mrrnice2

To have all of the ingredients ready to start the Christmas cookie baking with my daughters this weekend in Halifax. Cherry surprises, Peanut butter balls, Shortbread and Florentines. The tradition continues..... Yay for Christmas cookies. :)

A wonderful video to go along with a a beautiful piece of music Malika. Thank you. The content of that video is very personal to me, and though I am not willing to share that publically, there are those few here who know me well and understand what it is that I am referring to. This is quite a different context from what you shared with us, but one thing that shakes me to the very core, and sends absolute shivers from my stomach right down to the very tips of both legs and both feet and all of my toes, is being on the edge of a cliff or drop off. A bridge, any significant height. Not only that, all it takes as well is for me to someone else there. Ahhhhhhh. You would not get me on that CN Tower outside walk for any amount of money. Period. Full stop.

I read this post this morning, and then reread it several times, thinking to myself that I have obviously missed something in my reading on here of late. I therefore am pretty unaware of what context Julia is writing under, and know what, it really does not matter that I know or not, because the following is to me what is important. Julia I have never met, but she is a lady that over time has sent me thoughtful little PM's that brightened my day and made me smile. Her contributions on the board are always must reads for me. As has been written about previously by many on here, Cerb IS a community of people. Way more often than not the people are supportive of each other and like Julia, willing to lend a helping hand when needed. So Julia, just a wish that your health issues resolve themselves quickly and successfully. To answer your two questions that you started with - YES. You belong here. And YES, we want you to stay here. Here is a smile from me to you, along with a helping hand whenever required. :) :) :)

As a person who normally has to travel a great distance in order to meet someone, I do not see where there would be any need for me to know from an ad which hotel it is that the SP is staying at. For me, what city is plenty enough information for planning and organization purposes. If the ad goes on to say a downtown upscale location, then the ad has already increased my interest.

Ah sports traditions for big games. Grey Cup, Superbowl, Canada in the World Juniors or Olympic hockey, these would all fit the bill. A day of anticipation, and watching hours of pregame shows. A few beer to nurse things along, and of course my little $2 bet on Proline. Next is the comfort food. Cheese and crackers as a pregame snack, chips and dip and peanuts at close hand and then planning to have the pizza burgers or pizza or tonight, a steak, ready for the opening kickoff. For today, Go BOMBERS.

Whoo Hooo. I am trusting the long range weather forecasts so the driving from the Maritimes to Ottawa on the 7th and 8th is looking very very promising. I am really looking forward to being there, to reacquainting with some and to meeting others. My early Christmas present request for good weather is in. Well, I may have other requests too. :) See you soon.

Isabella said it ever so well in her post and the title of this thread speaks truth - "The Power of Music." Music has the ability to shape. It can inspire or be used to calm ones soul. It can be used to convey messages and feelings sometimes even better than through conversation. It can bring back memories. I am sure that we all have that special peice of music that was the one that will always be recalled in our hearts as, "our song," that was shared with that special person. When one considers the power of music I am of the age where I clearly recall music shaping a political world. Bob Dylan. Joan Baez, Barry McGuire, Pete Seeger and many more were instrumental in the 60's and early 70's. Since we are approaching the season I must address Christmas music. I know that many of us object to the commerciality of it when it is played non-stop in the malls beginning as early as Remembrance Day in some cases. However for how many of us do we have our own personal favorites that are based on tradition and even our childhood, that we bring out ourselves to share with our own families at home. It is very special, and very powerful. It would be a different world without music.

I really did enjoy our 20 cm of snow earlier this week, but todays sun and blue sky and warm temperatures melted it all away and that is pretty nice too. And hoping that tomorrows highlight will be a high scoring and close Grey Cup game. Go Bombers. It was a good day. :)

The Ultimate Frustration!

I have so many highlights from the past few days but it is rather a selfish highlight that I will share. Today I got my laptop back from Dell. Yup, the one that I spilled the coffee into. All is good. So, no more working on that old slow motion desktop. Yay for me. Now, going to find a cover for this thing!

Alright Old Dog. Christmas Cookies! Cherry Surprises 1 1/2 C Icing Sugar 1/2 C Butter 1 1/2 C Fine Coconut 2 Tbsp Milk 1/2 Tsp Almond Extract Mix all of above ingredients and chill for 30 minutes. Drain well one small bottle of marachino cherries. Wrap each cherry with 1 Tsp of the mixture. Roll in Graham Wafer Crumbs. May be stored in and served directly from the freezer. To make it a true surprise for your kids, make at least one without the cherry inside. :) Enjoy

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday today and I hope that it is a great one.!

