JUST ONE YEAR SHORT OF '30 YEARS AGO'

 

I sure did host a ton of holidays when I was younger..."Little Man" (sitting on my lap) was just 28 months old back then...It was Easter of 1996...

After hosting 68+ holiday events, I am soooo ready to pass the torch for good!!

CAN'T LET THIS MARCH DAY GO BY WITHOUT SAYING...

                                                   

                                                   

Have fun in Savannah, as well !!! 

CHANNELING MR. McCOURT TODAY !!

                           

"The master says it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith, and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland, and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live.”    ― Frank McCourt

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.”   ― Frank McCourt

“After a full belly all is poetry.”

― Frank McCourt

“Stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it.”
― Frank McCourt

“People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying school masters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years ...  Above all, we were wet.”

― Frank McCourt

When I first went up to see my editor, I was with my agent, and my editor said, 'Well, what have you been doing all these years?' And my agent said, 'He's been in recovery... From his childhood.'

- Frank McCourt

Oh, the travails of being Irish !!!

NOT ALL THAT LONG AGO...

                                      You looked forward to celebrating your birthday at an Escape Room !!

   But, as they say in the 'Gamer's World', you've levelled up

    

XOXOX for NOW and forever !!

[ YES, I'LL SECOND THAT! ]

            Ruled by the number 6, with a combined influence of Venus and Uranus

                                                     

Those born on this mid-winter day of 2-15 share their 'birth anniversary' with renowned notables such as Cyrus McCormick, Jane Seymour, Galileo Galilei, Matt Groening, and Susan B. Anthony. What's more, did you know that February 15th individuals find it perfectly natural and commonplace to regularly think "creatively"? In addition, they are usually less threatened [i.e., than most other people are] when faced with complex challenges, intricate problems, and/or thorny predicaments.

                             

Furthermore, it's a long and well-recognized fact: February 15^th folks are very intellectually curious and repetitively whet their innate analytical talents. Yes, I'll second that!! They are 'high empaths', as well, and thus feel another's pain more intensely than [does] the average person. These individuals also adore the unfettered delight of roaming free, thinking as they wish, investigating natural history, and allowing their fertile minds to explore ALL of the assorted wonders of the world in which they find themselves...[AMEN TO THAT, too] !

And, yes, I know the above details are 'spot on' because I'm blessed to be a member of the 2-15 tribe...

SOMETIMES THE VERY SWEETEST THINGS YOU FIND...

 

Are when you're not even searching for them; they've been tucked away in a keepsake drawer for YEARS...such as this

Happy Heart Day to all of my loved ones tomorrow

JUST SHY OF 'HEART-DAY', A LITTLE GIRL...

 

CELEBRATED HER BIRTHDAY !!

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME IT'S YOUR B'DAY TOMORROW!

                                                                 

   

The groundhog's

Now behind us,

But winter still

Can chill!

'Feb. 5th'

Will round the corner,

With greetings yet

To spill:

Happy Birthday,

Dear Richard;

Your journey's

Been wild...

We send our best wishes

Oh, second-born child !!!

                                                                         Drs. Richard and Kaitlyn

EIGHT YEARS AGO, TODAY...

     ... On 2-1-2017, we landed at Reagan National Airport. It was a cold, sunny afternoon; our second grandchild [John] was just 2 days old and we couldn't wait to meet him! The very next day we joyously celebrated his arrival at one of the quaintly charming restaurants in the D.C. area. Those were such beautiful times. [ Little could I have imagined what tragedy would befall the Potomac River nearly 8 years later].  

      Baby John; just minutes old: 1-30-2017

We've always joked that John was born with the map of Ireland imprinted on his face! That is to say, in appearance, our grandson has always undeniably favored the Irish ancestry on his father's side (including both paternal grandparents) as well as that of his maternal grandmother (i.e., 'me') !

< age 21 months

But now the birthday boy is 8; he is blessed by a great family, a winning smile, and brains to boot!!

 

We love you dearly, and hope there are many more birthdays to come...(we just need to keep the natural disasters and tragedies far from your home in Arlington)...

                                 Oh my! How time does fly !!

"MY ICE" has nothing to do with deportation

                                                  

Ice amply coats

My thin window panes,

From outside the walls

To  'within'

Encrusted white squares,

Beguile with a stare;

A few of them cracking

Cold grins!

I love older homes

[When the weather behaves]

  But not on days mercury quivers...

My last heating bill,

Brought on shock and dismay,

So guess I'll just have to

Bear shivers !!

CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT

                                      The 'Peter Principle', and expect it to manifest itself in the next 4 years...

                                           It would also help explain why so many individuals who display abrasiveness, thoughtlessness, and interpersonal ineptitude rise to positions of power in numerous organizations, including our own

government (e.g., cabinet positions,  current presidency, etc.)

JANUARY 'S INDELIBLE IMPRIMATUR

...impossible to remove

This year began grimly;

Winter steadied its fortress;

Thick daggers of ice

 Plied the seams off our porches...

Encrusted warm-thermals,

Aloft from this sphere,

Extinguished past rainbows,

 Then dropped them like tears...

Faint trickling sounds

On the pavement below

Quite softly, and slowly,

 Spread dollops of snow...

In three months, Earth's breath

Will launch fine, pollen wings:

Proud palette; so pungent!

That first whiff of Spring!!!

poem by L.P.-G. / 1-2025

FULL OF GRACE, just as the poem says:

 

Tuesday's Child

Today is your birthday,

And some years ago,

We welcomed pure sweetness

"Tied up in a bow"...

The days have since followed:

You've grown kind and strong;

With four kids of your own now,

To help sing this song:

Happy Birthday To You,

Happy Birthday To You,

Happy Birthday Dear Lara [Mommy],

Happy Birthday To You !!

... And last, but not least, I never forget that my daughter-in law's b'day is just before my own daughter's...

IT'S 1-3-2025, AND WE NEED TO KNOW...

         DID SOMEONE TURN 6 TODAY !!!

                                                               

                                       

Happy Birthday to our 'Jude Bear'

XOX,

Grandma and Grandpa