It's The End of The Year As We Know It

Let me tell you, a year goes by so much more quickly when you are employed. I certainly prefer this over the alternative. Also, even though I can barely remember it because of my advanced age, the years really do seem to go by more quickly nowadays.

I took an unofficial poll yesterday of how my cube neighbors will be spending tonight, New Year's Eve. Two have a party, one will stay up, and four expect to be asleep before midnight. As for me and my house, we will be parrrr-taaaaay-ing with Kyle and crew on Beatles Rock Band and such. In the morning, we'll need to get up in time to prepare for lunch(?) at Dad's house. Whew! I am tired just typing all of that, much less living it.

Has anyone made any resolutions for the new year? I have one, but it doesn't come true if you tell it, right?

I have my annual review today. No, I am not really nervous, but then, I've never had one here at Apollo. Yes, I have been here 15 months and this is a bit overdue. No, my current manager was not my manager at all during my first 12 months. So, I took the liberty of documenting my unbelievable accomplishments that he may not have known about. Eh, why not? I know I would keep me.

OK, I'll be back next year with more strips and quips. Happy New Year!

We Are Almost Out of Decade

We are running on fumes for the first decade of the new millennium. Did we ever decide what to call it? The Aughts? The Zeroes? And what will the next one be? The Tens? The Teens? The Tweens?

How about a bit of CoV to help ease the pain of losing a decade? Only one cartoon left for this year and this decade. Be here or be square.
We took down our Christmas stuff yesterday. I have not moved it to the attic yet, but at least it is packed up. No, wait, I did not pull down the lights on the front of the house yet. So one final thing and then Christmas is over.

So, I ended up only taking time for a single LOST episode last night. 5 left. And I did not take the time for photo uploads, so no photos today.

So, Kyle gave me the CD for The Rescues album for Christmas or birthday (I forget) and I like it. I found them listening to the Internet music station thesixtyone.com. Hey, if you decide to join, let me invite you first so I can get some points. No, I don't know what that does for me, but I thought I would try.

Game night tomorrow. We have so many, including Beatles Rock band. I hope we can get two or three different games going simultaneously.

Medical Bonanza

To me, it seems that these savings accounts that let you reserve tax-free dollars for medical reasons are a bonanza for doctors and hospitals. After all, if you do not spend it, you lose it, so why not go have medical procedures done just to use up your money. And we never seem to realize that we still have so much in it until the end of the year. That is what led to today's Clarity of Vision.
I don't use it, so I guess I will not go have a bunch of medical exams during the next 2 days. Too bad, huh? I think I am at my best when it comes to useless stuff.

Only 6 episodes remain in my quest to be ready for LOST Season 6. Things on the island are going crazy. One thing is certain. Their hair styles do not make me nostalgic for 1977.

It appears someone entered the home Alison is house-sitting while she was gone. Either that or the house is related to the hotel in The Shining. When she got there last night, one room had all the stuffed animals lined up facing the door as if daring her to enter the room. Spooky, huh?

Yes, I do have some unposted photos. You can see most of them through Kathie's Facebook account, but I want to post some here. However, you may not have heard that I am watching a LOT of LOST, so I seem to do nothing else each night.

The year and decade are almost over. I am toying with cartoon ideas for that, but no punchlines have come to mind yet. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Santa

Today's title could imply that I got everything I asked for (I did!) or that Santa did something wonderful for our planet (he did!). After all, isn't the movie from today's Clarity of Vision a seasonal classic? It was made in 1964. I guess that was way back before your time.
I got some new games (Apples to Apples, Catchphrase), Dad got Simpsons Scene-It, KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall) got Beatles Rock Band. I suppose I will keep going to their houses so I can play their games. Hey, I got the Christmas Vacation DVD. I had never watched any of the commentary versions of movies before. OK, I only watched 5-10 minutes of it, but it was kind of funny to hear them talk about shots and filming during the summer, but making it look like Christmas.

Publishing this CoV means I am back at work. The alarm went off so early today. We should have more holidays that give us two days off every week.

