Great story LibertyBelle. If that's the 1951 version it's one of my favorites. The George C Scott one is excellent also. Happy New Year.

Well, I am typing this on 2 Jan 2016. I was not
going to go home to visit; the only Christmas (ex-
cept 1978, when on military service) I would not
have been with my family, due to finances, and not
being able to afford bus fare from Richmond to
Charlottesville, where my nephew usually picked
me up to take to Augusta County. But my neph-
ew came all the way to Richmond, and took me
home, and on 26 Dec I had him take me to
the station in Charlottesville (the family paid
for the one-way bus fare). So at least I did get
to be with them. We watched the old black&
white "Scrooge" movie on a tape or DVD. We
went to my sister's, too. So it was a nice Christ-
mas after all, at least for me. And I had been
told the family wanted me there.

Hi FFA make a plan to return fod a long visit. The attraction of akl can only be that you know someone there.
Thanks for the link - horses on the beach that was a fair while ago for me.
Your cuzzie is a wee way too far north for me. My sport has our nationals up that way in 2016 so i will nearby but not in the National Park.
Keep in touch FFA

Silver, at least.

A VERY small world.

Sounds like a fantastic site for camping, Maree. I wish I could be spending the holidays with friends in Auckland and Brisbane. If immigration was easier, I'd be there all the time;^)
Ever get to Abel Tasman? My cousin has a business there:
http://www.pegasuspark.co.nz/

Ah, 39. A distant memory but thanks for the thought.
It turns out that her cousin lives less than 1/2 mile from us. Small world, huh? She is 84 and came over with her 60 year old daughter who is doing a geneology thing. They spent the afternoon comparing notes and discovering relatives from each other. I sat in my comfy chair and watched. Better than TV.

A good time and no arrests---excellent. About the secret police, the NSA probably has a recording somewhere...

16 of us, sort of family, gathered for drinks, a big lunch and gossip.
Then we played Cards Against Humanity.
This is a gross, crude and vulgar card game, aggressively politically incorrect and hence ideally suited to Australians.
There were no prayers, no toasts, no speeches, drunks were not arrested nor were there any secret police recordings, all got home safely after!
The house cat kept clear of most of the ribaldry, and no complaints were heard from the neighbors.
Apart from that, a good time was had by all.

I have enough trouble with one language. Hope the kids had fun.

Hope you had a great day Livefree. Happy New Year.

Reading this thread after a day's worth of comments by my friends here, is a present I give myself.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. When you were a kid did you pretend that all this fuss was just for you? :-)

Great being around kids at Christmas. Happy holidays Circuit.

A little light reading. Sounds like an interesting mix. I'm looking forward to the quiet time I get in January so I can read more. If you think of it do reviews in the books category. Enjoy!

Wild indeed.
I told them a bit about my involvement in things Randian. The 84 year old lady and her 60 year old daughter were familiar with Rand and the 3 Atlas movies, but were not objectivist. The BW and traded pics of relatives, and had she had info on those we never knew, and we had pics of relatives they never knew. And the most weird thing, she lived in a sub division just across the highway from ours, less than 1/2 mile away all these years (20+ at least).Merry Christman and a healthy and prosperous New Year to you and yours.

We went to a UU Christmas Eve service and helped the kids with their new toys most of Christmas. It was very nice and peaceful. I hope everyone else is having a good holiday season too.

When I left the party, I left what was left in that box behind.

Thanks Maree. Great holidays to you, and good dogs for the new year.

Jan, head screwed on, but sometimes at a tilt

But that was good too, eh? Hanging out with neat people is fun in its own way, but the holidays make me want to get away from all the bustle.

Many flavors of 'good time'!

Jan

Spending the day with family and celebrating my birthday!