Facie’s Ramblings

Years ago, I would make resolutions, none of which I would ever keep. The majority of them involved losing weight, but I gave that fight up years ago. I am saving a goal of losing 10 pounds for my 20-year reunion in 2009. I figure about two months out from that (still not sure when it is), I can diet and drop the weight. I have not tried to lose weight since 2002, so I will probably be surprised at how difficult it will be. But I can have hope! I had incentive: Bally's sent me an offer of $100 for a year's membership or $65 to go only twice a week. Brian said I should take a one hundred dollar bill and burn it because he doubted I would ever go (I payed 17 bucks per month for almost two years, and I think I went twice). So I had decided to go for the 2x a week deal until I read somewhere that Bally's was going bankrupt. I figured I would probably not bother going the first couple of months, then Bally's would go under, and I would get mad. So I guess I will continue to ...

I wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas. I hope the day finds you in good health and spirits. And may you get everything you wish for, or at least everything you need. -Facie ******* And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothing and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For ...

Growing up, my family received a few Christmas letters. One family's in particular stands out. It went something like this: This year started off with a bang. The family rang in the new year at Time Square. I am pretty sure Dick Clark winked at Kitty. In the spring, Katherine was inducted into the National Honor Society while Nathan placed first in the science fair. Both kids kept busy studying, volunteering, and staying active in sports. The summer brought a fun trip to the beach, although Red sure ended up just like his name with that hot sun! This fall Katherine was a beautiful homecoming queen and best of all, she found out she got accepted to Harvard! She is hoping she can continue to play volleyball there while she studies science. For now Nathan is just going to have to settle for being at the top of his eight grade class and fighting off the girls. Kitty and Red have stayed busy as well, with Red getting another promotion at work, and Kitty driving the kids everywhere, deli...

Yesterday, while driving Jordan to Target to get her Christmas pictures taken, someone on a radio station announced there was only 15 days until Christmas. Today makes it two weeks. Ah! Ugh! Eeek! I am not ready! I woke up this morning with my stomach feeling rather bleh. I wanted to get some things done at work today, so I figured I would try to muddle through. When I turned down lunch with my friends for our weekly jaunt to the cafe next door and decided to instead go home, having eaten only one little pretzel all day, I figured I was in trouble. Fortunately, for some odd reason, I feel a lot better. I never did get sick, so I have no idea why my stomach is just mildly, barely irritated now. Brian, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Jordan too had something this past weekend. I still have Christmas shopping to do and not a lot of time to get it done. Since I no longer feel as if I am going to hurl, I wonder if I should not run out now. Happily, we already exchanged gifts with the n...

And the "It's my birthday!" pin goes back into my jewelry box for another year. In 1996, my first year in the the 'Burgh, Lara, a college friend (wonder where she is), gave me the pin, which came attached to a birthday card, for my birthday. I have worn it every birthday since. But the emphasis I have placed on my birthday has gone down over the last six or so years. During the first few years at my current job, I would send out a staff-wide email, reminding everyone that my birthday was only one month a way. I stopped doing that probably in 2000 or 2001. Lynnie , a coworker, used to decorate my workspace with twinkling lights and other paraphernalia, but that stopped once our offices moved across a couple of rivers just before my birthday in 2002; now we put a simple "Happy Birthday" banner across each other's workspace. For my years, I gathered friends for a birthday dinner at some restaurant in the area, but that too has fallen by the wayside. Most of...

I recall, very clearly, being the donkey in the Christmas program when I was in first grade. I recall walking around the church staring at my feet, though I don't remember which end I was (that I remember staring at my feet is probably pretty telling). I really just wanted to be a pretty angel, but did not get the nod. When second grade came, I thought surely I would get to be an angel that year, but, no, I ended up being a reader. I remember being mad that Heidi, who peed her pants in first grade, got to be an angel. I seem to recall one girl in my class got to be an angel two years. Me? I never wore the silver tinsel halo or white cardboard wings. I was relaying this story to some friends while out to lunch yesterday. I said I had not thought about it in years, but once I found out that Jordan's kindergarten class was doing the Nativity, all the memories came rushing back. I joked that I was going to email Jordan's teacher, begging her to let Jordan be an angel. So imagin...