It is Christmas time again! And as we all know, with that come many fun traditions ~ including the visit from Santa Claus!

I was outraged to imagine, as it was brought up to me on Facebook, that Santa may have all male reindeer in his herd. I would report that to the EEOC however, I have come to find out that Santa’s reindeer are likely not all male. No, they didn’t go through ‘a change’. Apparently, due to some breed characteristics, the antler-brandished flight crew should be correctly categorized as mixed gender. Let me share with you some wisdom from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

“while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen..... had to be a female. "

Now, notice this snippet attempts to make it a fact that male reindeer couldn’t possibly be pulling Santa’s sleigh because they lose their antlers before Santa takes to the skies. Of course this makes sense as his reindeer, depicted in all of those ‘proof photos’, have antlers 

I lost a friend over the weekend. He was HIV positive for 15 years; AIDs the last 5 years brought him a variety of ailments ~ most recently Central Nervous System Lymphoma.

His partner and I found this poem written in one of his notebooks and will read it today during the life celebration. He can only guess that it was written sometime over the last few months ; when diagnosed with the CNS lymphoma;

I found out today
It feels like a veil of black has been lowered,
Over my head

How do I tell you, what do I say
I have never been good at bad news

With the words falling from my lips
You looked at me
and cried; and then I with you

Our son
How do we explain
Ten years old seems so young;
Can death be understood by someone still
so close to birth?

With the words falling from my lips
He looked at me
And said; I will miss you
 

The summer continued to move towards fall drawing the group closer to a new School year. They would stop by and talk with the man in the chair more often now. They would play kick ball with him arguing about whose team on which he would play. One day, they set up an obstacle course in his yard and rode their bikes around and around (the mans mother came out and scolded him and the kids)
It was during this first summer that he shared several simple thoughts with the kids; the sun is bright, Pepsi is good with nachos and the clouds scare away the butterflies.


That summer passed quickly as did the next. For the most part each summer was pretty much the same. The group of kids would meet at the park, plan out the afternoon while swinging on the swings. The only 2 girls would get picked on until they chased the boys down, the whole time threatening to beat them. And then they would all move down the gravel road towards the woods, sometimes stopping and talking with Brian. The only difference is that the trips to the woods were less and less. The group of 9 dwindled down as each summer concluded.

I encourage you to read Part 1 before reading any further. But do what you will  

The boy stopped and looked back at the group. He seemed frozen and didn’t respond to the man in the chair. The girl knew she needed to act fast if she was going to get answers to all the questions she had.

Stepping away from the group she blurted frantically “HI Brian! Why do you sit in that chair?”

The man looked at her and blinked once before answering ‘cause I like being outside’. He dropped his eyes and fidgeted in his chair. She wondered why he seemed to not pay attention when spoken to. Almost like he was scared to speak.

The girl smiled and looked back at the group, who at that moment shared looks of unease. Her smile faltered. She turned her attention back to the man and was able to notice a few things about him;

The man in the chair was wearing jeans and a gray tee shirt that announced a sort of allegiance to MTV. He was of average weight with slightly long reddish hair. He wore a ball cap that read: * Iowa Steel* written in gold against black mesh. The bill was wider then the hat.

She wanted to know more.

“How old are you?” she asked.

He looked up into the sky over her left shoulder as if searching for the answer. ‘I am 32 years old and will have another birthday this year.’ He looked her in the eyes, smiled and said ‘I like birthdays’!

Just a memory from childhood:

There has never been a time in my life that I have been called negative. Not to say that I have never had negative thoughts (I think we all have those) more to the point there is this undying tendency with me to make even the stinkiest pile of shit seem like a rose bush. I will write a blog about how this positivity has effected my work life at a later time. For now sharing an example of how this positivity has been important in a certain aspect of my life is what I want to share.

Another year! I am sure I am not alone when I say; time goes by way too fast. It reminds me of how quickly a plate of cookies will disappear when placed near a group of 3 year olds

As for reflecting on 2008 I am not one to dwell on the past but I had an eventful year, one that helped to shape where I am right now and how I will plan the next few years of my life.

-I quit my job of 3 years to pursue a new career * for 2009 this opens up quite a bit of time for me to go back to school. I will be attending a community college for my Associates and if I like school the plan will be to continue on for my bachelors.

-I voted for the first time ever this year * having voted for Obama it is exciting to think about what 2009 will hold for the US (and the world)

-My husband and I paid off all of our debt with the exception of our mortgage * This puts us in a great position financially which will provide me the chance to get back to school.

-I had my gallbladder removed * This doesn't influence 2009 much at all...I really don't miss it

-My sister "moved in" with us and spent a total of 4 days in our home over those 2 months. She promptly "moved out" * 2009 will continue to  prove to be a year of me trying to keep up with where she is, what she is doing and if she is okay. For those of you that know me, you know the story. I will not enable!

I am going to be away for a bit...planning to be back in the new year

Any PM's  not answered I apologize ahead of time, I will get back to you when I return.

Feed the fish and let the dogs out, okay?  

It goes without saying; with clouds comes shade from the sun
Does the sun get frustrated?
The cloud smiles

As the tree or plant sits and basks in the yellow warmth soon to be shadowed
Does the foliage cry?
The cloud smiles

Children play tag and jump-rope as a storm rolls in
Do the children cry?
The cloud smiles

As the pressures twists and turns the clouds into life sustaining liquid
The clouds cry as they smile