Happy New Year

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Christmas laughter

To hear 17 teenagers talking, laughing, and generally sounding like a busload of, well teenagers makes me smile. Most parents would be cringing...not me. Well maybe when I heard something crash to the floor...then it's only an object.

The political views, the personal views on a number of subjects, and the overall antics of teens. Wow, I don't think I could do that again. One especially reminds me of one that I 'grew up' with. Yep sounds just like him! Loud, opinionated and overall......a teen. Then there is another young fellow - more shy than the others it would seem. But I am sure he will soon begin to feel more comfortable among the others and us.

I have used this time wisely by wrapping gifts and catching up with friends on-line. As I sit here typing away I hear male voices approaching from downstairs. Wait it's two of them carrying a third! "My arms are falling asleep" D. reports to the others.

J. approaches me to inquire if I have any wrapping paper. Not my good stuff he says and only if I have extra. I tell him to help himself to the 'penquin' roll and off he goes. Wait, my scissers and tape have gone too...what are they up to?

Here they all come....noisily up the stairs. They are having a gift swap (yankee swap). One of the gifts is wrapped in my penquin paper. Yep, the poor fellow that they carried upstairs is lying on my kitchen floor. He will be a 'gift' for a period of 24 hours wherein he has to do what his recipient asks...such imaginations they have!! *Smiles*

Post update: 5 hours later and I am still sane. Yeah me! And considering that there were that many of them, the mess isnt' bad either. I hope they come back another day.

'Bud' held it close to his chest,
the project he had completed for me.

A request from well over a year ago.
He held the folder so she couldn't see.

I asked if it was what I thought...

His height making it hard to meet eye to eye.
His reply - so much an expression of him.

As he passed me the folder,
'I don't know' he said with a knowing grin.

The sketch - a juxtaposition of nuances and memories.

Count down is on

Well, the tree is finally decorated! (This is Ollie our pet Rat, he's not a decoration). We have used Black Rose's decorations and as you might have guessed, they are silver and black. The pictures of course don't do it justice.

Black Rose is sitting with me wrapping her friend's gifts while she unknowingly sings ..the boys and girls in toyland....he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you've been good bad or good...... Okay, she knows now - she's just realized it.

We are extremely busy the next few days so we wanted to be sure to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Things to ponder for a bit

Be more kind than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle.
A sharp tongue can cut your own throat.
If you want your dreams to come true, you mustn't oversleep.
Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.
The best vitamin for making friends.....B1.
The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge.

One thing you can give and still keep....is your word.
You lie the loudest when you lie to yourself.

If you lack the courage to start, you have already finished.
One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.

Ideas won't work unless ' You' do.
Your mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.
The 10 commandments are not multiple choice.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.. So love
the people who treat you right.. forget about the
ones who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason.If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

2009 Snow Ball Semi Formal

Well tomorrow is the big night for our High School students that are attending the winter Snow Ball Semi Formal. Wahoo...the ladies and gents have been shopping. Permission slips have been returned and all is sounding 'not too bad' for weather condition although it's snowing now.
Being teens, there's a bunch going as 'friends' to make up couples and singles. So they will still have a great time!
You might say that they are all 'pumped' reading through the FaceBook entries (LOL). Yep, I keep up with that 'vice' too. One has to these days you know.
Well gang be safe and have a GREAT TIME! Take loads of pictures...I want to see.

Canadian hip hop artist's song -FIFA World Cup tour

A remixed version of Wavin' Flag, a song by Somalia-born Canadian hip hop artist K'Naan, is the official song of a World Cup trophy tour currently traversing through Africa.

Wavin' Flag lyrics (not complete)

When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back.....

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say........

K'Naan, currently on tour in Africa with the World Cup trophy, was born Keinan Abdi Warsame in Somalia in 1978 before moving to the U.S. and relocating to Toronto. His name, K'naan, means "traveller" in the Somali language.

This is not the first time a Canadian musician's song has been associated with soccer.
1.Forca, off Grammy Award winner Nelly Furtado's 2003 album Folklore, was selected the official song of Euro 2004, the European soccer championship.
2.Furtado, a Portuguese-Canadian raised in Victoria, B.C., performed the song prior to the tournament final in Lisbon.

Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikX2tk3D1Xg