Happy New Year!

I had a very bad day today. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Complete with me turning my ankle on my way home from work - 6 hours after I thought I'd be home... I really hope that this isn't a preview of the new year. I might have to hide under my bed for a long time.

But enough about me.. Have a very, very Happy New Year!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I covered as much as I could with smileycentral.


Everyone have a great Holiday season!

Weird Habits

I've been seeing this everywhere and decided to play along with this one, especially since Libby asked everyone to participate so nicely.

Here are the rules The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says "You are tagged" (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

1. Pants first, socks last. I seem to be in the minority, but so be it.

2. Need to religiously follow up on tracking status when I'm expecting a shipment. I want to know every destination stop.

3. I can't hear you if I don't have my glasses on.

4. I compulsively check the bloggers that I read frequently a few times a day. I'm not sure why since I know none that post more than once a day. For any of you checking your stat counters, I apologize. I'm really not stalking...just waiting for the next pearls of wisdom! Yep, that's it.

5. I need my desk at work to be relatively organized or I can't think clearly.

I am tagging my Dad , but anyone else that wants to play along (that hasn't already!) let me know in the comments.

Brief Rant

At my office we received a "Holiday" card from another business. In the signature they had typed "Happy Holidays and G-D Bless". I'm wondering who they were trying not to offend. Because it they were throwing the "G-D Bless" in there to placate those who are celebrating the holidays in a religious sense, well guess what, you just offended one of those. If you are going to use "G-D Bless" you might as well pop an O in there, who the heck else has a name that starts with G and ends with D and only has one letter in the middle? Who are you kidding?

I'm all for tolerance (most days, not really today I guess) but this is just another example of how this country is going to "PC" itself to death.

Iran again

Iranian President Comments

"Iran's hard-line president lashed out with a new outburst at Israel on Wednesday, calling the Nazi Holocaust a "myth" used as a pretext for carving out a Jewish state in the heart of the Muslim world. "

At the risk of making this an Iranian watch site (see 11/03 entry), I just have to comment on this lunatic. He also wants to move Israel to Europe. I'm assuming that he is speaking of Israel as a people since I'm not sure how exactly you move a country. I see this "man" being quite a problem in the not so far future. Politicians are quick to point out that this is how the Iranian president feels, not the people of Iran. How exactly do we know this? He was elected wasn't he? Have we polled the Iranian people? I'm guessing that's a big fat no.

What I REALLY don't get is the belief that Israel should not be where it is, or at least in close proximity. The Koran says that the Torah and the Old Scriptures are Books of Truth (I may be paraphrasing there-I'm not getting up to check). If this is the case, how can Muslims debate whether Israel should be, well, in Israel? I'm by no means an expert on the Koran, although I have read it. I plan on reading it again after I finish the Bible, maybe I'll pick up some more ideas the second time around.

Libby, I think the Iranian president is definitely worthy of one of your favorite phrases! Do I hear an "Off with his head!"?

Christmas Trees vs Holiday Trees

I read an article in Crain's today that discussed how some retailers are getting flak for calling the Christmas trees that they are selling Holiday trees. My opinion, calling them Holiday trees is taking PC to a whole neurotic level. But, I may be wrong. So here's my question. Do non-Christian religions or people who do not believe at all celebrate Christmas? I may be looking at this very naively but I would just assume if you are celebrating Christmas that you believe in Christ and therefore would not have a problem with a Christmas tree.

I know that some Christian religions do not celebrate Christmas even though they believe in Christ, but is the reverse true?

And if you don't believe in Christ but do celebrate Christmas for the family aspect of it, etc. is it really a problem to call it a Christmas tree?

I think on alot of levels we are over-pcing our country right out of any religious beliefs. This might be one of them.

ETA - I do realize that the tree isn't really part of the true Christian tradition, I'm just asking if it's really a big deal to be calling it a Christmas tree.

Various Headlines

"Shock rocker Marilyn Manson married his longtime girlfriend Saturday in Ireland, People magazine reported on its Web site." - Just goes to show you there is someone for everyone.

A news story I heard the other day was so sad. A 15 year old girl died after kissing her boyfriend who had just eaten a peanut butter sandwich. She was allergic to peanuts. All I could think about was how much counseling the poor boy was going to need after this.

"Deer are charging at people, causing injury and even death from thrusting antlers and pummeling hooves.

As a nature story, the one that game wardens are telling about attack deer this fall sounds as hard to believe as the tale of the "killer rabbit" that menaced President Jimmy Carter on a fishing trip in 1979. But wildlife officials warn that getting close to deer is not a game. In a rash of incidents since September, aggressive deer have caused one death and several serious injuries." - You may wonder why this article would mean anything to me. My husband is currently deer hunting. He can't do anything safe apparently.