Christmas recipes/ Mayan calendar/ Colin O'Donoghue

Dec. 21 Christmas recipes: Christmas desserts: Suzanne Cullen sent me this article "30 Blogs with Winning Christmas Desserts."  It has recipes for chocolate, fruit-inspired, dairy free, nut free, bite sized, and "Around the World" that's more like German and Irish desserts. http://www.aupair.org/blog/30-blogs-with-winning-christmas-desserts/ Christmas drinks: Jeralyn Nelson sent me this article "30 Blogs with the Best Holiday Drink Recipes."  They're cider, non-alcoholic, alcoholic, hot chocolate, crock pot, and teas. http://www.housesittingjobs.com/blog/30-blogs-with-the-best-holiday-drink-recipes/ Christmas gift wrapping: Allen Miller sent me this article "30 Blogs with Creative Gift Wrapping Ideas."  There is eco-friendly options, gift baskets, make your own wrapping paper, creating gift toppers, making a bow, and gift tags. If you're into arts and crafts, you'll like this.  You can use this for other occasions where you give gifts. http://www.parttimenanny.org/blog/30-blogs-with-creative-gift-wrapping-ideas/ Budgeting Apps:  Jacqui Barrie sent met this article "10 iPhone Apps for Tracking Holiday Expenses."  If you have an iPhone and need a budget, here are some helpful Apps.  This isn't just for the holiday season, but all year round. http://www.aupairjobs.com/articles/10-iphone-apps-for-tracking-holiday-expenses/ Nanny gifts: Abby Nelson sent me this article "5 Gifts Employers can Give Nannies for the Holidays."  It can be used for other people like an auto detail, a Kindle (or a book gift card), tickets to a nanny conference like Nannypalooza, concert or game tickets, or air miles so she can fly home. http://www.nannyclassifieds.com/blog/5-gifts-employers-can-give-nannies-for-the-holidays/ Dec. 22 Hostess gifts: Maria Wells sent me this article "Top 10 Hostess Gifts."  It mentions wine, gourmet pumpkin butter, sea salts, coasters, tin of tea leaves.  It also mentions soap and hand lotions. http://www.housekeeping.org/blog/top-10-hostess-gifts/ Budget tips: Maureen Denard sent me this article "How to Budget for Christmas and Avoid Going into Debt."  The tips are making a list, and only using cash and debit.  If you use credit, you will go over budget.  If money is tight, tell your friends and neighbors not to exchange gifts with them. http://www.findananny.net/blog/how-to-budget-for-christmas-and-avoid-going-into-debt/ Email greeting cards: Birthday Alarm sent me this.  It's where you can email greeting cards.  They're like videos.  They're so cute and fun.  On the left side there are all these other occasions you can send them on.  Check it out: http://www.birthdayalarm.com/ECard.jsp?a:2I&Type=E&CCId=10&MID=2434 Christmas joke: I got this from Daily Silly. A man in Melbourne calls his son in Brisbane four days before Christmas and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Thirty years of misery is enough." "Dad, what are you talking about?" the son screams. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Perth and tell her." Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts. "I'll take care of this." She calls Melbourne immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says "Its fixed. They're coming for Christmas and paying their own way!" Stupid criminals: I was watching Jay Leno. Leno: This girl robbed a bank and then made a video and put it up on Youtube.  She then got caught. He showed this video of the teenage girl.  She tells the story with cue cards about how she robbed a bank. Card: I stole a car. Card: I took off the license plate. Card: I robbed a bank with a pillow case. She holds out these huge stacks of cash. She then rips off her face, and it's Lindsay Lohan.  lol. When I saw the cash, I thought: "Are you going to use that money to pay for college?" Mayan calender: The world was to end on Dec. 21, 2012.  On Dec. 15, 2012, there's an article by Karen Burshtein in the National Post.  The interview was with "Vancouver-based Guataphile and founder of El Camino VolunTours Chris Buckshaw." Buckshaw: "In reality, Dec. 21, 2012 represents the end of a 5,126 yr cycle.  This is actually the fifth such cycle in the Mayan calender system.  The sixth cycle is about to begin, and is a continuation of many cycles.  In Mayan legend, man is made of corn, their main food staple. In previous cycles, man was made form different things, such as wood and earth.  Those were imperfect designs, and humankind had been evolving.  This year marks the end of the Men of Corn, and we wait to see what the next incarnation will be." In the article, it mentions this is going to be the 1st New Year's Eve in 5000 years for the Mayans. Dec. 23 Airport joke: I got this from Daily Silly.  It's fitting because lots of people are traveling during the holiday season: I was at the airport waiting for my plane to board one day. I was at gate number 26 when an announcement came over the broadcast system. An official sounding voice said, "We apologize for the inconvenience, but United flight 237, previously scheduled to leave from gate 26, will now be leaving from gate 48." So I picked up my things and walked to the new gate. Shortly after arriving at the new gate another announcement blasted out explaining that United flight 237 had been moved back to the original gate 26. So once again I retrieved my belongings and walked back to the original gate. Just as I began settling in another announcement was broadcast, "We would like to thank you for participating in United Airline's physical fitness program!" Colin O' Donoghue: I was watching Once Upon a Time, and they introduced the character Captain Hook.  He's played by Irish actor Colin O'Donoghue.  He plays this handsome and charismatic bad guy.  Here's how he looks as Captain Hook: http://screencrush.com/once-upon-a-time-season-2-colin-o-donoghue-regular/ Here he is as himself: http://screencrush.com/once-upon-a-time-season-2-colin-o-donoghue-regular/ It's interesting.  I find him more attractive as Hook, than as himself.  Looks like I've fallen in love with the character than the actor. I did watch him in this 11min interview.  He is the movie The Rite and he plays a priest in it.  He stars with Anthony Hopkins in it.  He talks about how he was so nervous when he met Hopkins for the first time.  In the interview, the host brings up that he's the next Colin Farrel, because they're both Irish actors.  I'm not really a fan of Farrel though. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmQaicuLUo8 Here's The Rite information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1161864/