Pick you up at 09.00 AM!

Our friend in Baja California is a true soul of a human being. If one needs something - be it food, medication, housing etc. - one just has to call or e-mail and he'll deliver. No matter what time of the day. Someone just too good to be true.....

However, there is one thing that drives us up the wall - constantly. Our friend isn't exactly a fan of punctuality.

WE have been raised to believe that punctuality is he most important features of all features. It is polite. And it is necessary to make things work. We like to plan our day minute-by-minute. If something doesn't go according to it we can get very cranky very easily.

Last weekend we had an appointment at 09.30 AM. Our friend promised to pick us up at 09.00 AM. We got ready in time, poised, Laptop in hand and ready to go. The only one who didn't show up was - our friend.

Finally at 20 minutes past 09.00 AM he arrived. Smilling and not in the least feeling guilty.We read him the riot act. How dare he to let us wait sooooo long? Arrgh!

A discussion ensued where we BOTH came to the realization that while punctuality means EVERYTHING to one person, it is merely a guideline to another.

He promised to be on time next time. We'll see...

Friends and Laughter

Friendships often are forged by laughter.Someone with the same sense of humor is likely to have some similarities we value.
We look forward to getting together with long time and new friends we have met along the way to enjoy a great roar and laughter.
We know each other well enough,have spent enough time together,to understand each other's sense of humor. The funny stories we share are those about ourselves and others that make a public fool of themselves....I will laugh today with the people I care about...It good therapy.What do you think?

Who is Krampus ?

Found this very interesting report about European Christmas Traditions on www.xanga.com/ChristmasXmas/384364744/item.html

.....Santa... he's got a list, he's checking it twice, and if you fall under the 'naughty' category it's switches and coals for you.
But what child in America is at all afraid of receiving a lump of coal under the tree? What child even knows what a 'switch' is?
Alpine Europe, on the other hand, doesn't have this problem. This is because years ago St. Nick's job was split - while the jolly old elf delivered the goods, an evil, goat-horned spirit called the Krampus brought switches and bad dreams to the boys and girls of Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and far northern Italy. Children usually will receive little gifts from St Nick/Krampus on December 6th..."

DIGGING UP SANTA

People have always wanted to know,what the real Santa Claus(St Nicholas)
looked like.St Nicholas'remains are buried in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari,Italy.These bones were temporarily removed,when the crypt was repaired during the 1950's.At the Vatican's request,anatomy professor Luigi Martino,from the University of Bari,took thousands of minutely detailed measurements and x-ray photographs(roentgenography)of the skull and other bones.

In the present;modern forensic anthropology has developed tools to discover what people looked like.These techniques are primarily used to identify unknown victims of homicide or unnatural death.However they can be used for
re-constructing the faces of famous historic persons,if there is access to the right information.
In this case,since the bones weren't available for examination,the current professor of forensic pathology at the University of Bari engaged an expert facial anthropologist from England to construct a model of the saint's head from the thousands of pictures and painstaking measurements taken in the fifties.

Using this data and a state of the art computer,a face gradually emerged from the distant past.The nose presented some difficulty because it had been badly broken,probably when he had been imprisoned and tortured,during the persecution of Christians under Roman Emperor Diocletian.The nasal bones between the eyes had been shattered.

The three dimensional image was then sent to a digital artist to give it detail and colour.This gave it Greek,Mediterranean olive toned skin,brown eyes,grey hair and a beard,trimmed in fourth century style.The result is an image of a Greek man(St nicholas was born in the village of Patara.At the time,the area was part of the Greek empire and is now on the southern coast of Turkey.)He is about sixty years old,five-feet-six inches tall,with a heavy jaw and a broken nose.

