An Update... coming soon!

Every day is busy around here. Birthdays, Christmas, candy making and cookie baking.. even Ninjas!

I promise an update with pictures very soon!

Aunt Dottie,  I got your Christmas card and lovely letter today.. I've read it 5 times already.  I love you so much, beautiful lady!

What Happened In 1992?

January 1992

Wednesday 01:

George H. W. Bush becomes the first President of the United States of America to address the Australian Parliament.

Saturday 11:

Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.

Sunday 12:

A new constitution, providing for freedom to form political parties, is approved by referendum in Mali.

Thursday 16:

El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City that ends a 12-year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.

Wednesday 22:

STS-42: Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.

» January 1992

February 1992

Saturday 01:

The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case.

Friday 07:

The European Union is formed.

Monday 10:

In Indianapolis, Indiana boxer Mike Tyson is convicted of raping a Miss Black America contestant named Desiree Washington.

Monday 17:

A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

Wednesday 26:

Xocali slaughter. More than 600 people of the town of Xocali, Azerbaijan, are killed by Armenian forces during war in Karabakh.

» February 1992

March 1992

Monday 02:

Moldova joins the UN

Friday 13:

In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500.

Tuesday 17:

A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Wednesday 25:

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station.

Tuesday 31:

The television news program Dateline NBC premieres.

» March 1992

April 1992

Sunday 05:

Siege of Sarajevo begins when Serb paramilitaries murder peace protestor Suada Dilberovic on the Skenderija Bridge.

Thursday 09:

John Major wins the UK general election.

Thursday 16:

The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.

Monday 20:

An all-star concert in memory of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is held at Wembley Stadium in London.

Wednesday 29:

1992 Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, California, follow the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 54 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed.

» April 1992

May 1992

Thursday 07:

Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first fast-food murder in Canada.

Saturday 16:

STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage.

Sunday 17:

In Thailand, the so-called Black May begins. Thai police and protestors start attacking one another. By midnight, the current Thai government declares a state of emergency, and military troops, equipped with M-16 rifles, open fire.

Friday 22:

After 30 years, 66-year-old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.

Sunday 24:

The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.

» May 1992

June 1992

Monday 08:

The first World Ocean Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Saturday 13:

The Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League logged the first (and, to date, only) shutout in league history, defeating the San Antonio Force, 50-0.

Monday 15:

The United States Supreme Court rules in US vs. Alvarez-Machain that it is permissible for the USA to abduct suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries. No reciprocal right is recognized for the reverse to happen in the USA.

Wednesday 17:

A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).

Tuesday 23:

Yitzhak Rabin wins the Israeli parlamentary elections..

» June 1992

July 1992

Thursday 09:

Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton announces that Al Gore will be his running mate.

Friday 10:

In Miami, Florida, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.

Tuesday 14:

A major fire consumes an entire city block in tourist destination Gatlinburg, Tennessee, destroying the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" Museum and several other local businesses and attractions in the process.

Monday 20:

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's Fragment Q1 hits Jupiter.

Friday 31:

A Thai Airways Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain south of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.

» July 1992

August 1992

Wednesday 12:

Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Tuesday 18:

NBA basketball player Larry Bird announces his retirement after winning an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. Dream Team.

Sunday 23:

Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida.

Monday 24:

Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida

Monday 31:

Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multiparty presidential election, ending a long history of one-party oppressive rule under the Congolese Workers Party.

» August 1992

September 1992

Friday 11:

Hurricane Iniki, one of the most damaging hurricane in United States history during its time, devastates the State of Hawai'i, especially the islands of Kaua'i and Oahu.

Saturday 12:

Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, is captured by Peruvian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of Shining Path's leadership fell as well.

Wednesday 16:

Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the Deutschmark.

Friday 18:

Nine formerly pro-Albanian marxist-leninist parties hold a conference in Strassburg, Germany.

Tuesday 29:

Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigns.

» September 1992

October 1992

Sunday 04:

An El Al Boeing 747-200F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 38 on the ground. See Bijlmerramp

Thursday 15:

In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders.

Friday 23:

Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.

Saturday 24:

The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-US team to win the World Series. This is also known as the first real "World" Series.

Thursday 29:

The Food and Drug Administration approves Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.

» October 1992

November 1992

Tuesday 03:

U.S. presidential election: Democratic challenger Bill Clinton defeats incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot.

Thursday 05:

In Detroit, Michigan, black motorist Malice Green is beaten to death by policemen Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn during a struggle.

Thursday 12:

Absolutely Fabulous airs its first episode on BBC1.

Friday 20:

In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).

Tuesday 24:

In the People's Republic of China, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight crashes, killing all 141 people on-board.

» November 1992

December 1992

Thursday 03:

The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil runs aground in a storm while on approach to La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.

Friday 04:

President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia.

