Refresh my memory…who is olldj22? I see her comments.

i do not know....i've seen them as well and PONDERED that to. bob will know!

I have no idea why I'm up at this hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

judy - Christmas has got to you - you started this a day early!!! I have enough problems when I am a day ahead anyway, don't confuse me any more than I am.

olldj22 was a lady who came on here after I did. Then she disappeared. She is the lady in LA whose grands go to the same school as Miss 6.

Was going to have an early night tonight as the Germans were to arrive at 7am tomorrow but their plane is 2 hours late. Feeling very Christmas now watching Carols in the Domain, a large park in the CBD, and a huge event each year. Over 100,000 people there.

ok..had to share this! too funny!

oldj22 was j222b, remember now? And Carolyn used to be with us too. Ah, only the strong survive. Is anyone else confused with Houzz now? I guess it will take awhile to get used to the new stuff.

roo, Carols in the Domain, is that like Christmas Carols? Love 'em!

judyg and mpoulsom, you guys are up way too early! That's my job!

Did everyone finish wrapping? Takes far longer to wrap than unwrap, doesn't it?

Oh mp, I just found a similar one

The nice thing about being senile is that you can hide your own Easter Eggs and have find finding them.

Judy, don't start on the ponderisms I have dozens of them ............. somewhere. The one about needing a GPS reminded me of hilarious directions on Google to get from China to Taipai. Unfortunately, they have taken it down.

Yeah, bobbi, Christmas Carols, even Rod Stewart made a guest appearance. Love him. The original Wiggles made their last appearance and introduced the 'new' Wiggles. Laughed at all the late teens/early 20s up singing and dancing, they would have grown up with them, bet they wouldn't be seen dead joining in any other time.

Not quite finished wrapping MY presents, done everyone else's. Can only do a few at a time, my back aches if I try to do too many at once.

We watched the movie "Scrooged" with Bill Murray last night for the first time. I know, it's an 80's movie, but I've never seen it before, it was great. Bill Murray has been one of my favorites since his movie 'Meatballs". I think he's just hilarious! I think tonight we'll check out "Elf", everyone says it's great, has anyone here seen it?

We have already had a big discussion on "Elf" bobbi!!! Now you are worrying me.

We had Love Actually on the other night. Don't know what it is with that movie, I even have it on DVD but have never watched the WHOLE movie. I either fall asleep or get sidetracked everytime.

Bill Murray is a lot of fun. Have to watch out for that one.

What about this one -

I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors.

I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.

Or -

It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.

Love the "ponderisms", as well as the "surprise birthday party" & "aerobics class for seniors" .. good to start the day with a laugh! I MUST wrap my presents today, after going to the farm market. I'm glad they open earlier before holidays, because that place gets very crowded.

I guess I don't explore Houzz as much as you guys do; I probably wouldn't even have noticed a change in the home page, if someone else hadn't mentioned it.

Funny! Especially the leotard one but the coffee maker one was good too.

When did we talk about Elf? I'm not a Will Ferrill fan, do you think I'll still like it? We have Love Actually on DVD too and I've never seen the whole movie either. I have a bunch of DVD's like that, I tried to watch the Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock but it was too depressing for me. But then I have DVD's I watch again and again, like My Cousin Vinny, love that one!

Bob...you will love elf! you have to watch it. Doesn't matter if you are not a big will fan. Very cute! and yes we DID have that discussion already mrs. senile!
I don't know WHY i got up so early...very bizarro?
I LOVE bill murray! If I knew him we would be best friends. haha!

It was a week, maybe two weeks ago - don't ask me time - you raised it when you were talking about Christmas Day and how you planned to watch Christmas movies and conversation flowed from then. I can't remember if that was when we wafted onto sitcoms and then dreamy movie stars.

I think I got the Lake House from the Library one time as I love Sandra Bullock but I ended up not watching it. Love our Library, I can get 10 DVDs at a time, so I just grab 10, bring them home and put them on. If I get past the first 10 mins fine, otherwise they go back. I loved Sandra in Miss Congeniality and I have While You Were Sleeping. Haven't seen My Cousin Vinny, my constants are Dirty Dancing, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Walk the Line. (I'm a Country and Western tragic). Love Reece Witherspoon too and Legally Blonde 1 & 2 plus Sweet Home Alabama are high on the rerun list too.

Have you guys ever seen "The Castle"? It is one of the funniest Aussie films ever. That is also on my rerun list.

