Happy Birthday and Happy New Year

I miss you so much Pappa. Love you always and forever.

• Christmas Eve with my family was nice. Did the traditional (and maybe boring) posed pictures but you know me, love to have my pictures. I won the almond in the "Riz Krem" dessert game so that was exciting. Got some Norweigan chocolates and nordic patterned slippers. DD seemed pleased with her camera and my mom, happy with all the Norsk treats I got her.
• Christmas day was an ok day at the office, though we did have a few people die. Boxing day was more of the same. Good people to work with, nothing super crazy, lots of sadness. Glad to have these two nights off.
• 27th was Trifecta day and we just hung out casual style at my place and caught up, visited, exchanged gifts. Got a stunning black'n'white Paris print and some gorgeous snowflakes candle holders. Special and blessed.

Happy Boxing Day

Merry Christmas!

“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays! ”
D.M. Dellinger

God Jul !!!

My gorgeous daughter and I on our "Christmas day"; we spent the day together. First with some treats, then opened up some presents (think I surprised her again), then did a little shopping, went and saw The Tourist and then finished up with a nice dinner at Milestones with D&D. A perfect day with the one I live for. Merry Christmas!

I heart Rudolph!

• in two hours I will have done 5.5 shifts in 6 days and my mind is fried and so is my body. E X H A U S T E D beyond belief. I'm at work literally counting down the minutes.
• SO looking forward to having my girl home for our Christmas.
• tomorrow I'm looking forward to a good sleepin and then getting the place all ready for my daughter's arrival.
• have some last minute gifts but thankfully my big parcel arrived the other day and I'm oh so pleased with the contents.
• did I mention how excited I am to have my daughter come home for Christmas?

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

“Our attitude towards what has happened to us in life is the important thing to recognize. Once hopeless, my life is now hope-full, but it did not happen overnight. The last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose one's own way.”
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997);neurologist, psychotherapist

my new outside Christmas tree!

• my family Christmas luncheon went well. Wished I had a tv downstairs for the kids to have room to stretch their legs; oh well, that'll be next year I guess. My mom really liked my decorations so that was nice. The boys put up the outside tree so that is nice and festive looking too.
• yesterday had a lovely lunch at Olive Garden with my *D* and then did some Christmas shopping. Passed on seeing a movie as it was playing too late in the afternoon. It's been years since I saw a movie in a theatre. Don't miss that, but miss movie popcorn! yum
• spent 3/4 of an hour with a pharmacist yesterday trying to sort out a rx processing problem. my benefits pay for my rxs and all of a sudden they wanted to charge me nearly $700 last week! I just about had a fit. Of course I didn't have my extended card with me, so it had to wait until yesterday. We finally sorted it out, thank goodness, because I went without my medications for over a week and could really feel it. NOT HEALTHY to do, ever. But I don't have that kind of cash laying about. Made me think about our disadvantaged and seniors who have high drug bills. RX drugs are SO expensive, what a huge business it is. I'm so thankful it's part of my benefit package.
• today I planned to bake some cookies but then got the call from the office, and just couldn't say no. So I'm working OT tonight. I really need the cash right now during the holidays but as I sit here typing, I feel all in a knot about going. ugh. Not sure when I will be able to bake cookies before my daughter comes for our Christmas.
• REALLY looking forward to that; my daughter and my Christmas together. Quiet time for visiting, gifts, food, playing with Raja, picture taking. I suggested to her that maybe we start a new tradition and go see a movie, so we'll see.

here's a yummalicious picture of the breakfast I shared with KareBear the other day. White Spot's "Big Bowl". Was SO fresh tasting. Absolutely returning there for post night breaky meetings.

Candy Cane Cookie Recipes

a traditional Christmas family favorite

CANDY CANE COOKIES from Company's Coming, Jean Pare
A fun cookie for all the family to make together.
About 4-1/2 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter OR hard margarine, softened
1 cup Icing (confectioners’) sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
¼ tsp peppermint flavoring
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp EACH: baking powder & salt
½ tsp red food coloring

Mix together first 6 ingredients well.Add flour, baking powder & salt; mix well.Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Add food coloring to 1 portion; blend well. Roll 1 tsp of each color dough into about 5-1/2” long rops. Lay side by side. Pinch ends together. Twist to form a spiral. Lay on ungreased baking sheet. Shape to form a cane. Wreaths are eady to make too.Bake in 350ºF oven about 10 mins until pale gold. Cool on sheets 2-3 mins then remove.

Oprah's 10 ways to increase your happiness!

