Christmas In Hollis

The holidays were a blur of activities

and runny noses

and unseasonably cold weather

but they started off nice. and. quiet.

We took Rio to the Main Street Holiday Parade -

the Ringling elephants were even there (since we live in a circus town) -

It is something Rio is still talking about.

And of course we went all over town checking out the light displays.

Those are the times it'd be nice if it would snow in Florida.

I had to put environmentally-friendly poly-fil

on the ground around our snowmen

just so they wouldn't look weird.

Sad, I know.

The tree was pretty.

The presents survived until Christmas 

despite a 2 year old thinking it was the most fun

to jump on the boxes

and a dog who tried to lift his leg

once.

And I even got Rio to sit in front of the tree for a little photo op

to make up for the missed shot of her with Santa.

I had her distracted waving and talking to Grammy

and I thought I could casually place her on Santa's knee,

snap the picture,

and move on with our day.

But once she felt herself placed on someone's knee

turned around and saw Santa,

she ran off crying.

We'll try again next year!

In the end

Rio enjoyed the magic,

we enjoyed her,

and we made it through hosting the entire family

at our new house,

flooded kitchen and all!

(fyi: don't put all the potato peels down the garbage disposal at once)

Happy New Year!

Little Room

Rio's Nursery was a difficult endeavor to say the least.
We had just come out of the depths of a failed adoption
and I needed to do something.
I wanted some hope.
So I figured if we built it a nursery, our baby would come.
One small problem: I had no idea if our baby would be a girl or a boy.
I set off to design a welcoming space for our child
and I was thrilled with the result.
And you know what? She did come shortly after.

Long story short -
I was proud of the room I had created for my little darling and as we departed our old house, I wanted to find a way to keep that room with me forever.
So I took a million pictures and then
submitted it to Ohdeedoh 
on a whim.
And today
they featured Rio's Nursery!!!

Rio looked at it online and said, "Awwww, what a boo-ful (beautiful) room! Oh, it's so boo-ful!"

What more could I ask for?

Back In Your Head

 

 Right after my last post

my computer bit the big one.

I tried in vain to resuscitate it...

I didn't want to deal with having to spend the money

or possibly losing all my stuff

or having to learn something new.

But here I am

on a new iMac.

Merry Christmas, Mark and Alicia.

So now I'm trying to find all my photos

since the dates got scrambled in the transfer.

And I'm getting annoyed that the return button won't work...

what am I doing wrong??

"I just want back in your head."

See what I've been missing.

Find out how you've been.

Remind me to store some photos on the PC

in case this should ever happen again.

The Pretender

I get my love of music from my father.

It all had meaning to him

and he would talk about either the history, the band, or the beats...

He taught me how to listen to certain classical pieces when I studied 

in order to keep my heart rate at the optimal pace for learning.

I got my first real record player

when I was 2.

Every year we used to drive

from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Back then cars didn't have dvd players

and we kids did not have ipods.

Heck, cassette players hadn't even come out yet.

They came out when I was 5 and I didn't have one until I was 8 or 9. 

I'm totally dating myself, I know.

So whatever your parents played on the radio 

was what you listened to.

My dad would make himself a mix tape 

every year

from his records.

We had to listen to those songs over and over again

for two days straight.

Sometimes I hear one of the songs play

on t.v. or somewhere

and I am instantly transported

to the back-seat of our old Datsun.

But I have to admit

they were good songs.

Thanks, Dad.

Go ahead, make yourself a feel good mix:

The Pretender - Jackson Browne

Charlie Brown -  The Coasters

Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan

Low Budget - The Kinks

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon

Pinball Wizard - The Who

Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles

The Great Pretender - The Platters

What songs bring you back?

She Smiled Sweetly

Why do my thoughts loom so large on me? 

They seem to stay, for day after day 

And won't disappear, I've tried every way 

But she smiled sweetly 

She smiled sweetly 

She smiled sweetly 

And says don't worry 

Oh, no no no

 

Where does she hide it inside of her?
That keeps her peace most every day
And won't disappear, my hair's turning grey

But she smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
And says don't worry
Oh, no no no 

"There's nothing in why or when 

There's no use trying, you're here 

Begging again, and ov'r again" 

That's what she said so softly 

I understood for once in my life 

And feeling good most all of the time 

But she smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
And said don't worry
Oh, no no no
Oh, no no no
Oh, no no no 

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

One of my best friends died

unexpectedly

and way too soon for me to deal with.

My friend who was only ever as far away as my feet.

She was my baby before I had Rio.

She continued to be my baby afterwards

just in a different way.

She followed me wherever I went

and was a constant source of joy in my life.

I don't think she would have wanted to stop living life

so young

when there was still so much fun to be had.

That makes me angry.

and it makes my heart hurt.

I love you, Shimi.

Never Enough

Halloween was full-fledged event this year.

DJ Lance stopped by and almost blew Rio's mind.

She's still talking about how DJ Lance is going to come back.

Our friend Mike had better keep that costume handy

for the occasional appearance.

Rio was Storm from The X-Men. 

A super hero, of course. 

We can't go visit Uncle at the comic book shop any other way.

I decided I would make her costume myself to save a little dough.

I think I spent more than if I would have simply purchased the darn thing!

But it was a learning experience...

and at least I was domestic for once.

We went trick-or-treating at Grammy's house.

Grammy's was the only stop that really mattered.

Then we attended a halloween wedding being held at my brother's shop.

It was a DC theme (in the world of geeks, you're either Marvel or DC.)  

Our friends were The Flash and Black Mask. 

I was Black Canary and Mark was Green Arrow.

If you read comics, you'll totally get all of this.

If not, I look like a hooker and Mark looks like a homeless Veteran.

But it was fun.

Another halloween for the books!