I PASSED MY SERIES SEVEN YESTERDAY!!!!!

And congrats to Capn and Juju, Happy anniversary Jay, sounds like you're doing great Dana, and cool news Clod! Enjoy your tree Cherry! And everyone else, happy holidays!!!

Well done Queenie! *does a happy dance for Queen*

umm...just one question, what is series seven?

Yay, Queen! Good for you!

(Series 7 = certification to trade securities, I believe.)

correct Pie - And it is extremely difficult to pass. Major congrats!

Ooooh. That sounds awfully technical. Good goin Queenie!

What's making me happy:

I was clearing off the memory card from my old camera (which has mysteriously started working again, since I bought a new one; good job I checked and didn't just cast aside!) so Ma can use it, and I found the pics from my graduation in July! There are a couple of them that I'd forgotten about, and am so pleased I found them; some lovely ones with my brother and mum and my two best friends:)

Finding old photos that you thought you'd lost is great!

I'm so thrilled about it. There are a a couple in particular with my mum and my (adored) big brother :P

I got my daughter to wrap all my gifts for my wife. I am quite pleased. I hate wrapping gifts.

There is happiness, even in the midst of angst!

Mostly it is the amazing people here in the Cellar.
I love you and appreciate you all year - and am so happy I found you.
But getting gifts too blows my mind. I have been staggered by the generosity shown to me this year. It's had me in happy tears on more than one occasion.

Thank you all, the gift givers, the PMers, those who've been kind in posts and those who've just posted with the intelligence and wit that keeps me coming back to this place.

Coupla pics for you.
Went out for Christmas Eve lunch & drinks with the 'rents.
I did drink, but I dodn't get drunk - it was a lovely family occasion.

First - they served Baileys in chocolate cups!
Nom nom nom.

Secondly, Ste joined us for lunch.

Is that your brother, SG :love:?

Thanks everyone!
And I am so happy to feel the happiness beaming from you Sundae. (Still can't get over how much you and mum look alike.)
If I get to busy with all of the Holiday Glee, THANK YOU ALL so much for being my cyber friends - It's nice to have a home away from home to find support through the tough times and joy to share in the good ones. Hope you all have a blessed holiday, whatever you may celebrate!

Wow! Your bro is gorgeous!

Bailey's ... in chocolate cups .... aaghhhhhhhhhh .... :yum:

Great Pics SG !!
Baileys in Chocolate cups ??
BRILLIANT !!!!!
A Pint or two with the family for a Nice warm family Glow is a Good thing !!!!
F All the family drama !!
Happy Xmas !!!!!

Hahaha zip, very cute! Thanks for that.

A couple of things made me very happy today:

The place I work for paid us a day early. Which meant that MB and I were able to have a great Xmas dinner at a nice French bistro on Rittenhouse Square tonight.

AND...the restaurant taking up the first floor of our building was closed today, and presumably tomorrow. Which means their loud-ass kitchen fan and hvacs outside our living room windows are off, and we're able to enjoy lovely peace and quiet for the holiday.

Christmas preparations finished!

Lovely! What a magnificent snowscene!

What's making me happy today is: Pilau. he's been in a completely darling mood all morning. I woke up around 8.30, nipped downstairs to turn the heating on, and went back up to bed to lie there listening to the radio. Pil decided this was a good time for cuddles and was doing his adoring doggy routine. I swear sometimes he thinks he's a cat: he was almost purring. He's so sweet when he 'talks'.

he's played with (begun the process of destroying) his new toy and eaten his Christmas sausage treat and is now sprawled on my sofa with an expression of utter contentment.

That cake is precious, darling, fabulous!

OMG, BLT FTW.

Did Pilau have a nice new year? Happy New Year, Pilau! :)

Eggs Benedict

PS: @ Limey - that's a very cool cake! Is it homemade? Does it have any other significance other than being a nice Christmas scene?

Homemade cake. I used a different recipe this year (not the family traditional one) - 1.4kg assorted dried fruits and 450g dough ingredients (:eek:). The little figures are family "heirlooms", used on the cake most Christmasses throughout my childhood. We've eaten half the cake now - my mum wants me to take a slice to her in the Nursing Home she now lives in every time I visit, so it must meet with her approval!

wow, that's so wonderful! It sounds like you have really rich and meaningful holiday traditions.

Pilau had a lovely New Year, yes! He could probably have done without having antibiotics forced down his throat but other than that it went pretty well. Didn;t enjoy the fireworks much, but had a lovely time eating gravy bone biscuits for New Year's Eve supper. Then he started his New Year's Day with a sausage breakfast. What's not to like about sausages?

He's had a very tiring play with his squeaky figgy pudding toy; and more or less killed the squeaky JingleBell. Went for a walk and chased a bird. Unfortunately I was still attached to the end of the extender lead so that didn't end quite as he'd planned. He'd like everyone to know that it was only my hindrance that prevented him from catching the bird this time. H would definately have got it else. Met a nice lady-dog. Well....girl-dog. But hey....if he was 5 years younger...