I guess I selpt thru the Elf discussion! I don't remember it at all! You're right, Mrs. Senile!

Sorry, Bill Murray is mine!

I remember talking about movies for Christmas Day but not Elf specifically. Maybe I was snoring.

So for Christmas Day, we bought the truly traditional Christmas Day movies, the last two Harry Potter's and Bourne Legacy. Truly traditional.

There's so many new movies out now that I want to see. Jack Reacher, Seal Team 6 and even Bill Murray has a new release.

Bobbi - go back to 12/10

Thanks, roo, I will. I just read the Jack Reacher reviews on IMDB, I think I'll wait for the DVD.

I fall asleep in movies too easily so I don't get into heavy stuff I just can't be bothered concentrating. That is why I prefer musicals a lot so I can sing along and keep myself awake - seriously, if you heard me sing it would keep anything awake!!! Love Mama Mia too for that reason and I love Meryl Streep, wish I had her energy.

Ok, I found the thread and we did talk about Elf but not that much!!! Geeez, you had me worried for a minute. Plus that was the day I had the zombie dreams the night before, hard to remember anything else!

I'm too sleepy, going back to bed!

roo, I fall asleep in movies, too. Feed me and put me in the dark, what the heck do you expect?????

Oh jolly good bobbi, about time. Hope you have a good nap. I'm headed there too. Night all.

It still seems strange, that some of you are ending your day, when I'm just starting mine! It's 8:19 AM in NJ!

olldbobbi, I mentioned that my family watches Elf every Thanksgiving to gear up for the Christmas season. Love Will Ferrell....Anchorman, Old School. Husband and I enjoy goofball, laugh-out-loud humor and we abhor any movie that has a sad ending. I'm grateful for a lovely day so that my kids have good driving weather. Christmas Eve has always been the primary day to celebrate in my family. That is when the "kids" get their stockings and we exchange gifts. What is your family tradition?

MM, we don't really have a family tradition. Starting with my mother (yes, she's still alive) we could be called the poster children for America's most disfunctional family. I won't go into al lthe details, but suffice to say being alone with R this year will def be the least stressful Christmas I've ever had.

I hope your kids make it safely to your house and that you and everyone has the best Christmas EVER!!!

astraea! I want to wake up in New Jersey, too!!!

No matter how you celebrate olldbobbi, I wish you all a blessed Christmas!

Thank you MM!

Astraea, I'm the only one ending my day - well I will when I stop reading this. Bobbi is just being sensible and getting a bit more sleep.

Michi, if you hate sad endings I guess you won't have seen The Lost Valentine. OMG that has to be the most moving movie I have ever seen. I love Betty White so I have it on DVD but I still have to have the tissues handly every time I watch it. Glad you have good weather for the kids' journey, I still insist my lot message me when they are going on a trip so I know they have arrived and returned home safely.

I've always wanted to visit Australia & New Zealand, but the 24 hour flight is kind of off-putting. I also hear that everyone's outdoorsy & fit down-under, so I've got to get in shape first (LOL)

Morning Ladies, the day is off to a furious start. Actually this whole week has been quite hectic!!!!! Thanks for all the well wishes on my B-day. This morning I put together tomorrows breakfast, stuck it in the fridge and cut all the ingredients for supper. A trip to the Airport for a pick up and departure is also on todays plan. Not too bad, it's only 25mins away. Vancouver company coming in and my trouble middle child is off to Cuba with his GF. How often can this happen where, there's only a half hour between, must be my lucky day. Better not come back married!!!! actually if he did, I would be okay with that. With 3 boys, some of the girls through the house have made me bite my lip, raise my eyebrows and think of words that start with F!!! The young ladies of today are few and far between :(
Also hoping to pick up my new glasses today but really that's just wishful thinking.
I watched Rudolph the other night and Frosty is on on Sunday, can't wait!!!! Went to my favourite Vietnamese haunt the other night..... took some pictures of their design delima. Hey, I received a pair of Crocs slippers, super fashionable in purple might I add!!! Anyway, hoping I can check in periodically through the day but I must get my rear in gear.
Cheers!!!

Cutie Pie loves those crocs, too, olldcan. I just got him the boots for Xmas. He has some beautiful shoes, but, when I am not looking he runs right to those Crocs.

I bought the most adorable dress for my girlfriend's new grand. I got it on etsy.com. It is white, sleveless, in a linen blend fabric, a wide light blue linen sash and the baby's initials monogrammed on the bodice in blue to match the sash. Also came with cute little panties for over the diapers.

