Last of 2007

I thought I'd share my favorite Irish prayer to end the year:

Dear Lord,
Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am.
Keep ever burning before my vagrant steps
the kindly light of hope.
And though I come not within sight
of the castle of my dreams,
teach me to be thankful for life
and for time's olden memories
that are good and sweet.
And may the evening's twilight
find me gentle still.

Cold and Damp Outside

Warm and cozy inside.

The Best Snowman

We were in the city today and screeched to a halt when I saw this wonderful snowman. I love snowmen and I love creative people. I've never seen one sitting down before or wearing boots. A+ whomever!

Snow!!!!!

When we get over an inch of snow, my warm weather friends are so excited for me. I LOVE snow. I LOVE winter. I love how at night the fresh snow appears to have diamond dust on it. I love how silent the world around me becomes. I love the crunching sound the boots I love make as I'm shoveling curvy pathways around the house and up the front walk. What I spared these friends is this. What the plows leave behind. Giant plows come swooshing thru parking lots and alleys and streets creating what you see above. I don't understand the phenomenon, but no matter the temperatures, you can see them still sometimes until just before the Fourth of July, getting stuck with Slurpee cups and cigarette butts and jump ropes and quantities of spit, etc. I was walking to my car thru a parking lot yesterday and the glove above began to wave at me. As I didn't have my pick-ax in the car, I just couldn't help out. Besides, I didn't want to be the person to tell whomever I found, that all of their groceries had been stolen. And the little leaf? He's going to find himself on some verdant summer lawn, totally out of place and alone. The crunch probably knocked sheer out of him. Snows great, but whatever this stuff is? Beeee-ware the plows.

It's Not Rocket Science

It's not hard to get the grasp of a drive-thru. You read the board, you squawk into the box, you're told to pull up to the window.
'Rover' took forever to get the barista to understand 'peppermint mocha' which was a poor choice for a canine to begin with, but what
the hey, and with eight cars behind him,including an impatient ME, changed his mind as his driver began pulling ahead...too late! forget it! You can have a gingerbread decaf another day. And the sad face didn't get to me either...I needed my vanilla latte.

Sweetie

Sometime this week, Sweetie will have been with us for two years. In that time, he's appeared in Chicagoland Tails as an
Honorable Mention and won $50 and an appearance in Palm Springs Life as a winning photo in their contest. He's defied pet shop advice to keep him in a tiny bowl because 'beta's stand in one place' by swimming a lot, and making fish faces to anyone sitting next to him who might stop for a chat. We all need to free the beta's in their little pet store margarine containers or at least stop the insanity ourselves!

Botanic Garden

You could spend days wandering around and taking pictures at the Botanic Garden. I could and do. I get lost outdoors every time I go and today we got lost inside a building. We did finally get to see the Wonderland Express and enjoy the scenery outdoors.