Happiness is your original nature—it is what you first experienced before you began to identify with a body, a family role, some school grades, your nationality, your business card, your Social Security number and any other labels you keep. True happiness is being faithful to your true nature. The better you know yourself—what it is you love, what inspires you, what you are made of—the happier you will be. When you forget who you are, something very strange happens—you begin to search for happiness!Happiness is your spiritual DNA. It is what you experience when you accept yourself, when you relax and when you stop neurosing about being a "size zero," about "why he hasn't called" and about "what I should be doing with my life." You will increase your happiness score significantly if you can begin to accept that the happiness you hope "to get" after you find your true partner, get the dream job, buy the ideal home and earn the right money, is already in you. Joy is the organic state of your soul. It is not something you achieve; it is something you accept.

Next: Why it's important to connect with others
Relationships: My most important relationships get my best attention.Relationships are the heart of happiness. Social research has found "rich and satisfying relationships" are the only external factors that will move your happiness score from "quite happy" to "very happy." A common mistake we make is to get so busy pursuing happiness that we fail to give our best time, energy and attention to our relationships. Remind yourself daily that happiness is in the connections you make, in the friendships you keep and in the love that exists between others.If you want to be happy, be a friend. Identify your most important relationships, and think about how you can be a true friend to your partner, to your children, to your parents, to your colleagues, to your clients, etc. Another way to increase your happiness score is to make a conscious commitment to being the most loving person you can possibly be. Your intention to love and be loved is the absolute key to happiness. Love is the most fun you can have with anyone. In the final analysis, there is no difference between happiness and love.

Next: Do what you love for a living
Work: I have a strong sense of purpose, and/or I love my work.Today's workplaces are a modern tragedy in which too many people go to work without a sense of joy and love. "The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy," Malcolm Forbes of Forbes magazine said. In the United States, only 50 percent of employees say they are satisfied with their work. You can increase your happiness score by making your work more purpose-centered. Start with identifying what real success is, what your real value is, how you can be more creative and how you can enjoy yourself more.The more you can say, "I love my work" and really mean it, the higher your happiness score will be. People who love their work usually feel they are making a significant contribution to a cause they believe in. Reflect, therefore, on what you most want to contribute in your work and in life overall. Remember, you are not here just to find happiness; you are here to extend it. You are inspiration-packed, wisdom-infused, made with love and blessed with talents. Look around today and give what is needed, give what appears to be missing and give what is your joy to give.

Next: Have a good attitude
Attitude: I choose my attitude most of the time.From zero to 10, how happy have you decided to be today? Is your score 5 out of 10, or 2 out of 10 or 8 out of 10, perhaps? Can you find the place in your mind where you have already made a decision about how good today will be, and how good this year will be and how good your life will be? Choice is a powerful thing. More of anything or everything will not make a difference to your happiness score until you consciously choose to be happy. Therefore, set an intention to be happy today. Decide to make today even more enjoyable than you thought it was going to be.During Be Happy, my 8-week happiness program, I ask my students this question: Could you be even happier even if nothing in the world around you changed? What is your answer: yes or no? In the most recent class, the score was 100 percent for "yes." How could this be? Well, common answers include, "I could choose to accept myself more" and "I could choose to see things differently" and "I could choose to enjoy my life more" and "I could start making smarter choices." The one thing in common all these answers have is choice. Your happiness score rises when you stop chasing happiness and start choosing happiness.

Next:Appreciate your life
Gratitude: I appreciate my life as it happens.There are two meta-attitudes that can significantly increase your happiness score. The first is gratitude. The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see. Before you practice gratitude, you are in the dark and there appears to be very little to be grateful for. Once you begin, a new light dawns, sometimes a brilliant light, a light as bright as heaven itself. Gratitude changes your brain; and it changes the world. The more you practice gratitude, the more you will find to be grateful for.The real gift of gratitude is the more grateful you are, the more present you become. In the English language, the word "present" has three distinct meanings: "here," "now" and "a gift." This is surely not a coincidence. Practicing gratitude teaches you that the greatest gifts are always available to you here and now! One way to practice gratitude is to start expressing it. Think about who you are truly grateful for in your life. Do you realize how happy they will be when you tell them? Gratitude is double happiness because it blesses both the giver and the receiver.

Next: Let go of your hurt and disappointment
Forgiveness: I am good at letting go of past hurts and disappointments.Happiness is easy and natural until you experience your first wound. For this reason, the second meta-attitude that makes such a big difference to your happiness score is forgiveness. You cannot hold onto a grievance and be happy. Why? One reason is you can't be a victim and be happy. Holding onto a grievance is a sign of a mistaken identity. You are not a victim. Also, holding onto a grievance is really a decision to keep suffering. Forgiveness helps you let go and be happy.Resentment keeps you stuck in the past; forgiveness brings you back to the present. Resentment costs too much, and it doesn't make you happy. Resentment is a ball and chain; forgiveness sets you free again. Forgiveness offers you insurance against premature aging, a blocked heart, an unhealed past and an unhappy future. To increase your happiness score, try this forgiveness prayer:Dear God, I declare today a day of amnesty, in which I gratefully volunteer to hand in all of my resentments and grievances to You. Please help me to handle well all of the peace that must inevitably follow. Amen.