I have 9 LOST episodes left in Season 5. I will definitely be ready for Season 6 in Feb. We watched all of our DVR shows, so I was able to watch extra episodes during the Christmas break.

So, what was your favorite gift this year?

A LOST Night is Your Loss

I did watch several episodes of LOST last night, So, all I have left of Season 4 is the two-hour finale. That leaves me with about 40 days to watch 25 hours. Sounds reasonable, right?

Still, in watching LOST, I forgot to upload any birthday or Bella/Kendall photos. That means you must wait a little longer. And tonight, since the girls are staying with us, I may not get to the photos again. And then, it will be Christmas and I will have new photos I need to share. It is a never-ending cycle.

While I know that Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana does advertise that the Queen buys their fruitcakes, I don't know how often that has happened. Still, if it happened to you, wouldn't you advertise it? Sure!

If I don't do anything before Christmas Day, Merry Christmas to all. Now, bring me some figgy pudding. I appreciate you loyal readers, and even family members. Ha ha! Did you catch that? The way I made it seem like family members weren't loyal readers. Wow, I am so clever. And if you see this blog posting via Facebook and comment, I have not seen your reply. I rarely check Facebook. That is Kathie's job.

OK, It IS My Fault

We ended up out at KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall) again last night, so I did not upload any photos again. Yes, we did get home by 9:30 or so, but I did not get on the computer. Maybe tonight. I said MAYBE.

For you younger readers, both Pan Am and TWA shut down some years ago, hence the direction of the clever final panel. Pretty funny, huh?

I suppose today is my Thursday this week since I am off for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Starting over with vacation at a new job stinks. Since I now only have two weeks, only one week remains after our Fall trip. So, I will work this week and next. Oh well.

Bella and Kendall are spending the night tomorrow night. That will be fun.

Hey, a dude just stopped by and made me do some work. Is there no recognition of personal time for blogging anymore. What is this world coming to? I suppose I'd better sign off.

This Always Happens

See, I get to work and am creating the day's blog entry when I remember that I did not upload any photos the night before. After all, we had Dad's b-day party, my b-day party, Christmas with KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall), and the final Chorale concert of the year. OK, there are no pictures from the concert, and only one at Dad's birthday party. I know that is no excuse, so I will try to remember to get some posted tonight. You can see them on Facebook under Kathie's photos.

Today's punchline was suggested to me and I took off from there.
Kathie and Ali and all teachers are off today, but that made little difference on the traffic. Why are all these people working this week?

One of my gifts is the new Glee CD. I like it, so I brought it in to rip onto my work computer so I can listen during the day. I also got an a Capella holiday CD (Straight No Chaser) and another CD recommended on a scrapbooking site (The Rescue). I will rip them all today and boogie all day.

Happy B-Day, Dad

Yep. Dad's birthday seems to roll around every year on 12/18. That means each of us has one more week to try and decide what we can get him for Christmas that he'd like. He doesn't really need anything, but we have to give something. Oh well, I've got 7 more days, why rush it?

Today's CoV is not at all what I designed yesterday. Somehow, a different idea came to me on the way in today since I wore my Santa tie. I will save the original idea and use it a different way on a different day.
Holiday potluck today. I brought a fruit platter (cool, it includes mango). Except - bummer - I've got a meeting from 10:30-11:30, so I cannot start nibbling early, nor get in line to make sure I get some of the few meat dishes. Ehh, what are you going to do, huh?

Kendall comes over tomorrow at 1pm to spend the afternoon with us. The rest of her family is, I think, going to the movies. Then they'll come over and we'll have a birthday celebration like no other. Actually, it will probably be like most others, except that we will eat out instead of Lyndsay cooking. I asked for those date bars instead of a cake, so we'll see what she found. Yes, it is exciting. Yes, I will tell you about it next week.

Birthday Celebration Tonight

That's right. It is time for the annual Don'N'Randy B-Day Bash. We will be celebrating with drinks, dames, and deceptions. Probably water, our wives, and Russell on Survivor. Hey, does life get any better than that?

