Aren’t the new security doorbells great? I watched a video about an Amazon delivery driver helping save a teen being attacked by a dog. “You’re a bad dog!” Then there were several deliveries where the packages are being chucked from a very far distance like they were throwing a ball… a bowling ball. One time it was more like a Frisbee. Then there was the Amazon guy that ran into a spider web on his way to the front door, swiping at the web as he accidently let go of a package that flew straight up into the air, landing on the roof. Proof of an accident. And then there was the Amazon guy that spit on the packing tape, then smeared it in before he walked off. Do you find any irony in the fact that Amazon now owns Ring Doorbell?  Then, best of all, recently a man told his wife that he wasn’t feeling well enough to go on a family trip, but their doorbell camera showed that he had visited with a half-naked woman sharing his home while the family was away. Gee, I bet there are so many people wishing they had been lucky enough to have doorbell cameras available years ago… might have saved a ton heartache.

My wife just stopped and said, “You weren’t even listening, were you?” I thought to myself… “That’s a pretty strange way to start off a conversation.”

The FDA has authorized the first antiviral pill to treat Covid at home. It is called Paxlovid, made by Pfizer, and is taken orally twice a day for five days in combination with a second medicine called ritonavir, a generic antiviral. Hopefully it will help keep people that are infected from getting so sick that they need hospitalization.

A woman thought she had found a bargain hotel room through Airbnb near Times Square in NY. The photos online had showed a room with a view of the city. The couple arrived late at the hotel, it was dark, and they went straight to bed. The next morning, she went to the window thinking she was going to see a building, a skyline, or something other than… a window that looked straight into the restaurant, with a table less than a foot away. She said she could have opened the window and joined the people eating their lunch.  The wall of the restaurant is mirrored so the customers could not see her. The company apologized and will make it right… because she posted a TikTok video.

Michael Fanone, among the most severely injured fighting the Capitol mob on January 6^th and later one of the most outspoken against those playing down the riot, has resigned from the D.C. police force. He deserves our thanks and respect for enduring a frightening cruelty that should never have happened.

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.  Franklin D. Roosevelt

A New Year’s Resolution Idea: Go do something kind for someone right now. Don’t wait. It can be a sweet note left on a windshield or 3-course meal, a small plant, or even a stop during your walk to pull a few weeds for an elderly neighbor. Just do something nice, and you do NOT have to sign your name.  There is a very valuable consciousness-raising practice of doing daily acts of kindness without letting anyone know you did them. At times we may do something nice for someone because we appreciate the gratitude or recognition, but the simple truth is that there is so much more reward in doing something good without the recognition… you will feel so good about yourself. They say that the true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is looking, but is your character defined by the good things you do only when you know someone is watching and taking notes. Do you have to tell people how wonderful you are? In pursuit of being the best people we can be, we could all afford to do at least one kind, unrevealed, good deed each day. I’m going to do better in 2022. Our world needs more kindness right now. From everyone.

Get your hanky ready. The ruler of Dubai, who has six wives and 30 children, was ordered to pay his princess ex-wife (wife #6 and daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan) and their children more than $730 million, the most expensive divorce settlement in British history, where they now live. $14.5 million a year is set aside just to provide for their security cost, mainly because their main threat is their father.

Why, when the doorbell rings, the dog runs to the corner of the living room? He’s a boxer.

William Shatner, 90, was involved in an LA car accident. Everyone is ok. Wasn’t it about two months ago that Captain Kirk blasted into space on Jeff Bezos’ rocket? I guess there is a lot more traffic in LA.

As our Earth continues to warm, we are finding some crazy stuff when the ice melts. According to Current Biology, scientists in Russia have revived a bdelloid rotifer – a multicellular microorganism found in wet environments – after the invertebrate spent 24,000 years frozen 11 feet beneath the Siberian permafrost. Researchers believed these tiny creatures could slow their metabolisms down to almost stagnant and survive frozen for up to 10 years. Well, it might just be a little longer than that, since the 24,000-year-old rotifer was able to reproduce and feed after being thawed.

Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. – Scott Adams

The following case is now used as an example of how media and bias can adversely affect a trial or public opinion. In August 1980, a nine-week-old Australian baby girl was reportedly taken from a tent on a family camping trip. The mom said that she had seen a dingo with the baby. Her body was never found; the mother was tried for murder and spend more than three years in prison despite there being no body, no evidence of motive, and no eyewitness evidence. Officials said there was evidence in the car showing where the child had been murdered. The father was also put in jail for a period of time. Campers, rangers, trackers, searchers, or local police never doubted that a dingo could have taken a baby. In the mothers’ defense, eyewitness said there had been a dingo sighting in the campground earlier in the evening that the baby disappeared.  A hiker found some of the garments the baby had been dressed in, a snap-buttoned jumpsuit, an undershirt, and pieces of a diaper, nearly three miles away by dingo dens. But a little jacket was still missing. In 1986 a rock climber fell to his death in that same area. During the search for his body, partially buried in the sand outside a dingo den, was the missing jacket. The bloodstains in their car turned out to be chocolate milkshake, and the copper ore dust was overspray from sound deadener applied at the car’s factory. In 1988, the Australian High Court awarded the couple $1.3 million in damages, not even enough to pay for a portion of their legal expenses, let alone enough to compensate them for pain and suffering. I would have hated to be part of that jury.

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.  Amelia Earhart

The U.S. Secret Service stated that nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from COVID-19 relief programs. Boston will now begin banning unvaccinated people from going to all restaurants, bars, nightclubs, sports arenas, fitness centers, movie theaters, concert venues, museums, and entertainment venues. Boston Smart. Boston Strong.

“All these people who have not been vaccinated: you have an obligation to yourselves, to your families, and quite frankly – and I know I’ll get criticized for this – to your country,” he said. “I honest-to-God believe it’s your patriotic duty.” President Biden

Many thanks to Duane and Janet for organizing the maintenance and upkeep on the entrance of our subdivision. We all met a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday morning and had all the rose bushes cut back, hauled cuttings to the side of the road for the city to pick up, and were on our way to our next Saturday project by ten, or so. Mulching the bed is next on the list. Without them organizing us, I would have still been in my pajamas around ten, eating a big bowl of oatmeal. Thanks to Kim for the pretty little poinsettia and for Teller’s Christmas Cactus toy. Teller is now celebrating life eating homemade dogfood that Jaimee and David gave him. Thank you! He just loves it…  I overheard him whispering to another dog at the dog park, “I’ve got my own chef!” What a dog. What great friends.

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan

Supposedly, there was a Bob Hope & Bing Crosby movie where Bob orders a sissy drink in a tough guy bar, then Bing elbows him and adds, “in a dirty glass,” so Bob will look tougher ordering his sissy drink. I don’t know. I couldn’t find anything about it. Maybe it was Star Trek and it involved Metamucil in a dirty glass. I don’t know, I do know that I have been thinking about that dirty glass a lot. I thought the last two years of life in a dirty glass was about over for us. Well, 2021 is not ending exactly like I thought it was going to. I am a glass half-full kind of person, and the ending of this year is a little bit more like half-empty, lipstick stained, fingerprinted, chipped, and worn, kind of dirty glass that I would normally toss out in the recycle. But I know we can do it. Let’s just keep trying.

Don’t forget to eat your good luck food. Seriously, we need everyone to do their part this year. I’m sticking with black-eyed peas and cabbage, but I’ll still be in the garage polishing my glass.

1. Pork represents prosperity and progress because pigs are plump and root forward when they eat.
2. Greens like spinach, cabbage and broccoli are green like money, bringing wealth in the new year.
3. Lentils are an Italian tradition representing luck and prosperity due to their similar appearance to coins.
4. Grapes are a Spanish tradition – to bring luck for the next 12 months, eat 12 grapes in the first 12 seconds after the clock strikes midnight.
5. Long Noodles in China and Japan signify longevity – the longer the noodle the longer life you will have.
6. Cornbread symbolizes gold and who couldn’t use a little more gold in their life.
7. Whole Fish represent prosperity because fish always travel in schools and the scales resemble silver coins. Plus, they always swim forward.
8. Pomegranate is for prosperity in Turkey. The more seeds your fruit has, the richer you will become.
9. Circle-Shaped foods like donuts and bagels represent the year coming full circle.
10. Pretzels are eaten at midnight or before breakfast to bring good luck.

Thanks for taking time out of your year to spend it with us.

LISA

As you make your way down the grocery aisles, you may notice that the word Diet is being used less, having been replaced by the words Zero Sugar, especially for carbonated soft drinks. The word diet is out of style for Millennials and Gen Z-ers, who just do not like to use that word. It is now all about the branding because companies must sell those sodas. Later, I found an article about salt. Yep. It said we eat too much salt. The FDA says 70% of excess salt actually comes from packaged, pre-prepared, or restaurant food, so they are asking manufacturers to use less, hoping it will help reduce customer intake over the next few years. I enjoyed reading their suggestions on how we can improve our diet with alternate seasoning of foods using spices, pepper, plus lemon, lime, and orange zest. They suggested replacing sandwich meat and cold cuts with fresh chicken or turkey. Be sure to drain and rinse your canned beans or veggies, and eat less bread… well, I never thought about bread. That will be a tough one for me. I just love bread. The Seedelicious and the Asiago Cheese bread from HEB is absolutely delicious and since the kids have been in school, I take the leftover bread and make croutons… with butter, olive oil and spices that are not on their list of alternate seasonings. They’re delicious.

