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There’s an AMAZING amount of space in my brain totally wasted on storing mundane stuff like 80s song lyrics. If anything defines my decade, it’s this Dead or Alive song…

I’m not sure why I remember so many lyrics. I mean, I was pretty into music back then (still am). But I read a lot, too. And I don’t remember words to novels. In fact, I can’t even remember the titles of most of the books I’ve read. But I can remember lyrics to songs that aren’t mainstream hits that still get played. They’re old 80s songs that no one listens to any more.

I’ve always known about this lyric issue of mine. (I tell Hubby there’s a band playing in my brain all the time, but I’m not sure he believes me.) But I was reminded of the lyric thing today when I started playing with my new Christmas toy. A USB turntable that plugs right in to my computer so I can convert my vinyl records — albums, 45s and 12-inch singles — to MP3.

Sweet, eh?

Can you believe I was playing records today? And they actually sounded quite good. Hubby said that was debatable, but he and I don’t necessarily agree on all of our musical tastes.

It’s going to take months and months to convert all of this music. Seriously. I have to play each one after all. And I have lots of vinyl.

This is just a few crates I used most often back when I worked as a mobile DJ. Before that, I worked in a record store and got lots of stuff free as “promotional copy” (actually stamped on the cover). I owned lots of stuff before I started working there, too.

One song that surfaces in my brain particularly frequently is Old Friend, by Phyllis Hyman. I couldn’t find a decent video to share here, so just ignore the screen if you must as you listen. Or don’t listen. It’s entirely up to you.

If you do listen, just remember…you are actually hearing a piece of the soundtrack of my brain!

Our 2008 was TUMULTUOUS. That one word describes it quite succinctly. There were LOTS of ups and downs. Lots.

I could re-hash it all here, but I won’t. I’ll just tell you about our not-so-peaceful end to 2008 instead.

It would’ve been nice had the year slipped peacefully behind us as we celebrated with our good friends Kathy and Barry in WV like we’d planned. They were going to feed us a gourmet dinner. We were supposed to go skiing tomorrow, too.

In all honesty, the week started of badly.

Monday, the flu bug or whatever illness it was hit me full force. I spent all day alternating between the bathroom and the bed (or sofa later in the day).

The only good thing that happened Monday was that a fence was installed (more on that later).

By Tuesday, I felt lots better. No more bathroom visits. Woo hoo! Then I noticed that Meg was having a hard time pooing.

First-thing this morning, I was outside following Meg around in the dark, with a flashlight, wearing my snowman Jammie’s, to see if she was pooing.

She wasn’t. And she was in obvious pain. So off to the vet we went.

That bit of grossness pictured above is a fully-cooked ham bone. Meg LOVES bones. She loves bones so much, she ate the whole thing. In one sitting. That was Sunday. She hadn’t pooed since.

The poor girl was completely and utterly backed up. Call it constipation. Call it impaction. Whatever you choose to call it, there was lots of poo in her intestines. After several x-rays, multiple enemas, sedation and a thorough cleansing, we got to bring her home.

We have to keep a close eye on her. There’s a slim chance they may have perforated the bowel while removing some of the bone. Time will tell.

That was our final day of 2008.

Happy new year.

My daughter shared this simple mime (rhymes with dream) and I thought I’d play along.

The person who starts, or in her case continues, the mime assigns participants a letter. Each participant takes the assigned letter and lists 10 things she/he loves that start with that letter. I was assigned the letter “B.” So here’s my list, in no particular order (don’t yell at me for talking about dogs first, please; these things are listed randomly):

1. Belle. Belle, pictured below, is our new dog. She’s about 17 months old. She’s currently living with an amazing foster family in West Creek, New Jersey. She’s coming to live with us on January 4. Now that the excitement of Christmas has passed, it’s going to be harder than ever to keep from thinking of her, wishing she’d moved in yesterday!

2. Brittanys. That’s a breed of dog. Of course, it happens to be Belle’s breed. Meg is a Brittany, too. So was C, our first little doggie girl who passed away on November 20. There’s just something special about the breed. Brittanys are typically super-affectionate, very smart, VERY people-oriented dogs. As the American Brittany Rescue Web site will tell you, “If you meet enough Brittanys from different lines, you’ll find that what the breeders tell you is true, Brittanys are not a breed for generalizations. They range from mellow to extremely active, big to small, soft tempered to stubborn. But even Brittanys who run continuously outdoors will most often settle down when inside with their family.”

3. Brianna. She’s my oldest grandchild. She just turned 8 a few days ago. The picture you see at right was taken in May, 2007. But it is one of my favorites.

She was playing softball at the time. Actually, this was taken just after a game/practice.

It’s fun having a granddaughter. One of the cool things about her is that she’s just the right mix of tomboy and girly-girl. She’s pretty smart, too. Sometimes, her questions can be tiring. But I think she’s going to grow up to be a great litigator. Or a scientist.

4. Baby toes. Especially those, pictured at right, belonging to my youngest grandson, Joey. He was only about 3 weeks old when this picture was taken in August of 2007. His toes are bigger now, but still darn cute.

There’s just something fascinating about tiny little baby feet…

5. Bruster’s. That’s just my favorite ice cream chain in the whole world. They’ve only been around since 1989. It’s a chain that started in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, but is slowly spreading across the country. Their ice cream, made on-site from all-natural ingredients, rocks. To learn more about Bruster’s, visit their Web site.

6. Black pants. They’re the only color that really help hide the fat. Although, I prefer silver pants on football players, as they’re the ones that accentuate the muscles best.

7. Bandannas. They make great doggie outfits.

8. Bed time. I’m getting old…

9. Books. I’m talking novels here. And short story compilations. I plain love to read. Maybe this will be the year I write a book?

10. Being me. I hope that doesn’t sound narcissistic. I don’t mean it, too. I just mean to say I am happy with my life. I have a great family (wonderful Hubby included) and fabulous friends. And I am thankful for all of you!

Today is my grandmother’s birthday. Had we not lost her earlier this year, she would have turned 95 today.

If she were still with us, I’d be saying, “Well, Grandma. Do you feel 95?”

She’d laugh, say “Well… hmmm… yes.” Then she’d laugh some more.

For the record, she was always “Grandma” to me. When Eric came along, being the first great-grandchild, I asked her what she’d like to be called. “Grandmammy” was her answer.

I thought it sounded a bit Gone With the Wind-ish. But I did ask. So Grandmammy she became.

She was a wonderful grandmother. I miss her.

I’m a week behind posting this slideshow because I’ve been busy. But better late than never, right?

Last weekend — December 5 — Shannon and I took the grandkids to Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood to see the annual crazy, over-the-top Christmas display on 34th Street.

The slide show speaks for itself. Enjoy!

This weekend was relatively uneventful. We went to the WV place, as we often do. Hubby did lots of little chores. I did lots of nothing.

The only real excitement happened today as we were leaving. That’s when we saw this…

It’s a whitetail deer with piebald coloring. According to this article, whitetail deer actually come in five different colors. Brown is the most common. Then there are piebald (think a pinto pony), albino, white, and melanistic (really dark).

A neighbor told me a long time ago that they’d seen a white deer. It was just a matter of time before we saw it, too, I guess.

The pictures aren’t great ’cause we were in the truck and I was zoomed in pretty far. But they’re clear enough to give you an idea how weird it looked.

Gun season runs through December 6 in West Virginia. Let’s hope this one survives.