While that may be debatable, getting the truth out of political speeches or management reviews has not changed in years.
Who would have guessed that dates would rate so many comments yesterday? That was fun, but I fear my ability to blog about dates is short-lived.

How did you pronounce the last word in the previous paragraph? Was lived one syllable or two? Was it lived with a short 'i' or lived with a long 'i'? What about if you read Blessed Jesus? Is blessed one syllable or two. Yeah, for me, I thought short 'i', but realized I toyed with a long 'i'. And blessed is two syllables in that phrase. There are other instances like that, but it is too early to think of them.

Christmas Music 24x7

I am sure that each of you has at least one radio station playing Christmas music 24x7 during the season. We have one that goes from Top 40 to Christmas just before Thanksgiving and lasts until the end of December. Plus there is at least one Cox Music Channel dedicated to Sounds of the Season. With that much time to fill, you can imagine that some of the songs are less traditional than others. And then there are lots of repeats. And that does not count all the Holiday songs I have in my iTunes. Still, this is not one of them.
Do you remember a box cookie mix from Betty Crocker for Date Bars? Well, it was one of my favorites, but they stopped making it 20+ years ago. So, for my birthday, I have challenged Lyndsay to make me a good substitute. Isn't that exciting? Well, it is for me. Hey wait, does that mean I have to share it? We'll see about that.

So, the dude I worked with yesterday is sitting in a cube directly behind me. I feel a little self-conscious writing this with him there working. OK, not enough to not do it, but I feel his eyes on my back. It's like when Jeremiah Johnson is in the Indian graveyard and realizes something is not right. So, I was thinking about stopping this a paragraph ago, but I haven't stopped yet. Hey, I give the company plenty of hours.

We did not sing last night at Chorale practice. It was our annual potluck. I did indeed flit between tables, although there is no video to prove it. Sorry to those of you waiting on the DVD. And we do not have practice the next two weeks, so there is at least one episode of LOST per night that I can watch.

No, I do not know my publishing schedule for CoV during the holidays. You and I can both be surprised when we see one.

10 Shopping Days Left

Wow! Just a couple of weeks left in 2009. Maybe I am living a LOST episode with time travel because the year seems to have passed by so quickly. I guess that is what being employed all year does for you.

What did not pass quickly was a firetruck that passed by just as I was getting onto Broadway Rd. Well, actually it did pass quickly, and I started thinking what Kathie would say if she were in the car. "Honey, we should pray for that family." In my warped mind, though, I compared the difference between my initial thoughts and Kathie's.
In my email, I got a coupon for a buy one, get one deal at Spicy Pickle. It said birthday on it, so I thought it was for my b-day. No, it was for theirs. Anyway, we had that for dinner and it was good. Plus, I had half a sandwich left for today's meal. Suh-weet. I also have a free meal or two around, but I cannot remember where right now. I think I can go to a movie free on my b-day, too. Cha-ching, baby.

Glee is off the air until April. Now I know how the LOST fans felt when their show disappeared for months.

I think tonight's Chorale practice is really just a Christmas meal get-together. I will go, but I am not excited. I will go ahead and eat beforehand and just flit around and visit.

I have a meeting at 8:30am, but the dude I meet with just walked by. Man, they are getting in earlier and earlier. I suppose I'd better knock out a couple of things before we meet.

Has It Been Two Years?

Apparently, it has been two years since Kendall was born. They grow up so quickly, especially for grandparents. And since I have over 1500 photos of her, it must be true. Happy Birthday, Kendall.
We had the next to the last Chorale Christmas concert yesterday. I thought it went well, and the orchestra adds a lot of depth to our sound. One more next week and then we get a little break.

I did not make it to this year's company party. They had Rob Schneider and Louis Anderson as the entertainers. I have heard they were better than last year's music impersonators such as Dolly Parton. Well, maybe I'll attend the party next year.

Hey Justin, be sure to time your run so that you are back to watch the Cardinals and 49ers on Monday Night Football. I hope it is a good game.

