2007 Year in Review (found on Julia Allison's blog)

(credit to the Chicago Tribune’s longtime columnist Mary Schmich, published originally December 2005)

YEAR IN REVIEW

When you consciously review your year, you may notice how little you noticed it as it whizzed past. To review is to re-view. To rewind, pause, look again. And in looking again, to see more clearly.

You may be astonished by how much happened. And how much didn’t. By how much has changed. And how much hasn’t. You may laugh or sigh to notice that your life remains its usual jumble of contradictions.

In 2007, I gained ____a son
I lost __about 15 lbs____________________.
I stopped ___sleeping very much________________.
I started _____working out__________.
I was hugely satisfied by __my daughter's education____________.
And frustrated by ____6 months of a single income family____.
I am so embarrassed that I ____got crapped on by my son at a supermarket (with no diapers in sight)_____.
Once again, I ___was on the computer too much___.
Once again, I did not ___switch jobs__.
The biggest physical difference between me last December and this December is __better cholesterol and weight, higher blood pressure__.
The biggest psychological difference between me last December and this
December is __I am ALWAYS tired_.
I loved spending time __with my kids and watching movies. Also watching the space launches from my backyard_.
Why did I spend even two minutes __regretting my move_?
I should have spent more time __reading (for me and for my kids)_.
I regret buying __a few stocks_.
I will never regret buying __my HDTV_ even though with that money I could have bought _a nice vacation_.
I __spend_ way too much.
I didn’t _cook_ enough. (though I did cook a lot)
_The news___ drove me crazy.
Was _(hell, I don't know)___ crazier than ever last year? Or was it me?
The most relaxing place I went was _EPCOT food & Wine festival_______________.
I feel so _______________________________________ when I write that down.
Why did I go to _(no answer)__?
The best thing I did for someone else was _help out a lot with the kids_.
The best thing I did for myself was __help out a lot with the kids__.
The best thing someone did for me was __family moved down to Orlando since I wanted to live here___.
The one thing I’d like to do again, but do it better, is _write more.

The Dude from Dancing with the Stars

The family and I went to the Citrus Bowl Parade in Orlando. We planted ourselves at the beginning of the parade and found ourselves looking at Helio Castroneves, the guy who won the most recent "Dancing with the Stars". My wife watched that show and occasionally I stopped in front of the TV. I lost interest in about 5 minutes, but she was into it. Funny, she didn't want to get a photo with Helio, though he was very nice about taking photos with the fans that were in the area. He was the Grand Marshall, I think. Anyway, a fun parade. We left after almost two hours and the thing was still going on...

Happy Holidays 2007 part 3

This is our annual Holiday card, edited for internet use (of course). Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Happy Holidays 2007 part 2

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Happy Holidays 2007 part 1

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Celluloid Heroes

I was looking around Youtube for the Kinks Father Christmas, one of this Jewish boy's favorite holiday songs, and I came across this song (also a favorite). Nicorette has been known to sing some of the chorus of Father Christmas, by the way..."Father Christmas, give us your money, we don't have time for those silly toys..." I taught her well. Anyway, this version is with Bon Jovi, my wife's favorite since she was in her early teens. She's dragged me to see him a few times and although I think he and his band are good, I don't need to see him again, haha. This is a good version of Celluloid Heroes, especially since they bring in Ray Davies during the song. Check it out and look for my holiday posting in the next few days...

H.R. Pufnstuf

This is one of my daughter's favorite songs. It's the Murmurs version of the theme song for H.R. Pufnstuf, an old saturday morning show. Anyone remember it? It's on DVD. She also likes the show...

Lyrics
--------

Once upon a summertime
Just a dream from yesterday
A boy and his magic golden flute
Heard a boat from off the bay
"Come and play with me, Jimmy
Come and play with me.
And I will take you on a trip
Far across the sea."

But the boat belonged to a kooky old witch
Who had in mind the flute to snitch
From her broom broom in the sky
She watched her plans materialize
She waved her wand
The beautiful boat was gone
The skies grew dark
The sea grew rough
And the boat sailed on and on and on and on and on and on.

But Pufnstuf was watching too
And knew exactly what to do
He saw the witch's boat attack
And as the boy was fighting back
He called his rescue racer crew
As often they'd rehearsed
And off to save the boy they flew
But who would get there first?

But now the boy had washed ashore
Puf arrived to save the day
Which made the witch so mad and sore
She shook her first and screamed away.

H.R. Pufnstuf,
Who's your friend when things get rough?
H.R. Pufnstuf
Can't do a little cause he can't do enough.

H.R. Pufnstuf,
Who's your friend when things get rough?
H.R. Pufnstuf
Can't do a little cause he can't do enough.

Enchanted

Sappy, but I really liked this movie. Plus, it's the only movie I've seen in theaters in awhile (a few weeks back). Saw it with Nicorette and (though she originally fought me on going) she liked it, too.

A very unhappy dog

It looked even better on the baby. Note: the donut around his neck is to stop him from scratching. It actually works pretty well.

Family 2007

Family 2007, originally uploaded by nickjones65.

Taken today. Not too many photos of all of us together. Happy Holidays. I'll probably post my holiday montage later this month.

nicotine