Just squeeze in thislast..

Just one last post before the new year and it's an awesome one, if I do say so myself, which ... I just did.

My wonderful friend, Nancy S. Thompson, has given me a wonderful gift.

 The 2012 Blog of the Year Award!

Do you know a blog that deserves an award? Do you have special blogs that you love to read? Which blogs do you bookmark and follow? Would you like to give them an award this year?  Then the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award is for you!

The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:

·        Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

·        Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

·        Please include a link back to this page and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

·        Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

·        You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

·        As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

           

Yes – that’s right – there are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!

When you begin, you will receive the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!  There are a total of 6 stars to collect, which means you can check out your favorite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

Isn't that sweet of her! Thank you, Nancy!

As you know, I'm a rule breaker, but I do have a few friends that I think deserve this blog award.

These bloggers always find a way to entertain, enlighten and inform the blog community. They have always been a great source of support for me and my blog and I make sure to visit them each week.

Alex J. Cavanaugh
Tara Tyler
DL Hammons
Cassie Mae
Stephen Tremp
and right-back-atcha,
Nancy S. Thompson 
 
I hope you will take a moment in 2013 to visit with them and see what I'm talking about! 

So, that's it for me for 2012. Happy New Year, folks. 13 is my lucky number so I'm hoping 2013 is my year for great things!


Don't forget Alex's Insecure Writer's Support Groups first post of the new year is Wednesday, January 2, 2013!


GO FSU! Orange Bowl! 1/1/2013! 

Blink and you've missed it...

Crap.

On.

A.

Cracker.


Well, Christmas has come and gone. Just that fast. I got an awesome present. A nasty, gross, disgusting cold.

YEAH, ME!

I'm feeling better, pretty rough around the edges, but better.

But, I feel like I missed the whole holiday.

I was here but fuzzy.

I barely remembered to take a few photos of present opening on Tuesday. Dinner and dessert were mostly taste-less. And my joy at surprising my husband and son with presents they didn't know about wasn't as much fun when I felt like shit.

Luckily, in my family, we believe in the 'more is more' policy. Why have one Christmas when you can have 'MORE' than one Christmas?

Well, we are supposed to have 'Elevenses' on Saturday but it may have to be slightly postponed due to a storm that is coming with another 1-3 inches of snow to go with the few inches of snow and ice we got on Wednesday.

Now, I live in NY. Snow is completely normal. I was raised here. I learned to drive here. Everyone, like me, should be able to drive like human beings in the snow.

But, every year there is a whole section of the population that have a complete meltdown at the first sign of a snowflake.

You've seen them. They hear a storm is coming and they can't stop talking about it. They question everyone around them about how much accumulation we might get, should they leave earlier, will everything close?

They flock to the food stores and fill their shopping carts to the brim in case they get 'snowed in' for more than a day.

They run to the home stores and buy out all the shovels and sand and ice melt. (My husband and I always wonder what they did with last years shovel?)

When they're on the road and it's flurrying they drive ten miles under the speed limit.

They hit a slippery spot and they overcompensate to the 'enth' degree and put their car in a ditch.

OR, they drive their four-wheel drive vehicle like a battle tank and forget that ice doesn't care they have four-wheel drive and they put their SUV in a ditch.

These people we try to avoid at all costs. They will ruin your day. They will try to hit your car. They will cause long lines of traffic when they put their vehicle sideways or stop in the middle of a snowy hill.

It's just better to stay home and wait for the tow truck drivers to remove all the idiots off the road before we come out.

So, maybe we have 'Second' Christmas next weekend.

How was your holiday? Did you get what you asked Santa for?

Ever been on the road with similar crazy people?

Excited for any College Bowl Games?
GO RU!
GO FSU!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum...

I received lots of wonderful comments about Monday's post, Dear [______], and I really appreciate that.

***

Today, I want to share pictures of my Christmas tree. It's about the only thing I do decorate for Christmas.

Growing up we always had an artificial tree. I didn't mind it at all until we bought our first real tree. There was nothing like it.

The way the warm white lights shimmer on the soft fir branches and the smell of the freshly cut tree in the house, I was hooked.

Our house isn't very big so in order to get Mr. Tree in I have to move the loveseat out of the living room. Trying to fit two adults, one seven year old and four cats onto one couch is not as easy as it sounds.

Naked!

 

Daylight

Nightlight

Nightlight w/ flash

Believe me when I tell you that this is 1400 lights and my husband wants more.

 

Just a few of my favorite ornaments. We lost quite a few of our decorations and ornaments last year in a flood from Hurricane Irene. But, we did get some new ones so it's starting to fill out more. 

 

 

 My son made me the star for the top of the tree last year. I think it's perfect.

I'm not a religious person, I think I've mentioned that, but I do hope that the holiday season brings us all some peace and goodwill towards our fellow man, woman and child.

And college football. I hope it brings that too.

GO FSU!

