Hello dear gentle readers, Not much to say other than I begin another trip around the sun today. To usher in my new year,  the sweet girlfriends K and evil2win , the husband, and I will be zip lining  through a redwood forest this afternoon. Whooooooo-hoooooooo! Your Christmas song today is "Peace on Earth" and "Little Drummer Boy" performed by Jack Black and Jason Segal. Some of you may remember this medley being sung by Bing Crosby and David Bowie in the late 1970s. Peace and love, One and All, Su- sieee ! Mac

Thank you, Senator Sanders for having the guts and balls to state so clearly how wrong it is to extend the tax cuts, as well as to cut the estate tax rate, for the very, very, very rich.  Thank God, we have someone in Congress who has the guts and balls to tell it as it is. Senator Bernie Sanders, the progressive Democrat from Vermont, spoke on the Senate floor for more than 8-1/2 hours yesterday. Click here to see a video of his speech. In my mind, Senator Sanders embodies what a politician is supposed to be—one who advocates for the American people. I also think Senator Sanders embodies the true meaning and spirit of Christmas. And that leads me to today's Christmas song. Here is a 1916 recording of "Oh, Holy Night" performed by Enrico Caruso.

Christmas time is here. For some people, Christmas preparations started the day after Thanksgiving. Puff! Up went the Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations. A week later, the Christmas presents sit around the tree. I hung the Christmas wreath on the front door yesterday. The day before that the husband and I did some online Christmas Shopping. Maybe tonight, I will finally put the artificial tree up. Since Sunday, I've thought about putting it up after the mama goes to sleep so she would have a pleasant surprise in the morning. But by 11 o'clock, I've lost my motivation. So, I'll probably do it while the mama watches her evening TV so she can distract herself with giving me directions on which branches need to be filled with more ornaments. Yes, the tree will definitely go up tonight. As will the Christmas stockings be hung on the hearth, including those of our dearly beloved parakeets in heaven. Have you got your tree up yet? Today's Christmas song is "

This is the season to be jolly. Ho! Ho! Ho! No doubt the Republicans in Congress are happy. They got the tax breaks for the poor rich for another two years. And, then they turned around and blocked passage of a bill that would give a one-time amount of $250 in 2011 to the elderly and disabled receiving social security benefits. Because consumer prices have not climbed high enough, social security recipients do not warrant a cost-of-living increase for another year. Heaven help those whose only income is a social security check, and may their monthly benefits be more than the average $1,153. That was the amount in October, 2010, according to the Social Security Administration Web site .  I just don't get it. Unless, perhaps, just maybe, the Republicans figured they helped the common people already by agreeing to an extension of unemployment benefits. Sigh. With all the knuckleheadedness that's going on in Congress, I still am optimistic about humanity. The trick for me is not t

Look up! You'll never know what you might see. I've found another meme to have fun at—ABC Wednesday Round 7. This week's letter is U. Click here to visit other interpretations of the ubiquitous U. That is after checking out today's Christmas song. It also fits the the ABC theme.  "Up on the House Top" is one of my favorites. This version is performed by Gene Autry.  

About a week ago, I got a paper bag full of iris bulbs from a woman who runs the community garden in our town. She'd dug up hundreds of them and was giving them away. Purple, white, blue, and yellow. But, I won't know what colors the iris are until they bloom. Yesterday, I had fun planting some of the bulbs in a bunch of baskets of different shapes and sizes. I can just imagine the iris baskets lined up in a row in the front yard come spring. That is, if they bloom. The few times I've planted iris, nothing happened. I may have planted them too deeply, which iris aren't supposed to like. The experts say that iris should be planted in September and October for a spring bloom. Maybe that's for another part of the country.  The experts also say that iris should be planted before the frost. We've had a couple of frosty mornings already, but I don't think the experts were talking about California climate.  A woman at the thrift shop where I got some baskets (25 ce

When I'm good, I'm very good at doing stuff. Quite efficient, almost to the point of being annoyingly anal-retentive. When I'm bad, I procrastinate. That pile of stuff in the hallway that I see as I type away on the keyboard, for instance, has been there since October. That's when I moved the pile from the side of my table where I couldn't see it at all. I won't even tell you long it was there. Yeah, and the point is? The husband's and my latest book was published last month. I'm finally getting around to mentioning it. I ought to have started publicizing it a month or so before it came out. Anyway here I am to brag about it. Career Opportunities in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources . A title I know you all want to go out and buy right now.  Then, you'll know what's going on when Hollywood turns it into a spectacular film.  Just kidding. About the latter, that is. Our masterpiece is a career guide book about 99 occupations that are availab