If today is your birthday (aka Don’t Get Thee To A Nunnery)

Even though you can pull off most anything that you put your mind to, be extra-attuned to your feelings about these undertakings. In other words: If you really want to be a writer, this is not the year to rededicate your efforts to house painting; if you really want to raise a family, this is not the year to rededicate yourself to the nunnery/monastery, et al. – Vogue Australia

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (December 31). You leap forward financially this year by doing exactly what you like. Friends find you divinely gregarious through January, but you also need a lot of time on your own. Solitude is creative. Family offers help in May, and you are wise to take them up on it! Travel is featured in July. You make sweet connections with Virgo and Libra people.– Washington Post

Happy Birthday: A meeting with your past will get you thinking about days gone by. Regrets are a waste of time; the only thing that counts is what you do in the present to make your future brighter. An opportunity will come your way that can make up for lost time or poor decisions. Keep an open eye and use your experience to get ahead. You are incredibly courageous, calculating and very cool. You are steady and can easily gain respect. You back down from nothing and no one. You are strong, determined and willful. – Eugenia Last

Huh.

I already opened my present from my parents. It’s so cool. It’s a….

Well, you’re just going to have to wait and see. Or you can guess. It starts with the letter “B” and is fun at parties.

Important Historical Landmarks That Happened on December 31st
Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip
Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada
Opera "Pirates of Penzance" premieres in New York City (I desperately wanted to marry Kevin Kline as The Pirate King when I was a teenager)

Hubble announces existence of distant galaxies
Charles Darrow patents Monopoly
Beach Boys play their debut gig under that name
Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army
Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons Really?

Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as White Sox manager
1st transatlantic radio broadcast of a voice, Pittsburgh-Manchester
“Match Game" debuts on NBC with host Gene Rayburn
Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir played music together for the 1st time
1st supersonic airliner flown (Russian TU-144)
Paul McCartney files a lawsuit to dissolve Beatles
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac

Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait
Loveboat actress Jill Whelan (27) wed Brad St. John (33)

U.S.S.R.’s last day of existence
Barbra Striesand does her 1st live public concert in 20 years
Microsoft buys Hotmail E-mail service
Ice Queen born

Top 25 Songs from December 31, 1968, The Day I Was Born
1. I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
2. Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
3. Worst That Could Happen - The Brooklyn Bridge
4. For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder
5. Abraham, Martin and John – Dion
6. Stormy - Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost
7. Love Child - Diana Ross & the Supremes
8. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me -Diana Ross & the Supremes & the Temptations
9. Touch Me - The Doors
10. Both Sides Now - Judy Collins
11. Chewy Chewy - The Ohio Express
12. Soulful Strut - Young-Holt Unlimited
13. Cloud Nine - The Temptations
14. I Love How You Love Me - Bobby Vinton
15. Hooked On a Feeling - B.J. Thomas
16. Cinnamon - Derek
17. A Ray of Hope - The Rascals
18. Who's Making Love - Johnnie Taylor
19. Those Were the Days - Mary Hopkin
20. Hey Jude - The Beatles
21. Son-of-a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
22. Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero - Rene & Rene
23. Everyday People - Sly & the Family Stone
24. Crimson and Clover - Tommy James & the Shondells
25 If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley

Chewy, chewy?

What Do These People Have in Common?
John Denver
Anthony Hopkins
Donna Summer
Val Kilmer
Ben Kingsley
Bebe Neuwirth
Burton Cummings
Henri Matisse

It's Almost Time!
Okay, maps have gone out for my birthday party. If you're coming and haven't gotten your map, do let me know. screamforicequeenATgmailDOTcom

It will be a small soiree with fine food and wine. Fit for a Queen!

Be there or be square.

Are you still here?

Go check if you're naughty or nice. As for me:

"Ice Queen
Nice, but with a few naughty marks. Neatness needs improvement. Behavior has been good sometimes, not so good other times. Manners could still use some attention. Was very nice last Monday."

The Queen’s Christmas Message
Christmas is an emotional time, good and bad. As I look back on Christmases past, they are bittersweet. Here are a few memories:

The Christmas Nana died the week before.
The same Christmas Nana died and Fresh and I nearly got into a car accident on black ice and missed hitting a truck by about two inches after doing a 360. Coincidence? I think not.
The Christmas Fresh called to wish his Dad Merry Christmas and found out he was in the hospital (he never got out).
The Christmas I had no money and put an heirloom silver dollar from my Grandfather in the collection plate.
The Christmas I had no money and decorated my tree with jewellery (it was 1989, jewellery was big and plastic).
The Christmas when I was a teenager and our furnace broke down and we huddled around the wood stove under my Nana’s fake fur coat drinking Bailey’s.
The many Christmases my family hung out in the kitchen singing Christmas carols.
The Christmas I started university in a co-ed residence and my grandparents bought me fuzzy pink sleepers with feet. (How they found them in a ladies size 14 I have no clue.)
The Christmas I discovered a Zellers price tag on the Barbie camper “Santa” had brought me.
The Christmas Mom told me that it was illegal for children 5 and under to eat mixed nuts. (I think she had visions of 4 year old me sucking back all the cashews.)
The Christmas I introduced Frank to my grandparents and he took a large tart that turned out to be mincemeat, which he hates, and graciously had to eat it to make a good impression.
The Christmas I got the Styx album that had the song “Babe” on it. (It was VERY important at the time.)
The Christmas my mom decorated gingerbread people to look like all the guests at dinner.
The Christmas Eve we brought home six million dollar cat, who was only 5 weeks old and could fit in the palm of my hand.
The Christmas I broke it to my parents that Fresh and I were moving in together (“Thank God!,,” said my mom, “After that build up, I thought you were going to say you were pregnant!”)

