Another year is coming to a close. In some respects I say, "finally!", while in others I say, "so soon?".

As usual it went faster than the previous, but lots has happened in our lives. There are memories we wish to cherish and memories we wish to forget. Then again, there are some things that can't be remembered, which is either a good thing or was a good thing creating the loss of memory.

Tonight we give 2005 one final hurrah! Enjoy it. We will.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Application completed and sent;

Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) Exam Application completed and sent;

Presents wrapped and under tree (Santa's gift to The Wife is not under the tree);

Food for Christmas Eve day open house in cupboards;

Beer and Wine for Christmas Eve day open house in refrigerator and wine bar;

Food for Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) in cupboards and refrigerator;

Bottle of Dom Perignon for New Years Eve in wine bar;

Checkbook balanced;

Oil tank measured (has 425 out of 1000 gallons still in it); and

Pogo for the week completed (yes, I still Pogo).

What's left to do?

Start another workshop (Administrative Law);

Write out more flash cards of legal terms to study for the CLA Exam; and

Read more of "The Federal Mafia: How The Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes".

I have decided to make a list for this posting of the things I love about Christmas time (in no particular order).

Clean snow blanketing the ground with the sun reflecting off the crystalline flakes;

A well decorated Christmas tree (lots of lights, some antique ornaments, and a little tinsel);

An occasional Christmas song (not all the time please);

Driving around to see the outside decorations that others put up;

EggNog with fresh nutmeg;

Receiving a Christmas card from a long lost friend;

Seeing the homemade stockings hung;

Buying a gift for somebody when they have no clue or expectation of receiving one;

Watching the classic Arthur Rankin Christmas programs, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (yes, I have them on DVD);

Feeling the love shared by family and friends; and

The joy of wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Do you have a list of your favorite things for Christmas time?

Yup, Christmas is getting closer. You can tell by the attitudes people have that work behind the cash registers. No sense of humor and no smiles, except when they first get to work or are about to leave. Despite their attitudes, I have always loved this time of year as it has always made me feel that youthfulness that I have buried deep inside over the years. I'm not admitting to what The Wife calls me sometimes (Old Fart), but rather having remembrances of the young mind. The thoughts that maybe my parents lied to me when they finally told me there was no Santa Claus. Were they just trying to punish me for something I did or said? Well, no matter, this year The Wife and I decided to get into the Christmas spirit by decorating.

Due to our distaste for the last two homes we lived in, the last time we really got into the Christmas spirit and decorated was 1997. We decided that this year (even though we are not thrilled with this house) to decorate for our love of the holiday. Just down the road (about 40-50 yards) is a Christmas tree farm. We took an afternoon to walk through the farm, tagged a tree and a month later went back to have it cut down. I carried it home. It was a little tree, about five feet. While I strung the lights, The Wife decorated the bay window that looks out to the front yard and the street. She has these two Christmas Opus' (or would that be Opi?), you know, that penguin. Anyway, one has a Santa cap on, she put him in a sleigh and strung him up from the ceiling with fishing line. Then she strung 8 little wooden reindeer from the sleigh and topped them off with her other Opus that has antlers. Of course it wasn't complete until she strung some lights too! The Opus with the antlers has a little red light on his nose, while white lights string back from him to the sleigh as the reins Santa Opus is using to control the menagerie. The Wife did a great job on this!

Anyway, back to the tree...There are about 800 light strung on this five foot tree. It took me about 8-9 hours. We then placed our favorite ornaments on the tree. Of course we also place Dustie the Cat's ornaments on the bottom branches so that she could enjoy the time of year too. Yes, she has her own ornaments. That way if she wants to pat at them, she won't destroy our antique ones. And, she does respect this, as she doesn't touch ours. Recently she has been curling up under the tree while we watch television. It's very cute! Oh and lastly for the decorations, there is some gold garland with white lights strung around the window in the dining room and The Wife put out some seasonal hand towels in the guest bathroom and kitchen.

That's the scoop on our Christmas so far. It's very festive around here and I'm loving it this year. So, how festive is your place feeling this time this year?

Here's a new post. I don't know what was going on with ZoneEdit, but their forwarding seems to be working much better, so I can post once again with little delay.

So what has happened since October? Well, I reworked my resume a few times and am now happy with it. I will be downloading a list of law firms and companies with legal departments to send it to along with a personalized cover letter. It's going to take some time to get it all together, but with the holidays, I'm in no rush until January 2nd.

I have contacted and am waiting to receive some materials from a program called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). It's a volunteer program that will provide me with access to people in the legal community to network with. That's the benefit for me. However, the real benefit of my participation will be following my acceptance into the program, swearing in by a judge, and being assigned a case. Who will receive this benefit? Some abused and neglected child. The job of a CASA volunteer is to speak on behalf of the child and report back to the court as to what is in the best interest of the child. I decided that if I am going to be a volunteer for a little bit, why not help somebody that can't help themselves rather than help some company that makes tons of cash and just doesn't want to pay me due to lack of experience. Anyway, I am waiting on the application for CASA and then there is a 30 hour training program in January. After that, the judge swears me in, I'm offered a choice of three cases, and then assigned a supervising attorney. I'll keep you all up-to-date on that.

Health wise, I had some work done on me teeth to fix the damage caused by our previous dentist. Insurance didn't cover it and it cost tons of cash, but I am getting near the end of all the visits. I go back on the 20th to get my mouth guard (yes, a mouth guard, for use when sleeping to protect from grinding teeth). After that I should be done. I had the top front six teeth worked on. The bicuspids and canines were crowned with porcelain crowns while the front two teeth were covered with porcelain veneers. I must admit, my smile looks much better, but it sure as hell hurt and still feels weird. Oh and I wasn't allowed to bite into anything or chew with those teeth for two weeks and two days. That was torture, and yes, just ask The Wife, I was a bit irritable. Okay, okay, I was a royal pain in the ass while complaining daily.

Well, that's it for this update. As long as ZoneEdit doesn't slow down my site again, I should be making regular posts again. Until then.......screw being PC, I hope you are all having a pleasant Christmas Season.