Perhaps I have just been fortunate, but I never had the experience in which a lady has not responded. If it should happen and I did not get a response I would expect that I would PM a second time, and if there were still no response then I would drop it. It is only common courtesy to respond to inquiries, and as well, it would be common courtesy for the gentleman to either continue communicating or otherwise indicate a thanks but no thanks to the SP. To not respond at all by either party would be inappropriate.

When I became a member of Cerb I recall being in a total state of confusion. "What am I doing?" I look back at that now and laugh at myself, because it was a great decision. Initially I would have said that in the months that I have been a member that Cerb has not changed to any great degree. There were a couple of moments when tensions ran high over a few 'things', but cool heads prevailed and those 'things' were set aside. The positive attitudes that I discovered when I first joined are still there, every single day, and actually I find that Cerb is becoming even more an incredibly supportive community of people. What I see already is that Cerb may have been 'created' to serve a singular purpose but the membership of Cerb have taken it over and evolved it into what it is today. That evolution continues on a daily basis. It is now whatever we choose to make it. I see educational opportunities. I see things that make me smile and laugh every day. I see touching heartfelt posts and see people reaching out for support and having it given to them freely. I saw a 'movement' to help a young man have his dream of a hot air balloon ride realized. I see the Christmas organizers working to provide toys for children that otherwise may not have much under their tree. I see beautiful women, but more than seeing them only as women, I see them as beautiful people. Pretty cool. I spent the first few months hardly saying a word. I read and digested and learned. So now I do write and contribute. I know, I know. You don't need to tell me but sometimes it's sort of gushy. What else has changed is me. The stereotypes that I came with were blown out of the water. I have become to at least a degree (and perhaps to a great degree) far more open minded, far more tolerant of other points of view. My confidence level has been buoyed. I still have to learn to laugh more, to take more chances, to stop apologizing so much, to stop worrying so much. Yup, SP's told me those things and they are right. I am working on it, I am. SP's do a lot more for us than what sometimes they get credit for. I know that Cerb was not initially created for this purpose, but I have developed close and real friendships with some amazing people, both outside and within the bounds of Cerb. So Cerb is changing but so am I and perhaps we all are, whether we recognize it or not. May it continue to be for the better.

Congratulations from one Maritimer to another on the 500 posts. It is always a treat to read your positive thoughts. Keep posting.

I never wish my time away, but I am quite looking forward to two weeks from this evening. Have I heard rumors about mistletoe? :)

Carley you took the words right out of my mouth about Soleil. As for Carley, it is simple. You are just a sweetheart. :)

For me it has to be those first few snowflakes coming down, and yesterday we had far more than a few flakes so it really feels Christmasy already. I may be the Scrooge of Hallowe'en, but I just love Christmas, the feeling, the lights, renewing connections even with those annual Christmas cards, the planning and anticipating family visitors from afar. And now I make my own Christmas cookies! :) 'Tis the season.

Happy Birthday Emb3750. Have a great day!

Mr Gump. Let me see, I am going to say False to that. And I expect that you were not in California with Angela either???? Or maybe it was magic mushrooms instead of Cheesies? True or False. Here on Nov 23rd, I am well on the way to having the inside Christmas decorations all up, other than for the real tree.

Do you mean the tickle trunk?

We are going to get our first snow today. Starts this afternoon and goes all night. I like snow, at least right now. :)

The issue of seeing someone who is working as a dancer, an MA or as an SP and being exploited would be abhorent for me. One would never know I suppose, or maybe the vibes and other factors would give indications. There is also the definition od 'exploited' that may be considered. WAY back in the beginning, I wondered about just why SP's were choosing this employment path. (MY stereotypes?) I wanted to believe that in all cases it was because they wanted to be self-employed, wanted their independence, wanted to set their own hours, their rates, their working conditions, their holidays, enjoyed meeting different people and enjoyed sex, and all these positives. However, I have read on more than one thread on Cerb that there are women for whom initially it was a question of survival because of lifes curves. This bothered me a lot. It did then and it still does. At one point in time, a really well respected SP and I were in conversation about this, and she told me that I could look at it in the following way. To look at it so that the donation is in fact a 'helping hand', to give women who may have been initially involved because of circumstance that little boost that will ultimately would give them a choice. I know that this is not the exact form of exploitation that Megan brought up, but it is certainly related in one way, and yes, is still an 'issue' in my mind. Am I exploiting or am I helping?

99 and 44/100 percent pure becoming 99.93 percent. Was that treated to the pi-elephus factor or purely an exaggaration in order to protect the reputation of our illustrious mammalian friend?