Next: Do you know how to have fun?
Humor: I know how to have fun, and I do.To be truly happy, you have to get your head around the idea that circumstances don't matter as much as you think they do. Happiness research studies reveal consistently that most people who score high levels of happiness do not experience markedly better life circumstances. So why are they so happy? Well, one answer is they know how to enjoy their life."Most of the time, I don't have very much fun, and the rest of the time I have no fun at all," quipped director Woody Allen. Good humor always has an element of truth in it. We're so preoccupied with the pursuit of happiness that we are in danger of forgetting how to enjoy our lives. We promise ourselves, and each other, that we will enjoy life more after we are happy. Go figure! Note to self: Remember to enjoy the miracle of existence today. You can increase your happiness score immediately by being more spontaneous today. Disengage the autopilot, switch off the controls, stop being so sensible, issue a friendly restraining order to your superego, and, for God's sake, let yourself have some fun today.

Next: Take care of your health and well-being
Health: I look after myself and take care of my well-being.You cannot neglect yourself and find happiness. One of the side effects of chasing happiness is you become estranged from yourself. The quicker you chase, the faster time passes and the more difficult it is to locate yourself in your own life. When you don't stop, you press on in hopes that you will catch up with yourself somewhere down the line. But all the while, you keep leaving yourself behind. Something has to give. Make some time for yourself today. Check in with yourself. Catch up on your own news. Listen to your heart and to how you really feel. Give yourself some of your own best attention. Stop trying to be strong, and to be positive, and to keep going and simply be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, "What are my needs right now?" And, "How can I be kind to myself today?" In all my years of psychotherapy, I have never met a person who suffered from being too kind to herself.The better you treat yourself, the better your happiness score will be.

Next: Get in touch with your spirituality
Spirituality: I know what inspires me, supports me and gives me strength.If you are committed to a spiritual path in your life, you are twice as likely to say you are "very happy," according to psychology research. Spirituality gives you a context for your life that is greater than your ego can see. The ego, which is basically your self-image, is based on an optical delusion of separation. Its outlook is: Everything Good's Outside. A strong spiritual faith helps you to connect to what is real, to what is here now and to what has already been given to you.A daily spiritual practice that you enjoy doing will help to increase your happiness score. The essential aim of any spiritual practice—be it meditation, prayer, yoga, tai chi, etc.—is to help you remove the blocks to the awareness of the happiness that already exists in the center of you. Spirituality connects you to your "being" so you don't get lost in going, doing and having. It helps you to identify with the idea that the soul is joy, and to realize that you are what you seek.

Next: How do you view happiness?
Now: I believe happiness is a way of traveling.Some things never change: Your greatest opportunity for healing and happiness has been, will be, still is, now! Since time began, spiritual teachers have taught their students to "be here and now," to "enjoy the moment" and to "seize the day." And since time began, spiritual students have repeatedly disregarded their teachers' wisdom at first. Like the Prodigal Son, we all eventually return to "now" to find our spiritual home and to find true happiness.Living in the "not now" is a chief cause of unhappiness, pain and lack. We do it because we fear happiness is somewhere else. The strain of not being present in your own life is simply too great. When you miss out on the present, you miss out on so much. No now; no life. The good news is, however, that it is never too late to be present and to really show up in your life. Your happiness score increases the more present you are in your life. Truth is here, inspiration is here, love is here, peace is here, help is here, God is here, joy is here, because you are.

Shake up the happiness

• OMG, I am SO excited for tonight's Season Finale of Dexter!!! I think there will be a lot of deaths and Debra will find out about Dexter! tick tick tick
• my three nights went by fairly quickly, though they were quick steady. probably not the best set to go back with my sore neck and back but I made it through and I think it'll be ok. just takes time.
• today my family is coming to spend some Christmas time with me and I'm looking forward to that. though I shouldn't be blogging and should be vacuuming or something like that. still need to go get the food! lol always leave it to the last minute.
• tomorrow have a hot date with D&D; an annual type thing we do around Christmas time. Maybe we'll go see The Tourist? hint hint
• my other couple days off I'm hoping to get a pedicure and having some down time at home and maybe send off some Christmas cards out and play in the studio.
• am enjoying all the decorations in my home....yes, my home

I am a FIRE HORSE

The capacity for the Horse's hard work is amazing. Horses are their own people -- very independent. While intelligent and friendly, they have a strong streak of selfishness and cunning. and should guard against being egotistical. Usually lively and popular, they and mentally alert and good with words. Although they enjoy a good challenge and are prepared to devote themselves to success, they have no qualms with running in the opposite direction if they consider their role 'beneath them'. Horses rarely worry about settling down. Good companions and leaders, they can have fits of stub-borness or explosive temper tantrums. They fall in love blindly -- when in love horses tend to lose their head, and are liable to make mistakes before finding the right partner.