The postman visited and put some envelopes through the letter-box, so clearly the favourite game of bite the postie's fingers is still on for this year. he's quite pleased about that.

All in all a pleasant start to the year.

Are they Dept. 56 Snowbabies?

Starting to watch season one of Inspector Lewis. I received season 1 & 2 for X-mas.

Our giant articulating 4x4 Case IH dually tractor would not start for my hub today. I went out turned the key and fired it right up. :D

OMG! So they are!
I've never seen them anywhere except on our cake (except we did find a couple in an antiques market once. I think the house and the reindeer sled are not from our original set, and there are two more babies that some twat has painted with cream gloss paint which I didn't use).

Since they're porcelain, you should be able to chemically strip that paint off without a problem. But you don't know if they were painted because they were damaged. :confused:

Great cake Limey. What was your Mum's verdict?

I'd rather strip'em and find out - they're horrible as they are, so are headed for the charity shop (see "clutter-weeding") if they don't shape up!

She wants me to take it to the Nursing Home for her, because she's "starving and hasn't eaten for three days". I'm rationing her to a slice per visit, as I don't think anyone would be pleased by quantities of Christmas cake in the underwear drawer ... :neutral:

The Buckeyes would have made me happy yesterday, if I hadn't fallen asleep and missed a lot of the game. ;)

So, the Ohio State Buckeyes make me happy today!

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angele...ory?id=4789586

Highlights...one of those boys is local, so it was great to read of the win. :)

Oldest son showed up only with the clothes on his back. AND he only wears designer... sigh... then we went to Winner's. He found 2 prs of "$100-150" jeans for $25 each! That makes me happy!

Maybe a change of wardrobe would beget a change of attitude, then beget a change of lifestyle.
Oh well, baby steps, baby steps. ;)

We have them as well. Although their numbers dwindle every year as the dogs eat one or two each year. We lost at least 2 this year.

Roast chicken!

You know, I'd tend to think that Pilau would be happy most days simply because he can easily lick his balls. Unless, of course, you took him to be tutored.

My consultation appointment for my dental work is at 1100 hrs on Wednesday the 13th. Prolly will wind up getting dentures.

For the first time I can remember, nobody gave me a calendar for Christmas. Not family, not a vendor, not my Alma Mater. Nobody. So I was just digging through my drawer full of old calendars, and discovered that the 1999 calendar has exactly the same day layout. I never even wrote on it. So I flipped through it and crossed out the 1999 with a sharpie, and wrote 2010 next to each one. I used a blue sharpie so it will really stand out, what I did.

I use a calendar program on the computer, but having one hanging on the wall to quickly glance at is absolutely necessary. I've been missing one for the last week.

Maybe this should go in the feeling old thread, that I have an 11 year old calendar readily at hand.

http://is7.itookthisonmyphone.com/m/..._568x426r0.jpg

http://is7.itookthisonmyphone.com/m/..._568x426r0.jpg

A customer lent me this CD for the day. It's 7 different versions of Red House. 6 by Hendrix, and one by Johhny Lee Hooker. it's very nice.

covers are great in my book

Red House is an icon in the blues world. I love me some blues, and they're so easy to play.

Called up the Queens Park Centre to offer myself as a volunteer. I'm hoping I can get free pottery sessions in return, but at the very least I will get volunteer sessions there, which will make me feel involved.

Lady I spoke to said that they are most in need of volunteers on Friday and Saturday nights for the Limelight Theatre. I said I was happy to work then, and the Manager is going to phone me back.

Now I was in a couple of performances there,back when I was all am-dram and confident, so working front of house would be a pleasure. And of course it's when they most need help. So I feel really positive about that.

And we're having mussels tonight. Nom nom nom.

OH! And Great Aunt Alice's money has been released from probate or whatever it's called - two years after her death. Mum - and all the other rellies - should have a cheque by the end of the week. The money will affect me very little (it's her money and there's not a lot that money can solve for me right now, unless it's really stupid amounts like Euromillions lottery), but it will affect me enormously when it comes to Mum's mood and happiness. And being a proper daughter, I'm genuinely happy Mum's stress as an Executor finally comes to an end. Okay, she will find something else to stress about, but at least this will be off her shoulders and she should be calm for at least a month :)

And finally, watched the pilot of Glee last night. Stupid sky+ cut off the end, but I'm guessing the teacher came back. Liked it a lot, starts officially on E4 next Monday. Might have to watch it next time, rather than rely on having it recorded. Yay! Haven't had a series to watch since... actually, I have watched a few. But it's not all that common I promise.

What's making me happy is seeing SG in the happy thread!

Being Humasn second series :) yey.

Good stuff Sundae:)

Oh Dana... Daaannnaaa....

:lol:

fix'd that 4u
.

Bravo!

So much for 'short arm inspection' heeheehee!

Now mark it NSFW.

funny

oh purlease.... anyone looking that closely will see it's a salami -real dicks don't bend at that angle......

...oh, you meant the pic of Dana ...she is a little hawt for the workplace, I must admit....

It IS a cock, you know.

on the left of the cake? sure is.....

Whose left?