption. Ergo, the child exist because of ME! Because I wanted to have a baby, that is it - no other reason. I brought him into existence and now I bear the burden (and joy) of raising him teaching him and being there for him. It is my responsibility, and it is HUGE! There will never be a time that I am not his mother. There will never be a time where it is okay to give up on him, or turn my back on him. There will never be a time where I will not love him - no matter what he does. I am not saying I will be an enabler to problems he has...but I will never stop trying to get him the help he needs.

Maybe it is different for people who have kids, but not by choice. There are a myriad of reasons why people have children that weren't planned. But I wonder if that changes how a mother looks at her child. In her mind the child was GIVEN to her ... the pregnancy was not a choice, but thrust upon her out of situation. I wonder if then motherhood is just looked at as a job that lasts for a bit of time and then is over? I don't know...

I certainly know plenty of people who didn't plan for children, but ended up being completely loving and devoted parents.... so obviously my above theory has some holes.

But something is different. I don't care what everyone says, and I know what I am saying sounds harsh... but NOT all mothers are good mothers. Some are down right lousy....some are evil.

I am not the best in the world... never claimed to be.... but I don't think that I am the worst either. I think I benefit from the education I received... and I don't just mean school. But the education that taught me to fight for what I believe it, to stand up for myself and others, to demand humane treatment... to never accept defeat.

Feeling defeated is the real problem. Not the circumstance in which you became a parent. Not how much money your family has. Not the fact you went to a fancy school.....but just the feeling of having lost all hope.

That is what made me cry today when I read the news... the fact that this boy (and maybe his mom too) had lost hope... a because of that, his actions will now tear through someone else's life and continue the cycle of devastation of peoples lives.

Festival of Lights

This is the first day of Hanukkah.

I can distinctly remember being sad for my Jewish friends in college. While all of us were struggling though finals, and exams; they did not have the luxury of knowing that they were going to be able to be home with their family for the holidays (like I did). They were having to work and study and take tests DURING their Holiday, SEPARATED from their families. It seemed so unfair.

I now know that Hanukkah is not the biggest or most Holy of the Jewish holidays. It just happens to be the most well known because of its proximity on the calender to Christmas. But nonetheless (it could be argued that Easter is really the more import of holidays in the Christian faith) - - it is an important and beautiful holiday and I am sure my friends would have much rather been at home celebrating than separated from their love ones and traditions.

Anyway...... Have a Happy Hanukkah! L'chai-im!

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm

Bebaksoon

A Bebaksoon is a very common animal. You can pretty much spot them anywhere in North America, especially this time of year.

You can hear their call echoing through the urban jungle. "isle......beeeeee........baaaaa...soooooon......."

Bebaksoons are very adept at keeping busy while getting nothing accomplished. Scientist for years have been studying this phenomenon; that although they seem to complete tasks by the end of the day, they are up at dawn repeating them. This behavior seems to be a cyclical.

During the winter months the Bebaksoon adds more tasks to her already busy schedule. This has scientists puzzled as well. For instance, the Bebaksoon starts coloring all her family's food with green and red and white, acquires newer versions of items she already owns and plays certain music for a whole month. The most extraordinary behavior is the act of bring outside nature in, since all the other 11 months of the year keeping nature out seems to be a primary goal.

If you happen to spot a Bebaksoon in your area, have no fear, they are not dangerous.They are very loving and sensitive creatures. And although they thrive much better in packs, they isolate themselves sometimes picking on their companions and mates. This time of year seems to keep them so busy that they are isolated even more than usual. Some argue that the cold weather plays a part in this as well.

They come in all shapes and sizes... although the species all female. The male has an altogether different name "WearDgo"since they are an entirely different animal.