The Christmas I got fired for blogging? Not yet…so I’d better sign off. I’ll be blogging over the holidays, so check back often!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noël, Festive Winter Solstice, 8 Crazy Nights, etc.

Maps to La Fête de la Reine will be going out, maybe today, but certainly not later than December 27th, so check your e-mail! And it’s never too late to RSVP to screamforicequeenATgmailDOTcom.

This is Ice Queen signing off and heading off to stock up on nylons.

Phew
I don’t even know where to start.

I’ve just finished my last HUGE project for the year and I feel like a deflated balloon. In a good way.

This is going to be the best Christmas EVER. Ice Prince is so excited.

I’ve finished my Christmas shopping and everyone is getting stuff that I like.
We have a real tree.
I have made two tortières which are now in the freezer. (Huh, spell check wants to change tortières to “torturers or “terriers”.)
The house is kind of clean.

I had so many things to tell you – like finding Fresh’s Christmas gift at the Bay, but they refused to sell it to me. “We don’t carry
that.” “But it’s right here!” “Yes, but we have no trace of ever having it, so I can’t tell you how much it is.”

The setting sun is shining over my head and onto the screen – orangey and warm.

It’s going to be good. I can feel it.

Party Planning
Okay, first things first.

La Fete de La Reine. The people who have shown interest in coming are hemming and hawing because they have no place to go afterwards. So! I am now having a dinner party. 7 to midnight. (I'm turning 37. I can't stay up much past midnight.) The following people are coming:
Eva (if you have to go somewhere else I understand)
Maria
Boomer
Sister Staceypatrick
Father Patrick O'Stacey
Fresh's friend Martin who has no nickname, but we can think one up after a few drinks

The following people have not replied:
Crabby & Mr. Krabs - are you going to the Big House?
Mikael and Markus - pu-lease! You're practically like neighbours!
JB (I haven't met you technically, but I'm willing to let you come if Maria will vouch for you or you put down a security deposit)
Brett and Amber- seriously you're invited
Merv - you too
Clara and Jer - come on!
Lilly and Joe
Radmila and Clive
Benjamin - you probably don't read this anymore, I'll e-mail you
Chip - come home! All is forgiven!

Okay, That's all for now.

Please inform me of any food allergies. bring some good wine and don't pet the cats. Seriously. They look cute, but don't do it.

Maps will be e-mailed so ensure your VIP status by e-mailing screamforicequeenATgmailDOTcom.

More stories later. Business before pleasure!

Oh yeah, it's on December 31st.

No need for presents, although I do enjoy a good mix cd if you feel inspired.

Quick Update
Hi kids. I'll be back soon. I've been busy, but it's all good.

My new boss rocks. I've been super busy, but mainly doing stuff that's fun and challenging. Today is payday and bonus day, although a huge chunk of the bonus is going to pay $6 million cat's latest vet bills, which are in the (gulp) four figures. He's much better now and worth every penny. I'm glad we didn't have to make the decision to treat him based on money. If it happens again in the next 11 months, however, I may have to hold a fundraiser for him. "Don't You Know That Purrs Are Not Enough?"

And Dad took me to IKEA on Wednesday and I got two CD/Video shelves, two bath mats, two sets of candles and two cake pans. Why did I buy everything in twos? I only just noticed that.

We had planned to buy an IKEA Christmas tree (just one, not two), but there were none. The Canadian Tire next door was sold out. But we found a plethora at Loblaws. The Chosen One is waiting patiently in the backyard to be brought in and decorated on Sunday.

Okay, lots to do today, and then our annual office holiday party. I'm wearing my pool table dress and it looks gooo-ooood.

I'll be back with more Ice-Queen brand fun and frolic next week!

The Silly Season
I'm still here. And there are so many things I keep meaning to talk about. Like why they changed that commercial about the roast to take out the guy's fat ass and his squeal when he gets flowers. Were women complaining about the stereotype? Whatever.

Fresh is in full gear working on the election.

Ice Prince got his report card last night. Lots of stuff about needing to pay more attention, but my favourite comment was: "He likes to sing while walking around in the classroom." That's my boy. Life is a musical!

I'm just on the last legs of a bad cold and finishing a VERY busy time at work that involved designing an award, searching out angel wings and forging a real estate license. Seriously, I've got the most interesting job.

The Christmas cards are done and going in the mail today. Earliest ever, I think. AND they're handmade. Last year's were too, but they involved lots of glue and glitter and were a total pain in the butt, even though they looked pretty.

Okay, busy, busy. Have to go. More later!

And hey, if you want to come to La Fete de La Reine, e-mail me at screamforicequeen AT gmail DOT com so I can send you details. This means YOU too, Mr. Evil and Marky Mark. I do hope you'll be there.