“Well, I don’t know what to say except it’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.”  Ellen Griswold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

If you do not want to hear about Covid, then move right along to the next paragraph. The past two weeks have been fast-paced and interesting, but scary. Globally, there have been more than 5.3 million deaths from Covid. The U.S. hit 803,000 for numbers of American deaths. Yep, 803,000, but hold on for Omicron, which sure doesn’t want to be left behind. It has had almost two years to study, educate, take notes, and now fully understands how to make much wiser, and more deadly epidemic decisions. Omicron now appears to spread at twice the rate as the Delta variant, due to a combination of contagiousness (70% more contagious) along with an expert ability to dodge our body’s immune defenses, especially on the unvaccinated. I told you about the poop sleuths last week. You know, a mere seven days ago. Omicron has surpassed the Delta variant in collections taken from wastewater sampling sites in California. A sampling this week showed Omicron now represents almost 100% of the strains found. In one week. Seven days. It is moving fast.

Like plants too much? You may be a hoarder culturalist. (My friend Marcie sent this! I am still smiling.)

“The” recent tornado wrecked 122 new Chevy Corvettes, damaged beyond repair at their Kentucky production facility. The mayor of Anchorage admitted he turned off the fluoridation of the city’s water supply for around five hours before discovering that he was not actually allowed to do that because it is required by city code. Elon Musk says he will pay more than $11 billion in taxes this year, also stating he will pay more taxes than any American in history this year. Yikes. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $251 billion. Well, thank you, sir. It looks like we could really use that money right now. An Idaho man was charged with cannibalism in addition to being charged with the murder of his 70-year-old neighbor. He told police that he believed he could cure his brain by cutting off portions of flesh and consuming them.

The Grass is Always Greener Where You Water It. Shop Local.

BMW is being sued because the cupholders on the X7 SUV can leak through the center console and cause electrical problems… like airbag control modules inadvertently deploying, wet wiring related to the shifter, and restrain system failures. So, you can still look really good while you are sitting behind the wheel, just do not expect there to be a place to set your 32 oz. Big Gulp while you eat your burger.  😊

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer “Duke” Fakir of The Four Tops is 86. America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh is 76. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 75. Actor John Amos of Roots and Good Times is 82. Guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner is 77. Actor Eva LaRue of CSI: Miami is 55. Actor, singer, and voice artist Nichelle Nichols is 89. Best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek. Actor Anthony Hopkins is 84. Actor Tim Considine of My Three Sons is 81. Singer Patti Smith is 75.

Actor Barbara Carrera is 80. James Bond: Never Say Never Again. Actor Ben Kingsley is 78. Actor Tim Matheson is 74. Singer Burton Cummings of The Guess Who is 74. Actor Bebe Neuwirth of Cheers is 63. Actor Val Kilmer is 62. Singer-actor Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block is 49. Actor Frank Langella is 84. Singer-guitarist Country Joe McDonald of Country Joe and the Fish is 80. Comedian Don Novello is 79. Father Guido Sarducci. Actor Patricia Clarkson is 62. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 65.

Singer Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary is 84. Actor Rick Hurst of The Dukes of Hazzard is 76. Deputy Cletus Hogg, Boss Hogg’s cousin. Actor Maggie Smith is 87. Harry Potter. Downton Abbey. Singer-keyboardist Edgar Winter is 75. Born in Beaumont. Actor Denzel Washington is 67. TV personality Gayle King of CBS This Morning is 67. Country singer-guitarist Marty Roe of Diamond Rio is 61. Actor Jon Voight is 83. Actor Ted Danson is 74. TV host Meredith Vieira of Today & The View is 68.

Mexico’s musical legend and king of ranchera music, also known as El Rey (the King), Vicente Fernández, died at 81. For over 40 years, he was considered the greatest living singer of Mexico, with an operatic vocal range, and a love of ranchera music.

Carlos Marin of Il Divo died at 53 from complications of Covid, after being placed in an induced coma.  Simon Cowell discovered Il Divo in 2003. Marin was born in Germany and raised in Madrid. As a Spanish baritone, he sang opera, Broadway, pop, you name it, and all in Spanish, English, Italian and French. If you have ever been to one of their concerts, the four hunks that look like they came straight from the cover of a cheap romance novel, would walk out in their shiny designer suits with Marin’s shirt always very carefully opened at the neck. They would patiently wait for all of us fools to quit clapping, then Marin would ask in his heavy accent, “Ded you mees me, or eezs et jus mey curl?” referring to his beautifully well-coiffed, slicked-back, dark hair that always had a perfectly placed, fallen curl that had somehow fought its way out and jumped on to his beautiful forehead. Sigh. I will just tell you that it was everything… plus the curl, and I don’t really care how the curl got there. They just sounded so beautiful together.

Small businesses are the heartbeat of our neighborhoods, the spine of our local economy, & spirit of our small towns. Please shop local and help keep us in business. Use local restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, stores, and yes… newspapers. Thanking you in advance.

A Colorado man that was recorded assaulting two officers during the January 6 insurrection has been arrested on a number of charges. Of all things, he was identified after he was seen wearing the same clothes he wore in Washington, DC. Now you say to yourself, “How could they know from his clothing?” Well, the guy was wearing a faded red baseball cap, a dark scarf or neck warmer, a blue jacket with a distinctive logo, white athletic shorts with wide black stripes, and some kind of leg warmers. There’s really no mistaking the outfit. It was not pretty. Wait, this gets better. An Illinois man was arrested for taking part in the siege on the U.S. Capitol after his own mother and a middle school classmate identified him as the originator of his own incriminating social media posts depicting himself inside the Capitol building. Bet his momma was proud.

Peppermint candy is hard to find this year. Yes, global supply chain disruptions, congestion at ports, shortages of truck drivers and service workers, along with raw material and ingredient shortages… like cream cheese. Poor bagels, cheesecakes, bakeries, and restaurants. Actually, the shortage was due partly to a cyberattack on Schreiber Foods in Wisconsin, a major cream cheese producer. Hackers compromised its plants and distribution centers at the height of cream cheese demand. Kraft Heinz, owner of Philadelphia cream cheese, are calling their customer offer “Spread the Feeling,” and are giving $20 vouchers to 18,000 holiday bakers who have had trouble finding cream cheese, so customers can feel good about purchasing another dessert instead. Sigh. Let’s face it. If it wasn’t this, it would be something else.

“All of my colleagues, all of them knew that what happened on January 6th was an assault on the constitution. They knew it at the time, yet now they are defending the indefensible… How we address January 6th is moral test of our generation.” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY)

In Denmark, 64 of 150 guests tested positive for Omicron after a high school lunch. In Sydney, an event held by fans in celebration of Taylor Swift’s recent album release had almost 100 attendees test positive afterwards. In southern Spain, nearly 70 nurses and doctors working in the hospital ICU have tested positive for Covid-19 after 173 of them attended a Christmas party. Brian May (guitarist for Queen) tested positive for covid. He posted on Instagram, “Yep. The shocking day finally came for me. The dreaded double red line. And yes – definitely NO sympathy please – it has been a truly horrible few days, but I’m OK. And I will tell the tale. PLEASE take extra care out there, good folks. This thing is incredibly transmissible. You really do NOT want it messing up YOUR Christmas. With love – Bri”

Remember that a canceled event is better than a canceled life.

Since Gage is home from Boston, I zeroed in on his space one morning and asked him what he was doing. The reply was, “Watching a video about a pet lobster named Leon, purchased at the grocery store.” The owner had un-taped Leon’s claws and was feeding him earthworms, nursing the starving lobster back to health, and exercising him to help get back the use of his claws. It was happy and sad. I just love my kids.

Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life. Jackie Chan

Most years, on Christmas morning, I make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. Tina was telling me about this recipe which would make it a much simpler and easy clean-up morning, so I could get back to my toys.
Preheat oven to 350.
Two cans of cinnamon rolls (separated), each cut into 8 pizza shaped pieces.
Place the cut cinnamon rolls in a 9×13 pan after spraying with cooking spray or 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Butter Better.
In a bowl, mix WELL 2/3 cups heavy cream, 4-5 large eggs, 2 teaspoons each, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
Pour the mixture over the cinnamon rolls, then pour a ¼ cup of real maple syrup over the egg mixture. Don’t use Aunt Jemima. You will thank me for this suggestion later. At this point, Tina and I both agree that you could add some chopped pecans or walnuts.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and puffy.
Heat your canned icing for 5-10 seconds, then drizzle over the top. Or you could smother it in homemade cream cheese icing, if you can find any cream cheese. Yum.
Tina and I both agree that a little maple syrup could be added to the icing before you pour it over the casserole and it might taste even better, but only if at this point, you garnish it with a big old handful of cooked, chopped, bacon. Yep. Bacon.

Merry Christmas to you all and thank you for hanging in there with us this year. Please be safe. Wear a good mask and DON’T WORRY, it’s just a mask, not a bumper sticker. 😊

LISA