HOLIDAY

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Happy Holidays to ALL. Whatever you are celebrating this time of year, I hope it's happy.

I went to see Lloyd this morning during a lull in the storm. The wind was still high (27 mph with gusts to 50mph), but the sleet had stopped. I gave him his presents and read our Christmas cards to him. We popped a Christmas cracker together. By the time I started home, it was snowing again.

To give Speedy something to do while Lloyd and I were exchanging good wishes and kisses, I gave him his present—a hambone. He thinks this is an excellent present. He even wanted it in the car—an unusual event. When we got home, he almost refused to give it up to take off his hoodie. As you regular readers know, he hates clothes, so you know he is really serious about this bone. All this afternoon, he has been in a quandary because I would not let him bring the bone up on my lap. Finally he opted for a snooze on my lap over munching on the bone.

The word of the day for December 24, 2009 is "holiday" —

Pronunciation: \ˈhä-lə-ˌdā, British usually ˈhä-lə-dē\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hāligdæg, from hālig holy + dæg day

Date: before 12th century

1 : holy day. 2 : a day on which one is exempt from work; specifically : a day marked by a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event. 3 chiefly British : vacation —often used in the phrase on holiday —often used in plural. 4 : a period of exemption or relief [corporations enjoying a tax holiday].

Our quote today is from Charles Lamb (1775–1834), Work:

Who first invented work, and bound the free
And holiday-rejoicing spirit down
To that dry drudgery at the desk’s dead wood?
Sabbathless Satan!

;^)

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FRUCTOSE

e Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Glad Yule, Seasons Greetings, etc. to all. e

While cutting up an orange this morning to make orange/banana salad—which my sister informs me no one in our family likes but me—I was thinking about Witchie-poo's song, "There Ain't No Rhyme for Oranges". This happens to be true: one of the few words in English that doesn't even have a good assonance. Possibly a case could be made for larynges, but I don't even want to go there.

Anyway, I had plenty of fruit in my breakfast this morning. Lloyd got half my orange with his egg and bacon on toast, but I had the breakfast salad plus raisins in my rice. Nummy!

Lloyd, Speedy and I opened our presents before breakfast. Lloyd got a calendar with photos of San Francisco—he already is enjoying his main present: an LCD television. I got a weather machine that will pull in the MSN prognostications so I don't have to turn Lloyd's tv on to see what the weather will be. Speedy got a t-shirt that says "I still live with my parents" and a dark blue sweater that looks really nice on him. My sister gave Corky another gorgeous Santa for his collection. She gave me a huge gryphon for my collection.

Speedy also got several toys and chew bones. He doesn't know which one to play with first. I have already put a few of them back for later.

Here's hoping that everyone out there gets, if not what they want, more than they deserve. And may all of my readers have a merry and happy and safe Christmas. If you are traveling may you arrive and return safely.

Our word of the day for December 25, 2008 is "fructose" — Pronunciation: \'frək-,tōs, 'frük-, 'fru̇k-, -,tōz\
Function: noun
Etymology:
International Scientific Vocabulary fruct- (from Latin fructus fruit) + 2-ose
Date: circa 1864
1 : a crystalline sugar C6H12O6 sweeter and more soluble than glucose. 2 : the very sweet levorotatory d-form of fructose that occurs especially in fruit juices and honey —called also fruit sugar levulose

Our quote for the day is from Tertullian (c. 150–230), Roman church father. Apologeticus, IX.8:

The entire fruit is already present in the seed.

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