Speaking of leotards :>) I have found for judyg the YummieTummie brand. I wear mostly leggings and flats or boots. One of the YT products is reversible leggings, with some figure control. The waist comes way up over the normal waist band. Comfy, warm and flattering.

Daughter here for 5 days which is so nice. We will have Christmas Eve at her cottage with 13 at the table this year. Making some of the recipes and ideas for sides which you have shared. Thanks.

Astraea, my daughter visited Australia (Sydney)when she was living in Japan. Loved everything about it. But, you are so right about the trip. She has been all over that area, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Korea using Hawaii often as a stop over. But lately she has been flying out of Dulles Airport, non-stop to Japan. It is such a long trip and she has done this several times. Toward the end of the flight she says she feels so restless that she goes to the back of the plane to do some jogging in place. I don't fly at all anymore. It is not that I think the plane will fall out of the sky; I just want to be able to get off when I want to get off. "O K, Mr Pilot, you can bring me down now" and that won't work.


Roo, I cheated and started today's post, last night. I had those silly ponderisms in my head and I knew I would forget them. So, I typed them up, forgot I did that, forgot the ponderisms and enjoyed reading them all over again.

mp, why were you up so early?

hey olldcan! long time, no hear!
have a great christmas if I don't talk to you again...
wonder if feeny has headed north yet?

I NEED GLASSES! The old lady reading glasses are everywhere and all different numbers and I'm going totally blind now! I can't stand it! All I want for christmas are some new eyeballs!

olldroo, you may be asleep by now, but The Lost Valentine??? Is is mushy? If it is, J will love it. Maybe it's on netflix and we can watch it. He LOVES sentimental type movies...I like artsy things like, momentum, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, adaptation, being john malkovich and those kinds of movies. Shawshank Redemption is another favorite, some horror (good or campy horror), and comedy! of course I like comedy ( silly and smart).

and bob, bill murray's new movie is supposed to be very good. saw him on letterman the other night.

michi and everyone....i love you all and hope everyone has a fantastic christmas! not sure how much i'll be on here after today until christmas! just wanted to make sure i said this! xo

judyg....i have no clue why I woke up at the break of dawn...or before actually. It was pitch black dark and I got up and let Fooey out and then never went back.... HA! started the coffee maker and that was it. Camped out at the kitchen bar while J snoozed in his cocoon of down!

mp - no The Lost Valentine is a very moving story, bit what we call "only in America". Betty White plays a woman who lost her hubby in WW2 but his body was never found, he was only ever listed as missing, so every Valentine's Day she goes to the Railway Station to wait for him. It is picked up on by a TV station and Jennifer Love Hewitt comes into it as a reporter who goes to interview Betty. Has a lot of flashbacks to Betty and hubby meeting and marrying and real life wartime America in it - very well done not piecemeal - plus we get drawn into Jennifer's own love life and Jennifer and Betty's life entwine. The ending comes about thanks to the internet and modern technology, it just has you appreciating what we have today so much. The final scenes are real flag waving but just totally bring anyone undone.

I only came across it because it was on TV one night, I had never heard of it but only watched it because of Betty. It was on again about 3 or 4 months later so I emailed all my friends and told them not to miss it. They all came back raving about it, but it obviously never rated highly at the box office.

I did watch the Shawshank Redemption, can't remember much about it now, but I remember I enjoyed it.

Must away to DDs for the day to welcome the Germans. They should be landing right now. BH has gone to the airport, he is the designated airport pickup person. Airport around 40mins to 1hr from us depending on traffic. Allowing an hour for customs and then another good hour, maybe 1 1/2 hours to DDs. DD and I are also going to start preparing for Christmas Day. Have decided we are going to do a wine trifle for desert and that will taste better breeding in the fridge for a couple of days.

good night guys!!!! :)
leaving work in a sec and headed home, thank the dear lord!!

Hi everybody! er....goodnight everybody?

Before everyone takes off, or gets busy, I want to wish all a Merry Christmas, and I hope you get everything on your list! Love you all!

It is not Christmas, yet. Don't say good-bye now. Tomorrow, maybe. or Monday. Let's all give a rousing cheer to new friendships.

Astraea, Happy Holidays to you. You add so much to this group. A glass raised to your faith!

Astraea - I know what you mean about the length of the trip out here, it is what puts me off going to LA and that is only 14 hours. Judy, I just want to be able to say "beam me up Scotty" and be there.

