Merry Christmas David and Sean Goldman

David Goldman, What a wonderful Christmas gift you have recieved this year getting your son back from Brazil! Congratulations! Hopefully it won't be too difficult for you both to adjust, since you are practically strangers. I'm sure that will change very quickly. Merry Christmas!

Survivor Samoa - Nineteenth Season

Monday morning, the 21st, I signed on facebook. The post I happened to see was from Sugar saying, "I hate Survivor". My first thought was, "hmmmm, I wonder why". My second thought was, "CRAP, I forgot Survivor was on last night!! How could I have forgotten?" I do hate that it normally airs on Thursday, and they air the final show on Sunday. I guess I'm just a creature of habit. I did not have a chance to watch it until Tuesday night. I held my breath hoping no one would tell me who had won in the meantime.

When Natalie was first announced, I was not only shocked, but very upset. I initially thought she was voted for only because people hated Russell, the Snake. I quickly realized that Natalie really did play a good game. She aligned with strong players, stayed loyal to them and made some really good moves, like getting rid of Erik. Getting rid of Erik was probably her best move. Like Erik said before the vote, Natalie and Russell played two different strategies and you can't say one was better than the other. Although, Natalie's strategy was better. It seems the jury always likes honesty, loyalty and integrity over lying, manipulating and betraying.

Christmas Cards for Jacob

Recently, many of you have probably seen the word "hoax" or "rumor" in the headline of any story about Christmas Cards for Jacob, even though most of the stories out there go on to report the request for cards was TRUE as reported by WSYR-TV on December 14, 2009 WSYR-TV The family only requested people stop sending cards because of the overwhelming amount of cards that was received.

Fox news reported "Amie and Ron Hadcock say they don't know where the e-mail began or how anyone got the idea that Jacob is terminally ill." Not knowing where the email began, is a little misleading since it infers they didn't know where the request came from. More than likely the email came from the same person they gave their address to at the Santa function when the request was made. Apparently it is NOT TRUE that Jacob is terminally ill. The fact that a child might be terminally ill probably should not be posted on the Internet in the first place. The fact remains that the only part about this story that is not true, is that Jacob is not terminally ill. What great news that is!

For future reference, if someone does not want thousands of cards for their child, maybe it would be best NOT to ask a huge retailer to spread the word, especially since word travels so fast these days with the help of the Internet.

Thanks should be given to all who put themselves out to send a card and especially to those who set up information on websites to spread the word! It is nice to see so many decent people out there who are willing to put themselves out for a good cause (even though the parents cancelled the request)! I hope, since this request was only for 2009, that everyone who posted information on the Internet will now take the address information down from their websites.

And just for the record, I did not send a card because a terminally ill child requested Christmas cards, nor did I send a card because a child was ill. I sent a card because a little boy asked Santa for lots of cards and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but YES, I DO STILL BELIEVE IN SANTA!

A Christmas Wish for David Goldman

Good luck David Goldman. I can't imagine what you are going through and hope you are able to have your son, Sean, home from Brazil for Christmas!

Pet Peeve...rinsing dishes

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing people rinse their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. With an emphasis on being "green" these days, why are people still rinsing their dishes? I've always had a hard time understanding this concept. Of course I, like most in my age group, was brought up being made to rinse dishes before putting in the dishwasher. The first time I bought my own dishwasher, I thought "Why am I rinsing them when a. the dishwasher has a "rinse" button, b. the dishes come clean even if I don't rinse them first and c. I spent all this $$$ on a dishwasher so I could rinse the dishes first? I might as well put soap on them, rinse them again and put them away." Have the people who rinse their dishes first ever thought about the amount of time and energy that is being wasted for absolutely no valid reason?

SUGGESTION #1 - 1. Take a rubber spatula, scrape the dishes and place them in dishwasher along with the spatula. 2. Once dishwasher is full, do a test by putting detergent in dishwasher and run dishwasher. 3. Check to see if dishes are clean.

OR (if above does not work)

SUGGESTION #2 - 1. Scrape food off dishes with rubber spatula and place in dishwasher. 2. Hit "rinse only" button. 3. Run dishwasher when full. 4. Check to see if dishes are clean.

OR

SUGGESTION #3 - 1. Use paper napkin to wipe off dish (most of us use napkins when eating). 2. Throw away paper napkin. 3. Run dishwasher when full 4. Check to see if dishes are clean.

Please let me know how this works for you. With all that time and water you save, take a nice, long, relaxing bath at the end of the week!

Tiger Woods and Ambien

ABC Good Morning America reported this morning that Tiger Woods may have been on Ambien the night/morning of his accident. That would explain it all. Well, not exactly "all". It wouldn't explain any possible mistresses but what it would explain is the odd behavior the night of the accident, especially the "in and out of conscientiousness." I've seen someone on Ambien and it's not good. Someone on Ambien could potentially do ANYTHING and not remember it when they wake up the next day. I know one person who downloaded ringtones to her cell phone after taking it and when her phone rang that tone the next day said, "where did that ringtone come from?" I know someone else who does crazy stuff at night. She has gone into her kitchen in the morning and said, "how did all this stuff get moved around? It's wasn't like that when I went to bed." Another ended up in the hospital with heart-attack-type symptoms that mysteriously disappeared when Ambien was discontinued.

Any sleeping pill that causes blackouts like that can't exactly be real good. If someone is downloading ringtones or rearranging a kitchen, is that really "good" sleep? If I were to take it, my fear would be that I would drive my car and wake up hundreds of miles from my house. Could that be why Tiger left the house? Ambien? If he's smart, it will be his story!

Plants in December

Yesterday, December 5, 2009, we had our first snowfall. Thursday, December 3rd, was 69 degrees, the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful. Today it is beautiful, too, but in a different way. It is hard to believe that two days after 69 degrees, the snow blanketed everything last night. It's true what they say about the New Hampshire weather -- "If you don't like it, wait a minute."

I'm amazed these petunia plants have not wanted to die this year. There have been no flowers on them for months, but they just keep growing.

Twelve Days of Christmas

Some believe the Twelve Days of Christmas was written to help parents teach their children about God, Jesus and the Catholic religion. Pre-1829, when Catholics were not allowed to openly practice their faith, this song possibly allowed Catholics to practice their faith while at the same time, remain hidden.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love (symbolizes God) gave to me (symbolizes Christians)...
A partridge in a pear tree - symbolizes Jesus Christ. A mother partridge will fake an injury to draw predators from her babies;
2 turtle doves - the Old and New Testaments;
3 French hens - Faith, Hope and Charity;
4 calling birds - the Four Gospels;
5 golden rings - the first five books of the Old Testament which gave the history of man's fall from grace;
6 geese a laying - the six creation days;
7 swans a swimming - seven gifts of the Holy Spirit;
8 maids a milking - the eight Beatitudes;
9 ladies dancing - nine choirs of angels;
10 lords a leaping - the Ten Commandments;
11 pipers piping - eleven faithful Apostles;
12 drummers drumming - the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed