As a veteran of the "Christmas Party Planning Committee", you have no idea how close to the truth this is. LOL I swear to you the following happened to me. Several years ago,the committee had arranged to have our departmental Christmas luncheon at a Dallas restaurant reknowned for its buffets. Their buffet had everything: seafood, meats, salads, every side dish imaginable, breads, deserts etc. We figured there would be something for everyone, and no one could possibly complain. (I should add that this was an expensive luncheon buffet and that the company was picking up the entire tab.) I had someone come up to me and say they were not interested in the buffet and would like to see a menu. The buffet WAS the menu!!!!!! There was nothing on the menu that wasn't on that buffet. In addition, the food on the buffet was fresh, hot and guarded by glass shields, plus there were attendants everywhere! I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was really hard to hold in my frustration. You can try so hard to please people and do everything right, but there will always be someone who is unhappy ( and will probably be vocal about it.) Marilyn

When I was little, I remember getting a big book of stories that I just loved. And I hated reading. What I loved about it was, it was a big book, probably 8" x 12" and an inch thick and filled with about 100 short stories. I didn't have to read it cover to cover. I could pick and choose which stories I wanted to read. I ended up reading the whole book many times. But to read a book with one story cover to cover took me until grade nine. "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton. I read it a dozen times over the years and watched the movie several times. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I read another book and then became a bookworm with V. C. Andrews "Flowers In The Attic". Since the internet though, I've only read one book cover to cover. In TEN years! I'm working on book #2 right now. "The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer" by Philip Carlo. It's a true story. Right now he's 26 and has killed about 65 people. Only 2 were for the mafia so far. The guy had some serious mental problems. But with a father like he had, it's no wonder. You have to read it. It's good. LOL I didn't watch the video posted. But I can well imagine what his reaction was. I was disappointed in my storybook too. But I did eventually read it all.

Lukki, such a great idea for a post - thank you! This post got me to finally set up a Flickr account to be able to post pics, somethinhg I've meant to do for a long time. So, here's my motley crew, who keep my life interesting, oh-so-busy and never, ever a 'normal day'. The matriarch is a Siamese mix, Annie, who at 20 years is still going strong, despite failing eyesight and being nearly stone deaf. I've had her since she adopted us at about 6 weeks old. My beloved Chow Chih Nu, who lost her battle with lymphoma cancer at 13 (one of the hardest times of my life) - 2 years later and I still miss her every day. She was a treasured member of the family for 13 years. In memory of Chih Nu, a year ago we adopted Tuscon, a BMC, rescued from the kill list from a high kill shelter - this is her at 4 mos, curled up in a cat bed. And a recent picture of her at 14 mos., in a rare calm moment (she's a tremendously high energy girl!) So high energy, in fact, we decided she needed a 'sister' to romp with, so a couple of months ago we adopted 4 mos old Sierra, a Chow pup. This is her doing her impersonation of a calm puppy - trust me, it's just an act! These two have to qualify as the world's worst garden dogs - it's amazing the damage they've done to my garden while romping at full speed! But, hey - they're also sweet, loving and true clowns that make me laugh daily, so I look at it this way - now there's no reason to not hire out the mulching, because there's nothing the yard guys can do to my plants that these two haven't already done! And then there's my Yellow Naped Amazon, Coqui - he's at the very center of the universe, just ask him and he'll confirm it! He's 10 years old now, and I've had him since he was 6 mos old - he really, truly does think he's in charge, and is often heard telling the pups to 'stop, stop' when they're barking or romping in the family room. The final furred/feathered member of the family is Aradia, my 16 year old Persian mix. It's impossible to take a good picture of her because she walks right up to the lens, even of a phone. She's been battling hyperthroidism for the past 2 years, and even with twice daily doses of thyroid meds has dropped from 16 lbs down to about 4.5 lbs. Think of the "Grisabella, the Glamour Cat' song from Cats and that's a good description of my poor Rady-girl. She knows she's still beautiful, and so do we. So, that's my merry band of hooligans - the Koi don't count in this because they stay nicely in their ponds and are only demanding at feeding time. :-)

It was the meatloaf.......traditionally baked in a loaf-shape, that our then nine year-old declared he would eat never again. I fooled him -- changed the shape to large meatballs next time! He ate the meatballs without question for the next three or four years, then suddenly asked, "is this what I think it is?" After we agreed that it indeed was meatloaf, he eats it no matter what shape, and complains no more. A young visitor found an Italian green bean in a pasta sauce and was about to throw one of her royal fits. I had to think fast to save the day, and told her how lucky she was to have found the special bean. We held it high and announced that this was her lucky day, and that anyone finding the lucky beans would also share in the luck. It worked!! The first day I kept the two neighbor boys after school, I sliced apples, and bananas on a plate for their after school snack. The six year old took one look and announced, "we don't like fruit, and we won't eat it!" The 10 year old told me they usually have potato chips and soda at grandma's house. Those are the two things I don't keep in my house. We've found a few healthy snacks to replace their regular junk. And I've got the younger one to eat Elvis' grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich now and then. Jan