There is so much to see and do here, every State has something different to offer. Queensland, the Barrier Reef, Kakadu and the outback are only comfortable in August/September. Similarly New Zealand is an amazing place too, so much is packed into such a small place. We drove the length of the North Island and just marvelled at every bend in the road, it was like a whole different scene opened up.

We are definitely very outdoorsy but sadly in general not as fit as we should be. Obesity is starting to really be an issue - blame those US fast food joints!!!! hahahaha. It is definitely a good idea to be fit before coming though to be able to fully participate in everything on offer but that would apply to many places. Flying from NY, definitely a break in Hawaii would be the way to go.

Had a lovely day today, it was a beautiful sunny day, got to around 33 deg so was a lovely day for the Germans to arrive from their cold and snow. I think for the first time since goodness knows when I really stopped. We sat outside all day and a few glasses of bubbly, some nibbles, seafood and salad went down very well. A few of my DD's friends dropped by and joined in to add to our merriment and we had so much to catch up on. The childen had a great time in the pool. Was almost like a practice run for Christmas Day. I'm just so tired now - how do you get tired doing nothing??? Our trifle didn't happen, decided to buy a pavlova shell and fill it with fresh fruit and cream for Christmas, it always goes down well and no effort.

I think I need an early night - very early, like 9pm.

Morning roo! ONLY 14 hours??? That's plenty long enough for me. Why do you call them the Germans? And what a great day you had! And yes, you can def get tired by doing nothing, finally you got a chance to relax, good for you!

Hi, bobbi, you are up early AGAIN!! Did you get a nap this morning?

With 3 DDs and two married to foreign nationals, and living o/s, BH just started this as a way of identifying them and it has taken. DD had a large "Welcome Germans" sign at the front of the house with German flags around it, that cracked them up.

Just got the update email and was having a quick check through this week's ideasbooks and found the one on Christmas trees. Nice trasgorshek and Molly missed me. Made me feel very wanted. Trasgorshek and I had a lovely chat on an ideabook one time, she is about my daughters' age and is really nice - she reckons she will be as bad as me when she gets to my age..

roo, it sounds like your whole family is just a fun bunch! That's refreshing, so many families fight and fight. R's family is a happy bunch but not mine, oh no, we have to fight all the time.

Did you notice that Houzz went back to its original format? I'm so confused!

I didn't see the change to Houzz, I only ever come in via email so miss the home page - I'm straight to the chat.

Don't get my 3 wrong, they can fight like alley cats, always could and we always had a 2 against 1 situation. I'm hoping age is mellowing them. Probably as well they are scattered all over the globe, they appreciate each other a bit more when they do get together. BH's family is so dysfunctional and totally nuts, mother is going off the planet and they all ended up in court with respect to her care. Long, long, story, I'm not going into here. I only have one brother who was mother's pride and joy and he barely speaks to me but that doesn't worry me he only tells lies anyway. Has kids all over the place, we still keep expecting more to come out of the woodwork. Humour has always been my key to survival and I think I passed that on to my joeys.

My brothers and I fight like crazy and it's getting worse now that my mother is in her 80's because I have a very handicapped sister who doesn't like me at all, and yet dear brothers expect me to become her guardian once my mother passes. I don't see it happening. Neither of my brothers had kids, I'm the only one, so I believe it's their turn to experience the full joys (ha!) of parenting. They don't see it that way, so it's gonna get real interesting real soon.

I envy families who love and support each other! And I miss my extended famly, my cousins and such, and I'd like to know more about them since it's been decades since we've been in touch. But for right now I'm happy being with R's family, they're very close.

Oh goodness having a handicapped sister would be very difficult and the older you get the less you can cope. I tried caring for mum but after 6 months I just couldn't manage. Honestly, Bobbi, please don't feel guilty at all and don't let anyone even try to lay any guilt on you, you have your own family now and your loyalty is to them. If your sister has to go into care, so be it, the older people get the harder they are to care for and the older you get the less you have the physical ability to do so as well.

My family ideals didn't pan out like I hoped and it is harder when you see 'happy families' but don't foget some people only let you see what they want you to see too. Accepting it and making the most of what you can is all you can do. Can you try to track down your cousins but don't hold your breath, sometimes it works, sometimes you can be too far removed for anything to happen. They have their own families and sometimes just don't want to make the time for more.

I really have to get to bed, I am fading fast and will be typing with my nose next.

Chat tomorrow.

Go to bed!!! And rest, and get a good night's sleep! Manana!!!