Saturday 05:

Kent Conrad of North Dakota resigns his seat in the United States Senate and is sworn into the other seat from North Dakota, becoming the only US Senator ever to have held two seats on the same day.

Wednesday 09:

US Marines land in Somalia

Thursday 31:

In the last of the great ITV franchise renewals, Thames Television, Television South West and Television South cease broadcasting, replaced by Carlton Television, Westcountry Television and Meridian Television respectively.

Friday 18:
Carley M'lyssa and Catherine Madison were born!

Happy Birthday my sweet girls!!

Christmas Shopping

I'm not a shopper. I shrink from the crowds and I have a special dislike for Malls. All of this is to the dismay of my teenage girls who adore shopping at the Mall.

But I ask you, where is the fun in this?


Some of you are probably getting a adrenalin kick just looking at that shopping photo. But not me. That will never be me.  I go to the Mall when I have to, and that sometimes includes the Christmas season.

Around here, the shopping season has officially begun when the UPS truck starts dropping these off in mass quantity...


Not. Even. Kidding!

My Bedroom is slowly disappearing amid the brown boxes of carefully packaged happiness just waiting to be opened and repackaged in festive paper. The kids know that my bedroom is officially off limits to them in December, although I have been known to be forgetful and send someone on a random errand to my bedroom where they accidentally sneak a peek. Oops!

Maybe they see something like this?


What?? Those boxes need something to do while they patiently wait for the big reveal on Christmas morning.  It could happen!

SEVEN Days!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures!

In seven days, these adorable babies will be 18 years old.  EIGHTEEN!  I can't even stand it. They will always be my very first little girls, the ones I practice my parenting skills on as we head into uncharted waters, and above all else... my very first besties!

Now I need to figure out what fun things we can do for their birthday next Saturday!

Putting Meaning In The Holiday

Take a look at the group photo at the top of this page... now look back at me..  Yes, I am still sane!  Those young ladies were quite a handful when they were younger, but Christmas with them has always been absolutely magical!

I remember the year Carley and Madi were born. There was no money for tree ornaments, so I patiently hot-glued dozens of festive ribbons on pine cones and tied raffia bows that would be strategically placed to make the tree look abundantly decorated.  I was so busy with one week old twins that Christmas was barely a blip on the radar that year, but it was the last time in my young mothering career that it would be a non-event. 

Try to imagine a house with five little girls under the age of five.  Every day had a different form of chaos, but I wouldn't trade those memories for all the money in the world. Christmas meant erecting a baby gate to encircle the tree that the excited toddlers pulled down more than once in their attempt to climb it. That's right, our tree was literally fenced in!  My sweet girls would stand at the gate, their heads barely clearing the edge, and they would ooh and ahh over the strangeness of having a tree inside the house.

Back then, shopping for my little ones meant finding every girlie Fischer Price toy available and baby dolls were always treasured. There were years when I would hunt high and low for the elusive Tickle Me Elmo or another hot, yet impossible to find toy. Oh, how times have changed! Now it's the age of teenagers which translates into electronic gadgets, makeup, and "Don't even think about buying clothes for me, Mom, because you'll get it all wrong!"  ;)

I've had the opportunity to rethink a lot of things this year and I'm so fortunate to have the loving support of my family every step of the way. There may not be a frenzy of gift buying but there will be plenty of time spent together and that is what we truly treasure.

It's no surprise that my girls have been excitedly planning thoughtful gifts for people who won't be expecting them, but I still get that surge of pride when I see it happening. These girls are beautiful and strong and oh-so-loving! Our circumstances have been really tough lately and I know there are so many things they would like to have for themselves, yet they always put others first by demonstrating that the best gifts are the ones we give to others.  Material means may be limited, but their hearts overflow every single day. They are an inspiration to me!

Looking back through our Christmas photos, amid the paper, boxes and shiny trinkets I can see the same gifts given time and time again - Love, Strength, and Happiness. You can't order those things and you won't find them on any store shelf.  But if you take the time to truly value those around you, always treat others with kindness, and share the love in your heart then those gifts will be yours in abundance.

So although this year sort of feels like a trip to Whoville and the Grinch is out to get us, she can't win.  My family is so much stronger than her twisted need to hurt people for her own entertainment and no matter what, there will be love and laughter on Christmas morning (and every other day of the year).

Take that, Grinch! 

(It's been confirmed that she stalks our blog.  Maybe she should read my post on Kindness.)

Thinking of You

Lovely Aunt Dottie,

I just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you.  Today and every day.  I miss your beautiful smile and your wonderful laugh.  (And your perfectly delicate, beautiful hands!)

I try to imagine the view outside your window.. the trees are probably bare, with the exception of the pine tree that we love so much.

Oh if only we lived close enough to visit you regularly!

Love you so much!