It’s “Hey Rene J” Today!

Of course this is the comment in my head when I am thinning the wares of my wardrobe. “Well, that would make a good costume.”

There is a dress I own which needs tailoring, well two of them do. I am just a little too lazy to bother with the process that I actually could do myself. This morning I pondered their presence. Will I ever wear these two frocks again? “Hm…well that would make a good costume.” In fact, one of them has been a costume for Dia De Los Muertos. It was superb in its use.

Yes, the warm weather has me continuing to don the same thing I have been sporting for many months now. Perhaps that is what spurred me to winnowing the wardrobe wonders. Getting that chaff out of there this week!

Of course this will possibly demand further action: retail therapy. Alas!

(Reminds me of Elton John’s title, “Funeral For a Friend,” which I can pound out on the piano in a rather inelegant fashion. Oh well, good titles are difficult to come by!)

Friend

We haven’t seen each other in a while
Thus, your thoughtful note made me smile.
It brought me memories made to last
Your voice still resonates from our past.

Time has taken us various ways
Through all too many Decembers and Mays.
Our children grown, perhaps waistlines, too,
Well mine for sure!  How about you?

So many adventures, lots of change
The highs and lows of an entire range.
For now, until we meet again,
Stay well, stay happy, my cherished friend. 

Yes…that nasty little bug got me and took me down! It was bad enough having dental surgery before that, but on top of it? Egads. I do not recommend that diet for one second.

Now that the chill is thawing and the body isn’t aching, I think the rest of the week shall prove to be fortuitous. We begin with a cup of joe and some tempting puzzles to solve.

Happy Sunday!

As far as getting exercise, I log over 10,000 steps when I watch my little gems for a day, and I definitely get my upper body work out in when a car seat is involved. Car seat. This only came to mind as I laughed at the probably AI-Bot-generated meme I came across.

Also, three friends were privy to my inability to get a car seat OUT of my car, thus having to smash together in the back seat on our outing this past Saturday.

Yes, car seats are definitely a challenge for me. Apologies to my friends and apologies to my little pups, who put up with my clumsiness in my continued mission to keep them safe.

”Well, at least they aren’t sick,” said while two of my little granddaughters were sipping from my ice water glass at the restaurant. We happily shared germs and reminisced about it three hours later when one culprit vomited her meal.

Thankfully it was not a bug. We waited for further confirmation on that – but it seemed a case of whatever-didn’t-agree-with-her. And most times I figure I’ve had all of those crazy little bugs at some point and my body will ignore those pesky things. It was a good impetus to get some laundry done, a rather refreshing way to begin a new year?

Here’s to health and happiness this 2026. Happy Feast of the Epiphany, you wise ones.

• Hire a groundskeeper to water the trees in the winter

That’s about it for today! My resolutions are pretty much always what I’m trying to do anyway, so I just nod my head and say, “Here we go again!”

Happy New Year to all – and here’s to great adventures in 2026.

Every once in a great while that little bug hits my daughter – and I am gladly roped in. “Yes! Let’s do it!”

The craft looked easy and fun and I had all of the necessary ingredients for actually following the directions and doing it correctly! (Except for the styrofoam cones which I did purchase on a late night run to Wal-Mart.)

The hope:

The reality:

The leaning-pointless-trees-of-Christmas! They do stack nicely and the little girls loved playing with them.

Ah, the joys of the season.

…are hard at work. Dishwasher running yet again and washing machine catching up to the loads left unattended. Per my usual end-of-year routine I am burning the remnants of the tapers I lit for all of the festivities, sending up a prayer with each. I’m also staring at the kitchen floor, deciding when to tackle the signs of a worthy celebration week.

Ah…this glorious weather beckons…perhaps a mere walk will suffice?

When hosting a party centered around music, ‘tis imperative to have “ringers” in the crowd.

Kudos to the people who merrily led us: In the category of Latin and German verses, “Pois,” the Category of Californian chick, “Parbara,” who sang the intro for “White Christmas,” the fearless emcee who kept us moving, “Patherine,” (May she forever center her Christmas holiday around my party!) the determined neighbor who kept up with “Feliz Navidad” when I screwed it up, “Parsha,” the strong male voice who rang out loudly, “Patthew,” and of course the fabulous instrumentalists who covered up most of my mistakes! “Pom, Pen, Pordan, Pachel, “Pandi.”

It was great to have that lovely off-the-beat cowbell on “O Holy Night” by the way. Next year the coveted instrument will be out of sight! In a few years those little fingers will hopefully be playing strings or the piano. Oh! And next year – I’ll be sure to have the reader glasses more readily available for this aging crowd.

Happy last Tuesday of Advent!