The final result of all this work is the upper,central picture ,surrounded by traditional paintings of St Nicholas(top of page )
How did he transform into the jolly elf we know today?In the early nineteenth century,descendants of the Dutch,who settled in New York,held annual St Nicholas days.They made his image into more of a jolly,plump Dutch burgher with a clay pipe than a saintly bishop(mostly due to a popular book at the time,Knickerbocker's History of New York).And,so,began the transformation to which we have all added a little something.He has become a mythical being with magic powers who hangs around with elves,but he still represents the spirit of giving,just like the original.
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Another Twist

beauty andugliness,really are in the eye of the beholder.we can dismiss things in our lives as flawed and ugly..Or we can choose to see them in a different lightthat reveals their strengh and beauty,If I am tempted to dismiss something,or someone,as not worth my time.I will give them a second look,from a different perspective.I may have found someone uninteresting because I was not asking the right questions......there is no right questions,when someone hides behind an illness,and wants called you names,and think you should not mind.....bullshit bi-polar this is war.

Just Me

Without humor,without the ability to make fun of others and ourselves and the situations we find ourselves in,the world would be a very bleak place.With a twist of irony we can turn the bad things that happen to us into amusing stories.And as we tell and retell these stories,we remind ourselves that we can bear almost anything life can throw at us.I will use my humor to get me through difficult times.
As one "BLOGGER" put it,to put her thoughts down,it is therapy for her,so why in hell she can't or won't see this might be therapy for me also, hell no this is just fun for me..so don't knock it.I am not hiding behind an illness,what you see here is what you get,I don't hide behind nothing,what you see is what you get....

EVER WONDER???

Ever wonder why we do what we do,every Christmas;Get a tree,give gifts,Light candles,reinforce the legend of Santa,sing carols,hang stockings etc.? A lot of it has little to do with the birth of Jesus.
It has to do with Christmas traditions gathered from around the world over the centuries and added one by one to our celebration,making it a wonderful,heart-
warming,joyful experience.
*Holly for example,was originally planted near a home to frighten off witches and protect it from lightning.Over time it became a symbol of peace and joy and people would often try to settle their quarrels near a holly tree.
*Candles at Christmas represent the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.A candle burning in the window of a home on Christmas eve came to mean that visitors are welcome in this place.
*Carol actually meant a round dance.Originating in the middle ages,when people joined hands and danced in a circle at religious rites.St Francis of Assisi is credited with being the father of the Christmas carol as we know it today.He led his followers in songs of praise to Jesus.
*It's generally believed that Scandinavians brought the idea of Christmas reindeer to the United States,but they became famous because of a poem written in1823.It introduced and named all eight reindeer and described them pulling Santa's sleigh.Until then,St Nicholas had ridden a donkey or a sky chariot drawn by horses.
*A Christmas gift,of course,represents the gifts brought by the three wise men.Each of the three gifts foretold what Jesus would become;gold,a king;frankincense,a priest;
myrrh,a healer.
*Plum pudding aka figgy pudding dates back to1670 in the UK.The forerunner to plum pudding was called frumenty and had chopped cows tongues as well as fruit,nuts and wine.It was good luck to stir the pudding and you got to make a wish.In a later incarnation they added a silver charm or coin to the pudding.It guaranteed the finder good luck.
*Mince tarts are a very old tradition,about 500 years.They were made,originally in the shape of a manger and the latticework crust symbolized the hayrack.They were meat pies back then.For good luck people ate a pie a day for the twelve days of Christmas.
*The ealiest record of a Christmas tree,as we know it,with decorations,is in the region of Alsace in 1521.Evergreens have always represented rebirth.A living tree in a tub was always brought into the house during the old German feast of Yule.
*Hanging stockings began in 300A.D. when a young bishop in Asia Minor,later known as St Nicholas and known for his kindness,left gifts for people.One night he climbed on a roof and dropped a gift down a chimney.It fell into a stocking that had been hung there to dry.Kids caught on pretty quickly.
There are so many more traditions and symbols.There are even some that we have stopped using.I couldn't include them all.People are always looking for reasons to celebrate and Christmas gives them a chance to do it in a big way.Sadly,it seems to be the only time we all feel good will towards each other.