Cameo Roles and Mundane Affairs
We all love the holidays and want to them to be a truly enjoyable and rewarding experience. As a result, we tend to spend a great deal of time and effort engaging in various activities trying to make the time period extra special. Our desire to have the best holidays possible often delivers a result more ironic than O’Henry’s Gift of the Magi. Instead of enjoying the holiday season, we spend it in stress, worrying about how to make our holidays perfect.
One of the chief causes of holiday stress is that gnawing feeling that the things you must do are going to outstrip your available time. Shopping, cooking, packing, wrapping and decorating suddenly fill what used to be your free time. Special holiday events and parties may begin to pepper your schedule, too. You fear being the crazed shopper banging on closed shop doors on Christmas Eve or are certain you will be forced to take the family out for a Chinese dinner because there is simply no way to get everything done!
There are many great resources providing quality hints and tips to reduce holiday stress, and if you feel yourself experiencing a great deal of pressure in December, you should definitely find some of these materials and consider the myriad of great ideas to make your winters easier. In addition to the many great suggestions these sources provide, there are a few basic steps you can take to make your to-do list seem more manageable and to reduce your stress level.
Adjust Your Expectations. Some may benefit from simply readjusting their expectations of the holidays. Instead of concerning yourself with every Christmas detail, you can reduce your stress level by focusing on the parts of the holidays that are most meaningful and important to you and placing less emphasis on other aspects of the season.
By readjusting your expectations and goals for the holidays, you can reduce time pressures considerably. A focus on what matters most to you insures that you will not spend precious hours involving yourself in activities and projects that are really not part of your “core” holiday goals.
Start Early. We often laugh at the fact Christmas decorations tend to go up in shopping malls right after Halloween decorations disappear. Although we don’t necessarily need to take the not-so-subtle message of holiday commercialization to heart, we can learn a little bit something from the early decoration trend. By starting our holiday preparations early, we can reduce the amount of pressure and stress we experience during the holiday season.
It may seem unusual, but it really is okay to check whether or not the Christmas lights are working before the day you plan on decorating. And there’s no reason you can’t spend a little idle time in November doing a big of holiday shopping. By doing some of your “required” tasks early, you can avoid the feeling of being in a rush in late December.
Follow Santa’s Lead. Santa Claus, the song tells us, makes a list and checks it twice. If he left delivery of millions of toys up to his memory, he would probably be the North Pole’s most stressed resident. You can learn an important lesson from Santa Claus and can create your own organized list of holiday tasks and chores.
Although you may not want to over-regulate yourself, it is a good idea to make a pretty detailed list of everything you’ll need to do in preparation for the holidays. If you can produce this list early, you will be able to schedule out events in a reasonable manner, making sure you are not caught up in the hustle and bustle that makes the holidays so frustrating for some people.
Have a stress-free Holiday!
You’re free to sing-a-long 
I’m just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don’t know where to go I can’t do it alone I’ve tried
And I don’t know why
Slow it down
Make it stop
Or else my heart is going to pop
‘Cause it’s too much
Yeah, it’s a lot
To be something I’m not
I’m a fool
Out of love
‘Cause I just can’t get enough
I’m just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don’t know where to go I can’t do it alone I’ve tried
And I don’t know why
I’m just a little girl lost in the moment
I’m so scared but I don’t show it
I can’t figure it out
It’s bringing me down I know
I’ve got to let it go
And just enjoy the show
The sun is hot
In the sky
Just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the sign
And synchronize in time
It’s a joke
Nobody knows
They’ve got a ticket to that show
Yeah
I’m just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go I can’t do it alone I’ve tried
And I don’t know why
I’m just a little girl lost in the moment
I’m so scared but I don’t show it
I can’t figure it out
It’s bringing me down I know
I’ve got to let it go
And just enjoy the show
Just enjoy the show
I’m just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go I can’t do it alone I’ve tried
And I don’t know why
I’m just a little girl lost in the moment
I’m so scared but I don’t show it
I can’t figure it out
It’s bringing me down I know
I’ve got to let it go
And just enjoy the show
dum de dum
dudum de dum
Just enjoy the show
dum de dum
dudum de dum
Just enjoy the show
I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show
I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show
This story never fails to lighten up my day I hope it will lighten up yours.
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Van Gogh to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly.
He often talked about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.
‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.’
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the bidding with this picture of the son…Who will bid for this picture?’
There was silence.
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’
But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’
Another voice angrily ‘We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!’
But still the auctioneer continued ‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room.
It was the long-time gardener of the man and his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting.’
Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’
‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.’
‘$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?’
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. ‘Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!’
A man sitting on the second row shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. ‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’
‘What about the paintings?’
‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!’ God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: ‘The son, the son, who’ll take the son?’
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, who so ever believeth, shall have eternal life…
Pacquiao was fast and furious.
Truly the World’s no.1 Pound for Pound Boxer!
Just what I expected! I told my dad and my sis a week ago that I’m foreseeing Pacquiao knocking out Hatton in the 2nd round. And it came true! If it is not a lucky guess then it’s my own confidence in Manny!
When interviewed by Mario Lopez, Bob Arum claimed that Manny is the greatest fighter that ever lived! Not the greatest fighter of the year but the greatest fighter that ever lived.
I believe after coming off victorious over Oscar dela Hoya, Pacquiao was too much ready for Hatton. However, Hatton’s was not ready for Manny’s power right and left punches.
Hatton stood no chance against Pacquiao whose punches landed non-stop. After one final blow, referee Kenny Bayless declared the fight over at 2:59 of Round 2.
“I was just doing my job,” said Manny Pacquiao, who announced yesterday of his interest in running for Congress in 2010 in an interview made by CNN. “I always try to do my best in the ring.”
“The fight was no surprise to me,” Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said. “We know he always pumps his hands before he throws a punch. He’s a sucker for the right hook.”
It took Hatton several minutes to get up after the doctors tended to him.
Manny landed 73 of his 127 punches within 2:59 minutes while Ricky only connected 18 of his 78 punches. That’s according to ringside stats.
“It was a hard loss but I’m OK,” Hatton commented. “I really didn’t see the punch coming but it was a great shot. I know I’ll be OK.”
“That’s boxing,” concluded Floyd Mayweather Sr., Hatton’s overconfident trainer.
p.s. to Mr. Mayweather Sr.: Eat your heart out! LMAO Tic-Tac-Toe…Hitman hits the floor….you better stay down, if you want to be around!
PHOTOS:
- Tale of the Tape
- Photo taken from sports.yahoo.com
- Power Left!
- 2ND ROUND
- Hatton knocked out.
- Pacman with Bob Arum; Tito Chavit in the background
And that Concludes the War of the Worlds!
