Love my ipod! I take it with me whenever I travel and like forhtv enjoy being able to withdraw from the crowds. I have also found that I will walk for a longer time if I have it with me. Besides music, I have loaded webinars, seminars and recordings from various radio talk shows. I like the idea that I can listen to a recording at anytime anywhere and rewind if I miss out on something that was said. One thing that has worked very well for me are the upgraded earplugs from Apple. The ones that came with the ipod hurt my ears and did not fit well. The earplugs were pricey ($79) but when I had damaged them on a flight, Apple replaced them with no questions at all. Don't seem to listen to much music at home. Chris

Just about anything does it for me - movies, television shows, music. You would think I was the one having the baby on the TLC series, "Baby Story" because I'm crying along with the new parents. I, too, cry with Christmas songs. Two, especially, do it to me: Kenny Rogers, "A Child Is Born" and Nat King Cole's, "A Christmas Song". I also bawl during the Nativity scene at the "Radio City Christmas Show". When I see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I choke up. I really am hopeless.

brushworks, aside from Linda Ronstadt, it's interesting that while I'm a music hobbist, I haven't heard of those other names. For those of you who like Sirius, try Pandora or Slacker. For a free membership that only requires setting up a website log-in, you can customize numerous personal stations, each seeded with particular artists that you choose. Like, you can have a Paul Simon station, a Supremes station, a Guns n Roses station, etc., from which they will play songs of your choice plus others in the same style. As those songs are played, you can indicate - "I like this", or "Ban this group or song", so that over time, the song selection is highly customized. Pandora and Slacker will play over PCs, iPads and tablets, smartphones, apps on disk players and TVs, and other hardware like Sonos, etc., Two advantages over Sirius - 1) Sound is "broadcast" at a higher quality and so it sounds clearer and better. (compare music as it used to sound on an AM station to an FM station. Like that), and 2) Cheaper than Sirius, both are free. Another good choice is Spotify, which allows you to specifically pick individual songs to listen to and build a playlist that way.

I love the Christmas season and all the decorations. Last year I made a big deal about Christmas because my sister had just been diagnosed with lung cancer and wanted to make it special for her so I went all out to make it extra special. We talked that day and she was going to call for a ride then she ended not showing up. I was a little upset to say the least and disappointed. She was not feeling ill at this time, she just decided she was going to stay home and not tell me or answer her phone. I had guests over and held off dinner for as long as I could until another family member contacted her and she said she was just going to stay home without letting me know. So this year, my sister is at my house, missed everything last year and this year now that she is here I can't do anything. No room to do any decorating so I can't make it special for her this year. I am so busy with her and her needs I won't have time to cook a special meal nor do I want to because I am just so exhausted haha and I certainly don't want to do a sink full of dishes and pots and pans from making a turkey dinner. She doesn't have the appetite anyway. And I am still a little peeved about last year. This may be her last Christmas, hopefully not but I just can't be bothered what with all that is going on right now. Here is a picture of how my living room is usually decorated and now which is full to the brim with hospital bed, oxygen tanks and all her medical equipment.