So the season is here, the halls are decked, the tree is up and there are even gifts under it already.

Kidlet and I counted how many were for her and realized that there are as many there now as there were for all last Christmas, including those from Santa. I think this is going to be an incredible Christmas for her, maybe even a bit overwhelming, heck it's already overwhelming for me, I'm so accustomed to underwhelming ones!

I've figured out my favorite songs of the season this year.....

#1 I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas...Gloria Peavey--------------i think kidlet likes it so much cause the two front teeth one doesn't apply to her!

#2 Merry Christmas, wherever in the world you are...Terri Clarke--------------oh how it speaks to me...not in the obvious ways either

#3 Grandma got run over by a reindeer...Irish Rovers-----------I've always liked it, kidlet just discovered it...she's put her own twist on it.

.................of course there are more...Christmas isn't Christmas for me without some Bony M, Wham (I know, sheesh)....ah the list could go on and on, i'm not gonna put you all through that though.

I got a really funny Newfie Christmas joke the other day.......

here goes.......

A man in Newfoundland calls his son in Calgary three days before
Christmas & says "I hate to ruin your day but I'm divorcing your mother.
Forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Faudder! Whadda ya talkin about b'y??" the son screams.
"We can't stand da sight of each hudder any longer" the father says.
"We're sick'n'tired of each other & I'm sick of talkin' about dis,
so you call yer sister in Vancouver & tell 'er."

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.
"No way dur gettin' divorced!" she shouts,
"I'll take care of dis."

She calls Newfoundland immediately & screams at her
father "Yer not getting divorced.
Don't do a single ting until I gets dere.
I'm cawin' me brudder back & we'll both be dere by da mar.
Until den don't do nuntin, DO YOU 'EAR ME??" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone & turns to his wife.
"Okay" he says,
"Dey're comin for Christmas & dey're paying deir own way!"

Well I thought it was funny!

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful season......

I know I will......except for a couple minor details that are nagging me....

typical....it's been a rough year all year, why should it improve now? Here's hoping next year starts out and shapes up better.

See, I didn't post this, cause somehow it just wasn't getting done

and here I sit

Christmas Night

writing this................

It was awesome, on so many levels

sure there were a couple of 'glitches',

from the goose that couldn't get cooked (we had goose....and duck....and turkey) but one goose escaped getting cooked today.....

shiver.....don't ask.

And then there was the paparazzi failure, all right it was due to technical difficulty and the shutter bug is the most upset by it.....so many photo ops, sadly missed today.....

Or maybe it would be the fact that we awoke at 4:15 AM.....yes.....we could have probably gotten another hour or two, but it was a risky proposition best avoided, so at 4:45 I sicked her on the Grandparents and we hit the tree, calmly. It was almost surreal.

Of course the calm didn't remain, when all was opened and the decision was made which toy to break into first....well.....She thought it came with a bunch of stuff that wasn't included, typical eh? BUT THE TEARS IT CAUSED....I know she's a drama queen but sheesh, You'd have sworn the world was ending, and all for want of a crappy set of earbuds!

It was over inside of a minute, I think she was so overwhelmed by it all that she just couldn't cope, everything was so good and then there were no headphones! lol...

My sis and I had to regretfully tell everyone that there were only enough greens for the two of us and they were going to have to make due with cabbage......truth be told, except mom they all would have prefered to have the cabbage anyhow.

mmmmm

I'm still stuffed

and it's been hours.

I got many lovely gifts today, the most lovely however was the ride home with kidlet.....having a chat about the day and her feelings, she kinda summed it up with being thrilled, amazed and suprised.....the big smiles all day said it all though.

Now I can't wait to see how happy she's gonna be to eat her first cookie out of her easy bake oven!

I'm looking forward to next year, on so many levels.......did you see that?

still in progress

I really am out of the loop here, so out of practice with this blogging thing.....so much to do to fix up my space, god it's a mess....from links that don't work to, well, it's just looking pretty fugly all in all.......sadly I can't seem to find the time, or maybe I just haven't got the inspiration back to really get back into this habit. It was habitual for me, even if I had to resort to just posting some funny I'd been sent....I enjoyed it, enjoyed reading others as well. Really, it was a labour of love that took about a pot and a half of coffee a day! lol....seriously. I know I have the time, heck I've been on the puter, doing research and, well, playing games online. (now here's the funny part, I'm typing the last half of this paragraph, after I've finished this whole entry....got it.....weird part....I've been playing webkinz, which flows into this entry.....I couldn't have come up with this kind of lead in if I had tried to do it!!!)

what to post....hmmm....

well..