Friendly, Vivacious, Enduring, Witty, Cheerful, Refined, Independent-----------------Selfish, Reckless, Vain, Impatient, Volatile
The following occupations best suit the Horse personality.
TRANSLATOR ¤ ATHLETE ¤ PILOT ¤ TOUR OPERATOR ¤ HOTELIER ¤ BARTENDER ¤ JOURNALIST ¤ LIBRARIAN ¤ PERFORMER ¤ ADVENTURER

‎'Your life is right now! It's not later! It's not in that time of retirement, when the love of your life gets here, when you've moved into the new house, when you get the better job. Your life is right now. It will always be right now. You might as well decide to start enjoying your life right now, because it's not ever going to get better than right now--until it gets better right now!' Esther Hicks

1. Well I am back to work and my back is so sore. Feels like it's going to give out on me. "Nurses' back" is what another seasoned RN said to me. Funny my neck seems to be doing ok and that is what was most bothersome. Trying to be careful about lifting and transfers and care but it's "oh so busy" here that it is indeed hard. Need the paycheck.
2. Got all my work Christmas cards done last night while working with MsCupcake. A good little shift. We think a like, a lot.
3. Started wrapping my Christmas presents; just have to find the tags I "know" I have somewhere. Want to get them all under the tree before Sunday. My whole family is coming down for lunch on Sunday; nice for some family time and have them see my home all decorated for the holidays. Looking forward to that.
4. Wanting to take time to enjoy the season; walk the malls without having to worry about "a list". Going for coffee with friends and seeing all the decorations in the cities. Listening to music everywhere. Hopefully seeing lots of people smiling with peace and love and joy in their hearts. I love to spoil my family at Christmas; that's what makes me the happiest. Before you know it, the season will be over and we'll have a fresh new year to start. And no, I'm not going to start talking about resolutions now! "lose weight"...blah blah blah....... for the 30th year in a row!

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.- Mother Teresa

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
Eleanor Roosevelt

dear Santa, I've been oh so good....

Had several people lay on my bed Friday night and all loved how it looked, and felt! Yes my dream bedroom is coming along very nicely. Now, where are you Mr Clooney?

the many faces of Raja

Empowering Quotes

Empowering Quotes: "Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr., Jr"

You Are Charitable

You Are Charitable: "You Are Charitable
You prefer simplicity and serenity during the holidays. This is a time for reflection and family.

You are resourceful, quirky, and artsy. You like something that's a bit outside the norm. You aren't traditional.

You like your holiday decor to have consistency and order. You stick to a theme and don't like anything too gaudy.

This holiday season you are hopeful and optimistic. You are thinking of the future and giving generously."

• have I ever mentioned HOW MUCH I LOVE sleeping with fresh sheets? Well I had my bed all nicely made yesterday and a few friends used it to feed/change baby and make calls and all said how cozy comfy it was. Yep, uh huh. That's my bed!
• My new all time favorite ice cream is: Island Farms' French Vanilla with Hidden Chocolate Treasures. DELICIOUS
• Been stiff and sore from getting hurt the other day but trying hard not to seize myself up and keep doing stretching exercises. See the doctor on Tuesday. Hope it's back to work for me, I just can't handle being on WCB! I couldn't drive the other day so MsCupcake drove me around and cleaned/decorated my house for the party. THANK YOU MsCupcake!!!! *heart*
• The Christmas party was nice, much less people compared to last year. LOTS of last minute cancellations and no shows. Bummer. Quality over quantity, right? Had lots of photo ops, everyone looked so great, good conversation and laughs and tons and tons of food. And two sweet Princesses, who were little angels. A nice time. I did over do it, I can really feel it today, but the martini's made it worth while. Cleaning up tomorrow may be another stordy!
• Have spent a lovely day watching movies, napping, eating leftovers and best of all, staying in my pjs and doing nothing! Gran Torino...who knew! Mamma Mia, gets better each time I see it. Hitch makes me howl and now I'm trying for Sherlock Holmes for the first time.

posing in front of my tree, just before the Christmas party started...

details to follow: