Happy New Year's Eve!

By golly, Big People, we got another trip around the sun!

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Last Day of 2016!

Well, ya know, on the Last Day of the Year, I like to look back at the year that's stretching in my rearview mirror.

2016 was an eventful one, that's for sure! 

My pal Rozzie had to have surgery on the skin on her back, and that was a big deal. 

I rode my bike off the couch one night and got my first trip to the emergency room, and my first (and hopefully last!) broken bone.  I even had a cast and everything!

Daddy went to Chicago to learn things.  I missed him while he was away!

I spent two weeks at the Lake with my family and had lotsa fun and learned to swim with the help of a life vest and pool noodle!  I also went to the Museum of Play!

I turned Five.

I went tricker treating for the very first time ever, and I had a GREAT time!

And in the last few weeks of 2016, I lost my first two teeth, just two days apart from each other.

I also attended my first Christmas of a Dickens!

It's been quite a wild ride around the sun this year, and I can't wait to see what 2017 has in store!

I love ya lots, Big People!  I'll see ya tomorrow, mmmkay?  It'll be Next Year!  The Future!

Brighter Days Ahead of Us

I'm optimistic about the Future.

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Friday to you!

Boyo boy, I'll be darned if this week isn't going by super-fast, like a day.  The Week Before Christmas just took its good ol' sweet time getting here, but here we are, pertineer to the End of 2016.

I think we can all agree that 2016 was a doozy of a year.  There were unspeakably wonderful moments, scattered like delightful little islands of wonder on a stormy sea, and the rest of the moments were the stormy sea.

I've never in my life experienced a year such as this. 

Not to worry, though.  2017 isn't even out of its wrapper yet.  We can make it Better.  We can shape how the year's gonna be.  Our attitudes really do determine our altitudes, Friends.  I firmly believe that if we all just collectively have a better attitude, insteadda decryin' things we don't like and bein' all negative, I think we can start turnin' the tides.

It's funny.  For all the gloom-n-doom I hear about, I most of the time experience only middlin' to great days.  But it's more fun to talk about the gloom-n-doom.  I know it's like this for you Grown-Ups, too. 

Let's change that in 2017 and use these last coupla days of 2016 to start practicin'. 

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Rush Hour Traffic Crush

I'm just waitin' for a slot so I can get to my exit.

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Thursday to you!

Well, ya know, if it looks like I'm not happy today, it's because I am not.  I'm trying to get from somewhere in Town to somewhere else Across Town, and I hit the dang ol' Rush Hour Traffic Crush.

Despite the snappy name, the dang ol' Rush Hour Traffic Crush is anything but a fun game. 

It's because there are so many cars driving around, except insteadda drivin', they're crawling along so slowly that a glacier just passed me on the right as I crawl along in traffic.

It's bumper-to-bumper, only side-to-side here on the road.  All I want to do is get to the exit lane, but nobody will let me in.  There's people who just came up on the on-ramp who'd like to get in a travel lane, and I'd love to let 'em in, but I can't move to make a big enough space for 'em.  Everybody wants to be First, so we're all last.

Friends, Rush Hour Traffic Crush just stinks and it takes the sparkle right outta a kid.

What's that?  Oh!  Wait a minute!  There's a fella who saw my blinker wantin' to go to the exit, and he's got his blinker on to get in my lane, and he's holdin' up the line so I can scoonch in.  What a great fella!  When somebody does something nice for you in traffic, be sure to wave and smile and acknowledge it!

Thank ya, Fella!

Friends, I'm rollin' again, so I'll ketchup with ya tomorrow.  I love ya lots!  Muah!

Rock Stars Among Us!

I look quiet and unassuming, but I am a GREAT performer!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Wednesday to you!

Well, I'll tell ya right the heck what.  I have recently discovered that I am a rock star.  I didn't know this about myself until I spied Aunt Colleen's karaoke machine with microphones, and she let me sing with her!

We started out as a duo act when we sang Frozen, but I ended up being a breakout solo artist.  Now I'm tearin' up the stage with various renditions of the Alphabet Song (Super WHY's Remix is my FRAVRITE!) and also "Wide Awake" by Katie Perry.

Yep.  On the imaginary rock star show tour, I'm pretty much a big deal now.  How about that?!

It just goes to show, Friends, all you need to do is have a dream and a microphone and follow it!

I love ya lots, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

A Whole Week of Days of Holly!

Keep your spirits bright, Big People!  There's still a whole buncha Days of Holly to celebrate!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Tuesday to you!


Well, ya know, even though Christmas is over, that doesn't mean that our Days of Holly are done with.  Nope! 

In my family, we like to stretch Christmas into a whole week, or more, and then wrap it all up with New Year's Day. 

I really like this approach to the Days of Holly, because we go through kind of a long, wintry stretch here after the Days of Holly, and when ya have a whole week of 'em stacked up before that long stretch without, it does a lot to fill up your Cuppa Cheer for that first part of the year.

So!  Don't lose heart!  Keep your spirits bright!  If you're a tiny tot, let your eyes still be all aglow.  The Days of Holly are not done with us yet, and we're not done with them!  I love ya lots, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Happy Boxing Day and Feast of Stephen!

I appreciate and celebrate ALL the holidays this time of year!

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Monday the Day After Christmas to you!

So!  How was your Christmas?  Mine was GREAT!  And it's still going on!

On a related side-note, did you even know that today is a holiday called Boxing Day?  It's true.

Boxing Day nowadays is a day for shopping, watchin' sports on the television, and maybe gettin' some more presents.  It's a lot like the Day After Thanksgiving called Black Friday that we celebrate in America.

But because I'm always lookin' for a reason to celebrate, I'm really into learnin' more about Boxing Day and the places that celebrate it in earnest. 

Coincidentally, today is also St. Stephen's Day, or The Feast of Stephen you've heard about in the well-known Christmas Song "Good King Wenceslas."  The Feast of Stephen is a day of Good Will.

How about that, Friends? 

So I'm gonna letchya go for right now, Big People.  As you can see, Christmas might have come and went yesterday, but there's still a whole lotta celebratin' to do!  I love ya lots, and I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Merry Christmas, Babies!

On Christmas and always, Friends, you make me smile!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Sunday to you!  And Merry Christmas to you!

Well, ya know, I know that you have a lot of festivizing to do, and ya don't wanna hafta sit here at your computer all day, readin' as I yammer on and on. 

I'll save that sort of thing for tomorrow!

So I'll keep this all short and sweet.

Merry Christmas, Friends!  I love ya!  I hope you're havin' a great day! 

I'll see ya tomorrow, mmmkay?  Muah!