OK, we are two episodes into LOST Season 4. I think we are definitely on track to be ready for Season 6 on Feb 2. Speaking of LOST, there is a podcast called LOSTies created by a couple out of Iowa. They were here in town Saturday and came by to meet Kyle and Isabella, who create a number of videos for their podcast. That was kind of fun. And now that I know more about LOST, I may have to go back and watch them to understand their references. Check them out. You can reach them via iTunes.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Whew! I was beginning to think I would not have time to get this out today. I've already had to reboot my dumb machine twice because I could not get an external internet connection. As you can see, third time's the charm. So, to make sure I give the masses what they expect, we'll get Clarity of Vision out of the way first.
Of course, this blog has always made extensive use of appellations (nicknames). After all, I've got a Preacher Brother and an Architect Brother. With two people names Carey/Kari Mooring, we try to make some reference that identifies which one we are meaning. You know, I had another note in my future CoV topic log for nicknames but never got anywhere on it. I wonder if I should delete that entry now. Still, these aren't really nicknames. I'll have to ponder that.

Well, another week is drawing to a close. That's always a bonus. Hey, if you are free Sunday night at 6pm, come on over to College View Baptist and hear the East Valley Chorale performing Christmas music with the orchestra. A good time will be had by all.

Lunch today is a bunch of ex-Motorolans. That should be fun.

Still have one episode left in LOST Season 3. I know we'll knock that out this weekend.

Did you there are two movies coming up with the same name. Well, in print, it will look different. One is Nine and the other is 9. Kinda funny, huh? OK, maybe it is only funny to me.

Two and Some Zoo

It is Kendall's second birthday. HAPPY B-DAY, Granddaughter. Tell your Mommy to let you have some extra leeway today, and plenty of sugary foods and drinks.

So, today we are celebrating Kendall being two and going to ZooLights the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, it took a while for me to remember to post them, but at least they are here now.

Yes, there were some lights at ZooLights,too. These are animated to one of the songs by either Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
How come I never end up in these shots? This time, neither is Keith since we were both taking pictures.
Some Walkers and Moorings walking and mooring (whatever that means) at the zoo.
Now this is one happy pilgrim. I bet she is happier today on her birthday.
Wait. Before we go, how about a little CoV?

This is NOT Par For the Course

Sure, you hear stories about Tiger Woods and you immediately think of golf analogies. I did, and this is the result.
I did not get any photos from the Chandler Light Parade uploaded. Sorry. We had Chorale practice last night with the Christmas orchestra. At one point, the director wanted to step back and listen, so he had me come down and conduct a number. Whoa, that was fun. Leading the choir and orchestra was niiiiiiice. I could get into that. So, our last two concerts of 2009 are both with the orchestra. Y'all come on down.

One episode left in LOST Season 3. I think we are still on schedule to be ready for the final season by Feb 2.

ZKW, welcome back online. Y'all can see he commented on a post earlier this week from his current posting in Pepsicola, FL.

It is supposed to only get up to 56F today. Man, I will need my ski jacket soon if this keeps up.

Why Didn't We Have Ginger Beer With Our Gingerbread?

One of Kendall's favorite phrases at this age is "I did it," with each syllable clearly enunciated. So, in your mind, hear her saying this as I announce "I did it." Check out some photos from last weekend's gingerbread house making.

In order to make the best quality product, we needed the best quality ingredients. So who better to pick those up for us than Kendall.
Then, Bella helped make sure we got the best quality by testing every ingredient.
Finally, this year's Gingerbread House entry from the Walkers. OK fine, it did include strategically placed hot glue, but it held together during decorating.

What we should have included in the house was a little gingerbread TV with this playing 24x7.Still, I do wonder what else she can sing.

Yes, I Have Some. Just Not Here

Yes, I do have new photos of Bella and Kendall, but no, I have not uploaded them nor attached them. I'll try to have some for tomorrow. I will not tell you that we went to the Light Parade and Tree Lighting in Chandler, AZ, until I have the photos ready to support it.

Another thing I cannot support is people sneaking into places where they should not be.

