I have a huge variety in my collection and I'm always eager to hear something new. Right now I'm listening to Jonny Blu "In Just That Kind Of a Mood..." If you like crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby or Dean Martin, you'll love this CD.
Jonny Blu has another musical side as well and he's on the top of the Pop charts in China. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his Chinese CD as well. It's awesome, upbeat and great dance music. You can listen to all the songs on his site. http://www.jonnyblu.com
I dunno why I felt compelled to blog this but I guess I'm just excited about his music and wanted to share!
What is your music of choice?
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Bedtime Woes!
Almost 9PM. My 4 year old is STILL UP. If you know me, you know I am a NO-B/S mom when it comes to bedtime yet she's still up. Why is she still up? She's up because she's WIRED and physically CANNOT settle down.
She's not particularly a good eater but today she ate VERY WELL. I think I like it better when she DOESN'T eat a good dinner because she's TIRED at BEDTIME and not WIRED. It's almost 9PM and she's up, playing busily with her toys. She's quiet, so it's not a bother but what WILL be a bother is when 6AM rolls around and she is up regardless of the time she goes to BED. I tried to put her in bed a couple times and she's very sweet about it and tells me, "Mommy I just can't stay still"
We had an early dinner, around 5PM. WHEN will this energy wear off? I'm exhausted just watching her play!! Her sister went to bed at 7 without a peep. She's the queen of the bedtime routine. She goes down with no fuss at all. I say, "bedtime girls!" and she's the 1st one up the stairs to the bathroom to wash her hands and face and brush her teeth. She runs to her room, climbs in her bed and is down. 99.8%of the time.
It looks like I'll have relatively no free time to myself this evening. I hate that because then I don't get much done and feel that my time wasn't used wisely.
I am going to attempt to put her to bed again now that it's 9PM and see what happens. Wish me luck!!!
~8:59 PM
She's not particularly a good eater but today she ate VERY WELL. I think I like it better when she DOESN'T eat a good dinner because she's TIRED at BEDTIME and not WIRED. It's almost 9PM and she's up, playing busily with her toys. She's quiet, so it's not a bother but what WILL be a bother is when 6AM rolls around and she is up regardless of the time she goes to BED. I tried to put her in bed a couple times and she's very sweet about it and tells me, "Mommy I just can't stay still"
We had an early dinner, around 5PM. WHEN will this energy wear off? I'm exhausted just watching her play!! Her sister went to bed at 7 without a peep. She's the queen of the bedtime routine. She goes down with no fuss at all. I say, "bedtime girls!" and she's the 1st one up the stairs to the bathroom to wash her hands and face and brush her teeth. She runs to her room, climbs in her bed and is down. 99.8%of the time.
It looks like I'll have relatively no free time to myself this evening. I hate that because then I don't get much done and feel that my time wasn't used wisely.
I am going to attempt to put her to bed again now that it's 9PM and see what happens. Wish me luck!!!
~8:59 PM
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Have a Cool Yule!
Did you know that a lot of the Christian Holidays have bits and pieces from the Pagan holidays mixed in? If you ever wondered what "YULE" is, check this passage out!
The ancient peoples of what are now Denmark, Scandinavia, Finland and Norway had good reason to celebrate. While most cultures celebrated the turn of the season in one way or another, to the icebound dwellers at the top of the world the return of the sun meant life itself. No more would their lives descend into frozen darkness. The worst was over—though the winter had hardly begun. With every day a little longer hope could survive and grow.
The personification of this frosty threat was the Yule Cat, who gave warm woolen presents to the industrious and ate the lazy—much as would the harsh elements.
The word itself, “Yule,” is sometimes attributed to a similar Scandinavian word that means “wheel”. However, this seems unlikely, as the word Yule predates the introduction of the wheel by more than a thousand years. Still, the association to the wheel of the year is apt.
To the Celts, arriving late to the northern latitudes, the Winter Solstice was called Alban Arthuan, after the Arthurian legend that placed the birth of King Arthur on the Solstice. The term means, literally, “Light of Arthur”.
To celebrate this longest night and the return of the sun, the Celts lit huge fires, as on Beltane and Samhain. Burning the Yule log comes from this custom. The ceremony starts by lighting the new log with the remains of last year’s fire—thus confirming the unbroken cycle of the seasons. If the log burnt for twelve hours it was said to be a good omen for the coming year.
To the Celts we also owe the custom of decorating the home with evergreen plants, especially the magycal mistletoe, which was another custom derived from the Norse tradition where it was the “plant of peace”.
Kissing under the mistletoe, though often attributed to the English, comes from the Norse legend of the much loved god Balder and his loving mother Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty. Frigga worried about the safety of her son and so extracted promises from all the elementals never to harm him. The one exception was the mistletoe. Loki, the evil trickster, fashioned an arrow from its wood and tricked Balder’s brother Hoder into using it to kill Balder. Frigga’s tears then became the white berries of the mistletoe.
The story has a happy ending when Balder is returned to life. As a reward, Frigga elevates the mistletoe to be the symbol of love and promises to give a kiss to anyone who passes beneath it.
And while the English may not have originated the custom of kissing under the mistletoe they may have perfected it.
Here is a passage from Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers:
"From the centre of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just suspended with his own hands a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and most delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which, Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry that would have done honor to a descendant of Lady Tollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum."
Besides the loving virtues of the mistletoe (also called “allheal”) it is considered a strong herb for healing and protection—though its berries are poisonous and must be kept away from children and pets.
To this end, the Druids performed a mistletoe ceremony on the fifth day after the new moon following the Winter Solstice.
We have this from the Roman historian, Pliny:
“They prepare a ritual sacrifice and feast under the tree and lead up two white bulls whose horns are bound for the first time on the occasion.
A Druid attired in a white vestment ascends the tree and with a golden pruning hook cuts the mistletoe which is caught in a white cloth.”
Pieces of the mistletoe were then cut and given to the people to place in their homes as a safeguard against thunder, lightning and other evils.
In addition to the ceremonial uses of the mistletoe, the indoor greenery was thought to be a winter home for the fairies.
When the missionaries arrived on the backs of the Roman invaders they usurped the Pagan holidays and gave them Christian themes. The winter solstice became the birth of Christ—Christmas—though Christ was most likely born in a warm month since the Romans never called for a census in the winter.
Later Martin Luther adapted a Pagan custom when he wrote of a silent night when stars shone through the boughs of a fir tree giving him the idea for the Christmas tree. The practice was already in use thousands of years before in the Celtic custom of placing small torches in the branches of trees on the night of the solstice.
Today Christmas, primarily commercial, hangs on by a thread to its spiritual roots. In celebrating Yule we regain our connection with the seasons of the year and the Wheel of Life. The shortest day is also the longest night. Balance and harmony prevail in the realm of our Pagan Gods and Goddesses.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
What's new?!
Well what's new is this:
Got this om Nov 30th. Isn't she a beauty? *sigh* Aye... a beauty she is!!
as I've stated before, we have a traveling WW2 museum and now we have a nice, vintage WW2 Dodge Amubulance to bring to events. It's been a dream of ours to have one of these for about 5 years. What a great piece this is to add to our WW2 collection!
Now all we need to do is find an appropriately sized building to house the collection so we can open our WW2 Museum. We're taking it one day at a time.
I've been M.I.A. for a few weeks due to overwhelming BUSYNESS! It's been NON-STOP around here for the past month or so and it's only going to continue like this. I need to schedule in time for my BLOG! I MISS hanging out here and checking out everyone's blogs!
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