Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2011!!!  I hope you have a fabulous time saying goodbye to 2010 and ringing in 2011!!!

This day will always be special to me because eight years ago, my daughter, Brooke, was born!  Brooke is my New Year’s Eve baby, and so this day is always a happy one because she is one of the three best things that has ever happened to me (the other two are the births of my other children).  And I mean this in all seriousness.  From as early as I can remember, New Year’s Eve was always an unpredictable celebration – sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was not, and often times the expectations far exceeded the event.  But now, this day and evening will always be about one thing, or person rather – my cute, adorable, lovable, truly awesome daughter Brooke!  Happy Birthday, Boobala (she hates it when I call her that, but she is such a cute Boobala that I just can’t resist).  Here she is at about a year or two of age….

My Birthday Girl

So here’s to Brooke on the last day of her seventh year and the first day of her eighth year (she was born at 2:04 p.m.), and here’s to all of you as well – Happy 2011!!!

xo …. Lisa

Carly (left) and Bromley

Do you sometimes feel taken over by your pets and animals?  I don’t usually, but I have been feeling that way since we started taking care of Adam’s (my beau) brother’s dog, Bromley, on December 22.  Bromley is a yellow lab, and as I recall, he is about three years old.  Carly, our golden retriever, is just one so she is basically still a puppy.  There has been quite a bit of competition, to say the least, since Bromley came on the scene.  There is discontent (a.k.a. growling and barking) from both dogs if they are not equally patted, fed, attended to, etc.  Bromley likes to jump up and sleep on our couch, chairs and beds – which means Carly does the same – so now we have put all our stools on the furniture to keep the dogs off.  But anyway, this is all par for the course – until sleeptime comes…..

The cats eating

Actually before I get into sleeptime, did I mention that I also have three black cats?  Cole and Chloe are rescue cats, and Milo was a later addition to the brood.  They are typical cats – aloof, a fair amount of attitude, skittish when they hear sudden noises.  They don’t know what to do now that Bromley is on the scene.  They had Carly under control, but Bromley has perplexed them and disrupted the order they had instilled on the house.  There have been dogs and cats running through the house accompanied by barks, hisses and swats.  Again, all pretty much par for the course….

So now, back to sleeptime.  You probably have already guessed. Sleeptime is no longer par for the course, and that’s the problem.  The dogs somehow end up on the bed as do the cats, especially Milo who likes to sleep against me, walk on me and/or play with my face during the night.  So basically, the animals are having a grand old time sleeping (or playing in Milo’s case) peacefully and comfortably on the bed – but as for me, I don’t have covers and can’t move because of the two dogs plus I am getting walked on and my face is getting prodded by the cat.  Oh my goodness…..  Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?  I’m sure it has if you have multiple animals – it’s like the animal kingdom has taken over the human kingdom. Something here is just not right….

Swan Lake Ballet

Channel 7, WHDH-TV, has already named it Blizzard 2010, and Governor Patrick declared a state of emergency at 12:10 p.m. today….  This is one storm that I think they have accurately forecasted – I think we are in the midst of a blizzard.

Despite the cold, wind and snow, however, we just ventured to the movie theater.  We went to see The Black Swan at the West Newton Cinema.  It was something I really wanted to see, and my Mom agreed to go despite my step father saying it was going to be “dark,” and he didn’t think she’d like it….  Well, that might have been an understatement – I don’t think it was up her alley, which is understandable because the movie was disturbing, confusing and depressing at times.  But we have been talking about it – the characters, the story, the meaning, what was real and what was not, the ending – for the last 45 minutes, which says to me that it was a good movie.

I love going to the movies, and it’s rare for me not to find some merit in a movie.  So it’s no surprise that I liked The Black Swan…I tend to like movies that play with your mind – when you’re not sure what is real, what is a dream and/or what is a twist of the mind.  This movie is full of these twists and turns.  Natalie Portman plays Nina who is the lead in Swan Lake. To me, the premise of the movie is about the struggle between good (the White Swan) and evil (the Black Swan).  And it is this struggle that personifies Nina and her life.  I’ll stop there as I don’t want to give away too much.  But if you like movies that keep you guessing and trying to figure out what is going on, and then leave it for you to ultimately interpret what happened and how it ended, then it is definitely a movie for you – an ultimate mind-game!

If you get a chance to see it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.  Did you like it or did you think it was too troubling as did my Mom?  I can’t wait to hear……  And in the meantime, enjoy the Blizzard….

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas from my home in Weston, MA to yours!  I hope you are having a wonderful celebration with your children, family and friends, and I hope you are building happy memories for years to come.  I also hope Santa was good to everyone…..

And if you do not celebrate Christmas, I hope you are enjoying the holiday and the slow-down of things for at least one day in our busy lives….  ”Live, Love and Laugh” a lot today if you can!

xxoo ….. Lisa