Remembering...

This is a picture of my sweetie, my cat Spunky.  Unfortunately, there is not good news as per my Christmas Wish.  He had gotten weaker the past two days, so I took him to our veterinarian today to check things out.  Sadly, there was some cancer that had spread to his lungs and one of the tumors in an ear was growing back.  Our vet also thought his digestive system probably had cancer cells through it, too.  So we decided to put my dear puss to sleep.

He truly was a trooper during the last few months.  He never stopped giving his mommy lots of love even up to the end.

He was just a wonderful cat and companion.  He used to like to play, especially catch the string.  He would swish his tail as he followed it and got ready to pounce.  He could be quite vocal with the meows and purrs (gotta love that!).  He often would sleep with me.  I always loved it when I came home and would call to him and he would come out to greet me (and I'd let him know he should if he didn't).

I miss him already, of course.  Anyone who has had to do this knows what an agonizing decision it is. But rather that keep putting him through more and more while the chances of any kind of recovery were very slim, it was the only decision that really could be made.  Rest in peace, sweetie.

Christmas Presents

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate - and best wishes to all.

Today is Christmas here and there's always something going on about the holiday.  We Christians must remember that the Number One Christmas Present was/is Jesus Himself .  I know it's cliche, but that is the origin of our celebration even though  it may have been changed over the years, morphing into a mix of the spiritual, the commercial, and the social.  We also remember presents presented to the Christ Child - gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the Three Wise Men. We also hear of  the fictional gift of The Little Drummer Boy; the spirit of that carol does ring true and continues to move and challenge us.  And I think one Christmas Present we can or should all agree on, regardless of any religious persuasion is PEACE.

A neat story happened during my quest for a Christmas present yesterday.  My cousin wanted a particular cd, and as I just found out, I was trying to hustle and find it before Christmas Day with a very limited amount of shopping time left.  I didn't find it at the drugstore I went to (they used to have cds, I thought), and was debating on going to the local really big retailer knowing it would be totally mobbed.  I only had half an hour to spare and decided to give it a try.  After negotiating the extra busy parking lot, I headed in and a gal told me that it was crazy but the lines were moving fairly well.  As I only wanted the cd, I headed straight to that department and began to search.  Couldn't find it.  I looked and looked, and finally decided to look on this last rack.  A young man was also searching there and - there was cousin's desired cd - there by his feet.  I said "Excuse me," and bent down to get the find.  I almost screamed - "Got it!"   He said - "Give me 5"  and I did! There was a checkout right there in the department so I went to get in line and I told another young man I found mycousin's gift.  He even let me in line next.  It's always nice to report on good young people and it's nice to have a cool experience at a time when the long lines and the stress of crowds can get to almost anyone.

Now there's still one Christmas present I wish for and that I try to visualize and help happen.  My cat, Spunky, has had a very rough time health wise recently.  He had two surgeries on his ears in the fall.   Right now I  have to hand feed him so I'm hoping he'll get healthier and stronger - and back to gobbling down his food as he always did.  He's his mommy's sweetie since he's such a good cat and faithful companion. So here's hoping for better health for my baby for a long time to come.

Christmas Music

Hi all- I'm still around!  I can't believe it's almost Christmas.  My semester is over and now I can Christmas shop.  And vent and opine a bit about Christmas music on the radio.

One Philadelphia radio station actually started Christmas music 24/7 around 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. Another started the day before Thanksgiving.  My two cents: please, please stop this nonsense and don't start until after Thanksgiving at the very earliest.  I only really started listening around Dec. 7 or so, and already I'm tired of most of the songs.  I'm tired of Frosty and even Rudolph. Although there are many different artists doing them, I still get tired of hearing them more than once or twice a day.  I've had it with "Winter Wonderland" (the verses are in the wrong order anyway).  "Sleigh Ride", "Jingle Bell Rock", and "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" get tiresome. I really don't like "Happy Holidays (It's the Holiday Season)" or "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"; and please, please spare me "Merry Christmas Darling". "Feliz Navidad" sounds peppy and fresh the first few times or so I hear it, but then it gets a little much. I'm really not a Grinch (and "Mr Grinch" is clever and fun - again until I've heard it too many times in this short period).

I do like a lot of Christmas music, just wish they'd have more of a variety - there's got to be so much recorded.  As far as carols, I love "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "O Holy Night", "Silent Night" and even "Away in a Manger"; "Joy to the World" is ok, too (Nat King Cole does a great version).

Other Christmas songs: I love "Rockion' Around the Christmas Tree" - and it HAS to be Brenda Lee.  I like "The Christmas Song" - Nat King Cole is tops, but Tony Bennett is a close second.  "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - I just love The Pretenders' version, and Tony Bennett's as well. And what about "What Child is This?"  as done by the Moody Blues? Radio never seems to play that one!  And while I hear Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra (I think there's one he does with Ella Fitzgerald) , can't they find ONE by Ella herself or even ONE by Rosemary Clooney they could play? Bob Seeger does a great "Little Drummer Boy" (haven't heard it in a while, though). And whatever happened to Darlene Love's "Noboby Ought To Be Alone on Christmas"?

I do like Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"  and Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" both of which get played quite often. And I think one of the best ever has got to be Bing Crosby and David Bowie - "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth"; it works and has a wonderful message, too.

Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating something this season - and peace and goodwill to ALL.