Snowfall - Doris Day

Snowfall

sung by Doris Day

Since it is my wife's birthday, I decided to post a song

from one of her favorite's, Doris Day.

Happy Birthday, Raven!

I love this song.

It was composed by Claude Thornhill in 1941.

The instrumental version,

by either Dick Hyman or Dennis Farnon,

is also amazingly mellow.

Birthday

For my birthday,

we had buffalo chicken and pizza and played Uno.

My wife got me a fun, personalized card and

an awesome, retro speaker for my iPod. Love it!

My daughter wrote me a very sweet, heartfelt letter,

which I love, but won't be sharing here.

My oldest son and daughter-in-law stopped for a visit
and gave me a new game - Farkel Party.

My youngest son made me this video for my birthday:

How cool is that?

I am a lucky guy.

Music, New to Me

I like all kinds of music, and love the second-hand iPod

I bought from my daughter when she upgraded herself to an iPod Touch. 

For most of the year, I have a blend of music I like,

consisting of 80s pop/rock, country, oldies, indies

and just whatever I stumble across that I find I enjoy.

Also have quite a few TV show themes

and a load of Halloween/horror tunes, too!

At Christmastime, however, I switch over to holiday music.

Between CDs I have bought or traded for (thanks, Swap-A-CD!)

and free and legal music online (thanks, generous musicians!),

I have a Christmastime music folder that has 1,628 holiday songs - and growing!

Yes, you read that right.

What can I say? I like Christmas music!

This Christmas, in addition to the new music I have found online

from artists who post free tunes hoping to gain more fans,

my lovely wife gifted me with some holiday CDs:

James Taylor

at Christmas

From 2006, this is a reissue of his limited edition

Hallmark CD from a couple years earlier.

He has a great voice and the arrangements are definitely James Taylor-esque,

so I like it. His duet with Natalie Cole on Baby, It's Cold Outside is great.

Wonderful CD, as expected. Mellow and relaxing.

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elf 

Music from the Major Motion Picture

This is the 2003 soundtrack for the Will Ferrell film of the same name.

The CD is pretty much a traditional Christmas album, with a few surprises.

The Zooey Deschanel/Leon Redbone version of Baby, It's Cold Outside is fun.

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New this year is A Very She & Him Christmas,

featuring the always fun Zooey Deschanel and her musical partner M. Ward.

Fun, a definite indie-sounding album, and Zooey has a fun, easy voice to listen to.

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Also new this year is Christmas, by Michael Buble.

This one hit the top of the charts, not surprisingly.

His voice is always great and from the liner notes,

he says he modeled this CD after the classics he listened to growing up,

like Bing Crosby's Christmas album.

I love it, his voice is great as always and the fresh sounding

yet respectful to their origins.

Awesome CD for Christmas music lovers!

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As for non-Christmas music, I was also gifted with Dolly Parton's latest CD, Better Day.

Was concerned this was going to be an "off" album, but I was worried for nothing.

Dolly is spot-on her game here, as usual.

Songs are great and her voice is beautiful, as always.

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Finally, my brother and his wife gave me Cyndi Lauper's At Last, from 2003.

I have had this on my Amazon with list since 2004,

it was the oldest item on the list and now I finally have it!

It is a collection of Lauper's covers of jazz standards.

She has such a great voice and it is interesting to hear her take on these songs.

Going to need a few listens to truly appreciate this one.

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So, that's what's new for me, music-wise.

I could try to cover all the new music from the online musicians,

but I really didn't keep track.

Maybe this Christmastime I will post the new music as I come across it,

so anyone who wants it can get it as well.

Give the musicians some more notice, as well,

which is always a good thing for those trying to get noticed.

Thanks for the gifts & Happy 2012!

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Day 17: Favorite Part of Christmas Eve

Once all the family is gone and the kids are in bed and Santa has come and gone,
my wife and I exchange our gifts to one another.



Usually, this is just the stuff we put into our stockings,
but it is still a nice, quiet moment for just the two of us to celebrate together,
and that is the best part.

A moment of peace amidst all the Christmastime fun!

Day Thirty: Whomever You Find Most Attractive In This World

Day Thirty: Whomever You Find Most Attractive In This World
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~ Love you, Ravyn ~

~ Forever & Always ~

Day Thirteen: Favorite Memory

Day Thirteen: Favorite Memory

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Like my Mrs. said on her site, I think our wedding day is my favorite memory. I was absolutely convinced before we met that I was gonna spend life as a reluctant bachelor. She opened my eyes, in more ways than one, and I appreciate how lucky I am to love her, and to be loved by her.

A few other favorite memories involve my kids, of course:

~ The night of my daughter's birth, as I held her and looked out the window to see snow falling.

~ The first time my oldest son gave me a card that said "Dad".

~ My youngest clinging to me as a toddler, sucking his thumb and holding my neck.

Enjoy their youth. It may not always be easy, but it goes by really fast.

One Kiss

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Fifteen years ago, I was a different person. I know almost all of us can say the same thing, but if I were to somehow time travel back to then and meet my past self, I don't think he would believe anything the future self said about the life I/we have now.

Thinking back, if you were to have called the old me shy or a loner, you would have won the Understatement of the Year Award. I had no friends, save for some close family members and coworkers. I spent most of my time alone, working at night and sleeping during the day.

I was in my early 20s and had just begun to join the online community that was new and growing. I cautiously stepped into what I had avoided in 'real life', a world of other people who, amazing as it was to me, were interested in what I had to say.

One day, a crash of AOL sent me to the then-popular CompuServe to ask, in a chat room, if anyone else was experiencing the same problem. One person responded, and we chatted for a little while, making note of our screen names to chat again.

That one time led to many, which led to phone calls and some long, wonderful conversations. Eventually, the talk led to the possibility of meeting. A plan was laid to spend New Year's Eve together.

Sound romantic? Couldn't have convinced me it was. I was clueless. To me, this wasn't anything other than two new friends wanting to spend the holiday together. Nothing else entered my mind as to where this night, or this friendship, would go.

Our time together was fun, and any concerns about being uncomfortable in person were lost almost immediately. I spent New Year's Eve with a beautiful, caring, funny woman. But I was sure she saw me only as a friend. Someone to pass the time with. No one could look at me in "that way".

Midnight came, and the New Year with it. And a kiss.

You could have hit me with a tank filled with pudding and had a line of dancing dwarfs parade by in tutus and tiaras and I wouldn't have been any less shocked than I was by that one kiss.

That kiss then led to this amazing woman informing me she was heading to bed. The look on my face must have spoken for me, because she followed with a line letting me know I could sleep wherever I chose to. I sat for a few minutes trying to wrap my mind around this world I was suddenly a part of.

We have been married for almost fifteen years now, so I think the decision I made then is obvious.

But I still don't think I could convince my past self that all this is true. Then again, maybe I needed him to be just that clueless, or else I wouldn't have ended up the lucky, happy, crazy in love man I am today.

He needed that one kiss, so I could have all the rest that followed.

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Check out more Theme Thursday posts.

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