It is supposed to only reach the mid-50s here today, plus some heavy rains. I realize that is nothing to many of you, but it is a big deal here in the Valley of the Sun. We think a deep winter freeze is 65F. I actually brought a jacket today.

We had a good Chorale concert last night at a retirement center down in Chandler. Next up is one of our concerts with an orchestra. Cool. Those are always fun.

Only one episode of LOST this weekend. That will not cut it. though. 2 episodes left in Season 3.

Media Mountains out of Molehills

Someone at work challenged me to comment on how media hypes up stories until minor infractions appear to be world-shaping events. I said no and just did this instead.
I sat down last night to add some photos from ZooLights, but got distracted by (a) Survivor and Russell's mastery of his fellow castaways, and (b) choosing a photo for our Christmas card. I found a card format I liked, but it was $2 each at Ritz Camera. Look, I like you people, but I am not going to pay $2 each. I guess it is back to Walgreen's.

We are building gingerbread houses tonight with KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall). We did it last year, so I suppose this is the second annual event. I think something is up for tomorrow, too, but I don't remember what.

Beatles and Buses

Yes, I finally remembered to gather some photos. I decided to start with our Game Night. Come on, it was my first time playing Rock Band, and it was all Beatles.

I mentioned that we played Beatles Rock Band last weekend. Here I am with Bella and Kendall as Bella sings Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
And here is Kyle with Casey, Paul, and David rocking out to some other Beatles song. Yes, this is a serious business. If we had fun, it was purely an accident.
Yes, Lyndsay and Alison got caught up in Beatlemania, too.
Kendall wasn't quite ready for singing the songs, so she released her inner Ringo.

Hey, weirdly, the other-blogs-have-been-updated widget is now working. Maybe it takes a while (more than one day?) to catch up. Anyway, a couple of updates now show up. Check them out. You might check out Dad's blog, too, looking for new scientific facts. I don't know if he posted any, but you might check.

Lastly, let's see today's Clarity of Vision. One of the Project Managers was talking to me yesterday about a manager who thought she was unresponsive and was passing on notes to other team members and she felt he was throwing her under the bus. Hmm. Where would I take the idea of being throw under the bus? Yeah, like you didn't already go to the same conclusion.

Broken Promises

Yes, as I sit at my desk creating this post, now I remember that I wanted to add some photos of Kendall and Isabella. I did say I would load them at home and publish them the next day, but I forgot. Last night was Chorale practice and so I don't get home until after 9pm. I will do my best to remember to add a couple tonight. Speaking of Chorale, we begin our Sunday Christmas concerts this weekend and continue for the next three. Only the last one will include an orchestra, though. This week's is at a retirement home. The last is at an RV park.

I did not forget to add a CoV, though.
Thanks to Dad and What's-his-face for adding comments to yesterday's post. At least I know someone is reading this. What I do not yet know is why the last updated capability stopped working. Brenda posted again, but it is not reflected in the rankings. Disappointing. I guess I will search through new widgets and see if there is another that does a similar function. Maybe they released a new version of theirs that will work?

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to friends whose birthday and anniversary is today. Happy normal workday or retirement day to the rest of you.

Whadayacallits

How many words do we have in English that describe other words or concepts when we cannot think of what we want to say before our mouth utters the words? Where's what's-his-name? I need that whatchamacallit. Those kinds of words or phrases. So, today a guy was making coffee and asked if I knew where the gizmos were. I had to look over for a visual clue before I could answer him. That led to today's Clarity of Vision.

So, Brenda has a new post, but it does not register on my page. What is up with that? Why do I have that portal on mine if it does not consistently work?

I do have new photos of the grandgirls, but since I post this first thing at work, I don't have access to photos at home. Yes, I know. What's up with that? I need to put some up the night before and then I can just add the CoV the next morning. I can't do CoV at home because I don't have Visio for Mac.

I'm in that weird possibly sick place. I don't feel sick, but I don't feel right. I took some cold medicine at bedtime last night and did sleep OK. We'll see how today goes.

We caught up on two episodes of LOST last night. So, we are on disk 5 of 6 for Season 3. Still on target to be ready for Season 6 in February.