Kidlet is really into Webkinz. For those who don't know what they are (I don't know about other places but here they are HUGE) they are stuffed animals that come with a code so that you can log into thier site and register your pet, play with them, earn or win kinzcash and buy things for them in your 'house'......the kids can 'chat' with other owners, but the chat is limited to prescribed dialogue (which I think is a great thing, makes it pretty damn safe......)......

However.....

the first time I logged into the site for Kidlet I was suprised by a couple of the games they had, I didn't object to them but I was pretty sure someone would have a problem with it.....yep.....between Bingo, the Wheel of WOW (BTW WOW upside down is MOM as my kidlet pointed out recently!) and the 'wishing well' (which is like a video slot machine)......yep....some folks have a problem with it, it's teaching them to gamble. I can understand to a point, however, the kids don't have to pay to play and every game gives them a return, even playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'.

meh,

some folks will complain about anything won't they?

or maybe I'm just too lenient?

nah.....

I play the games more than Kidlet....I play, I make her kinzcash........and she spends it........

a little too much like real life in some ways don't you think?

So, what's been going on in the world of Island Girl?

Well..........

TONS!!!!

It's been busy......yet.......taking so long to achieve little things that it seems insanely slow. So far things are looking pretty positive, heading in a slightly different direction than I thought. A good one I think, just different.

One of my girlfriends (same one I went 'round the bay' with) got tickets for us to go see INXS....IT WAS AWESOME, even allowing for the fact that JD still gives me the 'lounge-lizard' vibe. He is an awesome performer and covers all the old tunes impeccably I think. He went out into the audience three times and we were close enough that my friend got a hug, I got a pat and well......end result was we both got JD sweat on us! LOL!!!! They played two sold out shows here and really seemed to enjoy being in our city (OF COURSE!), maybe that has something to do with the fact that our city has bought the most copies of their album.....IN THE WORLD!......The girls sitting around us were all born about the time we were buying our first INXS albums and we were wishing beyond hope that they would come to the Stadium......sigh......they probably thought we were cracked, we were on our feet dancing and squealing the whole show......it was like turning the clock back 20 odd years for us.....a trip down memory lane.....awesome night.

So....after an awesome concert in town, what does one do? Well if you are of legal drinking age (maybe even if you aren't), GEORGE STREET!!!! How do you not? it's right there......so yeah we made our way to a quiet little pub (we were a bit deaf by this point) and lo and behold when we sidled up to the bar who was sitting next to me but Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea, well ya know I had to say a little hello and let him know kidlet is a huge fan. He was a doll and told me to tell her he said hello, sounds kinda corny, but ya know then I could honestly go home and tell her he said it.......and it MADE her day, she loves them, maybe even more now.

Looks like I'm headed back to school next month......I'm really excited, and a touch scared......big change and kind of commits me to being pretty poor for about the next 3 years. Been kinda poor for quite some time I guess when I think about it, so really that isn't a big change. I guess in the long run it should make it easier to start putting some cash away when I do start working....at least I'm hoping!

The girlfriend I went to see INXS with recently celebrated her birthday and of course that entailed a trip to....where else? GEORGE STREET! Yep, we were on the town, being really relaxed and not figuring to make it much after midnight.......HA.......3:30 we got home..........started off at one of our favorite pubs and when it was time for a smoke decided we would have a little walk down the street at the same time. We ran into someone I've known for about 23 years, he is in a band that was playing at one of the clubs (one of the few that don't charge cover.....cover.....grrrr....we won't go there!) so we went in.....they were great and to add to the great music we had the added bonus of having a couple of 24 yr olds hitting on us......tee hee.....I was driving and the gf was already feeling good and not wanting to push the envelope as she had an early morning and busy day ahead of her, otherwise we would have made them buy us some drinks.......they still wouldn't have gotten anywhere, but we had a great time chatting and laughing with them. Still, to get a perspective on the age difference, I babysat kids when I was in my teens that are older than these boys......shudder....

Still, it was fun. Good to be getting out and about.....

having fun.....

There have been a couple other developments, well, I'm calling them developments but I'm sure there is a better word for it. I'm still waiting to see how it pans out and when....could be interesting to say the least.

Then again.......

could be nothing.

I know, obtuse as ever.......but I have a computer of my own now that works, and I'm back online.......

hang on and we'll see what develops.

It's officially the return of the Island Girl......