GO RU!

Merry & Happy!

Anyone else want to share tree photos? Leave links in your comments and I can put them up on Friday's post!    

Dear [_______],

Dear News Media, you suck. Whatever happened to journalism? Fact finding? Truth before reporting? You're nothing more than sleazy lawyers hanging out in hospital parking lots looking for unsuspecting clients. I stopped watching your sensationalist 'news' a long time ago and I refuse to start again until you grow the fuck up.

Dear Law Enforcement officials, you're stronger than they are. Don't cave to the news media and government officials when they beg and threaten you for inaccurate crumbs to feed to the tabloid media machine. Just say no.

Dear Law Enforcement and First Responders, we love you. We're so sorry that you have to see such terrible things. We hope our love and support is enough to get you through each day. There is no one we trust more than you.

Dear Mr. President, don't tell the people that we will do everything we can so that this terrible tragedy doesn't happen again. You can't prevent them. No one can. If someone wants to harm others they will. It's not pretty but its the truth.

Dear Families in Newtown, we are all thinking of you. We are all sending our love and support. We are so sorry. We know it can never be enough.

Dear America, nothing is black and white. You should know that by now. It's not something we can fix by saying if we take away A then B will never happen. Life doesn't work that way.

Stop trying to place blame everywhere except where it belongs.

It's not non-religious people vs. religious people. It's not gun owners vs. non-gun owners. It's not Democrats vs. Republicans.

It's just people. We need to care more. We need to pay more attention to our kids. We need to help each other.

And not just when tragedy strikes.




I'm sure my words aren't new. I'm sure my words will anger some. But, they are my words and I will stand by them.

My heart breaks for these children. The same age as my own son. I had the luxury of waking him for school this morning. I didn't want to let him out of my sight and I cried after I put him on the bus. If you knew me, you would know that was rare.

My comfort is this, for every [insert deviant type here] out there, who wants to harm others to fill whatever hole they have in their lives, there are thousands of good people doing the right thing for others without wanting a thing in return.

Maybe one day the news media will report those stories.

Deja Vu Blogfest - Stormy is on Survivor!

It's the Deja Vu Blogfest!

It's the Deja Vu Blogfest!

It's the ...

Okay ... I'll stop. (he he he) 

DL Hammons from Cruising Altitude 2.0 is hosting the Deja Vu Blogfest today! Click HERE if you want to join or read some of the other great entries! It's easy! Re-post a post from 2012! Maybe it's your favorite, maybe it never got noticed, maybe it's hilarious! Let's see it again!

Sometimes we write the most wonderful, amazingly insightful, thought inspiring blog posts in the whole universe and due to any number of reasons they are completely missed.

This isn't one of them.

I loved this post from the April Blogging from A to Z challenge about my favorite show, Survivor, but, by the letter 'S' comments were getting scarce and everyone was getting a little alphabet tired. 

My husband and I have watched every episode of Survivor ever made. We have both talked about going on the show but have never joined.

I just don't like people and I might kill some of the other contestants if they annoy me too much and bury them in the jungle or weigh them down with coconuts and sink them in the ocean.

But, enough about me, here comes Stormy!

**********

Today's weather: PM thunderstorms expected. 50% chance of rain. High of 76 degrees.

Thanks to the awesome suggestion from K., you know who you are :), I was a guest on the CBS show Survivor*!

Here is the group photo for Survivor: Everyone vs. Stormy the Weather Gnome!

Thanks goodness my Gorilla Glue held up in the water! Hello, ladies.

This is a lot harder than it looks.

Wait! Who wrote my name down? Darn. No hidden immunity idol!

Jeff, don't say it!   "The tribe has spoken."   Holy Crap on a Cracker.

Blogging from A to Z!

*I do not, in any way, profit from the use of these pictures and all creative rights to these pictures belong to their original creator(s).

**********

Awesome, right?

Have a great weekend everyone! I have to go decorate the naked tree!

Anyone got cool plans?  

Stormy rocks! / Deja Vu Blogest coming up!

I can't even explain how much I love this!

A huge thanks to Tara from Tara Tyler Talks for making Stormy his very own holiday sign!

He is one lucky gnome.

******

Anyone up for the easiest blogfest ever?

During 2012 did you have a great post that didn't get the attention it deserved? An informative post that you want to share again? A funny post that needs to make new people laugh?

DL Hammons from Cruising Altitude 2.0 has you covered! 

Join the Deja Vu blogfest and on December 14th re-post your favorite 2012 blog post.

*****

So...the tree is home. 

But...he's still naked.

My husband swears that I 'force' him to put the lights on the tree. He swears.

I have no recollection of this conversation ever occuring.

As soon as he puts on all 1400 lights...yes, you read that correctly, then I can put on the ornaments.

Hopefully he will be 'dressed' and glowing like he's radioactive by this weekend.


Anyone else still working on decorating their tree?