A Wish For You And Yours...

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

"Forever Young" Lyrics by Bob Dylan

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

And I'm going to bed. Over excitement, cookie baking, crab cracking and present wrapping have kicked my ass.

Dad is going to have to stuff stockings and play the jolly old elf this year.

Friggin cancer.

Besides, he looks more like him than I do. I resemble that bobble headed Posh spice girl.

New Gadget...

See...above this post...Chase has a contest for charities starting on the 8th of January. Vote for the one you want...(Hmmmhmmm) And that charity wins $1 million for the project they put forward.

Of course I am voting for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network...they provide support for pancreatic cancer patients and their families, education, even housing for hospitalized patients family members and transportation to and from specialty centers.

They also support research and development into new arenas of early detection and testing.

You can vote for whomever you want. (Hmmmhmmm)

Target Doesn't Want To Sell It To Me...

But Walmart will...

Ok, I know I'm grumpy...but sheesh. Target has a policy if you try to buy a bike, you must take the floor model assembled...and they only have one assembled at a time. We need two. Of the same.

Asking the service staff was no help. They have a policy refusing to sell a bike unassembled in a box. Because? Because...that was seriously the reason. Because. They said so.

What? The? F? So being unable to buy two bikes of the same kind (assembled or not) we trek on over to Walmart...they have 2, 3 actually...assembled. Ready to go. Exactly the same. I am thinking someone in Walmart management had siblings. Close to the same age. Or they just like to sell things.

I am thinking Walmart will be my first stop from now on. Because I said so.

(Edited to add, I receive no money from Walmart or Target for posting about them. New rules on blogging)

Things That Make You Go "Aaaayeeee!"

If you are in pain and having trouble sleeping, or need the distraction long enough until the meds kick in...the world wide web is a good place to keep yourself entertained. It is a fabulous time waster. Several websites that I have stumbled across, however, will give you pause. Things that will make you laugh, make you cringe and make you holler out and wake up people in the other room.

Enter at your own risk.... http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ , http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/ , http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays , http://myhusbandisannoying.com/

These are but a few of my regulars. The walmart and texts from last night are not for children or adults who did not attend college. Just sayin'. Where else can you go for a picture of a chicken in a store.

If You Can't Smile At This Picture...

You have no heart, no soul and I don't know you. This is Ree's dog, Charlie as a puppy.

Heaven help me.

The Expatriate Formerly Known As...

I received an email today from a former expat and blogger that I had lost touch with since moving back from Scotland. She thought I dropped off the face of the earth...

Gee, that was a year ago...can you believe it? So much has changed in such a short amount of time. I thought the move stateside would calm us down, we would have a little peace and quiet and things would be a little settled for a while.

Ummm...not so much. Only this adventure has been fraught with unpleasant discovery and painful experiences. I can only say the 13 previous relocations and the challenges, experiences, successes, failures and natural disasters steeled me for this current storm I find myself in.

On the positive side...we are so blessed to have such support in friends close and far away. I keep saying when my daughters marry...the guests will resemble a meeting of the United Nations. Only much friendlier and with better food.

One of my daughter's friends insists my life's experiences have outgrown my name. I laugh and tell him that only the rock star Prince and rapper P Diddy have changed names...I have so not reached fame and fortune enough to mess with my name.

Her friend tells me my fortune is my life and it's experiences...and all the people in it. And then he called me Ruby.

I said I think we'll keep looking. For now I'll just be the expatriate formerly known as...