Today is New Year's Eve.
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016 was a memorable year. It had:
• The Trump election
• Massachusetts legalizing marijuana
• The retirement of David Ortiz
• The ridiculous suspension of Tom Brady
• The ability of the Celtics to lure a top free agent - Al Horford
• The untimely death of stars such as Prince, George Michael, Alan Thicke, Carrie Fisher
• The Rio Olympics and drama around it
• The release of a Star Wars movie that is not truly part of the main story line
We also saw the passing of Molly - very sad!
What a year.
Here's wishing everyone a happy new year.
Surely, you have heard of the legend of the Christmas Poo...the story carved out by South Park years ago. Well, we have had our own story of the Christmas Poo (you can search this site for it).
However, Christmas 2016 was the holiday of the Christmas Puke...literally!
Poor Bri developed the stomach bug that Kiff had the week before. Of course, we were worried about that but thought we were in the clear until 4:00 AM on Christmas when we heard the pitter-patter of feet. Realizing that it was much to late for Santa's arrival, it could only mean one thing - someone going to the bathroom.
The next thing we knew, we heard the unmistakable groan of someone yaking!
And Yak she did...five times on Christmas....marking a Christmas we will never forget.
Sure, we did have many great memories in spite of the raging puke - from Kiff and I watching a Godzilla movie, to some neat snacks later in the day....but this one will go down as the year of the Christmas Puke.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
It arrived yesterday. That old, fateful, shortest day. The first day of winter.
It was chilly.
It was cool.
But it arrived.
Happy yule.
Now the days
Grow longer
Stronger
Making their way
Toward steadier days
Today, we watched Brain Games together. It was fascinating.
We learned a few things:
• Dark chocolate helps reduce stress.
• Chewing come helps reduce stress.
• Giving information to your brain quickly puts it into a mode that helps shut down short term memory to cope.
• Positive reinforcement can help people complete stressful task 80 percent of the time when playing the game Perfection (vs. negative reinforcement, which allowed a 20 percent success rate).
Tis the season to be busy.
Tonight, we went to the school store...the annual holiday shopping bazaar the school puts on.
It was quite a treat...and a trip! Fun times.
Kiff and I spent about 40 minutes perusing the items...with Kiff making sure to carefully select treasures he wanted to buy.
Then it was off to cub scouts.
This week, we had the opportunity to do something we have never done. We went to the Salem Christmas Carol on a trolley.
Simply put, it was an incredible experience. Essentially, it is the interactive tale of Scrooge where the audience participates in the journey by trolley. You make stops, take part in scenes, and see the story of the Christmas Carol unfold right before you.
The idea is incredible and it truly was a remarkable experience....and one everyone should take part in. The acting was great - Scrooge was impeccable and he even updated the story when he could in spots to connect to the audience. The interaction allowed us to be part of the story, which was great. Bri and Kiff even had a chance to be two of the Crachit children.
The only downfall is it was raining, so it was hard to see outside the trolley. And, I think the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come Scene might have been done in an actual graveyard otherwise.
But, all and all, this is a perfect Christmas experience...and a new annual tradition for our family!
Thanks so much for the great experience.
